Tuesday, 16 November 2010

Elderflowers

This is one of my favourite trees. Our variegated elder tree.
One of our sheep seems to like it, too.The flowers are beautiful, abundant and very fragrant. We made elderflower wine last year for the first time and it was an absolute hit.
We have already started a new batch, but will probably do several. I will also dry some flowers for teas - as it is supposed to be very good for when you have a cold or flu. Also good to fight hay fever.

Maybe after all that wine making and drying for teas, we still have some flowers left on the tree and they can mature to berries? I have never tasted anything made from elderberries, so would be keen to experiment. Jam? Wine? Drying for medicinal purposes?
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3 comments:

  1. Sue Garrett16 November 2010 at 8:12 pm

    We have a black leaved elder that has pink flowers - reeally beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  2. Veggie Gnome17 November 2010 at 10:56 am

    That sounds beautiful! Tried to find a picture of it on your blog, but there didn't seem to be any?
    Do you do anything with the flowers and berries?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sue Garrett17 November 2010 at 9:23 pm

    Hi Try this link

    We haven't done anything with the flowers or berries as it seemed a shame to pick them but I know it makes a pinkish elderflower cordial.

    ReplyDelete

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