Some secret spots

I began elderflower foraging yesterday and have started the first elderflower cordial bucket-of-the-season. We were supposed to have a lovely quiet start to the weekend, because things have been tough lately and we are all knackered. But I decided to go and pick some elderflowers from my friend’s trees while she’s away (with permission of course), which meant a swift trip across town. En route I spied an elder tree covered in a decent amount of flowers and took note. Once we got to Melrose, I was rather disappointed to see that my friend’s tree only had a few flower heads, so we decided to do a spot of urban foraging in town, to see if we could locate any further trees… I thought I’d share the results of our ‘hunting’ below – especially for Megan & Cathie.

To begin with, you need to know what an elder tree looks like. So the photo below gives a rough idea… elder trees have little heads of creamy white flowers, with slightly jagged leaves – like the ones seen in this photo. I always think they they smell slightly like cat pee – thankfully this is never the flavour that they impart! Obviously, when you you are foraging for flowers, don’t wander onto someone’s private property without asking blah blah etc. I find many trees growing wild on verges, or hanging over fences – so I never have any qualms about collecting them.

Busaco Road, pedestrian accessway, Hataitai, Wellington: This tree is sort of on the path to someone’s house… and the flowers are relatively high, so it could be a mission collecting them. Looks like an old tree, might be worth taking a cutting from.

John Street, Newtown, Wellington: This tree is opposite Toi Whakaari in Newtown. It’s growing on the grass verge and has loads of buds ready to flower.

Tasman Street, Wellington: I spotted this tree as we were heading towards Buckle Street. It’s on the edge of the cenotaph and I was able to gather about 5 flower heads – again it has lots of buds waiting to bloom.

Corner of Karo Drive and Willis Street: I’ve never been able to get to this tree, and apologies for the poor photo quality – it was taken through the windscreen of the car. There are a couple of trees located here, right on the edge of the motorway bypass . I first noticed them last year, covered in loads of flowers – every time I was driving home from town!

Happy foraging!

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Tags: elderflower, foraging