May

A May bank holiday trip to Arlesford today and this amazing view of bluebells and stitchwort..





Heavily laden boughs of may were incredibly fragrant in the sunshine and the grass was colourful with buttercups and drifts of sheep sorrel.





I had a wonderful wander in the ruined old church and its graveyard beyond, where the grass and wildflowers are left to grow, hoping for butterflies.





I was treated to these beautiful white star-like flowers peeping out amongst the grass, which I've been trying to identify... Star of Bethlehem?





We did get to see some butterflies later on, walking in the grass (and nettles!) down near the little streams. We think this peacock must have hibernated over winter, as they're not supposed to be about yet - in the second photo you can see how tattered it is.





This was a beautiful butterfly I've not seen before, a Speckled Wood, which we found in dappled semi-woodland very near to a large stretch of water.



And as a fitting end to a fantastic afternoon, we were lucky enough to see both a blue-tailed damselfly and several large red damselflies, one of which obligingly sat on a leaf in the sunshine for us.

Nettles for Energy

I just wanted to share with everyone my experience this year of drinking nettle infusions ..

"Drinking Nettle infusion is like drinking the energy of the earth - good solid energy"

I have to tell you that I have found a fantastic increase in energy. And its not a sudden but finite burst of energy like you might get from caffeine, which you have to do 'payback' for later. Firstly, I noticed I wasn't getting that mid-afternoon 'slump' anymore. But then, it seemed that somehow I had more mental energy as well. I experienced a definite shift from feeling overwhelmed and exhausted by my multiple and ongoing health issues to being able to tackle them.

One of the reasons I was interested in trying the nourishing herbal infusions was to find a rich source of minerals (esp. magnesium) to replace the multi-mineral and vitamin supplement I was taking. This has worked out brilliantly for me. Once I stopped taking the multivit/mineral (which had a high level of ascorbic acid in it) and stopped needing caffeine to keep me going through the day, my heartburn and stomachache subsided quite rapidly (in about 10 days).





I don't want to be bore and embarass everyone with long ramblings about my ailments, but I decided its so important to share and document experiences of working with plants so that hopefully others don't have to reinvent the wheel, everyone struggling away on their own in isolation. If I can save someone some time or point them in a helpful direction than it'll have been worth it.

I have to tell you, too, that the biggest test of whether something is working for you is what happens when you stop! So having done my nettle infusion drinking for several months it kind of fizzled out in May .. partly because we were eating nettle soup, but really because I was feeling so much better and just getting absorbed in life. And I suppose, you know, that you think it just couldn't be that simple .. maybe your condition just improved of its own accord, coincidentally.

But after a month or so, everything started creeping back .. caffeine started reappearing and indigestion along with it.. and a general feeling of struggling. So now I really start to get it .. drinking the infusions isn't a 'quick fix' its an insurance policy, long-term nourishment - the clue is in the title 'nourishing herbal infusions'. And we all know that prevention is better than cure! I think I will always be one to learn the hard (or long) way!

So it would appear, actually, that it really IS that simple.

Nettle Diary

This is the photo diary of a little nettle which grew this year alongside our compost:

March 9th

March 12th

March 18th

April 29th

May




This nettle was tall and green and handsome, bursting with life. I had hoped to dry some tops for making infusion. But I was too slow and somehow, overnight so it seemed, flowering happened and I missed my opportunity. Now the nettle is in a bucket with some rainwater and soon all its goodness will be returned to the earth by way of my vegetable patch, making way for a playhouse for the little'un under the tree.

April Blooms

Everything's flowering! Really feels like Eastertime .. went for a little nature ramble today, just a little footpath near our house. Am slowly learning. Love the process of finding out! Interesting to see the difference in the plants growing in full sun and on the other side of the footpath in full shade.

Examined the blackthorn closely .. pure white buds opening directly onto dark twigs, no greenery or leaf in sight. And those really are big old thorns! See how it gets its name.

On the other side, in the sunshine, a full hedge with leaves unfurling too, much further ahead. (Those are the boys, hand-in-hand in the sunshine!)

