Spring has sprung and Mothering Sunday is nearly upon us.

Remember when all you needed was a small bunch of primroses to present to mummy when you came home from church? How simple life was.

Today, you’re likely already overwhelmed by the commercial card makers, busily arranging gifts for your own ma and mother-in-law, and twitching slightly at the thought of the devastation in your kitchen come Sunday morning.

Never fear, we’re here to help.

Firstly, may we suggest that you start Sunday with a reviving Elderflower cordial? Packed with floral flavour, it’s the perfect way to add sparkle to your day. (Plus it’s infinitely easier for others to make than a decent cup of tea!).

Next, demand your well-earned moment of peace and quiet. Tell everyone you’re busy relaxing. And you can’t possibly be interrupted. Remember, mother knows best.

Which is precisely the theme of this month’s competition.

Mother knows best

We want your nuggets of priceless knowledge. The advice that only mothers can give. And those thrift tips that have been passed down generations to save you time and money.

So what did your mother teach you? What can you share with others to help ease the workload this Mother’s Day? Perhaps it’s thrifty, nifty or plain silly – either way, we’d love you to tell us about it. Pop your suggestions in the comments below.

We’ll send the two entries that appeal to us most a truly lovely stripy mug set from legendary Cornishware producer TG Green. We’ve got one set for the boys and one set for the girls to give away. Perfecting for trying our range of delicious cordials with hot water.

Oh, and you’ll find those ever-riveting competition terms and conditions here.

Happy Mother’s Day!

We love Christmas, but we know many people have become jaded by the seemingly endless Christmas shopping. If you lost your festive cheer during a depressing dash around the department store, we intend to bring it back. So with only a fortnight to go until the big day, we’ve compiled a list of 14 brilliant things to make this Christmas.

1. Mince Pies

No Christmas is complete without a tasty mince pie on Christmas Eve. And rather than buy a box from your local supermarket, why not get busy in the kitchen with this unbelievably easy mince pie recipe from The Beeb. Just remember to leave one spare for Father Christmas.

2. The Belvoir Christmas Corker

Bursting at the seams with flavour, this fruity twist on the traditional glass of champagne is a treat for all. This corker of a cocktail will help waken your senses and definitely boost your Christmas spirit.

10ml Belvoir’s Elderflower Cordial
4 Fresh raspberries
35ml Gin
25ml Lychee juice
5ml Lemon juice
Top with Champagne

Crush the raspberries in a shaker and add all other ingredients. Shake and strain into a high-ball glass and top with Champagne. Garnish with a lemon slice and fresh raspberries

3. The Blue Peter Advent Crown

You remember the Blue Peter Advent Crown, don’t you? The one with all the coat hangers. wrapped in tinsel. You watched Noakes, Purves and Singleton make it, but did you ever make it yourself? Well, this Christmas, opportunity knocks because full instructions can be found online!

4. Christmas Crackers

The first Christmas crackers didn’t crack. They were simply sweets, often with mottos or poems inside. Then, in 1860, Thomas Smith decided to add a little spark to these festive treats with a small strip of saltpetre (potassium nitrate) between two strips of thin card. Pulling both ends of the card creates friction and, finally, the crack.

Why not give your Christmas crackers a personal touch by making them yourself? Kits are available to buy online, or pop into your nearest craft store.

5. Paper Chains

If you can’t deck the hall with bows of holly, surely the next best thing is some homemade paper chains. Go loopy with endless streams of gummed coloured paper. We suggest a corner-to-corner arrangement (and a healthy dollop of Blu-tack).

6. Christmas Pud

It is a testament to Christmas indulgence that, after a massive roast dinner, we still find the space for Christmas pudding. If you want to make your own, why not follow Delia’s recipe? Alternatively, you could follow a 1945 recipe favoured by writer George Orwell.

7. Winter Berries Relish

Want to add the Christmas feast this year and wow your guests? Then try Belvoir’s Winter Berries Relish. Packed full with prunes, figs, apricots and orange this fruity relish will give added zest to your dish.

1 onion chopped
½ Red cabbage
1 tbs Fresh ginger, grated
50g Belvoir’s Winter Berries cordial
50g Ready soak prunes
50g Ready soak figs
50g Ready soak apricots
1 Glass white wine
Juice of 1 orange
100ml Chicken stock
1tbs Fresh thyme

1. Sweat off the onion in a little butter. Add the ginger followed by the white wine and Winter Berries cordial. Simmer for 5 minutes then add the remaining ingredients
2. Cook ½ a shredded red cabbage very slowly with 100g of Winter Berries cordial and 100g water for approx 1½ hours to give a perfect winter veg to accompany this dish

8. A Snowman

The question on everyone’s lips this Christmas (and every Christmas) is “Will we have a white Christmas?”. Here on the farm, we think it’s vital that when the weather outside is frightful and the first snowflakes begin to fall, to get your mitts on and build an outstanding snowman. We’ve found the best tips on how to make a brilliant snowman. It’s far more complicated than you think! And if you want to be a bit more original, why not take some inspiration from the International Snow Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge, Colorado.

