Why I won’t be living the good life

I love the warmer weather, as it brings the first UK-grown produce. There is so much more flavour in locally grown fruits and vegetables — not to mention the good feeling that goes with keeping food miles low. I’d love to grow my own, but it’s just too labour intensive.

Two years ago, I grew cucumbers and tomatoes from seed. The tomatoes produced a huge crop — too many to eat — a faff in itself as I was forever picking and finding ways to use them. The cucumbers were another story.

An entire summer of planting, replanting, watering and inspection produced four paltry cucumbers. Maybe five. The crunchy green fruits were delicious, but with all that love (and time) invested in them they should have been! They were (almost) as needy as my children — who inspired my horticultural hopes. I had wanted them to see where food comes from, but they could not have been less interested.

This year I won’t be planting anything, but as I’m blessed with an elderflower tree in my garden, I will be making elderflower cordial. Unlike gardening, the “effort invested” versus “opportunity to show-off” ratio is far more positive. It’s simple to make, impressive and gives me a huge balaboosta buzz. Here’s my recipe:

 

Elderflower cordial

Makes: 1.5 litres

Ingredients
15 elderflower heads  
500g granulated or caster sugar 
25g citric acid (you’ll find this in chemist shops)
2 unwaxed lemons

Method: 

• Gently rinse the elderflowers, shake to dislodge bugs. Carefully inspect them for any more bugs. 
• Zest the lemons and cut them into slices. Mix the sugar and and 1 litre of water in a large saucepan and slowly heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. 
• Once dissolved, add the zest, lemon slices and citric acid and bring to a boil. Pour into  a mixing bowl large enough to hold all of the ingredients and add the elderflowers.  
• Cover with cling film and leave in a cool place for at least 24 hours. 
• Line a fine meshed sieve with muslin and strain the liquid into a jug. 
• Pour into sterilised bottles and serve diluted with water. It will keep for up to 6 weeks if refrigerated.