A British fling in Nova Scotia: May 2012

Monday, May 28, 2012

All sun and no rain

It's not often that you simply cannot remember the last time it rained and we don't like to complain, but our little transplants are thirsty and fading! Plus, with the risk of frost hanging over us (since we are still only in Spring after all), this month at the farm, as well as physically exhausting seems to be mentally tiresome with the question...how much do we gamble? Risk seeding (with no prospect of rain), risk putting plants out (with chance of frost) or leave it all in the greenhouse (spend hours watering and risk being behind if the season comes early)....The one sure thing is that the damn grass needs cutting and of course, that loathsome lawn tractor is out of action once again.
However, we've actually been exploring other exciting options such as jetting off to New York City for a fabulous weekend to enjoy a lifestyle we can no longer keep up with! I have also been delving into the wierd and wonderful realm of plant spirit medicine (ie. talking to plants and listening to what they have to share).see more here
We've finally got the tea blends with petals and herbs a little more organised and they seem to be going down well at the market. The dandelion beer tastes awesome, so much so that I now plan to make a whole keg - though did have one bottle explode which was quite a frightening (not to mention very sticky) event. Lilacs are in bloom, mint has overtaken the herb garden, perennials are battling with the weeds and lupins are starting to appear. Bring on the rain so we can start feeling like a flower farm!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Growing madly and wild harvesting

Greenness is all around - hurray. Seedlings and weeds are springing up in all directions, the madness has well and truly begun. Luckily we had 2 fabulous German wwoofers (volunteers) staying for a week to lend us a couple of very helpful extra hands. Together we transplanted into the green house, mulched, weeded, sowed seed, planted potatoes and attempted to train Bertie with a plastic duck, among many other useful tasks. They even put up with my raw food escapade (raw apple pie) and helped taste my new herbal and black tea blends with flower petals. We are certainly missing their manpower (and cooking!). As if we weren't busy enough with actually growing veggies, herbs and flowers, we are continually side-tracked by nature's bounty on our door step. The latest creations from our wild-harvest include; dandelion vodka, beer and wine (though we have to wait until winter solstice to taste that one), and we've been enjoying our first trout lily bulbs and fiddleheads. I've even managed to get Jamie to eat wild burdock root and I have a sinking feeling he is roasting dandelion root in an attempt to reduce our coffee consumption! Thankfully the weather is mild, even hot on occasion, and everything is doing well, in fact, working outside has been totally pleasant...sadly this reverie will never last in Nova Scotia...here come the bugs!