In this episode I’ll be talking about the autumn equinox, harvest time, foraging, moon gardening and sharing delicious recipes for elderberry cold & flu syrup and blackberry & pear crumble.
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Elderberry Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
elderberries
water
sugar
lemon, ginger or cinnamon & cloves (optional)
Method
Tip the berries into a saucepan, cover with water and simmer for 20-30 minutes on a medium heat. Sieve the juice from the berries, squeezing as much out as possible. Return to the pan with the sugar (450g to 600ml of juice) along with any additional flavourings and simmer until the sugar dissolves. Decant, cool and store in the fridge for a few weeks or freeze to see you through the winter.
Blackberry & Pear Crumble Recipe
Ingredients
75g sugar (demerara preferably)
75 butter
150g plain flour
pears
blackberries
vanilla extract (optional)
caster sugar (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan. Peel, core and chop the pears and place in a buttered oven dish along with the blackberries and caster sugar if required. Put on the lid and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Meanwhile grate the (fridge cold) butter into a bowl, add the demerara sugar and flour and rub together to form crumbs. When the fruit is baked, remove the lid and sprinkle over the crumble topping and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes or until the crumble top is cooked through and golden.
Reading list
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
The Glorious Life of the Oak by John Lewis-Stempel
The Wild Remedy: How nature mends us – a diary by Emma Mitchell
The Hedgerow Handbook by Adele Nozedar
The Almanac: A seasonal guide to 2022 by Lia Leendertz
The Way Back Almanac 2022: A contemporary seasonal guide to nature by Melinda Salisbury
The Herb Almanac: A seasonal guide to medicinal plants, Chelsea Physic Garden