Yeah sure..elderberry, good stuff! Now you might want swing the ax at the lilac! lol.

Could be red elderberry, the fruit takes some extra work to be edible.

Yeah, it is probably not worth keeping if it is red elder. Hard to tell from the pic due to distortion, but the red elder inflorescence is not the nice flat topped compound umbel like the (more) edible types. Compare it to descriptions and pics of Sambucus canadensis or S. nigra with your plant.

It looks like a black one.

Yes, I just drove past a planting and the above picture looks like a blue or black-fruited variety.

I guess my next question is, do the berries start off a certain color and change when ripe? Will they start blue/black then turn red as they mature?

The berries start green then turn red then darken to a dark black. After that, with a little help from you, it becomes elderberry wine or tincture. I strongly recommend making some sparkling wine out of the flowers. Mine shown below made 5 gallons of champagne and 13 gallons of a wine that you would not believe ca e out of the back yard!

Or Elderberry jelly....

How do you keep the blankedety blank wild birds away.? lots of mine picked off when green.

prob even from those good for nuttin moths,caterpillars too.

do you actually use the white flowers? Huh???? explain more PLEASE

thank you

Mine are currently red and becoming more sparse by the day. They are also not as dense as Konrad's

James, can you post a picture? Maybe they are red elderberries.

Sorry I was gone all day yesterday. Here's an updated picture of the plant after fruiting. I'm in growing zone 5a

I see green not red, sometimes I cover mine with row cover when birds become a pest or other insects.

Birds have been relentless this year because here in the northeast we are just below drought water levels. The critters are using the fruit. My Asian pear was stripped and I'm in a war for my pears on a 50 year old tree that produces hundreds of pounds of fruit. I don't know if I will get any this year. So far however, the elders are loaded. I'm worried because I'm going on vacation next week for two weeks. I'll take pics of the devastation when I get back.

The fruit has finally matured. Here is what I have. I tried one and it didn't taste sweet, but I'm not sure if that's a flavor I should be expecting. But, not red elderberries, so these should be edible, correct? I don't need to boil them or do anything special before eating?

Nope, most you don't want to eat fresh.

https://novascotia.ca/museum/poison/?section=species&id=117

"Both contain a cyanide-producing glycoside in their leaves, twigs, and seeds" and "A toxic alkaloid is also present in the flowers and unripened fruit".

I have heard that cooking breaks down these compounds in the berries (don't cook twigs or leaves).

I tend to link making syrups. I had a couple heads ripen earlier than the rest and the birds were attacking so I just made a small batch.

380g berries (about 2 cups)

Added 300 ml H20

Boiled then simmered 30 min and then crushed berries with a potato masher

Strained through 2 layers of cheesecloth on top of a strainer which gave about 400 ml juice

Added 250g sugar (about 0.75%)

Dissolved by boiling about 10 min

Made 300 ml

Very tasty - almost blackberry like. Perfect sweetness - still has a bit of tang. Great on ice cream. I also like mixing 15-45ml with 250-300 ml sparkling water (sodastream) on ice to make a really nice fruity drink.

nassauguy26, would you mind posting your sparkling and regular wine recipies? What volume flowers/fruit? What SG for added sugar? What yeast? How long do you usually need to let it age? I'd like to experiment next year.

I made jelly from elderberries. It makes the most beautiful colored jelly, so purple as to be almost black. Good flavor, too.

I make jelly (not jam - too many seeds). In the past I've made wine but don't bother these days. The Harvest Forum here on GW will be able to help you with US approved recipes for Elderberry products.