Elderflowers at the allotment

It makes a change to have a blip sorted before 8.00am. I was up early and at the allotment for 7.30 this morning to collect some elderflowers as Susan has requested a batch of elderflower champagne this year. It’s best to collect the flowers early in the morning.

And it was this combination of the flowers, newish shed, window reflection and gradually disintegrating pallets that make up my compost bins that made up today’s blip.

By 9.30 the brew was sitting in the garage where it will remain for 4 or 5 days until fermentation begins using natural yeasts in the air and on the flowers. I use Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s recipe with a little less sugar than the 800g he uses. It can get lively and I’ve had a bottle of two explode in the past. Burping them stops that. It’s rather fine stuff. If you want a go, here’s the recipe: https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/sparkling-elderflower-wine. I use between 16-18 heads of flowers.

That was the second early start on the trot seeing I was at Tesco’s fro 6.30am yesterday morning.

After all that excitement it was more of the same; walk, lunch, garden, sitting in the sunshine, rain mat out...