Elderberry

Respect your elders! We certainly do!

With beautifully scented summertime flowers followed by a succession of bountiful berries, the Elder is a favoured plant amongst foragers, nature and nature lovers alike.

Elder offers many uses and it is for this reason that it is a plant that is steeped in history and folklore.

Many of us however will be most familiar with the products that are produced from its flowers.

Elderberry is one of the more fruity botanicals found in our ‘Heartwood of Oak Moor Meadow’ gin and once again, our botanical selection process meant that it met the criteria for being both an asset to our gin and also being of significant benefit to wildlife.

“Go forth and seek out the hollow-branched tree

For a blowpipe to enrage a dwindling fire

Amidst hedgerow, thicket and spinney she’ll be

Entwined with the hawthorn, bramble and briar

 

Seasonal harvests replenish foragers stores

From the deepest woods to the fields of hay

Elders reside by the old front doors

Of houses to keep the devil at bay”

Poem by Josh McDowall