The Little Wild Library - Elder: Simple Things to Do With the Plants Around You. - Hardcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Clare Gogerty lives on a smallholding in deepest Herefordshire which she is opening as a spiritual retreat in 2023. The sound of shamanic drumming often comes from her orchard, and herbal remedies are frequently cooked up in the kitchen. She has been interested in magic, druidry and folklore since a child, encouraged by her father, an enthusiastic dowser and leyline hunter. A former magazine editor, she is now a freelance journalist and author, writing about spirituality, travel, homes and gardens.

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The English summer is bookended by elder; it comes into frothy bloom at the start and is sprinkled with bright berries at the end. Elder’s widespread abundance – you are never far from an elder tree or shrub even in a city – and the multitude of uses of both flowers and fruit, make it one of the forager’s go-to plants. 

One of the reasons for elder’s profusion is that it grows quickly and roots easily – two essential elements of a hedging plant. It was widely used as hedging in the 18th century because of this but went out of favour subsequently, and many trees were dug up and replaced. It is nothing if not resilient, however, and found other places to establish and flourish, helped by birds feasting on the berries and scattering seeds about.

Elder has many culinary and medicinal uses, along with other more surprising ones. During the medieval period, its hollow stems (with the pith removed) were used to blow into a fire to encourage flames. Its English name reflects this; it is rooted in the Anglo-Saxon word aeld which meant ‘fire’, or eldrun which meant furnace (because it burns so quickly, however, elder makes poor fuel). 

Its genus name, Sambucus, is a nod to the other use of the hollow stems. It refers to the Greco-Roman musical instrument the sambuca, which was made from the wood. Pliny the Elder (23–79ce), a Roman author and naturalist, called it the ‘pipe tree’ because of the many fifes, trumpets, and other wind instruments that were made from it.