Growing

I last posted just as April was arriving, but here we are just about to bid her farewell .. what's been happening in between? A lot of rain, and some very high winds (but then you knew that, right, if you're in the UK?!!) and a lot of growing!

All the wet has really exacerbated my problems with the little munchers who have been wreaking havoc in my growhouse .. this week I finally decided to bring in the peas, beans, sunflowers and courgette plants that had been seriously gnawed and were more hole than leaf :-( They are all perking up considerably back behind glass on the sunny recovery windowsill.

To make room on said sunny windowsills for the beleagured ones, I've put out my unexpectedly enormous quantity of baby tomato plants, as the slugs and snails don't seem as interested in tomatoes. This was a little experiment of mine, because I'd (inadvertantly) left out the last of my Ildi tomatoes on their plants in the growbags on the flat roof outside bedroom window last season - and there they hung all winter come wind, snow, storm or whatever. And there they were still in March, and several people told me to squish the dried out fruits onto kitchen roll and see if I could grow them. So I did! I put differing amounts of compost beneath and above (not really knowing what I was doing) inside eggbox lids not really expecting much .. and you've never seen anything like it. Germinated all over the place and what's more, every single one I transplanted (into its own little loo roll holder of compost) has taken. I have about 60 babies in trays of 5 or 6, all over the house!

Here are some in the coldframe, which seems to have fared better in terms of the illicit munchers. Also baby dill and marigold plants. And the start of a box of salad (against all the odds!)

They are a wonderful tomato, pretty little yellow plum-shaped cherry size fruits and really heavily laden plants. You can put them in hanging baskets or grow them up canes. I hope I will be able to find them all good homes to go to. Meanwhile, my 'proper' tomatoes, which I sowed in February, are busy flowering, would you believe .. a bit of regular nettle infusion has done wonders!

Also flowering at the moment are the strawberry plants outside, and we'll soon have the lovely chive blossoms too.

I've done better with the sweetpeas this year, soaking them helped and getting them enough light quickly enough and pinching them out at the right time (thanks to my wonderful neighbour who is expert at these things and doesn't mind a bumbling novice's barrage of questions!) Previous years they've been really leggy, so I'm quite pleased that I'm starting to get the hang of it. Won't risk these outside till the weather sorts itself out condsiderably.

April showers are magical .. every year it amazes me just how much everything GROWS in just a few weeks! Usually in March I look at the herb garden and think there's lots of gaps and I'll need a few more plants to pop in here and there. Then by the end of April everything is burgeoning. And although I love to see the flowers, there is something super special in April about all that lush bright green growth, unsullied and full of promise and newness and freshness. Every day this month I've stood by the back door looking out at the garden in the rain and its kind of visibly grown in front of my eyes. Fantastic!

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

Gardening

It was so lovely to be out in the fresh air and working in the garden last week, such fine warm days feel like a special gift that musn't be wasted this time of the year, its almost like its your duty to drop everything and get out there!

Had a quandry, the boys had waved goodbye off to see Nanny for the morning .. no-one about, all quiet! What to do, hmmmm ... really ought to cook something lovely and warm and healthy for us all to have for lunch when they get back. But the pull towards the garden is so strong and cannot be denied.

So I stuck the remains of the roast dinner in a big saucepan - heated some oil and tossed the remains of the tray of roasted veggies in it (butternut squash, potatoes, carrot, parsnip). When that smelt all appealing I popped in the leftover gravy, the remains of the chicken and the leftover green veg (greens and leeks and peas). Topped up with water, brought it slowly up to the boil (while putting jacket on and sorting out my seeds) .. bit of salt and pepper .. reduce to v. gentle simmer .. and GARDEN!!!!

Popped in to check from time to time and an hour later, beautiful soup. Gave it a quick squash with the potato masher so's to thicken it up (and so's the little'un doesn't pick the carrots out) and there it was .. hearty fare for all and happy mummy morning in the garden! Hurray!

Dandelion Salad

I've been reading about the tradition of using bitters to stimulate digestive juices to help breakdown rich meals. As my poor old tum has been sadly in need of assistance lately, I am trying having a little dandelion salad starter before my main meal. Its just a handful of washed, chopped dandy leaves mixed in with a handful of conventional salad leaves and I chucked a tomato in for colour and dressed with olive oil and a splash of my homemade nasturtium vinegar (more on this another time!)

I have to say, I think it helped... I had a roast dinner afterwards and didn't have any problems till about 4 hours afterwards. Will definitely use again, especially as it was really rather tasty!!

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!!)

Weeds

Little violets ..

didn't notice the beautiful spiders until I enlarged the photo!