Tag: cordial
Easy Permaculture Soft Fruit Growing
Growing food could not be easier than this!
Just a small part of last summer’s crop of Blackcurrants here at Bealtaine Cottage!
Simply take a heel cutting from a Blackcurrant, Redcurrant, Jostaberry, Gooseberry and plug it into the soil…
The girls enjoying the spent blackcurrants, left over from making Blackcurrant cordial!
Nature will do the rest…
Watch…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-8SMynuOgM&list=UUHkXJ9wsrdPEpzb-KMgmt-A&index=1&feature=plcp
Food Freedom ~ Making Blackcurrant Cordial ~ Bealtaine Cottage
Blackcurrants are coming into ripeness.
With the potential of doubling the harvest from last year, I am looking at a possible 200-250 lbs of Blackcurrants.
These are some I picked this morning.
In previous years I have made jams and wines, but this year I have decided to make Blackcurrant Cordial.
After boiling with water, I strained them overnight by hanging a clean pillowcase from this upside down stool, filled with the stewed blackcuckcurrants and water.
It was left to drip overnight into a clean bucket.
This morning it was mixed well with the sugar, then bottled.
The bottles were all corked and topped…these will now keep all winter and through next Spring, ensuring a good supply of top notch blackcurrant cordial, with only organically grown fruit, spring water and sugar as the ingredients…the corporation food pales into insignificance!
The girls ate the leftovers…yum, yum! Nice eggs to come!
I washed the pillowcase out in a bucket of spring water outside and guess what was left in the water?
Lots of blackcurrant seeds, that when emptied over the garden, grow these…Blackcurrant bushes…a perfect permaculture cycle of life!
Almost forgot…here’s the recipe!
Blackcurrant Cordial
1 kilo Blackcurrants
600 mls water
Simmer together for 45 mins.
Strain juice, as above, overnight.
Next morning add 1 kilo of sugar to every litre of juice.
Stir in well.
Bottle.
(You can adjust the sugar, I have a sweet tooth)!
Wednesday 25th May @ Bealtaine Cottage, Ireland
The Nursery
Where would any permaculture garden be without a plant nursery on site? The heart of the plan and always ready to be dipped into…and give away from!
Weather
The weather has been wet and windy over recent weeks, so much of the blossom that would be harvested, such as the Elderflower, is looking a bit raggy. However, there is an Elderflower cordial on the go at the moment, but I will have to get out today and top up with some more blooms. This cordial is made over the course of several days…
Back Online…
New technology has enabled this blog to get back online, but it continues to be applied and has some teething troubles, so please bear with it…oh, and many, many thanks to everyone who texted, emailed and called me over the past week of blackout…the concern you have shown has overwhelmed me, really!
Wine
This is a good time to make wine and if you look into any of the old books on wine-making there are a heap of lovely recipes to make wine from dandelions, flowers, even leaves…I once made an Oak Leaf Wine. Rose Petal Wine is on the plan for the next week or so…