Our Elderflower Harvest
June is a big month here in the Vale of Belvoir. For six glorious weeks, the surrounding hedgerows come alive with sweet-smelling wild elderflower and our own 60 acres of organic elderflower burst into bloom.
The Belvoir Farm team, and some loyal local pickers, know when it’s the perfect time to harvest the large – headed flowers, warmed by the sun and heavy with dusky yellow pollen. The local community are truly special, and without them coming to handpick the flowers, we wouldn’t be able to create our delicious elderflower drinks.
How it works
Farm
Our team cares for the elder trees on our 60-acre plantation all year round, nurturing them through the seasons to ensure a healthy, abundant harvest when summer arrives.
How it works
Pick
When the flowers have bloomed and are heavy with dusky yellow pollen, they are ready to harvest.
Our team and the local community come together to hand pick organic elderflowers from our plantation and wild elderflowers from the hedgerows across Leicestershire and the company’s three bordering counties. The local community are truly special, and without them coming to handpick the flowers that go into each bottle every year, we wouldn’t be able to create our delicious elderflower drinks.
How it works
Collect
Once the flowers have been picked, they’re collected by our team, weighed and verified, and pickers get paid by the kilo for their efforts. So they can pocket some cash, get walking in the fresh air and reconnect with nature all at the same time.
And pickers can be reassured that Belvoir Farm, with their own sustainable farming methods and Countryside Stewardship practices, always give at least as much back to the land as they harvest.
How it works
Craft
Within 24 hours of harvesting, the flower heads are poured into a vat and hand-stirred gently to make elderflower syrup that goes into all our elderflower drinks.
The family recipe hasn’t changed in over 40 years, just masses of hand picked elderflowers, sugar and water. As a soft drink, a recipe ingredient or a delicious splash to cocktails and mocktails, it stands the test of time!
How it works
Enjoy
The elderflower infusion we make from the harvest is then used in all our elderflower drinks, from our iconic Elderflower Cordial, to our new Hugo Spritz mocktail. Meaning our delicious drinks are literally a sip of the glorious British countryside.
Explore our full range of naturally delicious drinks.
Get Involved
This year’s Elderflower Harvest will start on Wednesday 20th May!
Only Nature knows when the elderflower will flower until, but our Elderflower Harvest usually runs until late June.
Sign up to our Elderflower Harvest newsletter to get updates directly to your inbox.
Information for when Harvest starts
Where to pick elderflowers
You can either pick from our 60-acre organic elderflower plantation or go wild and head to the hedgerows.
All you need is a bin bag to put the flowers in, some strong footwear, gardening gloves and long trousers to protect you from the nettles and you’re good to go.
Please read our information pack below before taking part. This has all the information you’ll need, including our field locations.
Collection points
Once you’ve picked your flowers, head to one of our collection points to weigh them in and get paid. There are two collection points, please read the information pack below for opening times and GPS details.
Belvoir Farm, Barkestone Lane, Bottesford, NG13 0DH
Sacrewell Farm & Countryside Centre, Thornhaugh, Peterbrough, PE8 6HJ
Giving Back To Nature
Respect the land
Of course, we only encourage you to pick rom private land, where permission has been obtained both for them to be there and to pick the elderflowers. Please follow the countryside code when picking.
FAQs
The elderflower infusion we make from the Elderflower Harvest is used in all our elderflower drinks, from our iconic Elderflower Cordial to our new Hugo Spritz Mocktail. Meaning our delicious drinks are literally a sip of the British countryside.
This year’s Elderflower Harvest will start on Wednesday 20th May!
Only Nature knows when the elderflower will flower until, but our Elderflower Harvest usually runs until late June.
We will pay you £3.75 per kilo of elderflowers picked.
You can pick wild elderflowers from surrounding hedgerows or organic elderflowers from our own 60 acres plantation.
Of course, we only encourage you to pick from private land, where permission has been obtained both for them to be there and to pick the elderflowers. Please follow the countryside code when picking.
All you need is a bin bag to put the flowers in and some good walking boots. We advise you to wear long trousers so you don’t get stung by nasty nettles.
We are looking for elderflowers only, not to be confused with Cows Parsley – we check all flowers that are picked and delivered on site and we will not pay for anything that is not elderflower. Fresh flower heads, no significant number of stalks, leaves, twigs, buds, or foreign bodies. No brown flowers, only creamy white fresh head with lots of yellowy green pollen. No off odours, and ideally dry flowers with minimal moisture.
Flowers need to be fresh, so please deliver them the day they’re picked otherwise they go brown very quickly and become unusable. Please check our ‘Picking Guide’ for more help on how to pick elderflowers’
Read our Picking Guide for more information.
We have 6 organic elderflower plantations for you to pick from, which you can find the exact locations in our Elderflower Harvest Information Pack. Or you can head to the hedgerows and pick wild elderflowers.
Once you’ve picked your flowers, head to one of our collection points to weigh them in and get paid. There are two collection points, please read the information pack below for opening times and GPS details.
Belvoir Farm, Barkestone Lane, Bottesford, NG13 0DH
Sacrewell Farm & Countryside Centre, Thornhaugh, Peterbrough, PE8 6HJ
Or take a look in our Elderflower Harvest Information Pack for exact GPS or What Three Words lcoations.
No, unfortunately not. Whilst we wholeheartedly encourage children to get out into nature we cannot pay anyone under the age of 16 to pick elderflowers for our drinks.
They must be fresh, so please deliver the flowers the same day you pick them, as they wilt very quickly and become unusable.
Our Belvoir Farm collection point is open Mon – Sat, 14:00 – 18:00. Our Sacrewell collection point is open Mon – Sat, 14:30 – 17:00.
Please trust that with our Countryside Stewardship membership and modern farming practices, we always work hard to put back at least as much as we take when harvesting from the hedgerows.