Elderflower & Thistle

Whilst picking elderflowers from my prized trees in the field, I noticed that the thistles were just coming into flower. I'm always drawn to thistles, possibly because of their height and strong form. Walking past literally hundreds of them, I began to notice the variety of colour. Some were almost plum, others magenta, then soft lilac and even white. My favourite was white with touches of pink on the petal tips and a pink centre, and I think it was the only one, though I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for more!

The elderflowers are so late this year, about a month behind and I struggled to find enough to make cordial. I had to widen my foraging area to seek out new trees. A couple of sunny days and they'll be in full flow and I can stock up the freezer with bottles of cordial to see us through the summer. There really is no nicer drink on a hot sunshiney day.