natures bounty

[always digging]

just got back to the house with loads of elderflowers and have started some wine off in the kitchen , if any one else is thinking about making some dont hang about the flowers dont last long espicially in the warm weather

[Flummery]

And I recommend you sniff before picking. Some are fragrant and delicate and some smell like cat wee. You can't tell till you get your nose in!

[kalimna]

We have several elderflowers up here near Stirling, so I'll have to go a-picking soon Though I reckon up here they will be flowering a little later than south of the border.....

Adam

[lainey lou]

I have elderflower champagne and cordial on the go, the kitchen smell beautiful at the moment!
Hello to kalimna, my inlaws live in Alloa.

[kalimna]

Greetings returned
If your inlaws happen to be interested in an allotment, PM me, as we're setting up a new one in the area.....

Adam

[lainey lou]

Greetings returned
If your inlaws happen to be interested in an allotment, PM me, as we're setting up a new one in the area.....

Adam

Really? That's interesting, they may well be. They're on holiday at the moment but I'll call them at the weekend, thank you!

[di]

And I recommend you sniff before picking. Some are fragrant and delicate and some smell like cat wee. You can't tell till you get your nose in!

I find that even if they smell delicate and wonderful on the tree,as soon as they've been in a bag for more than five mins the aroma switched to cat pee
Must get some cordial made this year,I missed them last year.

[Flummery]

They go brilliantly with gooseberries in jam.

[lindyloo]

has anyone tried storing the cordial as icecubes? i read this somewhere andd thought i might give it a go- whenever i have made elderflower cordial in the past, it is so delicious that i tend to drink all i have made very fast ( all of that sugar is not good for me) tend to think icecubes would help dole it out for longer as i can tuck it away and forget about it.

[Snadger]

has anyone tried storing the cordial as icecubes? i read this somewhere andd thought i might give it a go- whenever i have made elderflower cordial in the past, it is so delicious that i tend to drink all i have made very fast ( all of that sugar is not good for me) tend to think icecubes would help dole it out for longer as i can tuck it away and forget about it.

I frose mine in small plastic pop bottles last year. Worked well, but still didn't last long once the hot weather arrived!

[Hilary B]

I think it is the sap (from stems and leaves) that smells a bit odd if you keep freshly picked flowers in a polybag. That distinctive smell of the sap is the thing I know best about elder. It deters flies somewhat (not the pollenating ones, just houseflies and horseflies etc).