Two Hedgerow Harvests, Two Seasons

Every British wood has its edge, and the edge is where the real foraging happens. Elder and rowan both thrive in that band of light between the canopy and the open field — the sunny rides, hedge banks, coppice margins and scrubby corners that a well-managed wood always produces. Manage a wood well and you create more of this habitat, not less. Cut a ride on rotation, lay a hedge, thin a block of ash or hazel, and the light that reaches the ground brings elderflower in late spring and rowan berries in early autumn.

That is the pleasure of these two plants: between them they fill the foraging year at both ends. Elderflowers arrive in late May and June, rowan berries in September and October. Pick with care, and there will be blossom and berries here for decades.

Elderflower: Identifying It with Confidence

Elder (Sambucus nigra) is usually a shrub rather than a tree, often untidy, with arching grey-green stems that snap easily and a soft, corky pith inside. The leaves are opposite and pinnate — five to seven oval, sharply toothed leaflets, each up to about 10cm, with a distinctly musty smell when crushed.

The flowers come in flat-topped creamy-white umbels, roughly the width of your open hand, made up of hundreds of tiny five-petalled florets. They have a heady scent that carries on a warm evening. A few pointers:

• Look for elder on woodland edges, hedge banks, derelict ground and beside old tracks.
• Check the leaves as well as the flowers — flowers alone are not enough.
• Beware of dwarf elder, which has similar flowers but grows low, has darker, unpleasant-smelling leaves and reddish berries. Leave it well alone.
• Ground elder is a low garden weed with umbels of white flowers; its leaves look quite different and it never forms a woody shrub.

Picking Elderflowers Well

Go out on a dry morning after the dew has lifted. Choose umbels that are fully open, creamy white and fresh, not brown at the edges. Snip the whole head with scissors, cutting the stalk just below where it forks, and leave the side shoots intact so the plant can carry on growing.

Take no more than one umbel in three from any one bush, and move around rather than stripping a single plant. Shake each head gently over the bush — beetles and small flies will drop off, and they belong there. Avoid roadside bushes within a few metres of traffic, sprayed hedgerows and anywhere you have not been given permission to pick. On nature reserves, check the rules before you start.

Cordial, Fritters and Elderflower Fizz

The classic use is cordial. For roughly a litre of finished syrup, steep 20 fresh flower heads in 1 litre of water with 1kg of sugar, the zest and juice of 2 lemons and 30g of citric acid. Leave for 24 to 48 hours, stirring twice, then strain through muslin and bottle. Dilute about one part to five with sparkling water. It keeps for six to eight weeks in the fridge, or freeze it in plastic bottles.

Elderflower fritters are even simpler: a light batter of flour, water and a whisked egg white, dip whole umbels and fry for a minute on each side in hot oil, then dust with sugar. For elderflower fizz, steep heads with sugar, lemon and a splash of cider vinegar in a sterilised demijohn, leave about a week, then bottle into sturdy screw-top bottles. Open them over the sink and chill them well — the pressure builds.

And don't overlook the wood. Elder stems have a soft pith you can push out with a wire or a stiff twig, which makes them perfect for whistles, pea shooters, beads and traditional pegs. Cut dead or surplus stems in winter, never the flowering wood you have just harvested.

Rowan Berries: Autumn's Tart Treasure

Rowan or mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia) is a small tree with smooth grey bark and pinnate leaves of five to eight pairs of narrow, sharply serrated leaflets, grey-green beneath. In spring it carries flat clusters of creamy white flowers; by September those become heavy trusses of orange-red berries, each about the size of a pea.

Rowan grows well on acid soils, in upland woods, on moorland edges and along woodland rides. Don't confuse it with wayfaring tree, which has opposite leaves and berries that turn black, or with firethorn, which is thorny with glossy alternate leaves. Rowan berries must be cooked — raw they are unpleasant and mildly purgative. Cooking destroys the parasorbic acid responsible.

Rowan Jelly and a Winter Dram

Rowan jelly is the classic. Simmer 1kg of berries with 500g of chopped windfall apples and just enough water to cover, until the fruit is soft. Strain through a jelly bag overnight without squeezing. For every 600ml of juice, add 450g of sugar and boil to setting point. The result is a sharp, ruby-red jelly that is superb with venison, game, roast pork or a mature cheese.

For a simple liqueur, half-fill a jar with berries, cover with vodka or gin, add a little sugar to taste and leave for three months, shaking occasionally. Strain and bottle.

Leave at least two-thirds of the berries on every tree, and more in a hard year. Redwings, fieldfares and waxwings depend on that crop to survive the winter, and they will repay you by scattering seed along the wood's edge for next spring.