Thank you for the upvote! I meant to write as well about your comment on about thanking the plant for it's bounty. This is something that has become very important to me while out foraging.

I was introduced to the idea by a woodsman, a green woodworker or bodger as they are known in the UK. He taught me about the importance of having respect for the trees from which we harvested materials when I went on a search for a maiden ash staff.

It was really brought home to me last year while on my last UK forage for elderflower for a massive batch of champagne.

It was early in the season and I had managed to find a few flowers here and there, thanking the bushes as I went. Then I walked out into the middle of the park, round a tree and there she was. In beaming sunshine, clothed in fresh white flowers, one of the biggest single elders I have ever seen. The flowers were a glorious virgin white with the finest scent.

It helped me realise just how lucky we are to live in a world of such abundance. I thanked her profusely for the harvest and promised the results would be heartily enjoyed by many.

The champagne that resulted was my best ever. It is an amazing world we live in and we should give thanks to it everyday.