9. Edible Christmas Tree Decorations

Dickens’ A Christmas Carol embodies everything we think of today as a traditional British Christmas. The Victorians were infatuated with the extravagance of Christmas. And one thing that we are delighted has stuck is edible Christmas decorations.

Thread popcorn on a piece of string or bake your own tree decorations. They make fantastic last minute presents for unexpected guests. And when the festive season is over, what’s better than tucking into your Christmas decorations?

Check out these gingerbread trees, cut out some gingerbread circles and add some fruit sweets to make your decorations that more colourful.

10. Origami Snowflakes

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without folding up some paper and cutting holes in it. Slightly addictive, origami snowflakes are the quickest and easiest way to keep the kids entertained. For origami snowflakes novices, find out how to make three beautifully different snowflakes.

11. A Donation

Because it’ll brighten up someone else’s Christmas too.

12. A Nativity Scene

If you’re feeling very crafty this Christmas, why not attempt to make your own nativity scene? If paper and glue aren’t your thing, try it with Lego. Or simply arrange your scene online and click ‘print’!

13. Belvoir’s Winter Spice

Dazzle your taste buds with this spicy festive treat. This scrumptiously fruity cocktail is perfect for the designated drivers at your party, though if you want to spice things up and appeal to everyone then why not add a drop of rum!

15ml Belvoir’s Winter Berries Cordial
35ml Pomegranate Juice
35ml Cranberry Juice
5ml Fresh Lime
All Spice

Pour all ingredients into a high-ball with cubed ice and garnish with mixed berries

14. A Christmas Playlist

Many spirits have passed through the mouth of The Pogues’ lead singer Shane MacGowan, but who’d have thought the spirit of Christmas would come from the man’s lips? When he sings the opening line of Fairytale of New York, many a humbug’s heart will melt.

Put all your favourite festive hits in one place, ready for a good-old-fashioned singalong on Christmas morning. Or if you’re using Spotify, you could just play someone else’s favourites.

Maybe it’s our fault. Maybe we were drunk on sunshine. Those two weekends of gorgeous weather that graced us a few weeks ago must’ve made us a bit giddy with excitement. You see, it was during those sun drenched days we came up with the idea of the Belvoir On For Britain Flower Show. We sat back and imagined all these wonderful sunny pictures flooding into the Belvoir Fruit Farms inbox.

And then it clouded over, turned cold and started raining.

So we understand if you haven’t had a chance to take a photo of you and your garden for the competition. But don’t worry. You’ve still got two weeks to capture your back yard in full bloom. And we’re sure the sun’ll come out tomorrow (tomorrow, bet ya bottom dollar…etc).

And even if it doesn’t, you’re a talented bunch so we’re sure you’ll come up with a splendidly creative way to take a good floral snap in the absence of sun.

Once you’ve taken your picture, send it to photos@belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk. Remember: two lucky winners will win a pair of tickets each to RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show on Saturday 11th July.

Picnic rucksack competition winners

We’ve been trawling through all your entries for April’s picnic competition over the last few days and have picked our favourite five.

And here they are. Congratulations to them. And a big thank you to everyone who took the time to enter. We sincerely appreciate your efforts.

Deborah went for a very English approach, including the much underrated hard-boiled egg in her picnic. A terrific choice, we thought.

A picnic for St George’s Day,
By the river, a sunny day,
To a pretty Cotswold town I’d go,
Still & quiet, just me & my beau,
Home-made sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs,
Sausage rolls & chicken legs,
And at the end, to help us digest,
Some Belvoir cordial – Ginger’s best!

A few Sherlock Holmes wannabes in the office think Yvonne is giving her nationality away in the first sentence of her winning entry. We’re inclined to agree.

My ideal picnic would be next to the loch with my wee daughter. We would have ham sandwiches, sausage rolls, fruit, any other foods that take our fancy and Pear & Elderflower Pressé to wash it down with. After our food we would feed the swans and ducks, then I would let my daughter play at the little park. And before we head home we would stop of for an ice cream.

Lorna puts Bono in his place and brings a Bear along as a contingency plan. Superb!

As nice as Scotland is for picnics – generally it ends up with everyone sitting in the car munching on soggy sandwiches waiting for the rain to go off so we can rescue the soaking wet tartan blanket – my ideal picnic would have to be on a huge yacht in the middle of a turquoise sea – sounds nice eh!! We would be eating prawn cocktail, then black forrest gateau for dessert ,washed down with a huge Dragon’s breath cocktail. Padraig Harrington would be there teaching us a thing or two on the onboard golf course (as you do) and just because he looks really nice. U2 would be singing for us, but Bono would be banned from talking and of course we couldn’t leave out Bear Grylls incase we ended up shipwrecked on an island and had to live off berries and frogs.

