Harvesting gorse - A prickly Task

Late April and May is when the gorse flowers most prolifically here in Scotland. It does flower for much of the year, but this is when the bushes are absolutely covered in bright yellow flowers and when I like to harvest them.

The gorse grows on the hills just behind my croft. It is a very invasive plant so we do not encourage it to grow on the croft itself, but it grows freely on the hills and that is where I go to gather the flowers.  Sometimes I also harvest this from my partner's croft in Ross Shire, where the blooms are larger than those at home, perhaps because the croft there is closer to the sea, and much more sheltered...

Harvesting the flowers is not the easiest job because gorse is extremely prickly. The bushes are covered in sharp spines so you have to be careful.

I do not wear gloves because I cannot get into the flowers properly with them on. Instead I gently pick the flower heads by hand and place them into a basket lined with a linen cloth.

It is quite a slow and time consuming job, but it is also a really lovely one. You are surrounded by that wonderful scent while you work, and I always harvest on a sunny day when the flowers are at their best.

Drying and preparing the flowers

Once I have gathered the flowers I take them home and spread them out in trays to dry.

I have to collect enough at this time of year so that I can use them throughout the year. When they are dried the flowers hold their bright yellow colour, just slightly smaller than when they were freshly picked.

Once dried, I mix the gorse flowers with calendula petals, which I also grow here. I will talk about calendula another time.

Together they are infused in oil which I use in our products.

An old plant of the landscape

Gorse is a native evergreen shrub found across the UK, known botanically as Ulex europaeus. It grows well on poor soils and exposed hillsides, which is why it is such a familiar plant in the landscape.

The flowers are well known for their scent, particularly on warm sunny days when the oils in the petals are released. The fragrance is often described as coconut or vanilla.

The smell sadly does not come through in the finished products, but it is still a plant I really enjoy working with.

Gorse flowers also contain natural plant compounds such as flavonoids. These are plant antioxidants, the same kinds of compounds plants use to protect themselves in the wild.

Why I like working with gorse

For me it is quite simple.

I love the colour. I love the smell. And I like using plants that grow around us in the landscape.

Even though the scent does not stay in the finished product, harvesting and working with the flowers is still a very special part of the year.

PRODUCTS

Some products I make which contain wild gorse are Wild Gorse, Calendula & Lemon Soap, an award winning soap.  Also matching Whipped Body Butter,  Body Oil, Hand Cream, just to mention a few.  Have a look at the shop page to see more products.