The first harvest...

I thought it was about time I told you what was going on in my garden, so here's one corner of it...

From left to right I have Parsley (just from Sainsburys but it's unstoppable!), a small strawberry plant which started life as a runner pinched from my Mum's garden(!), rhubarb (also pinched from Mum) which I can't eat yet because for the first year in a new place you're supposed to leave it (it's going to be a challenge!), chives, spring onions (grown from seed) and garlic, which you can see is all wilted because you can leave it in the ground and then take them all out and dry them so they'll keep (or you can use them fresh). I also have some butternut squash plants in among this lot (grown from seed and started off in pots indoors) and at the back is loganberry.

At the other end of the garden I have today had my first strawberry!

I hope this inspires you to do some growing of your own!

Summer Cordials

Elderflower Cordial

You'll be surprised how many elderflower trees are around in the wild, now is the time for flowering which is when you need them, so have a look around!

20 elderflower heads
1.5 kg granulated sugar (you can use caster but it's more expensive)
40g citric acid (you can get this from a pharmacy or even leave it out - theories vary as to its function!)
2 lemons, thinly sliced
2 oranges, thinly sliced

- Shake the flowers upside down to remove unwanted creatures
- Place the sugar and 1.2l water into a saucepan
- Warm slowly, stirring to dissolve the sugar completely
- Bring to the boil
- Add flowers
- Bring to the boil again
- Remove from the heat
- Add other ingredients and stir well
- Leave covered in a cool place for 24 hours
- Strain through a sieve lined with muslin (or a new j-cloth that has been put in boiling water to sterilise) and put into bottles. It will last a week or so in the fridge or you can freeze it in bottles or ice cube trays.

Rhubarb and Ginger Cordial

500g rhubarb
50g fresh ginger, peeled and grated
400ml water
300g granulated sugar

- Put rhubarb and ginger in a pan and cover with the water
- Bring to the boil, reduce and simmer for 30mins
- Strain through a coarse sieve
- Return the liquid to the pan, add sugar and stir to dissolve
- Bring to the boil
- Remove from the heat
- Store as above.

Macaroons

This is the easiest recipe in the world! It's from Nigella's Express.

The ingredients are:
2 egg whites
200g ground almonds
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
175g icing sugar

- Mix all the ingredients together until 'sticky but cohesive'!
- Dip your hands in water and roll the mixture into balls.
- Flatten the balls slightly and lay them on baking paper or a silicone tray.
- Bake at 200°C for 11 mins and....



(By the way mine are retarded balls because Nigella doesn't tell you that you have to squash them into Macaroon shapes!)