This Month In The Garden - April - Indian Summer

The Blue Mountains has sort of been experiencing an Indian summer this autumn.  Technically it's probably been too wet but the combination of warm weather and high rain fall has seen some extraordinary things happening in my garden.

I have a potted echinacea purpurea by the front door which had a second flush of blooms late last month.  I honestly didn't think the buds would mature but I was wrong. 

Echinacea is also known as the coneflower because the seed head left after the 'petals' drop looks like a cone.

The 'cone' then continues to grow taller and taller.

What an amazing example of the Fabinacci spiral!

The pink petals of this echinacea are not true petals but bracts.  The many flowers grow from each of the spikes (eventually seeds) growing in the cone.  Sometimes a spectacular display happens when each of the spikes flower simultaneously.  This hasn't happened this year but if you look closely at the third picture from the top you will see three tiny, yellow, flowers growing to the top right of the cone.

My most favourite characteristic of this plant is the wonderful perfume produced by these tiniest of flowers.  I honestly believe the perfume rivals that of a rose.

Echinacea is commonly used medicinally to treat the common cold and boost the immune system.

Even though I've had this one plant for around six years I have not used it for making a tea simply because I felt the plant was not mature enough to cope with being harvested.

  Soon, it will die right back leaving only the seed head which is a favourite of florists to use in their floral displays.

Once the new shoots appear in spring I plan to split up the roots to start off some new plants.

I have under-planted the echinacea with runuculus so that over winter the pot continues to produce flowers.

Echinacea is a culinary delight to some of our wildlife and for this reason I have chosen to grow it in a large pot which I place close to the front door.  The possums and wallabies dare not venture this close to our house and so the plant survives long enough to produce flowers.  On a warm day, the perfume is glorious and can be appreciated every time we use the front door.

In the garden it works as a bee attractant too so if you are fortunate enough to not have to worry about what might eat this versatile plant...consider growing some in the vegetable and herb garden to help pollination.

Moving On

Remember my cuttings from December last year?

The time finally arrived last weekend to move them on.

After a few alternatives were offered, I decided that they would go to the one that was the most prepared to receive them before the winter months set.

So They will be going to a disability service in Winmalee to replant a sensory garden lost during the October bush fires. 

But when the request was made, via social media, I knew that these herbs would be perfect for a sensory garden. 

The plants include:
Rose Geranium

Lemon Balm

Lemon Grass

Lemon Thyme

Thyme

Bush Basil,

Eau de Cologne Mint

Chocolate Mint

Mint

Marjoram

Oregano

Lavender

Unfortunately, the sage cuttings didn't survive!  

Autumn

I love Autumn.
In Australia we don't do autumn like the northern hemisphere.
Autumn leaves are not the norm, although some villages and gardeners do go for autumnal colours.  But here, where I live in the lower mountains green is the norm.

We have had a very wet autumn this year. 

Some of the downpours have been quite astounding.

The garden is damp and little and not-so-little fungi are popping up everywhere.

Most of my herbs in the herb garden are doing very well thank you very much, especially the thyme which is creating a cascading silver-green carpet in the rockery.

Autumn, is of  course, harvest time.

So our community Crop and Swap celebrated the end of Season Three on Saturday with a community lunch after the final meet for this season.

After each swap I go home feeling very blessed because I'm sure I always go home with more produce than what I bring.

Herbs don't swap very well...only because everyone seems to be quite successful at growing herbs of one sort or the other so I've had to diverge a little think about what else I can take to the swap that will be of use to others.

This month to the swap I took:

6 jars of homemade organic full cream yogurt

Many bars of handmade soap (two types)

Lemongrass

Thyme

Chilies

5 or 6 Handmade paper garlands

Decorated note book

A posy

A jar of die cut paper butterflies.

I took home

½ a pumpkin

4 potatoes

14 persimmons

11 eggs

A bag of Jerusalem artichokes

3 choko

A bag of tamarillos

A bag of cherry tomatoes

Coconut and cherry slice

2 gluten free blueberry love bombs (aka muffins)(they were to die for by the way).

1 strawberry guava tree

2 punnets of snowpea seedlings

2 cobs of corn

Lemon verbena 

2 limes

6 lemons

1 kids’ cooking book

1 gardening book

A pot of jam 

A bouquet of flowers... 

and a raspberry bush.

Phew!

Here are some photos I took of the most amazing roses that Paula brought to the March Crop and Swap and which I was the lucky person to take them home.

 

 

 

Our little village, each autumn celebrates the founding of the town of Springwood with a festival.

I think the best part of the festival is the midday parade.

Military Pipe Bands have such a profound affect on me I have been known to cry whilst watching a parade.

 

The drummers from Hands Heart Feet had people dancing in the street!

And the rain held off just long enough for everyone have a wonderful day!

The Month That Was

February...gone...already. In February I forsook my blog...and not by choice. Auto immune disease strikes again...but before it took its hold ...

...I celebrated lots and lots of birthdays (February is a big birthday month on both sides of the family).

...I made things for Crop And Swap such as..

...sachets for the pantry

...herb salt with herbs from my garden

...and some herb butter...

...I was inspired to sew some birthday gifts by Kath at Hillside House Blog.  I loved her crazy patchwork covered coat hangers so much I thought I'd try my hand at crazy patchwork (not something I have attempted before).

Kath used flannelette as a base for her work but I experimented with off-cuts of wadding.  I stitched straight onto the wadding and used my walking foot for the entire project.

 (Do drop by and visit Kath...she is bravely undertaking a house renovation as well as doing lots of sewing.)

Wow, was I thrilled with the results!  

 I used a little soft toy stuffing to add some padding... 

