Heaven Scent Sweetpeas

Tall stemmed Sweet Peas from Dr Keith Hammett of New Zealand

This cool spring has been fantastic for growing sweet peas. Normally by now we have had a few days over 30C which puts a stop to the display of flowers, making the stems short and therefor not great for picking. Next year I might order individual colours from a specialist breeder such as Dr Hammett in NZ, He offers a near black one, appropriately enough for a Kiwi. The ones above are from a mix of his available from Yates seed. I also had some seed left over of the variety Old Spice which includes bi-coloured flowers and many dark maroon ones.

'Old Spice' Sweet Pea

Silene inflata, Sculpit

Flowers of Silene inflata

This is a herb from Italy which can be used in Risotto, egg dishes and salads.... or so says the packet of seed . Tasting it raw, it was not particularly inspiring for me so I am waiting for it to be discovered by a celebrity chef who can show me how best to use it. If you do a bit of a web search on it there is no real information about it other than it has a flavour not unlike a combination of chicory ,tarragon and arugula (rocket). One of my books on edible plants which was published late in the 19th century lists it and says the taste when cooked was not unlike that of fresh green peas.So for the time being I will file it under survival food or edible weed.
I am familiar with the genus as they are often given the common name of catchfly or bladder campion.

Spear shaped leaves of Sculpit, Silene inflata

Chamomile Matricaria chamomilla

Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla syn recutita)

My late night brew of choice is a cup of chamomile tea and this year instead of buying the prepared version courtesy of Mr Twining I have decided to grow my own. This is the annual spring flowering form, often called German Chamomile, while the ground cover Roman Chamomile, Anthemis nobilis, is perennial. I first encountered this herb growing wild in Greece and flowering profusely as a roadside weed during April and May. Bunches of the flowers were sold in markets for use as Khamomili Tsi. The name is actually derived from the Greek Chamoemelon ......'chamai' meaning on the ground and 'melon', ground apple, referring to the apple scented flowers.The Spanish Manzanilla means little apples and also refers to a light wine flavoured with chamomile.
Herbalists regard Chamomile as an aromatic sedative herb which is anti-inflammatory, analgesic, promoting healing and benefiting digestion while stimulating the immune system. A sapphire blue oil ,chamazuline, is produced from distilling the flowers. An early description of this was given in 'The Curious Distillatory' written in 1677 by Thomas Shirley 'The innate blewishness of the camomil is of that contagious or communicative nature that it is able to infect other things and render them like itself' . Shirley recommended mixing it with a pine oil probably to make some form of an antiseptic.

Conical shaped flower heads of Chamomile

I am waiting for a dry day to start picking the flowers for drying though I have since found out that it is possible to freeze the flowers which means less of the volatile oils are lost in the process. It is also recommended to seep the flowers in oil to make a good massage oil.
I started off the plants from seed sown in mid-winter and for a long time the seedlings barely moved. Planting the tiny seedlings out ,I was not sure whether they would survive but then suddenly they took off and they grew strongly to about 50cm before flowering. I am hoping to let a percentage of seed fall to the ground so it can perhaps become a permanent position for growing this wonderful herb each year.

Illustration of Chamomile as a marginal illumination in the 13th century Hours of Anne of Burgundy by Jean Bourdichon. I love the inclusion of the ladybird and dragonfly in this picture.

Rat-tail Radish, Raphanus sativus

Rat-tail radish  
Raphanus sativus

Radish gown for their pods are popular in South East Asia where they are used in stir-fries or pickled to used in a side dish. In Malaysia they are known as lobak. This is the first time I have grown them and have been surprised how decorative they look in the garden. The plants are easy to grow, reach about 90 cm and are topped with clouds of tiny mauve and white flowers which look at bit like Virginia Stock. The pods are crunchy and are not too hot. I have been cooking them with other vegetables and they are delicious.

Spring flowering succulents

Echeveria in flower now

Yesterday I planted out a new stock garden of succulents from which I hope to take cuttings to use as propagation material. However last night and this morning we had another deluge of rain with some 60mm falling. I incorporated lots of sand and grit into the bed before planting into what was fairly moisture retentive soil so here is hoping that they survive and thrive. The Echeverias send up a flower spike at this time of year which looks quite decorative but they are like a mecca for aphids which love to cluster around the unopened flowers or all along the stem.The insects like the soft stems which are easily pierced with their mouth parts to suck the sap.Using a spray to kill the insects also removes the lovely grey or white "bloom" over the succulent leaves so I don't spray but just remove the flowering stems and bin them.

Movember mo bro

Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868- 1928)
(Photographed in 1893 by James Craig Annan, Glasgow)

'Art is the flower......... life is the green leaf'

Henry Lawson (1867- 1922)
Australian writer and poet photographed in 1902

This year I am doing the "mo bro" thing for the month of November having been inspired by the very sexy advertising campaign and its key issue of helping raise awareness of prostrate cancer and male depression. I like the late 19th, early 20th century walrus style but have no hope of achieving one of those in thirty days. Needless to say I will end up looking like a member of the Village People especially if I wear a plaid shirt.
The funniest comment on the moustache was in the Pedro Almodovar film Kika when the character of Juana played by the extraordinary Rossy de Palma said that they made men look homosexual or fascist or both.

Refractometer

How sweet is it? Using a refractometer to test the quality of fruit and vegetables.

Two of my mates said I needed one of these Brix refractometers if I was going to get serious about growing organic fruit and vegetables. One uses his for testing the sweetness of his grapes in the lead up to their harvest for wine production. The theory behind it is that within a given species of plant, the crop with the higher refractive index will have a higher sugar content, higher mineral content, higher protein content and a greater specific gravity or density.This adds up to a sweeter tasting, more minerally nutritious food with lower nitrate and water content, lower freezing temperature and better storage attributes. So these strawberries I picked today gave a reading of 16+ which is in the excellent range compared with some store bought ones which gave a 6 reading which is in the poor range. This explains why the store bought ones taste like cardboard!