From weed to wonderful

Whilst this may sound far fetched it is one of those recipes that I use year after year as it is a little bit magical.  The beautiful golden flowers create a golden honey like syrup with a gentle floral flavour, sweet, fragrant and surprisingly reminiscent of honey. 

This little jar of sunshine is so versatile it can be eaten on toast , poured onto pancakes, made into sauces, flapjacks, granola, the list is endless. 

I try and not mow my lawns during May, to allow the pollinators and Crush  access to important sources of nutrients such as Dandelion, They are in fact Crushes favourite food.  Just before the last mow in April I pick all the Dandelions to make honey for the year. 

I leave the heads outside on the tablet for an hour or so and then give a gentle shake to remove any hosts before taking into the kitchen

Dandelion Honey

• 100g Dandelion Flowers
• Half lemon 
• Half Orange
• 400ml water 
• Approx. 300g sugar

1. I always leave picked flowers outside for a while to allow the bugs to leave. Then give them a shake. 
2. Place the flowers and fruit in water in a pan with lid on and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Leave in pan off heat with lid on over night to infuse or at least 12 hours. 
4. Strain the liquid from the flowers with a fine sieve or muslin cloth, push the flowers into the mesh to get all the liquid out. 
5. weight the liquid and add an equal amount of sugar 
6. Gently simmer until

Now its super important when foraging that you are sensible

• Only pick plants and flowers that you can easily recognise, super easy with dandelions
• Avoid treated areas, you don't want to be eating weedkillers, pesticides or other chemicals
• Don't pick close to roads, they may be exposed to traffic pollution and you don't want to but yourself at risk of collision
• Avoid dog walking areas
• Leave some for the bees, don't be too greedy, these are an important sources of food for bees and other pollinators 
• pick clean and healthy flowers
• Give them a shake to remove insects and grass.

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