As I walked into work today I noticed a certain reddening of the elderberries. So the time of elderberry syrup is almost upon us.  Those of you who remember the late, truly great Spike Milligan may recall a mythical invention of his called Snibbo. Snibbo did everything, cleaned floors, cured cancer, took the dog for a walk – you name it.  Well, Elderberry Syrup has some of the same properties. It is a tonic, it works as a cough syrup, it helps the vodka go down, it makes a slightly spicy winter Kir Royale and for all I know it is good for any number of other uses.  Not for cleaning floors though as it is a bit sticky. However if you have not tried Elder Berry syrup, do so this autumn.  It is unbelievably good. 

Tags: Elderberries, Elderberry Syrup

You can always tell when a crab apple is ripe. Pick one and bite it. If you scream it is not. But if your face just wrinkles up as if you were sucking a lemon, then it is probably about right…. Crab apples really are some of the bitterest fruit around.

Tags: Crabapples

Gooseberry Ice Cream Recipe to make at home

I know this blog is themed around hedging, but…. June and July is the time of year that your gooseberries should be ready for picking – traditionally this is at Whitsun (which is the seventh Sunday after Easter Sunday) but as Easter this year was the earliest that it has been since 1913, on 23^rd March, this means that you traditionally would have been picking by 17^th May, which would have been far too early!

When you have enough Elderflower Cordial (you can get to our favourite recipe here) you might like to think about Elderflower Champagne. By the way it is a good excuse to plant a few more Elder (Sambucus nigra) bushes – available at http://www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/Common-Elder-Sambucus-nigra as you will find you have friends calling round in June and July almost daily and for the oddest reasons…..