Beach, Fagus sylfatica
Beech can either be kept trimmed, level with the main hedge, or be allowed to grow into full trees.
The very young leaves can be eaten raw. A very nice mild flavour, they go well in a mixed salad. However, the leaves quickly become tough so only the youngest should be used. New growth is usually produced for 2 periods of 3 weeks each year, one in spring and one in mid-summer.
Seed is edible raw or cooked. A pleasant sweet flavour, though rather small and fiddly. The seed can also be dried and ground into a powder and then used with cereal flours when making bread, cakes etc. The seed is rich in oil.
The seed should not be eaten in large quantities because it contains a deleterious principle.
The seed contains 17 - 20% of an edible semi-drying oil, this stores well without going rancid and is said to be equal in delicacy to olive oil. It is used as a dressing for salads and also for cooking. The leaf buds harvested in the winter and dried on the twigs are used as toothpicks.
The leaves are gathered in autumn and used as a stuffing material for mattresses etc.
Wood - hard, heavy, strong, very durable. It is not suitable for outdoor use and is often attacked by a small beetle. It has a wide range of applications, including furniture, flooring, turnery etc. It makes a very good fuel, burning with a lot of heat. The wood has often been used as a source of creosote, tar, methyl alcohol, acetic acid.