Cordially yours..

What we have here is 2 gallons of homemade elderflower cordial, all bottled and ready to see us through till next year.

What a glorious sight!

This is a superb year for elderflowers. at the moment they'reall-too-briefly decorating the lanes and footpaths in a myriad bunches of coarse creamy lace. Elderflowers are on a mission to make elderberries, so you need to pick 'em while you have the chance and get cracking with this syrup which is easy to make and satisfying to use. (I blipped the recipe last year)

Use your common-sense and pick flowers from gardens, meadows, pathways and bridleways rather than roads. Petrol fumes do not improve the taste. 2 gallons requires 70 large size elderflower heads -I managed to pick these yesterday between raindrops - 6kg of sugar, 250g of citric acid, 15 lemons and my very largest pan. The kind of one you use if you're feeding the five thousand.

Elderflower cordial is lovely with fizzy water, delectable on strawberries and other fruit, transforms a rough cava or plain icecream, and brings a touch of summer to midwinter.

And if you make a lot now, there's a sporting chance there may be some left in midwinter.