Yelvertoft food guru shares recipe for refreshing summer drink

Yelvertoft mother Milly Fyfe is a farmer’s wife and writer of our Countryside Kitchen feature.

She lives on a livestock and arable farm with her husband and two young boys.

I have to say May and June are my favourite months of the year.

The garden looks well and the grass is growing. I’ve made a lot of progress getting various vegetables and flowers established in my kitchen garden including tomatoes, butternut squash, French beans, onions, cabbages, sunflowers and sweet peas. Before long I am hopeful to be able to enjoy the fruits of my labour.

The shearing team has made a visit to clip all our sheep. A gang of four strapping lads turned up and clipped nearly 300 sheep in a couple of hours. It is back-breaking work for them, but very necessary as you can imagine what it would be like for a sheep covered in wool in 30c heat.

I’ve also picked up some new piglets recently. I’ve gone for another native and rare breed known as the Oxford Sandy and Black. They are orange with black spots on and are very inquisitive and friendly – the children are having fun getting to know them and care for

them.

My husband Andrew has made some silage and the hay is being turned as I write, ready to bale up to preserve the grass for the colder months to feed our sheep and cattle over the winter.

And when we are not busy on the farm or in the garden, there is nothing more satisfying than foraging the hedgerows for sweet smelling elderflower blooms which are in full flower right now.

You can make the most delicious tasting elderflower cordial with a few ingredients, ready to use within 24hrs and will keep for a few weeks.

You will need:

 20 Elderflower heads.

Be sure to pick when the flowers are in full bloom and you can visibly see the yellow pollen.

If the flowers have started to go over or are full of bugs, then don’t pick them!

 2 lemons. grated zest and sliced

 85g citric acid. I purchased mine on Amazon (food grade)

 1.5 litres of water

 1kg sugar

Some recipes advise a lot more sugar, up to 2.5kg, but that seems excessive and this cordial is sweet enough.

Method

 Place a pan on the boil with 1.5 litres of water.

 Add the sugar and dissolve.

 Before the mixture boils, take off the heat and add the lemon zest, lemon slices and

mix in the citric acid.

 Allow to cool slightly and rest the elderflower heads in the mixtures

 Cover with a lid and allow to infuse for 24hrs

 After 24hrs, strain the mixture through a fine size or muslin to discard any petals and

lemon.

 Crumble 1 campden tablet (bought from Amazon) to help preserve.

 Decant mixture into a plastic bottle or container

 Use a small amount of cordial 1/6 to a glass of lemonade, tonic or sparkling water

 Enjoy with ice