04 | June | 2014 | Dreamwalker's Sanctuary

Progress ~ Grow your Own..With Recipes

After 4 days and 3 nights of constant rain and cool winds, the Sun is now shining and so I went to the allotment with my Camera to show you how things are progressing.

Its amazing what some rain can do and then some warm sun, how it brings things along.. You wouldn’t think how in a matter of 2 weeks how things alter and grow.. Below was the peas and potatoes two weeks ago.

Peas and potatoes 2

Now look at them… You can also see we have added French Beans and between the cloches are Courgettes, Also Runner Beans and sweet-corn.

You can see my Hubby in the distance busy at work. I went into the allotments Sunday afternoon, and weeded out the Strawberry Beds and put straw around them to help protect the fruits from the soil when it rains so hard… Last year we didn’t have many fruits as these were only young plants that I had replanted from new shoots. But I was disappointed at how many had got spoiled with contact with the damp soil from all the rain.. So I hope the straw helps this year.

I also want to show you the Blackberry bushes.. these have grown wild and rampant between ours and and our neighbours allotments. We Both love these fruits and so although hubby cut them back as they swamped the wood shed last year.. You can see how much flower is already on them.. So a Good crop I think this Autumn ..

Also this year I am going to collect the Elderberries from a tree which grows between our allotments on the other side.. I found a great Recipe for Elderberry Cordial Syrup . This syrup is great for colds and flu and more Health Benefits of Elderberries can be found HERE .

The tree is laden with flower at the moment, and you could make Elderflower Wine with the flowers. My Aunt always made loads of it when I was a child and I have a memory of it still… Hubby used to do a lot of wine making at one time.. Parsnip Wine is good but the best wine he ever made was Rhubarb Wine and a Strawberry Wine. .. However if memory serves me well, and I asked Hubby it took a lot longer for the Rhubarb to clear.. around 2 yrs in demi jars.. But it was the very best of wine we ever tasted.. And that strawberry wine.. was brilliant too.

Now not everything in the allotments is weed free.. In fact there is a patch behind the shed that really needs tackling.. But even Nettles have their uses..

So here is our Nettle patch behind the shed.. Note how the Dock leaves grow among the nettles. And if crushed and rubbed on the sting of a nettle help relieve the pain of the sting… The reasons why are discussed Here I also read that bathing in Milk soothes too, but when walking in nature we seldom have access to milk straight away! So always look for the Dock Leaf! Nettle Patch.

I drink lots of Nettle Tea, so why not make your own? Here are several different recipe’s made from nettles, The nutrition value is amazing in high concentrates of vitamins A, C, D, iron, potassium, manganese, and calcium.

Below is a recent slide show of how things are growing..