Every day when we walk the dog round the block, we pass a tree laden, no GROANING, with elderberries.
These pictures were taken with my phone last night, but don’t begin to give you an idea of just how much volume of fruit is there.
The sad thing is it’s all going to waste as no-one seems to want to forage for free fruit yet if my dad were here, the tree would have been stripped by now and the spoils bubbling away in demi johns.
My Dad made wine from practically anything, from buying spoiling fruit and veg from the grocer for £1 a tray to picnics in the forest with berry picking in mind.
We took thick blankets or carpet to throw over bushes in order to reach the juiciest fruit otherwise out of reach, walking sticks came in handy for the higher branches, and you could guarantee that when it came to blackberrying, a thorn got stuck in my leg or shoulder and became infected.
Hubby and I have already picked about a kilo of fruit and frozen it down, not to mention the crumble I made with some and a couple of apples a little while ago. Affro combs are ideal for stripping the fruit off the stalks, and if you leave them to soak overnight in cold water, the ‘bad ones’ float to the top and can be skimmed off.
Full of vitamin C, they are as good as blackcurrants and suitable for making jellies or jams, not that I’ve actually done that, but my Mum did. Very nice with turkey by the way.
These pictures were also taken last night but with my Nikon camera.
The blackbirds, robins and starlings are having a field day feasting on these, but even they can’t get through the vast amount that are now fading fast.
Should not go to waste!
If we made wine ourselves, it wouldn’t and my freezer is too small to keep them.
You have some every time you pass there. There is no owner of this?
There is a property behind them as the trees are at the bottom of their garden. I did ‘borrow’ some marigold from the bank on the cut through side for our new flower bed!
👍😉
That reminded me of my mum. Even in her later years she would be out with her bowl and fill it. Part went to Sunday’s crumble the rest was frozen.
We did the same with blackberries from the hedgerows, freezing most and having some with the bramley apples off our own tree.
What a nice memory of your dad and the good times you shared. And every time you pass that tree, even after the fruit is gone, you can look up and feel your dad’s presence. I can’t believe how much fruit there is and that no one is taking it.
Neither can, but we both think its because people don’t know what they are. We’ve seen people gathering the elderflower before and stopped to ask if we could put our order in for the champagne now. They laughed.
Yes, you’re right, that’s probably what it is.
Love this one Di! Something about a tree laden with fruit that gives me joy…and this whole topic of making home made wine from scratch is also a current interest of mine. Haven’t had elderberry wine…. what does it taste like? DM
It’s like a rich port that clings to the side of the glass.