The above two coat hangers I made for my niece and her husband using crazy patchwork and fancy sewing machine stitches as suggested by Kath.

Don't you just love this fabric?  I used it for my nephew (yes the brother of the above mentioned niece.)I used whole cloth for this and did some simple quilting to finish off. He is a mechanic and the fabric matches the lining I used for a toilet pouch I made for him last year.

Another one and this time for the third sibling (nephew), and also matches his pouch lining fabric.  His birthday is in November but since I was on a roll...I thought...why not?

It's finished off with vintage yellow buttons from my button collection.

And for my BIL (their father)...I thought some paisley print would be appropriate for his age bracket (hehehe!).  Guess in which decade he was born?

Then, there was a brief hospital stay and little activity has taken place since then...except for some reading. 

So...I've finished reading two books...Gone With The Wind (if you haven't already read this book I highly recommend it) and The Boy Who Fell To Earth by Kathy Lette.

I have mixed feelings about Kathy Lette's book...witty, fast-moving writing about a mother(Lucy) and her autistic son (Merlin) his absent, opportunistic, father and extended families.

Read at your own discretion.

And last but not least...I've stopped drinking coffee, and eating sugar, and ingesting gluten...just like that! The thought of them turns my stomach.

M.I.A. 'Cause Life is O.T.T. - A.T.M. #2

Another task I set myself while M.I.A. was to propagate some herbs which will be donated to Blue Mountains residents that have had their gardens damaged or destroyed in the recent fires.

Mr Honey Pie is addicted to coffee.  What other way can I put it?  Luckily we have a great coffee enthusiast that delivers freshly roasted coffee to our door as required!

As a result we have endless bags that once held the aromatic beans.  Being the hoarder that I am, and the committed up-cycler I decided to put them to good use.

After slicing the tops off so that they are nice and straight (this is important....I used a ruler), I folded them down about three or four times to give me a nice sturdy container.

Using my Silent Setter, I punched holes for draining.

Voila!

Even in our heat wave conditions, they continue to do very well, except for the sage which I always find a difficult herb to grow.

Have you ever used an unusual container to grow plants? What was it?

Day 321/366

German Creamed Herb Soup is easy to make and a comforting meal.

I've been languishing with what can only be a relapse of chronic fatigue, something I haven't had for quite some time.

Our meals over the past week have been fairly simple but nutritious.

In today's rushed lifestyles, I don't think we give enough credit to fresh herbs for supplying us with nutrients.

I know I'm guilty of, at times, thinking a quick meal can be had from a can or a packet.

Tonight's meal took me less than thirty minutes to cook, the most difficult part had to be chopping the freshly picked herbs.

Here is a link that gives you some idea of the nutritive value of many commonly grown herbs.

I have a lot of difficulty growing fruit and vegetables in my garden but I grow copious amounts of herbs because I can grow them in containers, which are easily protected from persistent wildlife.

At the moment I have more than enough oregano, thyme, lemon balm, sage, lemon grass, bay and kaffir lime.

My rosemary, mint, parsley and rocket is struggling but improving now that the warmer weather has arrived.

Tonight's dish was economical and nutritious and tasted delicious.

Day 314/366

Today, I've been getting ready for 

Crop and Swap.

I wrapped and labelled some handmade soap,

I also made some rocky road crunch and in the morning I will pick some herbs and take along some potted herbs as well.

I found the above free labels here.

Well, I improvised a bit.

And for all you sewers, you've got to agree...what a great way to organise your stash!  

What have you got planned for the coming weekend?

Day 231/366

When growing carrots in the garden, they need more potassium and less nitrogen for better growth.

Too much nitrogen induces forking while adding potassium promotes sweetness and solid growth.

Soil temperatures that are too low (below 5oC) will slow seed germination and temperatures that are too high may mean a wait of anything up to thirty five days for germination.
A soil temperature of around 10oC is best for germination.

Carrots are cool weather vegetables preferring sandy soils.

After our holiday, I think that a detox is in order.
So I made soup for tea tonight.
My carrot plot needed a further thinning out so I pulled the above tiny carrots to make a stock with some chicken carcasses I had in the freezer.
A nourishing stock was made by adding a bunch of fresh herbs from the garden, an onion, Celtic sea salt, filtered water and peppercorns which were all simmered for around two hours.
A light soup was made by straining the stock, adding two parsnips, the shredded chicken meat, the onion (chopped), two cakes of rice noodle,shavings of fresh ginger and  simmering again until the parsnip was cooked.
I served the soup with the addition of a dash of cream, freshly cracked pepper and slices of fresh lime (purchased yesterday from an op-shop in Bangalow).
Here is the result:

The soup was very satisfying and there's enough leftover for lunch tomorrow.

Crop & Swap

Saturday 12th November, Inaugural Meeting Of Crop & Swap, Faulconbridge NSW.

A big thank you to Jo & Joe!

Here is what I took (or some of it at least) 

Broad beans, herbs, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, bay leaves.

Potted herbs.

Sprouted adzuki beans and live silkworms!

Here is Joe giving the inauguration speech!

And below are some of the goodies I came home with, nom, nom, nom!

Kombucha

Daikon

I made a salad with all of this produce for birthday lunch at my sister's.

Birthday for Second Son, (38 already!!!)and Second Youngest Niece (13).

It's amazing how much more appetizing home grown and fresh is!!!!!

Sorry no pictures of resulting salad...no time, gobbled all up before a chance for photo-shoot(!!).

Also brought home basil, eggs, mushrooms, cookies, sage, well, I really believe I came home with more than I went with.

Priceless...the experience of satisfaction at being able to contribute to the household pantry without exchanging one cent!

Can't wait for next Crop & Swap.