Native British Wildflowers: The Foxglove

Foxgloves are biennial, like shade or partial shade, flower from May to August and are one of the most instantly recognisable native British wildflowers.

Other names for this well loved flower are fairy thimble, fairy caps, bee catchers, witches’ gloves/thimbles, lion’s mouth, dead men’s fingers, goblin’s gloves and The Dartmoor cowflop.

Xcellent for attracting bees and butterflies into your garden and particularly loved by Heath Fritillary butterflies and moth species such as the Frosted Orange and Lesser Yellow Underwing.

Grows in the wild in woodland/woodland clearings, banks and scrub and can reach a height of 1.5m

Leaves of the foxglove were placed in children’s shoes as it was believed that it prevented them from catching scarlet fever.

Official name for the foxglove is Digitalis purpurea.

Very poisonous if eaten. It is the source of the drug digitalis which is used in controlling heart rate.

Each plant produces 1-2 million seeds.

Said to bring bad luck if brought into the house

Oatmeal Gingerbread (and a cure for dizziness)

I recently re-read a book that my great Aunt wrote in 1981 about my family history and found this recipe for Oatmeal Gingerbread which I thought I'd share with you. In this book is a copy of a handwritten page from an old ledger containing traditional recipes used by my family.

Oatmeal Gingerbread (written 14 November 1916)

Warm one pound of syrup and melt half a pound of lard. While this is doing, mix in a dry basin one pound of oatmeal, half pound of flour, quarter pound of sugar, 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder, the same of ground ginger, one teaspoonful of mixed spice and a pinch of salt. Now stir in the warmed ingredients and a teacupful of milk.

Pour at once into a well greased tin and bake in a slow oven for two hours.

There was also this recipe which allegedly provides a cure for dizziness. I don't know about a cure for dizziness, but it certainly sounds like one for constipation!

1 pennyworth senna leaves
1 pennyworth Epsom salts
1 pennyworth Spanish juice

Boil in one quart water. Bring down to a pint.

One wineglass full to be taken every morning.

Anna at Baking for Britain has a great article about the origins and history of Parkin (or Perkin or Tharf cake) with full details on how to make it.

Carnival of Country Living: Edition 1

Welcome to the February 26, 2008 edition of a carnival of country living. A great selection of varied topics which I hope you enjoy. I was particularly interested in learning how to read your dog's body language - I will have to study Bob and Percy more closely!

GP presents The Kitch from the Kitchen posted at Inside Montana - Your home at the Range, saying, "Tips from innside a green kitchen and a recipe"

Louise Manning presents Renewable energy and rural development posted at The Human Imprint

Winter Rabbit Care posted at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.

Stephanie presents Make Your Own Suet posted at Stop the Ride!.

GP presents The 10 Commandments of Horse Management posted at Innside Montana-Your Home at the Range, saying, "The 10 commandments of equine management!"

Cindy Yeager presents Very pregnant ewes posted at Ewe & I Farm, saying, "On our blog we share life as it happens on our farm and in our family."

DoggieWoggie presents Learn Your Dog’s Body Language posted at Doggiewoggie - All About Dogs.

Chickens in the Road presents Make Your Own Wild Bird Suet posted at Author Suzanne McMinn, saying, "Make your own homemade wild bird suet!"

Laura Williams presents Spaghetti Casserole posted at Laura Williams' Musings.

James Brausch presents Costa Rican Food posted at Costa Rica HQ.

Thomas Carlyle presents Cooking Lesson: Getting Roasted posted at Angie's Pangies, saying, "Angie Younce talks about trying to find specialty food items while living in a rural area."

Top ten of most dangerous garden objects

“What a man needs in gardening is a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it.”
Charles Dudley Warner, My Summer in a Garden

With spring fast approaching we are all thinking about great days ahead in the garden, but beware, you may not be as safe on your little patch of green as you think.

According to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) “A man with a mower is likely to be the most dangerous thing in UK gardens” and in 2004 they published their top ten of most dangerous garden items:

1. Lawmowers (6,500)
2. Flower Pots (5,300)
3. Secateurs and pruners (4,400)
4. Spades (3,500)
5. Electric hedge trimmers (3,100)
6. Plant tubs and troughs (2,800)
7. Shears (2,100)
8. Garden forks (2,000)
9. Hoses and sprinklers (1,900)
10. Garden Canes (1,800)

Apparently men have more accidents than women (make of that what you will!) and people aged 30-60 are more likely to come a cropper.

