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Are the Elderflowers out near you yet? If so are you going to do anything with them? There are some just forming in my local park and I'm itching to have ago at making cordial, but is it OK to take some?

Also, Elderflowers have been used in cosmetics and are said to soothe and brighten the complexion. I've been thinking of making some Elderflower water (a bit like Rosewater) has anyone done this?

Ermintrude wrote:There are some just forming in my local park and I'm itching to have ago at making cordial, but is it OK to take some?

Go at night, with a green balaclava...

No elder anywhere near here, unfortunately. I saw one big bush a couple of days ago, and there is not a flower in sight yet! I'm hoping to pick some this year for cordial.

Thanks Ina! I'll get a swag bag too!

They aren't out here yet. I will wait and do things with the berries!

I have several large bushes of Elder at the bottom of the yard, which is handy. Every year I make a supply of hand "cream" for the winter. Just melt a block of lard slowly in a pan, add as many heads of elderflowers as you can submerge in the melted fat. "Cook" over a very gentle heat for about 1/2 hour or so, and then drain the fat off into shallow bowls or jars. You could use melted vaseline if prefer. This, put on last thing at night, is an excellent remedy for those dried, chapped hands of winter. I got the receipt from a collection of old Farmers' Weekly recipes (Farmhouse Fare) many years back now and swear by it.

hello all, daft question coming up!

are ther any particulaly distinctive things about elder?.. i had a bash at getting some last year, but im fairly certain i got it slightly wrong and picked something that looked similar but tasted horrible

I am waiting for our tree to come out in flowers. I say OUR, it's the one on some waste ground over the road.

Elderflower champagne for me!

The handcream sounds interesting, but I can't bear the smell of lard. Perhaps a veggie fat would do the trick?

We've got some... but it's not flowering yet either. I fancy the handcream recipe actually!! Need something to sooth my poor paws...

Mind you.. I also fancy that elderflower champagne recipe too - hope we get a good crop!!! It's looking good so far.

It's fairly distinctive... check this link out. As a final check the flowers are quite aromatic. Once they start to dry out a bit they smell like cat pee! (but that smell disappears when you cook or process them)

I see (from that link) that Jews ear now has a more PC name trees ear. I always thought that jews ear was a suspect name for a fungus, I mean why Jews ear?

Aparently it is to do with Judas hanging himself on an elder tree.

Quite right. You can also call it "wood ear" now, but no matter what you call it it's still pretty horrible. The best use I've seen for it is raw and very finely shredded as a crunchy topping for salad. Any better uses? There really ought to be seeing as this is the only mushroom I know that fruits all year round (whenever the humidity is high enough)!

hedgewizard wrote:Quite right. You can also call it "wood ear" now, but no matter what you call it it's still pretty horrible. The best use I've seen for it is raw and very finely shredded as a crunchy topping for salad. Any better uses? There really ought to be seeing as this is the only mushroom I know that fruits all year round (whenever the humidity is high enough)!

Oyster mushrooms do too.

I picked some jews ear yesterday, it is a disgusting looking fungus. I am not sure that I can bring myself to do anything with it.

my eldertree has tiny flower buds all over but no actual flowers yet. I am going to make some elderflower wine and also some elderflower and gooseberry jam. not sure about anything else yet

i quite like "wood ears" - up at a site i camp in often there are a lot of elder trees, and we picked a good few wood ears a month or so back.

drie them out, is always good - then you can re-hydrate them when needed.

we added them to a stew.

i think i am going to pick some elder flowers and make some elder flower fritters.

http://lois.co.uk/lois/recipes/fritters.shtml

Hey Grahoom,
If you get a chance check out Andy and Dave's mushroom hunting episode. He has a link on his posts.

Have a feeling you might enjoy it.