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

Gogerty, Clare

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1446313743 ISBN 13: 9781446313749

Verlag: Verbena, 2025

Inhaltsangabe

A favourite of foragers, the Elder tree is the very essence of summer, with frothy blooms emerging in the late spring and filling the hedges and pathways with a glorious fragrance. As the seasons turn, the elderberry comes into its own, a delicious food for humans and animals alike, bursting with vitality and an excellent source of vitamin c.

In The Little Wild Library: Elder, discover how to make the most of this beautiful tree, with recipes and makes to try throughout the year. Once you’ve found your favourite elder, come back as the seasons change and find new things to do with your foraged treasure – from edible treats to useful tinctures. Beginner-friendly, the elder is the perfect plant for those new to foraging to get to know – with easy-to-follow recipes for favourite makes such as the delicate and romantic elderflower champagne.

Learn how to identify the elder amidst its hedgerow friends from the comprehensive botanical information included, and take this pocket-sized book out on foraging adventures to help spot the elder blossom bursting forth in the spring sunshine – though you’ll be sure to catch its heavenly scent before you see it! As fall arrives, return to your favourite elder and gather the elderberries that shine brightly from its branches. Through the book, learn about the history of the elder, and discover some of the myths, legends, and folklore attached to this beautiful plant.

The perfect beginner's guide to foraging, in a handy pocket-sized format, The Little Wild Library: Elder will reveal the secrets of the hedgerow and inspire those new to foraging to experiment and explore the beautiful plants around them.

Über diesen Titel

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.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Verbena
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2025
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1446313743
• ISBN 13: 9781446313749
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 128
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar