Selfsufficientish.com

"Elder bud pickle - (something to try while you wait for the blossom)
Collect enough elder buds to fill a small le parfait or kilner jar. Snip them off their stems down to small florets and wash thoroughly. Put into a saucepan with 1 tp Mace, 1 tsp peppercorns, 1 tsp seasalt and the pared and shredded rind of a lemon (try to avoid the bitter pith). Top up with the vinegar of your choice, white wine or cider, or even malt vinegar if you like the taste. Bring to a swift boil, and take immediately from the heat. strain off the liquid and allow it and the buds to cool separately (doing this stops the liquid from overcooking the buds). Put the buds into your sterilized jar (don't use one with a metal lid - as I said Le Parfait or Kilner with a plastic seal is best). Pour over the vinegar liquid - add or remove any of the spices as you prefer, and seal securely. Leave for a month or so to mature and develop the flavour.

This is a bit like pickled capers or nasturtium seeds, and would prob. go equally well with fishy dishes, but I like it as salad pickle variant in a ploughmans type meal. If the buds aren't overcooked, they should still have a crunchy texture. I don't tend make this in large amounts because I'm the only picklehead in our house. My version of the recipe has been tweaked with the addition of garlic and chilli - possibly not to everyones taste - but you can be bold and experiment!

Elder flower pickle - (haven't got round to trying this one yet - if you do, could you report back please!?)
Gather enough flowerheads to fill a smallish jar (as above). Shake them lightly to remove unwanted guests, give them a light rinse, and snip down to smallish florets. Fill your jar. Boil some white wine or cider vinegar and pour over the flowers in the jar. Pop the lid on loosely and leave for an hour to cool, then strain off the vinegar and use the florets in a tossed salad. Keep the vinegar for another occasion.

I also know that soft, young green Elder shoots can be cooked and served rather like asparagus, but again I've not got round to trying it yet."

This is the time of year I find best for making Green Elder Ointment, here is the recipe

Also called `oil of swallows' as you make it in the spring, when the
swallows return! I try to make some between the time the Elder trees
leaf and the flowers are just ready to come out, but a few weeks late
does not seem to matter. Pick all fresh ingredients on a dry day.

Ointments have two parts, the active ingredients and the base. I use
solid vegatable oil for the main base, (the Trex type of stuff, use a
supermarkets own brand) and add a little glycerine, so that it is
slightly softer and easier to use. Solid veg oil goes into the skin
better than the oily bases of things like germaline, which just sits
there. Ok if licked as well.

Things to do

Find:

A selection of small jars, the ones on hotel breakfast tables for
jams are ideal. Wash.

An elder tree.

Pair of tights, pop sox etc.

Buy:
1 or 2 blocks of solid veg oil.
I small bottle glycerine, (comes in a bottle like food colouring)
This is not essential, just makes getting it out of the jar easier in
cold weather.

Some ounces of dried lavender flowers, I use a good hand scoop full per block. Should leave you enough left over for sewing little
sachets for Christmas presents!

Ditto of dried comfrey leaves if you have not got any plants of the
stuff. If you haven't, let me know, I am trying to hack it back and
will give you plants.

How to make.

Pick around half a carrier bag of leaves, this should be plenty. Take
them off the stalks but don't get picky. Flower buds are ok,

Pick about half quantity fresh comfrey to fresh elder.

Heat a large saucepan, give yourself some room here. Melt oil. Add
some fresh leaves.

NOTE: You are not frying stuff. If things start to crisp, oil is
way too hot. You want it clear looking, but no smoke coming off.
Fresh leaves should go into the oil and start looking sad and limp,
turning the oil gradually green as the active oils in leaves goes
into the base. If this is not happening, after say five minutes,
turn heat up.

After first handful of leaves looks like over cooked spinach, replace
with new leaves. You will need to do this over and over 'til oil
goes green

If you are using dried comfrey, do the elder first. You are looking for
oil to be a nice deep green colour. Add dried comfrey to this and
cook a bit longer, maybe five minutes, keep the heat down, be gentle
with it.

You will now have either a pan of green oil and a sad heap of cooked
leaves, (fresh comfrey option)

Or a pile of cooked elder and a pan full of green oil covered bits!
Don't worry

Make enough room for the lavender and let it fill the air with nice
pong. Five minutes cooking should extract oil,

Now stretch a tights foot over a bowl or jug, and spoon contents of
pan into it.

Oil will run through, but there is a lot of good stuff in with the
leaves. Wait until it is just cool enough to hold, and start
squeezing. This is really good for your hands, but watch out for the
heat inside, don't burn yourself. Things tend to get a bit messy at
this point. Don't waste any, scrape hands off into bowl. Don't
worry about the odd speck of leaf.

Now keep an eye on it, it will change colour as it starts to set.
When it is cool but still pourable, add glycerine, half bottle per
block of oil. Stir really well, (it tends to settle to bottom) and
pot up.

Reason for doing this.

Elder is a powerful wound cleaner, it gets gunk out amazingly. It
also seems to stop irritation, great with allergic problems.

Comfrey kick starts the healing system.

Lavender is an antiseptic, and stops the ointment smelling like bad
cabbage.

Use on well, everything. I have used it with success on eczema,
cuts, sores, boils, wounds, boy's knees, horses' heels, (greasy heel? My vet called it) invisible problems that children can see but you can't, dry skin, lab workers split skin (chemical reaction?), pigs, cats, dogs, and goats. A pot is always inside the porch, ready for any problems and has been for the last 18 years, since I started this. I must have given hundred of pots away. It is amazingly cheap and effective.

NOTE: on unco-operative animals, heat ointment in spoon over candle
until it just melts. Pour over wound. Gets them every time!