Respect your EldersWild West Yorkshire nature diary, Monday 21st June 1999
Elder goes back still further, it has been used as a medicine, or as a food, in Britain for at least 4,000 years. It has been found in Neolithic burials.
Rhubarb
The fields around the M1/M62 motorway junction are famous for their Rhubarb. Before the motorways were built there was a regular 'Rhubarb Special' train to take the forced shoots to London.
Growing around the old forcing sheds today are several fields of Linseed, in lilac-blue flower. Return of the Rabbit
When we returned from holiday I was both sad and, I have to admit, relieved to hear that the rabbit that had been eating our vegetables had been shot, and had been eaten for dinner by a neighbour. But, today, there it is again! Or at least there's one of its friends or relatives.The solution, as I've said before, seems to be to grow my crops under cover.
Richard Bell, E-mail; 'richard@daelnet.co.uk' 
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AT THE SHADY ENTRANCE to the wood, Ground Elder has come into flower next to an Elder bush that is still in blossom. Now that the varied greens of spring have dulled to a uniform shade, these two could, at a glance, be taken as little and large versions of the same plant. The Elder bush has a touch of cream on the flowers, compared to the plain white of the Ground Elder.
Ground Elder goes back a long way. Also known as Goutweed, it was used to treat gout in the Middle Ages, but it was probably introduced to Britain by the Romans, as a vegetable. The young leaves may have been eaten like spinach.
Wakefield Council promotes a Rhubarb Trail and Festival.