Monthly Archives: October 2020

NFFN Cymru and a Green Recovery: How farming can be the solution

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Helen

I love the line ‘The wonderful thing about food is that you get to vote three times a day.’ HB The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder of our dysfunctional relationship with nature, environment and our food with studies linking the … Continue reading →

Posted in Good for the environment, Wildlife | Tagged | 10 Comments

A Halcyon at last!

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Helen

When I first saw a blue Hosta, I was charmed. The name of this particular variety was ‘Halcyon’ and ever since I have been on the hunt for one. Last year, I found another blue variety, which seems to keep … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, perennials | Tagged , | 15 Comments

First attempt at homemade dandelion coffee

Posted on October 25, 2020 by Helen

Following my post ‘Herbs for Health’, I duly got my garden fork out yesterday and dug up a number of dandelion roots and, after giving them a good scrub, put them in the dehydrator. It’s a shame I had dug … Continue reading →

Posted in edible weeds, In the kitchen | Tagged , | 32 Comments

Herbs for Health

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Helen

To speak an obvious truth, the pandemic is affecting all our lives and most certainly not always for the best. At the same time, it would be remiss of me to suggest that my life has come to a complete … Continue reading →

Posted in edible flowers, foraging, forest garden, Health, herbs, In the kitchen, Permaculture | Tagged , , | 30 Comments

An autumn flower I always forget

Posted on October 21, 2020 by Helen

I’d briefly wondered if the autumn crocus would appear this year in view of the encroaching Pulmonaria which had self-seeded by the Ribston Pippin apple tree. In truth, I’d thought the crocus rather weak, even though beautiful. So, a little … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged | 4 Comments

Blame it on the Red Campion

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Helen

Silene dioica, more commonly known as Red Campion, has been gradually taking over the front garden since I threw a packet of seeds down, not expected them to come to much. Seeds sown directly into my soil rarely do for … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Good for the environment, soil management | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

“Betty Botter bought a bit of butter“

Posted on October 16, 2020 by Helen

Red Lodge Farm has started selling cream from their raw milk. Or maybe they have always sold it but there was never any on the counter when I arrived until recently. After my last failed attempt to churn a pat … Continue reading →

Posted in In the kitchen | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Making room for Rheum

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Helen

When is rhubarb not rhubarb? When it’s a plant in the Rheum family but not edible and has the name of ‘Ace of Hearts’. It might still have medicinal properties, which is why I decided to plant the one I … Continue reading →

Posted in forest garden, Pond and bog garden | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

A scream in the garden

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Helen

Friday was an unexpectedly sunny day but cool enough for some heavy-duty work in the back garden. In view of the recent rat activity in the dakek compost bin I was keen to eliminate the issue. Having made the holes … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, soil management, Wildlife | Tagged , , | 19 Comments

Steam

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Helen

What makes you happy? Regular readers may be familiar with one of my passions: making compost, especially when the process is going right. So, I was very pleased the other day when I went to turn the contents of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, soil management | Tagged , | 4 Comments