There’s been so much rain around in the past week, but we’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of well-timed windows of sunshine. My local branch of the Women’s Institute has had another outdoor visit in the diary for a while, and it proved to be anything but a washout. I’ve popped out into the garden – between showers – to pick sweet pea flowers and fig leaves. Ditto to take the dog for a walk; alas, we did manage to get soaked on a couple of occasions!
Trawsgoed Mansion
This week, my WI had a visit to the garden at the nearby Trawsgoed Mansion. We felt privileged to be invited (the owner is a friend of one of the members) to have a look around such a wonderful and historically important place. The mansion (and its grounds) is currently for sale – it really needs a buyer who’s willing and able to restore it to its former glory – there’s so much potential!
Butterflies
Buddleia is at its peak at the moment, and my little video clip and photos show why it’s referred to as the ‘butterfly bush’. This particular buddleia shrub grows out in the wild on one of my dog-walking routes and was literally abuzz with all kinds of butterflies, bees and other insects. A few of them managed to stay still long enough for me to capture their beauty!
Fig syrup
We’re lucky enough to have three small fig trees in our garden, one of which should give us a crop of about a dozen fruits this year. The long hot spell really suited them this year!
I picked about half a dozen of the younger leaves to make some fig syrup. I’ve not tasted it before; apparently, it’s meant to have a flavour reminiscent of coconut and vanilla. I’ve never made it before, either, so I only made a small batch in case I don’t like it. I’ll let you know what I think next week. I’m planning to use it as a cordial with fizzy water and as an alternative to maple syrup on pancakes and waffles. Here’s the recipe in case you want to try it yourself:
Fig syrup
Ingredients
- 250 g granulated sugar
- 250 ml boiling water
- ½ tsp citric acid
- 6 small fig leaves washed & patted dry
Instructions
- Push the washed & dried fig leaves into the bottom of a sterilised glass jar
- Put the sugar into a measuring jug and pour over the boiling water. Stir to dissolve completely
- Add the citric acid and stir again until dissolved
- Carefully pour the boiling syrup over the fig leaves in the jar. Immediately fasten the lid/stopper and give the contents a gentle swirl
- Leave to steep for at least 24 hours and up to a week
- Remove the leaves and discard
- Reseal the jar or decant into a sterilised bottle, refrigerate and use the syrup within a month
