In Praise Of The Humble Elderflower

I am a naturopath, vegetarian and gardener. It’s fair to say that I love plants.

There are so many impressive plants with incredible properties – beautiful scents, medicinal uses, big blousy flowers, gorgeous hardy natives.

This little missive is in praise of the humble elderflower.

It grows like a weed in the Kinfolk garden. Give it a little sunshine and rain and you have flowers for months. It’s an incredible plant

Here’s a little snapshot of how it’s used at Kinfolk HQ. In true Kinfolk style none of what we grow or pick goes to waste.

We grow it organically in the Kinfolk garden.

Then it's picked and steeped in oil for 12 months to become the hero ingredient in our Elderflower Night Cream.  There are so many benefits for your skin – softening, smoothing, anti-inflammatory, hydrating and loaded with omega fatty acids 3 & 6, Vitamin A and B Vitamins.

Surplus flowers are quickly covered in boiling water with citrus rind ready to become delicious cordial the next day.

 Leftover stems are flung out the kitchen door to feed the birds nest ferns

Once the cordial is made the strained flowers are dropped into the compost bay to feed the plants later on.

Any flowers that aren’t needed immediately are left to feed our busy bees who love it. It’s a reliable and prolific source of food for them.

Some flowers are left to mature into elderberries which we use to make elderberry tinctures and syrups to provide an immune and healing boost during winter to ease colds and flu or topically for wound heling.

It’s the ultimate no waste, gift that keeps on giving, pretty as a picture plant.