Skip to main content

Daisies always make me smile.  I put off mowing the lawn for as long as possible because of  their little bursts of colour.  I'm always over the moon when my little patch of daisies come up, a little mix of oxeye, fleabane and feverfew.

I've been reading up on them and their various medicinal properties. Oxeye (sometimes called goldenseal) is particularly good for congestive problems and mouth ulcers, feverfew can be brewed to make a tea to help with migraine among other things and fleabane is good for digestive problems. Apparently, it's a myth that fleabane can rid you of fleas, just in case you have an infestation! Mind you, I've never experimented using these flowers to make remedies, I only use the leaves from herbs to make tissanes at the moment.


I have been harvesteing my lemon balm for drying, as it makes a calming drink and is also an aid to sleep, which I've been having problems with.   I would like to have a supply of home produced leaves for the wintertime and have been thinking about getting a dehydrator for some time, well procrastinating actually and it doesn't help that there are so many to choose from. I quite like the reviews on the L'Equip FilterPro Digital. It's bpa free, which is a consideration, but nearly £200, which is a wee bit pricey I feel. Mr. says go for it as if we go for a smaller, cheaper one, we'll regret it later.  Any dehydrator users out there, suggestions would be most welcome.



The mint in the garden isn't quite as far on as it was last year, but the allotment is providing an extra supply, which is great as we use a ton of it in the summer months in cooking and salads. It also makes another of my favourite teas and a sprig is lovely in elder flower cordial topped with sparkling mineral water.  It's been gloriously sunny so I've been drinking quote a lot of it.

Elder is now in blossom and what a fantastic show it's putting on this year. I don't think I've ever seen so much in the hedgerows and fields. As we're getting low on supplies we will be out this coming weekend foraging from our tree (yes, we do think of it as ours!) and making a few more batches for the freezer.

Thinking about daisies earlier brought back a memory. We were on our way back from our holidays and stopped in a lay-by as it was chock full of oxeye daisies and I wanted some to take home as they looked so pretty. I was a very bad mum, as I know that you shouldn't pick wild flowers, as some are rare, but oxeyes are so common I knew it wouldn't  hurt. I asked our then twelve year old daughter to go pick some, just in case anyone saw...  Bad Mum!  She handed them to me and we had just started the car engine when I gagged....the smell was atrocious, like really strong pee.  Well, they went out of the window double quick.  Lesson learned, oxeye daisies are not a flower for bringing indoors.


I've been potting up like crazy in the greenhouse as the plants have outgrown their pots. We're not quite ready to plant these out as we need to manure the bed first. 



The wilderness that was our plot is now under control, all mown and prettified. You can see how overgrown our neighbour on the left is.  They turned up while we were there and tried to rotovate it!  It didn't go too well. Even worse, they got out the weed killer!  We don't use it on our plot, apart from a cider vinegar homemade version, as we want to be as chemical free as possible.  This was certainly a bit of a downer for us.  All they had to do was strim and mow and then they could have cleared it easily, but there you go.  We are now planning to plant out the beds on that side of the plot  next weekend, just to give them time to finish spraying, we hope.





The strawberries under the net in the foreground are coming thick and fast...and big!


The first homegrown fruits are just the best. We ate some straight away and the rest went on my breakfast this morning, bran flakes, Greek yoghurt and a drizzle of maple syrup..yum.



Oh, and the planters in the garden and providing lovely juicy radishes already and delicious cut and come salad leaves.  Everything else in their is coming up and we can't wait.


Hoping your gardens, if you have one, or balconies, or just pots by the door are are providing you with pleasure, or food.  Enjoy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TULIPS,  SOURDOUGH,  MANDALAS...OH, AND SNOW! I cannot believe we are already almost halfway through February.....where did January go for goodness sake? I've been treating myself to tulips, for which I'm a bit of a sucker, with this delicious bunch reminding me of rhubarb and custard sweets f or some reason. My affection for tulips at this time of year stems from the fact that they don't elicit itchy watery eyes and snotty, sniffly noses, symptoms that daffodils do.  Having said that, I have some Tete a Tete in the kitchen that will be coming into flower soon, so better stock up on the tissues. This bunch also called to me.....well, you can't have too many can you? I thought how nice they would look with  some sort of matching doily underneath them and a mandala sprang to mind.  I chose to this pattern one for it's design and colour palette and it proved to be an easy little make. The photo does not show the true colours, quelle suprise, as the ligh
2 comments
Read more
SPRING HAS SPRUNG! Windows and doors have been flung open in the last few days,  to let in the unusually warm air.  I'm breaking out my summer clothing already!  Can't last Mr says, as there is a cold snap coming.... what a happy little soul! We've  moved the bench to the top of the garden again, as the lengthening days mean the sun remains there the longest.  It was still light at 6.00pm yesterday and we made the most of it sitting watching the birds on the feeder,  robins,  great, tufted, blue and long tailed tits, sparrows, when suddenly a sparrow hawk swooped straight across the garden and sadly that was the last of the bird activity, as they all had the sense to stay hidden.  Last year a sparrow hawk did this, again right in front of us, but it took a bird, which although is only nature at its rawest,  was still quite shocking. It's much the same when we walk the dogs, with skylarks swooping about in pairs, performing what I imagine is their courting r
Post a Comment
Read more
WE ARE NOT AMUSED! Her face says it all! As I mentioned in a previous post, this Bernat dog coat was meant for Pearl, but despite measuring her from collar to the base of her tail, it worked up in a larger size (my tension was off, I guess) and swamped her.  Lucky that she has a slightly larger sister! However, someone was not at all happy with it, refusing to co-operate in my photo shoot.   I was hoping for a canine, Ellie McPherson style strut on the decking, but Elsie was having none of it and flatly refused to look at me. It's quite mild here at the moment but when we have a nice cold snap, she might be more appreciative of it. I have also finished my Nordic Shawl. I've already been wearing it in the evenings, before the fire is lit and it's so warm and cosy.  If you want a lovely warm item of clothing that crochets up really quickly, give this a go. Information and links showing lots of examples are in my previous post.   I ought to block it, as the d
Post a Comment
Read more