Ash


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One of the principal uses of ash (Fraxinus excelsior) has been as a timber tree.

The wood is renowned for its strength and flexibility for building, furniture-making, garden tools, farming equipment, weapons and musical instruments.

Geoffrey Grigson writes that the ash is “immensely useful even in our age of steel and alloy”.

John Evelyn (1620–1706) wrote in his Sylva that the ash is so useful that “every prudent Lord of a Manor should employ one acre of ground with Ash to every twenty acres of other land, since in as many years it would be more worth than the land itself”.

In Britain, ash remains one of the most important hardwoods grown by the Forestry Commission.

Our main interest here lies in the ash tree’s story through myth and magic, food and medicine.

The ash is famous in many cultures as a powerful tree of life, death and rebirth.

It was believed that its roots extended as far below the earth as its branches rose to the sky.

The ash is a tree of immense symbolism and meaning, and as such, it has been protected and respected throughout the ages.

The beautiful elegance of the ash tree earned it the title ‘Venus of the forest’, but its familiarity, as Culpeper said, needed no description.


Scientific Name

Fraxinus excelsior


Family

Oleaceae


Botanical Description

Ash has light grey bark, and large compound leaves divided into four or eight pairs of lance-shaped leaflets with sharply toothed margins. The tree grows up to 40 m. The leaves are preceded by black flower buds bursting into clusters of greenish-white or purplish colours. Each fruit or seed has a single long wing called an ‘ash key’, which aids wind pollination.


Status

Deciduous. Native.


Habitat and Distribution

Deciduous woodland, hedgerows, scrub.


Parts Used for Food

Seeds, shoots, leaves and sap.


Harvest Time

Spring.


Food Uses

The keys (the winged seeds) have been eaten as a pickle in Europe and Asia. The young shoots are edible and can be added raw to salads. The leaves have been used for tea. The tree sap can be tapped to make ash wine.


Ash Recipes


Nutritional Profile

It is not noted as having any particular nutritional benefits, although its astringency may explain some of its healing effects in folk medicine. The leaves may have a laxative effect.


Herbal Medicine Uses of Ash

It was once an ancient remedy for snake bites and was believed to cure many ailments, from obesity to leprosy! The tree was also used to treat jaundice, kidney and bladder stones, flatulence, warts, ringworm, and earache.


Other Uses

The wood was used to make spears and was excellent for firewood.


Safety Note

There is little data that I can find a warning about the side effects of using ash in food and medicine.


References

Allen, D. E. & Hatfield, G. (2004) Medicinal plants in folk tradition: an ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland. Portland: Timber Press.

Cleene, M. de & Lejeune, M. C. (2002) Compendium of symbolic and ritual plants in Europe. Ghent: Man & Culture.

Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista, CA: Kampong Publications.

Kunkel, G. (1984) Plants for human consumption: an annotated checklist of the edible phanerogams and ferns. Koenigstein: Koeltz Scientific Books.

Grieve, M. M. (1998) A modern herbal. London: Tiger Books International

Pickled Ash Keys

Home > Plants > Ash


The keys of Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) provide a unique taste sensation. If you’re into Slow Food then this is certainly a slow recipe as it takes three months before you can indulge your taste buds.

One thing to make sure is that you pick your Ash Keys when they are very young, and the small seed within the ‘wing’ has barely developed. You can see the seed if you hold the Ash Key up to the sunlight.


Ingredients

  • 2 cups of Ash Keys without stalks
  • 1 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 8 peppercorns
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • water

Instructions

  1. Wash your Ash Keys, then place in a pan covered with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  2. Strain off the water and return to the pan with some freshwater, then bring back to boil and simmer a further 5 minutes.
  3. Drain off the water again, allow to ‘dry’ slightly and then pack into warm dry jars, but allow an inch of space from the top of the jar.
  4. Put the spices, salt and sugar into a bowl and add the vinegar.
  5. Put the bowl into a saucepan (cover it), add some water (not to the bowl but just into the pan) and bring slowly to the boil. I’ve never been very good at this so my one splutters and bubbles furiously, even when its on simmer. I’m sure there’s some scientific reason, but as I failed miserably at science I don’t have an answer. Allow to gently boil for about 5 minutes, then remove the bowl and let it sit for about 4 hours or until it is cold.
  6. Strain the liquid through muslin or sieve into a jug and pour over the Ash Keys filling the jars right to the brim.
  7. Screw on the tops or better yet use the kind of jars I have in the picture above.
  8. Store for 3 months and let the pickle ‘mature’.
  9. Give your friends a shock when you serve this up as an after-dinner treat, along with some fine cheese.