Healthy berry grown in Ava

Heading north on Route 26 at this time of summer, going up and down with the unique contours of the road, going past Lake Delta and West Branch, one can find a type of vegetation very distinct to the area. From the distance, one can see white dispersed throughout a sea of green grass. The white is the color of the blooming elderberry. The elderberry is said to possess a plethora of health benefits that makes it a very valuable berry, and there is only one person that sells the berry in Oneida County.

His name is Helmuth Schmeichel, an 86-year-old self-described “poet, vintner, travel companion, health advisor, prospector, time traveler, romantic and financial advisor.” While Schmeichel is a man of many talents, it is his elderberries that make him truly unique to this area.

Schmeichel has been growing elderberries and running the Valley View Elderberry Farm from his home in Ava since 2000. Originally from the Bronx, Schmeichel enjoys the serenity and tranquility of life at his home that sits upon several acres of land. It is on this land that gave Schmeichel the idea to begin growing elderberries.

“I remember buying the plants from a fellow who grew them wild near the Hudson River,” Schmeichel says when recalling the decision to buy his first several elderberry plants that cost nine dollars a plant. “It took three years for those first ones to begin cropping but eventually they came in.”

Elderberries thrive in moist areas and Schmeichel’s land provides plenty of moisture. Walking the grounds, it seems that the elderberry trees are wild. They spring up between more native plants such as the tall reeds that root themselves in the soft, wet earth. Schmeichel explains how he has groves that dot the landscape. Using a four-wheeled vehicle, Schmeichel has made trails weaving through the overgrowth, marking his routine around the grounds to check on his plants. Planting, pruning, picking, bottling, preserving, delivering, storing, Schmeichel does it all by himself.

“These berries are organic,” the farmer says. “I do not use any chemicals or fertilizers.”

While he only sells his berries in whole, dried-out fruit, Schmeichel can make elderberries into all sorts of other products. He creates elderberry wine, which has to be aged from five to six years. A sweet elderberry juice and vinegar have given Schmeichel a name in elderberries that stretches to the islands of Hawaii.

“Since they are relatively expensive [elderberries can sell for $25 per pound] I sell them in smaller bags that cost between $4 and $5,” says Brenda Henry, owner of Brenda’s Natural Foods located at 216 W. Dominick St. Henry gets her elderberries straight from Schmeichel.

“People use them in all sorts of ways. They typically put them in tea, yogurt, muffins and cookies in order to soften the fruit up. I know someone who makes medicinal syrup out of the elderberry.”