Dandelion Tea

I've been in need of a bit of a spring time tonic lately, so thought I'd make use of a plant that is permanently taking over my garden. Dandelions.

I'm no expert when it comes to nutrition and the properties of plants, but I do remember that an alternative and rather less charming name for dandelions is piss-a-bed! It's a handy reminder that dandelions have long been known as a diuretic, and act as a cleanser on the body. The whole plant is edible - roots, leaves and flowers. Apparently, it is a good source of Vitamin A and K and various other vitamins and minerals. See here for a fuller description.

To make my tea, I just pick about 10 young leaves, tear them into pieces and pour on boiling water leaving it to brew for about 5 minutes before straining. I like to add a drop of lemon juice for a fresher flavour.

Healthy, tasty and counts as weeding my garden!

Fun with Marrows

I accidentally left a courgette growing for too long recently as my two little plants are churning them out at an incredible rate. As a result, I found myself with a reasonably large marrow on my hands. I have never bought or cooked with one before, so I had a look around for recipes. The first one was stuffed marrow. I cut it into rings and scooped out the seeds, then filled it with a mince and spinach mixture and topped with slices of cheese before baking for half an hour. I was a little dubious, but it was delicious! Even better was the fact that I was eating it while looking out the window at the plant it grew on.

I still had over half of the marrow left, so I made an apricot and marrow chutney. It's ages since I made chutney, and I had forgotten how much I enjoy preserving things. As I stirred the glistening mixture, I realised how happy it makes me to cook things, especially when I know they will be enjoyed in weeks to come. With the house full of the sharp smell of vinegar and spices, I couldn't have felt any happier. I feel so fortunate to be able to live the life I have always dreamed of.

Amazing what one marrow can do.

Garden update

I am a novice gardener but the alchemy of turning tiny little seeds into nourishing vegetables has always interested me. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, we turned the pond we inherited with the house into a vegetable patch and with a bit of reading up and a lot of enthusiasm, I began planting. As the weeds grew and the hot weather required frequent watering, I started to lose some of the positivity I had started out with. Some of the little plants I had planted from the seed trays withered and died, and very few of the seeds I had planted directly in the soil seemed to be coming up. The final straw came when the only plants that had been growing well, the radishes, turned out to be infested with wriggling maggots in otherwise beautiful red roots. I chalked it all up to experience, but couldn't help feeling disappointed.

However, Mother Nature is gracious. Yesterday I discovered the most amazing thing.
The most beautiful courgette I have ever seen. I seems like such a miracle that this has managed to grow despite the fact that its home is a weed ridden, cat poo infested, shady ex-pond. Bullied by a rampant potato plant, tormented by a well meaning but woefully inexperienced gardener and rarely getting so much as a drop of water, somehow this hardy little vegetable has fought its way through. It isn't the only one. I have also discovered that my carrots have a smudge of orange coloured root appearing at the base of their rather excessive greenery and even the beans, whose leaves had been chomped by caterpillars until they looked like green doilies, have manage to produce 3 reasonable sized pods.
To seasoned gardeners and allotment growers, this meagre little crop must seem laughable, but I am delighted. There can be nothing more satisfying than eating produce you have grown yourself. I think I'm hooked.

Success!

Look what I found this morning!



The tiny plastic pond has worked its magic. The photo is a bit blurry, but those are two frogs who are obviously very keen on each other. I hope they don't mind my voyeurism.

Instant Pond

When we moved in to our house last year I was heavily pregnant and suffering from fainting spells, so we pretty much ignored the garden. As the days are starting to clear and even our north facing garden is starting to feel slightly less damp and dingy, I decided to get to work. The one thing we had managed to do last year was to drain the large, overgrown pond. It's a raised square one and I rather liked the idea of converting it into a vegetable plot. This weekend we started draining the last dregs of water and gunk, lowering some of the edges and generally clearing out a bit. Unfortunately, we discovered some ex-residents who were not impressed at the removal of their habitat. We counted eight frogs in all, who at this time of year may well have been hoping to spawn. I feel awful about evicting them, but I really don't want a large pond once Alice starts tottering about. I have tried to salve my conscience with a little compromise.

With Alice strapped to my back, I set my master plan in motion. I found a large plastic tub, half filled it with gravel, rocks and a water-plant and sunk it into a shady area near to where the pond used to be. I surrounded it with a few more large stones and bits of wood for shelter, and hey presto! An instant mini pond.

I still feel guilty about the loss of what to me was an overgrown, smelly eyesore, but to those frogs was obviously a desirable place to bring up tadpoles. Hopefully my mini pond might be a welcome rest spot for them before they seek out new places to live.