No, darling, that's not buttercups, its ... aconite? no, celandine! Leaves look wrong, the dark heart-shaped leaves must have been buried low down with just the flowers peeping through.

Got this one right... love speedwell, its so tiny that I'd have missed it if I hadn't been walking with purpose and looking. Could really imagine fairies living in speedwell (and, as a rule, I'm not one for fairies!)

Also seen today white deadnettle, though not much, not enough to collect. And masses of nettles, of course, though all in the dog-pee zone either side of the path, so not gathered. Ladybirds everywhere.

Seeing the baby leaves bursting out on all the brambles helped show me that they are members of the rose family (which I have been reading about here) because they look a lot like new strawberry leaves. When everything is new and fresh things are somehow easier to see.

Lots and lots of vibrant highly scented something we hadn't come across before (no photo, sorry folks!).. very distinctive, looked it up when we got back and delighted to find that its Alexanders:

widespread and locally common near coasts.. yellowish flowers seen March to June

[Collins Complete Guide to British Wildlife]

Masses of it and its in its prime now, so shall look into uses.. please share your knowledge and recipes here, if you know Alexanders?

Update:

OK, great starting place here

Nettle Infusion

The last fortnight I've been taking 2 to 4 cups a day of nettle infusion, following Susun Weed's approach of nourishing the body with herbal infusions instead of/as well as treating the body with herbs in response to problems.

I was really interested to discover just how many nutrients are available from plants such as nettle .. I'm hoping I may be able to replace my daily multi-vitamin and mineral pill with herbal infusion. I was particularly drawn to nettle because it has high levels of calcium, magnesium and the relevant vitamins to aid their absorption plus it is healing for the digestive tract.

(I find that supplementing magnesium helps to keep down the number of migraine attacks I have and through trial and error have found that it only works if I take enough calcium and vitamins with it. Unfortunately, taking enough magnesium to have an effect on my migraine tends to upset my stomach, so I am ever on the lookout for ways of boosting magnesium gently ... at the moment I'm trying epsom salt baths as a means of absorbing the mineral directly through the skin.)

Its been quite interesting taking a herb in this new way .. rather than steeping a teaspoonful for 5 to 10 minutes, Susun's method involves brewing a cupful of herb in a litre of boiling water in a screwtop jar for 4-10 hours, or overnight before straining, then keeping in the fridge to slow spoiling (you need to use it within 24 hours or so). See her full instructions here.

The liquid is thick and rich, rather than watery, but still has the lovely green earthy taste of nettle tea - not strong or bitter as I might have expected from stewing so long. I'm using the leftovers to water my houseplants .. may try as a hair rinse too. And, I have to say, you have never seen such perky looking plants (I only wish I had taken a 'before' photo so I could show you their rapid improvement with some nettle love!!)

Spring

Its official .. spring is in the air!

Venturing out today, we gave our lady elder a libation of nettle infusion to wish her well for the coming season. She is just starting to sprout buds into leaflets, so magical to see.

Pleased to see big fat healthy looking ladybirds all over the garden, particularly as the new growth on the elder was covered in aphids last year all spring/summer (I hosed them off each morning with a high power jet had a little chat and a stroke while I was at it .. nice to have that daily contact, but nicer to see hoardes of ladybirdies munching away instead!)

Which reminds me, I took a photo last autumn which I didn't get around to posting.. I had gone outside to have a little tidy up and was tying up all my tall-stemmed seed headed herbs into the fence, when I found this little ladybird party, all huddled inside an evening primrose leaf.

It made me really careful about not disturbing any of the big overgrown plants and aside from just securing things to the fence against the wind, I left everything be. So glad I did! Today I found my little ladybird friends still intact inside their (now dried out) leafy home. In fact, several little huddles on the evening primrose and one on a sage leaf. Think because the shape of these long leaves is such that they naturally curl, providing a little handy crevice for hibernating creatures. Hurray!

Berry Go Round

I've been featured in my first blog carnival.. very exciting!

Berry Go Round is a monthly carnival of posts about plants and the latest edition is here at Greg Laden's blog

NB: there is a wonderful post on Nettles, for all you herb and weed lovers out there..