The elder flower (Sambucus nigra) harvest has been quite a challenge this year, with the frequent rainfall... flowers are always harvested on a sunny day, for more flavor. But we made it! My friend Veerle and I gathered some and went home with a bag full of delight. We had a great talk about dyeing with wild plants, which is one of Veerle's current projects, and about wild edibles of course.
I made some tea right away (pictured above: tea of elder flower, water mint and thyme). But I'm also trying to reanimate my water kefir grains (they have been frozen for a while) and want to do a elder flower kefir experiment.
And then I wanted to dry some. If you have done this before, you'll have noticed two things: the taste of dried elder flower is completely different than the fresh one, and during the drying process, elder flowers spread the scent of cat pee. Which is catching me every year again, and making me laugh, and fascinating our two feline family members.