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The immune system...it’s a hot topic these days, right? Everyone is talking about staying healthy and safe, especially as we enter the colder months of the year. Our families are the most important things to us, and while we can’t necessarily “see” our immune system, we need to care for it as one of our highest priorities when we think about caring for our family. Don’t let your life get so busy that you forget these 5 easy and natural ways to keep your family healthy this winter:

1. Let them sleep! Aim to give your kiddos, at minimum, 8 hours of sleep...10 is even better. That means to turn off screens at least 1 hour prior to bed and set consistent bedtime and wake up routines. 
2. Limit sugar. I know, this isn’t a popular one. My kids ask for a “special treat” every night and are shocked when I tell them they can’t have one (what makes it special if you get one every day??). But sugar is the enemy to our immune systems. Cutting back on soda, sweets, candy, baked goods and processed foods in general will put your family at a significant advantage when it comes to strong immune systems. Raw honey is a GREAT alternative (in moderation of course). Here’s our entire line of raw and infused flavored honey. They are so so good.
3. Put a whole food on every plate. Ok, I’m not the best at eating 100% whole foods but I guarantee you can’t afford NOT to eat whole this winter, as our bodies need these vital nutrients from plants. So as a busy mom, I make it my daily goal to get at least one whole food on everyone’s plate. Our go-to foods? Apples, bananas, bell peppers (red ones are the best!), carrots, broccoli and strawberries. For an amazing smoothie recipe, check out our blog here. 
4. Take elderberry daily. Ok, I know this may seem like a shameless plug for my own product, but I’m so serious. Taking elderberry syrup or gummies daily can give your family the support their immune systems need, especially when they may be exposed to illness around them. My kids love both our syrup and gummies, but I try my best to keep them taking the syrup because it contains raw honey that contains natural enzymes to help their bodies fight infection. Just 1 teaspoon or 1 gummy daily for kids, 1 tablespoon or 2-3 gummies daily for adults. It’s so easy and so delicious.
5. Get outside and get moving. Our Vitamin D levels tank in the winter so getting at least 30 minutes of direct sunlight can help. Also, a goal to get at least 30 minutes of exercise 3x weekly can significantly support your body’s overall health and wellness. For your kiddos, that means a walk to the park, a game of tag in the front yard...get creative! One of my good friends has an amazing woman-owned small business called OKO Weekly where you can get videos of workouts designed specifically for kids age 3-5 years old. For those cold winter months, it’s the perfect way to make sure your kids are getting regular exercise!

I’m a BIG proponent of not overloading our schedules and responsibilities with unnecessary busy-work, so I hope these 5 natural ways to build strong immune systems don’t feel like extra work, but empowering ideas to help your family to experience a healthy winter. As always, feel free to comment below with any other tips you use to keep your family healthy. Happy fall everyone!

I am not a homeschooling expert…not even close. I started homeschooling last year with my Kindergartener and I was completely surprised that I made the decision to homeschool. Our reasons for choosing home, public or private school vary from family to family and I’m a firm believer that there isn’t a “wrong” answer to how you choose for your child to receive an education. For me, I chose homeschool because I wanted to protect the peace in my family and household. I didn’t want to have to ride the waves of quarantines and new CDC guidelines that schools were subject to in order to keep everyone safe and healthy. I didn’t want my child’s memory of Kindergarten to be masked and socially distanced from his friends and teachers. So I was fortunate enough to be able to keep my kids home with me and we set out on our journey to homeschool.

I am a HUGE believer in community and specifically leaning on the wisdom of mentors and people who have gone before, so I reached out to the homeschooling mommas I knew and started asking questions. I came across three books that helped me so much as I started. If you are new to homeschooling, hopefully these books can give you the tools you need to feel empowered in your homeschooling journey:

1. Teaching from Rest: A Home-Schooler’s Guide to Unshakeable Peace by Sarah Mackenzie. This was the first book I read and it’s a super quick and easy read. I first laughed at the title because it sounded so flowery and impossible, but the author does a fantastic job at giving you the basics of setting a solid foundation to your homeschool. You’ll learn things like how to craft your “why” behind the reason you are homeschooling. It’s so very good and worth rereading every year you choose to homeschool.
2. The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming the Wonder in Your Child’s Education by Ainsley Arment. I loved this book for so many reasons. It is BEAUTIFULLY designed and it really leaves you feeling empowered to homeschool. It helped me see that homeschooling wasn’t a lesser option than public/private schools. It also gave me summarized information from different homeschooling philosophies like Unschooling, Charlotte Mason and Waldorf. Like Teaching From Rest, it is an easy read and won’t take too long to go through.
3. The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart: I’ll be honest, I haven’t finished this book yet (I’m notorious for not finishing books). But what I have read I have LOVED. She gives you practical ideas to implement into your homeschool. For example, this book is the reason we do “Wednesday Workshops” where I surprised my kids with a table full of arts and craft supplies and gave them freedom to “create”. It’s messy but oh so fun.

