Let’s show respect for our elders

We all have our favourite foods and many will have their favourite foraged food. For the latter, with stinging nettles, sea buckthorn and horse mushrooms in the running, it is a tough call. The winner, for me at least, is the glorious elderflower.

The elder is a very common shrub, one that is unquestionably native to Britain, with records going back to before the last Ice Age. It has a rather patchy distribution that defies description without a map, but it should not be hard to find.

Elder trees (or shrubs — you choose) do not seem to be particularly fussy