Homemade elderflowers cordial

Today, I saw how elderflower cordial is made. The neighbour has a huge elder tree in the countryside and we were given the permission to cut off the flowers to make cordial. It is very common in Sweden to make this cordial which is also known as fläderblomssaft (pronounced as fleh-der bloms saft and it means elder flower cordial). This cordial is made during summer as the flowers are in full bloom somewhere in the middle of June. This cordial contains so much sugar, by the way! I was so surprised by the amount of sugar, and I understand now why it is so sweet and the cordial is diluted with a lot of water.

First, rinse and dry the flower clusters. Then, boil a huge pot of water with sugar in it. Add citric acid. Citric acid is added to preserve the cordial. The amount varies according to recipe. Turn off the heat. 

Garden to kitchen : Pakchoy

This year, I decided to try planting vegetables. I do not like planting flowers because I cannot eat them. I was inspired by my neighbour above us that planted pakchoy last year and gave us one pakchoy. Here in Sweden, it is very common for the people that live in apartments to rent a small plot, known as a colony, in a huge garden to plant anything they desire. To rent this small plot, one has to queue up and the line can be very long as most city folks love the idea of gardening. To get an idea of long, think between 6-10 years. The rent varies depending on the location of the garden. I just did a quick research and it costs about SEK2000 per year to rent a lot in Skarpnäck (located in the south of Stockholm) and SEK2100 to pay for annual membership fees. This does not include a cottage in the lot. I do appreciate the idea of giving city folks, who live in apartments, the opportunity to plant and work in the garden. It is an amazing concept! 

I do not have a colony lot but I have a balcony which is where my plants stayed during the summer and indoors prior to summer. We bought the vegetable seeds from an online shop. I sowed the seeds of pakchoy, salad, tomato, zucchini and various herbs in April. These pots were put indoors as the weather is too cold for them. April is a winter month in Sweden.

On 16 June, I harvested my first vegetable - pakchoy! I was so excited and happy when I harvested the huge green leafy vegetable. :) No chemicals used, just the soil and water. So excited that the vegetable goes directly from the balcony (garden) to the kitchen.