Kerry dreams of Belvoir, dashes around au naturel and then heads off on a picnic – all in one wonderfully epic poem!

BY GEORGE! LET’S HAVE A PICNIC!

In my dreams, I’m packing hampers,
Filled with caviar, Belvoir and champers.
A handsome prince in a sweeping cape,
Moistens his lips with some Muscat Grape,
Before carrying me off on his dashing white horse,
To enjoy a fruitsome picnic of course after course.
He holds my hand as we sip chilled Belvoir,
Before crushing me juicily with ardent “fervoir”!
But, alas! Alack! My alarm clock goes!
Where are my maidenly, demure, wee clothes?
I dash to the mirror-what a bummer!
I’m an ordinary mum in the British summer.
I pack my cool bag and summon my kids,
I ensure all my presses have nice tight lids.
We jump in the car, setting off at full throttle,
Before stopping to sip from our Belvoir bottles.
We’ve Dragon’s Breath Cocktails, they’re fruity and fun,
We eat soggy sandwiches and stroll in the sun.
We’re fortified by flavinoids, we never feel annoyed,
Our entente is so cordiale at the day we’ve just enjoyed.
The bairns are bathed, we’re home at last, the picnic’s packed away,
Belvoir’s brought its sparkle to another summer day!

Nicola would talk cathedral construction and the Chronicles of Barsetshire over cucumber sandwiches and cordial down by the Cam.

Dream picnic?
I’d love a lazy sunday lunch with Sir Christopher Wren on the backs in Cambridge. It’d be good to get author Anthony Trollope and my favourite monarch Richard III along too. And who could resist a guest appearance from Colin Firth?
I reckon they’d like the traditional picnic fare – cucumber sandwiches and strawberries and cream washed down with ginger cordial.
With all that talent we could discuss everything under the sun, literally. Perfect.

Happy St George’s Day!

No sooner do we see the first signs of spring, than summer decides to hint it might be on its way. Rejoice!

If there’s the slightest chance of a warm front on the horizon, us Brits will don shorts, light barbecues or head off to a big open space for a jolly pleasant picnic. And why shouldn’t we? Before you know it, summer will officially be here, it’ll be cold and wet, and we’ll be stuck in the house watching re-runs of Wimbledon finals because it’s cold and wet in SW19 too.

So to help you enjoy whatever sunshine we’re blessed with this year, Belvoir Fruit Farms has five snazzy picnic rucksacks to give away. These nifty holdalls come with crockery and cutlery for two, plus a special insulated compartment to keep your cold stuff cold or your hot stuff hot (but probably not at the same time – we don’t recommend chucking some hot jacket potatoes in a bag of ice and hoping for the best).

But as with all our competitions, winning will require a little bit of thought.

We’d love for you tell us about your perfect picnic. Who’d be there: Her Majesty? Shakespeare? Burt Bacharach? Where would your picnic take place: Hyde park? By the Seine? On the moon? And perhaps you’ll let us know what delicious and refreshing drink you’d take with you. (Clue: it’s a no brainer.)

The choice, of course, is yours. It doesn’t have to be an essay – just tap a few short sentences into the comment box below and and we’ll get the Belvoir Fruit Farms team to pick their five favourites. Make them as topical or irreverent as you like – it’s meant to be fun! (If you’re desperate to read the full terms and conditions, they’re here.)

Good luck to all.

After the incredible success of the poetry competition (thanks for all your brilliant verses – we’ve now got the difficult task of choosing 10 winners from 196 entries), we thought we’d give you a new competition to get your teeth into. And we’ve got more great prizes to give away.

Win a pair of tickets to the 2009 Badminton Horse Trials!

Yes, that’s right. Belvoir Fruit Farms has two pairs of tickets to give away for this world-famous equestrian event. The tickets are ’season tickets’, meaning you can go to all four days or pick and choose as you wish. This year’s Badminton is from 7th to 10th May. Sadly, we can’t offer accommodation or travel, so you’ll have to get yourself down to Badminton (it’s around fifteen miles from Bath and Bristol). We will give you a car pass, though.

Two runners up will each get a three bottles of the finest Belvoir Fruit Farms cordial. So even if you don’t make it to Badminton, there’ll still be cause for celebration.

How to enter

We’ve decided to run a caption competition. They’re always fun – and even if you don’t enter, you can still have a good chortle reading everyone else’s entries.

So take a look a the photo below, and hatch your best one-liner.

The only way to enter is to add your caption as a comment at the bottom of this post. Just tap in your entry along with your name, email (it won’t be published and we’ll only use it for the purpose of contacting you if you win) and the URL of your blog or website if you have one. Hurry! This competition ends in one week: midnight on Friday 10th April 2009.

We’ll be running more competitions like this throughout the year, so if you haven’t already, join our club to receive regular Belvoir On For Britain emails.

Just so you know, by entering this terrific Belvoir Fruit Farms competition, you are agreeing to these terms and conditions.