Nearly Time for Elderflower Cordial

Tuesday and Wednesday weren’t too bad through the day although after a chilly start it took a while for each day to warm up. Overnight the temperatures continue to be well below average for June. 

If you saw our early spring video tour of our plot we had showed a view of this area.

It’s not a tidy area because it’s where all the large stones and rubbish were dumped as we cleared our plots. Over many years grass has grown up between the stones and the stones themselves are covered with moss and lichen. We’ve scattered a few unwanted bulbs in this area, the ones you dig up by accident and find you’ve managed to slice the bulbs in half have all been put in this patch.

Over time it’s become home to a mature elder which covers much of the ground through summer. By now this area looks like this.

It’s just coming into flower which means we’ll soon be making some elderflower cordial.

This means that even our old dumping ground for stones will at least be a little bit productive. The tree does need cutting back every few years to prevent it from taking over completely and usually means a year without flowers. That’s not the case this year so I’d better start looking up some recipes for elderflower cordial.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett