A few metres from the front of the house we are lucky enough to have a beautiful flowering currant bush. It is one of the first thing to flower in the garden and the scent is incredible as you walk past. The bees also love it and the whole bush seems to buzz. A real sign of springs arrival.

I had never considered that we could use the flowers for anything until I read a post from a local forager who had made a delicious looking flowering currant cordial. That became yesterday’s project and the kids were super excited. As with all foraging and eating of wild foods, make sure you take steps to identify your plant to ensure safety, Luckily the flowering currant has a very distinctive flower and scent and is not easily mistaken.

This is a good mantra regarding foraging:

You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!

They collected three packed cupfuls of flowers (whilst avoiding the bees!) and thoroughly washed them. Added these to a pan with three cups of white sugar and three cups of water. Any amounts can be used just match the flower, sugar, and water amounts to keep the ratio the same.

We bought the mixture to the boil then simmered for approx 15 minutes until the liquid thickened a little and took on the pink of the flowers. Strained the mixture through a sieve and bottled into a sterilised glass bottle.