I must just add at this point that the accidents involving plant containers stem from people tripping over them or strains caused when lifting and not because there are lots of psycho pots out there!

“One of the most pleasing sounds of Springtime, to be heard all over the country, is the contented cooing of osteopaths as Man picks up his garden spade”

Oliver Pritchett

Are raised beds the answer?

Hannah, the Wiggly Wigglers gardener, is a big fan of raised beds and says that the benefits far outweigh the extra bit of work making them initially. You could always take the easy route Hannah and order some Link-a-Bord kits!

Raised beds should be no more than 1m wide so that you can reach the middle from each side so as to avoid walking on the beds and damaging the soil structure.

You should aim for a depth of at least 6” for your raised beds.

Raised vegetable beds are good for anything with a long root and you can improve drainage by adding sand, which is perfect for growing the best carrots. Asparagus is also particularly appreciative of free draining soil.

The addition of loads of well rotted manure is perfect for growing forkfuls of beautiful spuds.

If you have several raised beds it makes crop rotation a doddle.

Last, but certainly not least, it helps with creaky knee syndrome and is a place to rest with a cup of tea to admire the fruits of your labour. The only trouble is getting up again!

Top tips about bird boxes

With today being the last day of nest box week, I thought it might be timely to offer a few top tips about bird boxes.

• Bird boxes should face between north and south-east.


• Place nest boxes at least 2 metres above the ground to protect against predators like cats.


• Most species of garden birds prefer to nest in isolation, so place your boxes at least 15 metres apart. Sparrows, however, are communal, and like to nest in adjacent boxes.


• Avoid any disturbance in the spring or early summer. Disturb as little as possible at other times as birds often like to roost in nest boxes, especially in the winter.


• If you would like to clean out your bird box in preparation for next year’s nest, do so around September time to be sure that all nesting activity has finished.

The History of Mother's Day or Mothering Sunday

Mother’s Day, or Mothering Sunday to give it its proper name, is not a fixed day and falls on the middle (the fourth) Sunday in Lent (which runs from Ash Wednesday to the day before Easter Sunday). This year Mothering Sunday falls on 2 March.

It is believed that it is called Mothering Sunday because church goers instead of attending their local church, they headed off to their nearest big church (called the mother church). On this day it was said that they had gone “a mothering” and so the name Mothering Sunday evolved.

It was normal for girls and boys working as domestic servants or apprentices to be allowed home on this day, often taking gifts of wild flowers or cakes home for mother and this tradition continues to this day.

Mothering Sunday is a special day in the year and gives us all an opportunity to show our love and say “thanks” to Mum for the tireless work she does. How about making it an extra special day by sending your Mum a beautiful Mother's Day bouquet of British flowers?

The Mother’s Day bouquets will contain a stunning mixture of British grown flowers and will include Lilies, Narcissi, Tulips, Sea Holly, Trachelium, Limonium, Alstroemeria, Delphinium, Golden Rod and Pussy Willow.

The very latest that we can take orders for Mother’s Day bouquets is 2pm on Thursday 28 February for delivery on the morning of the 29th. Don’t forget that we could sent Mum’s flowers out earlier in the week to avoid the rush.

Carnival of Environmental Issues: Edition 1

Welcome to the February 19, 2008 edition of a carnival of environmental issues. Thanks to all the contributors for a whole host of varied and interesting submissions and I hope you enjoy reading them.

Louise Manning presents Water and population rise posted at The Human Imprint.

Go Go Green Couture: Eco-friendly Fashions for Your Closet posted at CustomizedGirl Blog, saying, "This is pretty eco-business friendly and sort of a new market that is on the rise"

Jamie McIntosh presents Reduce Your Carbon Footprint posted at Suite101: Organic Gardens blog, saying, "How many earths would it take to sustain your lifestyle?"

Tiffany Washko presents Organic and Natural Home Cleaning Products! posted at Natural Family Living Blog.

