#39 - Lemon Balm

 AKA Bee Balm, the Latin Name is Melissa Officinalis.

Height: 24” (60 cms).

‘Aurea’ the variety in this case, and it has lovely yellow golden variegated leaves.  The leaves have a wonderful lemon fragrance and it is brilliant for picking to infuse as a hot tea, or cold drink … very refreshing in the heat with ice. It also can add flavour to stuffings, jams, fruit and vegetable salads.  It is especially good for diabetics as can help with blood sugar.

This beauty is part of the Mint family, and has the same thuggish habit, so I’ve planted mine in a pot.  It likes a sunny position and will tolerate most soil types.  It should be watered well before planting and until established.

I managed to pick up two plants from a local, and well kept secret near me that not too many people even know is there.   Both are planted in terracotta pots, with one in the Vegetable Garden and one on the table down by the house for ease of picking.  I intend to swap them around, and get some more by propogation, seed sowing or spending the kids inheritance.

Hugs

Kay xx

#35 - That’s shallot

 EDITED:  I wrote this on 22nd April 2023, but forgot to publish, so please excuse that it is in the past.

Taylor’s Golden Gourmet to be precise.

Planted today into the recently moved raised bed in the Kitchen Garden area.

I also transplanted some stray garlic volunteers that have sprung up into one of the other raised beds.  There is another clump, but as the bed has to be emptied and moved over, I’ll have to dig and store them temporarily in a container or something to do that.

The darling Husband cut the lawn for the first time, and strummed the top garden, whilst I started the enormous task of weeding.  Sadly, our beautiful Hebe hedge has been the major casualty of the appalling and wet Winter we went through.  There are signs of regeneration p, but I fear that it is too little and too late for it to be saved.  Apparently, we are not the only ones who had poor overwhelmed Hebe. 

The season has begun so late here in East Sussex that we are far behind.  Tomorrow we need to search out some early seed potatoes, and get them underway.

Hugs

Kay xx

#29 - Potty about volunteering

 I decided to pull the volunteer potato plants from the sweet corn bed.  They were never in this area of the garden, and so must therefore be self-seeded.  I think they are either. Charlotte or Desiree.  In any event they had pale lilac scented flowers.

We gathered 3.3 kilograms, which is pretty awesome for a free plant.

My actual planted tubers  (Charlotte) are well on their way, and fingers crossed they do so well.  In any event these are a nice piece of compensation for the unmitigated disaster of the winter harvest ... all 13 bags ... that failed due to blight and deprived us of homegrown new potatoes at Christmas lunch.

Hugs

Kay x

#21 - new raised bed

 From this …

To this …

I’ve planted up with Rummer Beans at the back, and Salad Onions in the front.

Then yesterday I found a little rusted bird ornament to sit on the top bar, and round balls for each upright.  I’d take a photo of them, but is is pouring and we have a thunder storm kicking off.  

The balls aren’t fitted yet, and I think they might get a coat of Valspar Blanc de Blances (as per the shed door). The bed itself is painted in Blue Stain and I am going to repaint in Ducksback Forest Green, and the uprights and top bar have been painted in Forest Green, so the Blanc balls will be a nice contrast.

I am super lucky that he Darling Husband  builds these beds for me, but he out did himself with the bean support on this one.  There are a whole stack of gravel boards waiting for him to build me more, and I have to say that I quite like these climbing supports, so he may well add them to the bed on the opposite side of the shed, I think that they were made out of shuttering boards from when the shed base went in.

I also found a lovely wind chime in Home Sense, which has a nice tinkle, but it’s painted black with a weird symbol on the sail.  It has been put on the black rose arch for the time being.  Probably it will get the same Valspar Blanc on both the “hat” and sail, and I’ll cut out a vinyl flower on the Cricut Machine.

Hugs

Kay xx

#12 - more seeds and mutant Brussels

 

The mutant Brussel Sprouts have been pulled up.  They were not my finest veg, as I only attempted to grow them for the first time last year … we will gloss over the purple Sprouting Broccoli for now and just focus on moving forward.  I learnt a lot with this crop like, staking them early on, and probably de-budding being a strong contender to eliminate over crowding on the stalk.  None of which statements are grounded in actual research, but seem intuitive.  

The staking as they fall all over the place, and the stems are not at all flexible, And the de-budding as the individuals were too tightly paid in and were a nightmare to remove at harvesting.  

 Clean, I need to do more detailed reading on growing them,  it they were tasty, tasty, very, very tasty.  We ate a lot at Christmas time.

In their place we have opted for David Domoney Spring Onion ‘White Lisbon’ seed tape by Mr Fothergills.

Some Hot Bin compost was added and them drills 6.5 centimetres apart and 1.5 centimetres deep were set with the table layer straight and then covered over with shop bought compost and watered in.

They can be sewn outdoors like this from March to July, and should be kept well watered and weed free.  Seedlings should appear  appearing between 14 to 21 days.

Harvest May to October, taking alternate onions from the rows to allow for growth etc.

I have never grow; from tape before, but is certainly easy … so let’s see how they do.

Lupine have also been sewn, I just went for ‘Russell’ mixed in memory of my dog.  They can be sewn from March to June indoors, make about  1.2 metres in height, are a staple cottage garden perennial.  They will flower next year (May to July), but caution they are harmful if eaten.

Hugs

Kay xx