Bluebells Blossom & Beltain

I once before wrote a post here called Blossom, Beltain and a beautiful game. That was quite a while ago and then Saint's were moving from the Championship into the Premiership. Since that time they have just about stayed up.

The Bluebells are looking magnificent this year and it's well worth taking a lovely, long walk through a local wood, simply for the pleasure of gazing on this wonder.

I have spotted early Elderflowers, waving their blousy, citrus blooms to herald the onset of Summer. Yes, that's right, the warm season will soon be upon us and I'm already wearing my shorts in preparation.

Plums are gradually fattening on the branches, Hawthorn is flowering in the hedgerows and everything is growing like crazy.

This year, as normal, I will be visiting Butser Ancient Hill Farm, with the children for Beltain. The celebration culminates with burning of their truly massive Wicker Man; the kids have been, quite literally, looking forward to it all year.

A Quick Quiz

I have decided to post a little quiz, to help keep all you readers tuned in, until the Elderflower arrives with the start of Summer.

A keen sense of observation is the main weapon in the foragers arsenal; so here are a couple of questions for anyone hungry for esoteric knowledge and hoping to find a good spot for future fruitfulness...

Take a good, long, careful look at the following two photos, does this look like a good spot for foraging?

Photo 1

 Is there anything here that might indicate forthcoming fruitfulness?

Photo 2

If you have looked and are still not sure what to search for, here's a clue... It's not always the foliage that tells the truth of the tale.

Spoiler Alert!

Look below for the answer...

Last year, in the moth of July, this pathway was over hung by a huge amount of delicious, multi coloured plums. 

There was such an abundance of fruit that one branch was bent so far that it eventually snapped under the weight, You can still see the sawn off branch, but this was not the answer to the question or the clue...

Many of these juicy fruits fell onto the pavement, where they were crushed by passers by, nobody cleared away the squashed fruit. 

The acidic fruit juice leaked all over the pathway and, over time, the surface of the tarmac has become bleached as a result of this continuous seasonal exposure. Now have a look back at the first two photographs and the markings will seem obvious.

Elder, Elder Everywhere

Elderflowers are easy to identify and are said to herald in the Summer. Well, you could have fooled me - it was the coldest, wettest, windiest and foggiest half term holiday since records began!

Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane? No, It's an Elder Bush!

However, we remained undaunted and were soon out gathering a bagfull of the best Elderflower heads. We left plenty to develop into berries, not that this is really significant - Elderflowers are just about everywhere at the moment.

Our first expedition was to make Elderflower Cordial, my daughter’s favourite drink. We were in Devon at the time on a short break but the first bushes were spotted after only a short walk.

Mmmmm, Fragrant!

It only took us a moment to collect enough and then rush back to begin preparation and within a short time we were all guzzling away at this sweet, delicate summertime drink.

The next foray was back on Southampton Common; it was raining this day, so the children chose to wear sensible shoes in the form of roller-skates!

And They're Off

There are Elderflower bushes all over the common and they are currently in flower; the kids started spotting them as soon as they arrived. Consequently, it took no time at all to gather enough (you only need a few flower heads), so there was plenty of time to zoom about on wheels in the wet.

Clare Joined Us On Two Wheels

With this batch we are making Elderflower Champagne, a delicious and simple to make summer evening drink. Just be sure to store it in suitable (pressure safe) bottles, otherwise you might get some unwelcome explosions.

All Over The Common

Recipes for both drinks can be found here…

Currently Fermenting Away Nicely

Where we were staying, we couldn’t find any Citric Acid for our cordial (used as a preservative - obtained from chemist), nor did we measure out the other ingredient’s very accurately but it tasted lovely anyway.

Elderflower for Everyone

Elder trees grow in the hedgerows and fields, the young branches are hollow and pithy (the older wood is very hard). The young branches can be used to make blow-pipes, or flutes/whistles perhaps for the more peacefully minded. The bark is rough and cork-like with deep ridges.

Around May time Elder trees comes into flower. Elderflower is known in some quarters as the first sign of summer and spending a warm sunny day collecting the flowers and turning them into Elderflower cordial or Elderflower champagne, will only enhance that summery feeling.

I think it’s nice to collect the flowers with the children and they will enjoy helping you make the different brews. The kids can then have the cooling cordial and the adults can enjoy the fizzy stuff later on.

The white flowers start as tight green buds that tend to grow upwards, although they may droop if they are heavy; they smell subtly of citrus. Elderberries come after the flowers, they start green and then hang down in bright purple/black bunches, they are very popular with blackbirds and thrushes.

When picking Elderflowers, always try to avoid any flowers with small insects on them. Do leave plenty of flowers on the tree because when they develop into Elderberries, these can then be turned into other tasty treats later in the year.

 

Despite the cold and relentless rain, I saw my first Swift of the year on Monday, and, although he did look slightly stunned; the Signs of Summer are definately lining up...