Monday 14 March 2011

Thursday 17 February 2011

Herbs for health and beauty, back garden style

Calendula
I was leafing through some of my books on natural bodycare, and looking at the plants and flowers that are commonly used.  I realised that I have a lot of them in my garden, and thought that I would list them, just to see how impressive my list is!


Aloe vera (in the house)
Apple
Basil
Blackcurrant
Burnet
Calendula officinalis  (Marigold)
Chamomile
Chickweed
Chives
Nettle
Clary sage
Coltsfoot
Comfrey
Cucumber
Dandelion
Elder
Equisetum arvense  (Horsetail)
Evening primrose
Fennel
Feverfew
Flax / linseed
Galium aparine  (Cleavers, Sticky willy)
Globe artichoke
Hawthorn
Hops
Houseleek
Jasminum officinale
Lady's mantle
Lavender
Poppy
Lemon balm
Lungwort
Marjoram
Nettle
Olive
Parsley
Pelargonium graveolens
Peppermint
Pink
Plantain
Poppies
Rasberry
Red clover
Rhubarb
Roses
Rosemary
Sage
Self-heal
Spearmint
Strawberry
Strawberry, wild
Tansy
Thyme
Willow
Yarrow


and very locally live Scots pines, Meadowsweet, Rose hips, Wild Honeysuckle, Tormentil, Blaeberries and lots more.  Not bad for suburbia!!

I use quite a few of these plants in my soaps, most especially the calendula petals, the nettles, rose petals.  Parsley gives a great green colour in soap, then the jasmine flowers get collected, so do the elder flowers.  I would like to get a Burdock plant this year, to make homemade dandelion and burdock juice, scrummy!

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Winter brings the birds into the garden



Spot the birdy.

We get lots of chaffinches, tits, sparrows, starlings, blackbirds, robins, a couple of big, fat doves and some that I am never sure what they are -yellowhammers?  Last winter there was a sparrowhawk, checking out the smallerbirds.

I should really sit huddled in the garden to get a video but it was -10, so the bedroom window won.

Old photos from the first year

Thursday 20 January 2011

Apple Wine



We still have a couple of buckets of apples in the shed. They were not particularly tasty apples, a bit tart, which is disappointing considering that we had to wait a couple of years to get more than two on the tree. The three fruit trees that are outside our back door were planted before we bought the house so I don't know all the varieties, the one on the right is the apple, the middle tree is a Victoria plum and the left hand tree I think is a pear tree but it has never produced any fruit.

Today's recipe is APPLE WINE.

Take 6 lb. of good apples, remove any bruised areas.
Clean them, grate them, (compost) bin the cores.
Soak the grated apples in 1 gallon of water for 24 hours, stirring occasionally, then crush the pulp with your hands and strain, muslin is best. An old, clean pair of tights would do the job. The juice really needs strained again to get the juice nice and clear, use a jelly bag or use your imagination!
The juice now needs heating, bring it to the boiling point then let it simmer for 5 minutes. Measure out 4 lb. of sugar into a brewing barrel and add the hot apple juice, stir well to dissolve the sugar. Then add 1 lb. of raisins, cut up into pieces. Once the mix is cool enough (blood temperature) you can add the yeast. Cover and ferment for 14 days, after which strain and bottle.

A proper wine yeast is the best if you have a home brew shop handy, or you can get it online. I haven't used "The Home Brew Shop" but they stock loads of equipment and the prices look reasonable. They also have recipes and information on the site.

Get brewing, you'll never look back! Healthy, cheap drinks that can serve with pride!!

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Bold plans


The snow is away, the weather feels warmer, do I chance it? The gardening bug is back, the shiver down the spine, the excitment of.........what to grow? what to plant where?

Okay, so the snow will likely come back and even the polytunnel couldn't ripen tomatoes last summer, but I am always filled with naive optimism at the slightest bit of sunshine. The plan so far is to fill the garden with as much food as possible, given that food prices are going higher and higher. Maybe an acre or two of bio-fuels, I could cover the roofs, maybe vertical growing? think of the wall space!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no, no, no, a swig of homemade ginger beer and ....calm down.

Tomatoes in the greenhouse, basil again in the polytunnel (soak the leaves in olive oil, makes the oil gorgeous), beans in tubs in the secret garden, put all the roses together in the (only) sunny patch.

Also more herbs and medicinal plants for my soap making. I had a thornapple pop up all on its own in the polytunnel last year, I might throw some more seeds around the garden, not for herbal soapmaking purposes, would that poison you or just send you tripping?

Lets all wish for a perfect growing season, long and fruitful and worthy of all the hard work we put in!