A natural by-product

Last week the big guns came in to harvest the crops around us.

This field bordering our gardens has, for the last two years, been used to plant a crop for the farmer's cows.
Up until then there were different crops but this field was used mainly for grazing. It could be beautiful in spring when it was covered with dandelions, followed by the clocks - a real problem for our garden though when it came to weeding.
It was also followed by the cows. I've no problem with cows but they love to reach over and eat our shrubs and trees that are planted along our boundary with the hope of having a beautiful hedge to keep out the easterly winds and extra wildlife habitat. So I am happy that we have had a two year reprise and the hedge is much more established.

What is this crop?

It is barley. The huge bales are still lying on the field in the sun and look great. There is also a lot of loose barley that the machines haven't managed to pick up.

Why am I telling you this?
Simple.
Barley laying around in loose clumps at the edge of the field is a natural by-product that is like gold to me. I have used old net potato bags to fill with the barley and mixed some dried lavender sticks in to put in the wildlife pond.

Barley straw is one of the best natural algae control techniques. When lavender is also added it is even more effective. For best results it is advisable to add the barley and lavender in spring, before the algae gets a hold. You leave it at the surface of the water to decompose and the chemicals released clear the algae. It takes 4-6 weeks generally to work and the bag can be left in the pond for 6 months. You need to put enough in to address the size of the pond's surface area and it is advised to put 50g per square meter (for further information read this article ).

With the heatwave and need to top up the pond more often the algae is rampant again so, although late, I have added the conveniently left lying around barley today. I will continue my stick twiddling for now, alongside the barley treatment; it has become a loved hobby and gives me the opportunity of watching the frogs and newts at play!

I hope in a few weeks I'll have even happier frogs.

The day of the lily

Today I'm celebrating the wonderful daylily (hemerocallis). Strictly speaking it isn't actually a lily, not even in the lily family, but, hey ho, that's how we all know it.

Hemerocallis fulva is my favourite with its bright orange colour, although there are thousands of cultivars to choose from and  a whole range of colours too. To me they look great in any weather, brightening up even the gloomiest of days.

It is a clump forming, perennial plant which pretty much looks after itself, low maintenance and very hardy. It dies back in winter and emerges with fresh,bright green leaves in spring, followed by the long stalks bearing multiple flowers in early summer.

The individual flowers last typically no longer than a day, hence it's common name of daylily.
Have you ever considered using it for cut flowers? No, I hear you say, the flowers only last a day but you'd be surprised. As there are multiple flowers on each stem the flowers open in succession and not all at once so as one dies off overnight another opens the next day and so it goes on. They make excellent cut flowers (as do true lilies) and as they are so abundant you can have an endless supply of fresh cut flowers for your home for up to six weeks and that's some saving!

Did you know that the flowers, buds and tubers can also be eaten too, often used dry or fresh in Asian cooking, where they are known as golden needles?

An all round champion plant and that's why I've chosen today to celebrate it.

Planting by the moon

The other day I posted on Facebook saying it is nearly time to sow the seeds I have just received (excitement getting the better of me). A friend of mine queried the phase of the moon for sowing seeds and quite rightly so! I pointed her in the direction of the lunar calendar that I refer to (it comes via subscription each month on my email) and then I delved deeper.

It is true that sowing seeds for root crops in this phase of the moon is a good idea as it is a waning moon, water content in the ground is higher and this encourages strong root growth. Other seeds are preferably sowed on a waxing moon, to encourage germination.

In a perfect world (for me) seed packets would give accurate sowing times to result in the best possible yield from each packet (I really do believe it works you see). To do this would involve a lot of work and even more categorizing, as if seeds aren't complex enough! As this is unrealistic I have done this for the seeds that I have myself.

How?

If I'm growing the seeds for flowers then I need them to be sown in an Air sign. As some are perennial flowers and some are annual flowers I then looked at my options. The annuals need to be done now to get a good start but I can also sow some more at the back end of May which is Gemini for later flowers. The perennials can be done in either Aquarius or Gemini but for the best results I like to sow them in the autumn for the following year so this would be from the end of September which is Libra.

So, I know which seeds to sow now as I have root and flower seeds. I also have seeds for plants that I am growing for their leaves; they would also produce flowers and seeds but it is the leaves that we want. As with most things there are exceptions to the rule and so these seeds are going to be planted in the waxing phase of Pisces. This will encourage healthy root and leaf growth so more leaves!

I am taking into account the unpredictability of the weather in my plans as well so although we have a polytunnel I shall sow the seeds indoors initially and then if we have severe frosts (which is quite likely) the seeds will be protected.

And now it's off to work I go. If you have enjoyed reading this blog please leave a message and thank you for reading.