May Blossom

Last night I went out with a friend collecting May Blossom (Hawthorn) for winemaking. The recipe I have is for a dry white (using white blossom) or a rose (using pink blossom). We really wanted the pink variety, but it only seems to grow in peoples gardens!

Hawthorn is a very useful (and very common) shrub. The young leaves and buds are good in sandwiches. You can make wine with the flowers, and eat them in salads. The Haws (fruit) can also be used for winemaking, and preserved in other interesting ways such as by making fruit leathers (experiments to follow!).