I hope to share more with you guys about my homeschooling journey. If you are a homeschooling mom, please comment below with any other book recommendations you have found helpful to you!

Customer service team here!

Getting to work as the customer service representatives is seriously such a fun job. We sincerely are so blessed to get to talk to all of you and hear about how we are able to help in any way possible. We find joy in meeting our customers right where they are and explaining any and everything we can with a clear sense of communication. Communication is huge to us. That’s how many of us work best, knowing the things we need to know before committing ourselves to something.

A ton of you are returning customers, and we are so thankful that you let us help be your support when it comes to keeping your family healthy! We wanted to step into some of these questions and answer them for those of you who are new or are needing a little refresher. Here are some common questions we can answer for you now that we get asked often.

1. Can you use this as a syrup on pancakes/waffles?
No, our Elderberry Syrup is not thick like maple syrup. We do not use any preservatives or glucose; therefore, our syrup is a juice-like consistency. If you were to put it on your pancakes, it would make them a bit soggy and not give your pancakes the ooey gooey sugary syrup consistency we all love! Instead, most of our customers will take their daily serving of elderberry syrup in one of our shot glasses.

2. How do you keep your syrup cold during shipment?
We don’t ship our syrup cold. We take great care in packing each jar, and we ship them at room temperature. We test our batches to ensure they are safe out of the fridge during the 6-7 days of transit. We do recommend getting it in the fridge when it arrives to ensure the longest shelf life.

3. Do you use a canning process?
We don’t use a canning process because we want to keep our honey raw (awesome health benefits from raw honey). We have a lidding machine that screws the lids on tightly, followed by a heat seal band around the top of the jar to ensure it hasn’t been tampered with.

4. Is your honey local?
Our honey is local to the Southern Indiana/Ohio valley area and located about 15 minutes from our shop.

5. Do you have any sugar free products?
Yes! Our Elderberry Syrup Kits are a great way to make a sugar free version of our Elderberry Syrup. Instead of adding honey to your kit, you can add an alternative sweetener or omit the sugar altogether.

6. What if I take too much Elderberry?
The only adverse effect of taking too much Elderberry Syrup is it could take on a mild laxative (think prune juice). Other than that, our syrup is simply a natural blend of berries, spices and honey so feel free to take more or less than our recommended serving size!

7. What do I do with your syrup?
Take one tablespoon (for adults) as a daily immune booster for overall health or you can add it to other recipes to enhance it both with taste and health! We have many customers who add their daily dose to their water, tea, or even coffee!

8. New vs. old gummies, why are they different?
When we first launched our gummies, we quickly learned that because of the extremely high vitamin C content, direct sunlight turned them BRIGHT blue. In order to keep them from turning blue, we needed to either switch to artificial colorants or lower our Vitamin C content. We HATE artificial colorants so we decided to lower the Vitamin C content slightly (it is still much higher than the recommended daily dose). In addition to the change in Vitamin C, we also listened to customer feedback and lowered our sugar content from 3.5g to 1g per gummy. 

9. Is your Wellness tea just as beneficial as your Elderberry Syrup?
Our Wellness tea is a customer favorite! While it has the benefit of elderberries, it is not as concentrated as our syrup. One tablespoon of our syrup would equal out (health benefit wise) to about 3 cups of our tea.

10. How else can you sweeten the kit?
While you can buy our raw honey separately, we have some customers who sweeten it with Stevia, Splenda or other sweeteners. 

Please let us know if you have any other questions as we are ready to answer them! Thank you for letting us serve you as we grow as a small business.

Written by Alex Dean & Kimberly Pavan

“Kindness is the light that dissolves all walls between souls, families and nations.”

This week we are spotlighting one of our core values that we have here at The Elderberry Co. Not only do we practice these core values with one another but with our customers as well! 

Let’s talk about Kindness. What does that look like to you? Have you ever experienced an act of kindness from someone that you will forever remember? You never know what somebody is going through. That is something that we truly hold onto here at work. We can all go about our day, with our task list in hand, focused. But we always remember to stop and have conversation with one another. Whether that looks like giving support, simply listening, or giving advice on how to make something better. Sometimes it means helping our team members with their own task list when there is a lot on their plate. 

Kindness comes in many forms. Small acts of kindness are just as important as the big ones! Usually when you hear about kindness, it is a story about someone showing kindness to others. What about showing kindness to ourselves as well? How we talk and treat ourselves is a reflection of how we approach others. It’s about extending the same intentions to ourselves too. So a sweet little reminder to show yourself kindness and others as well. 

At the end of the day, we are all in this together! 

How could you extend kindness to someone today? It can be a family member, friend or even a stranger. Remember everyone has a story and you never know how powerful your words and actions can be. You never know who you could be saving by one simple act of kindness.

Jello is always a fun snack to have for the kids so why not add some Elderberry in there to add some health to the fun. We have found the perfect recipe to enjoy Elderberry Jello snacks for both in the house and on your way out of the house. 

Ingredients

Instructions