A little bit of info about Blooming ‘burbs fruit syrups

Syrups are homemade, using ingredients from my garden. Each is 250 ml and costs $10 (or all 4 for $36). There are four varieties:

• Rhubarb & Rosemary

• Paw-paw

• Blackberry & Sage

• Peach & Saffron

You can use them in cocktails and mocktails, as a tasty addition to some plain yogurt, over vanilla ice cream, on top of oatmeal, on toast, in carbonated water, and probably lots of other ways I’ve not yet heard about!

I want to tell you a little bit about the syrups and some of the ingredients.

The paw-paw is a small native tree, great for suburban gardening because it doesn’t take up too much space and the deer won’t eat it. I planted my first tree in 2008 and now have around nine trees. (I’m not definitive about a number because I haven’t decided if a couple of them are going to make it).

I also grew all the rhubarb, rosemary, blackberry, sage, and peach. As I’ve highlighted elsewhere on my site, I use sustainable gardening practices.

The saffron is from a small company in Chicago run by an Afghan immigrant who used to work with the US military as a translator. He now runs a company that works with farmers in Afghanistan to import high quality, sustainably sourced spices. Take a look at their website! https://herayspice.com/

I used Pioneer sugar, which is grown in Michigan. I don’t know much about the company or about growing sugar, but they do highlight their community work and some environmental metrics on their website. It would be fun to visit their operation someday!

I purchased the remaining ingredients, like vanilla and lemon juice, from Meijer.

The bottles I’m using are from Fillmore Container, which is based in Lancaster, PA. Again, I don’t know much about the company, except that the bottles and other containers are made in the USA, they use biodegradable packing material, and they have a super helpful website.