Marilyn Terrell presents Trouble in Paradise: Bleaching the Reef posted at Intelligent Travel, saying, "sunscreen is damaging coral reefs"

Todd Goldfarb presents Has ‘Being Green’ Lost Steam? (Podcast) posted at We The Change, saying, "Really nice piece, and podcast, here from we the change. Interview with Green Options.. Enjoy!"

Summer presents Change Your Cat?s Litter posted at Wired For Noise, saying, "Do you know how bad your cat's litter is for the environment?"

Ariah Fine presents Quit Ripping on The Plastic Bags posted at Trying to Follow.

Leon Gettler presents Tax or trade: every carbon scheme has a cost sting posted at Sox First, saying, "Cap-and-trade creates opportunities for cheating. They can lead to unpredictable fluctuations in energy prices and they do nothing to offset high power costs for consumers. Carbon taxes, on the other hand, can be structured to deliver clean-energy incentives. Ultimately, however, the choice boils down to practical and political considerations"

Jeremy Zongker presents 20 Ways to Save on Your Utility Bills posted at Destroy Debt, saying, "You can save money while saving the environment."

Mindful One presents The Economics of Sustainability : Mindful Source posted at Mindful Source, saying, "Author, Elijah Weber"

matt smith presents » 7 Reasons We’re Composting This Year simple + green: taking steps towards a more sustainable life posted at simple + green

Lexi Sundell presents Burning Cars and Environmental Karma posted at Energies of Creation, saying, "This article asks questions about everyone's personal responsibility and environmental karma in the course of discussing reactions to the writer's past burning of cars."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
a carnival of environmental issues using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags:

a carnival of environmental issues, blog carnival.

The Wiggly Wigglers podcast revisited: A trip to the signal box

Podcast 0109 is one of my all-time favourites and comes from Mark Ecclestone’s signal box (well not his personal signal box you understand) on the main Shrewsbury to Crewe line. Mark is well known to regular listeners of the Wiggly Wigglers podcast, as an accomplished and very talented photographer and blogger (although he is very mean on the wining and dining front – well at least that’s what his other half tells me!).

Mark’s blog is called The Green Fingered Photographer.

This podcast is 33 minutes of tales from the trackside and the amazing wildlife garden that Mark has created combined with pure hilarity. Heather resists the urge to throw herself onto the tracks, but Mark might be tempted if he sees the spray train heading his way.

The podcast team is Heather Gorringe, Phil Gorringe (aka Farmer Phil) and Richard Fishbourne (aka Ricardo).

British Seasonal Food

We recently had an interesting question posted by Ross Boardman in the Wiggly Wigglers Facebook Group.

I'm trying to come up with some ideas on food which doesn't have a season, for example chicken or pork. There is a lot of info out there on food that has specific dates in terms of growing, harvesting and indeed culling, but not a lot on what is there 365 days of the year. This does not refer to whats on the shelf in the local mega-market, but what you could obtain from local producers. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Ross

Farmer Phil has tracked down a great chart on the School Food Trust web site showing a British Seasonal Food Chart (this chart can be downloaded as a .pdf).

The School Food Trust says, “The seasonal food chart highlights vegetables, salad, fruit, meat and fish. It plots their availability across the year and their peak nutritional value to cooks”.

Garden jobs for February

Hannah’s still busy digging in the Wiggly Wigglers garden and was caught on camera by Farmer Phil this week. She’s battled against gales and harsh frosts, but has made good progress.

Here are Hannah’s suggestions for garden jobs for February:

• Clean the glass (inside and out) on your greenhouse or cold frame.


• Give your polytunnel a bit of a clean, like Hedgewizard who has come up with an ingenious method that involves a piece of rope, tennis balls and an old sheet.


• Sow parsnip, broad beans and early carrot seeds under cover in a cold frame or cloche.


• Plant bare rooted trees and hedging plants.


• Now is a good time to relocate plants, including splitting and moving them.


• It’s also a good time to cut some hazel sticks ready to support your bean and pea plants later in the year.


• You can also enrich your soil and use that lovely compost from your Can-o-Worms wormery or compost heap. Spread a layer over the ground and either let the earthworms do the work or lightly fork into your soil ready for spring planting.

Carnival of Green Gardening: Edition 2

Welcome to the February 12, 2008 edition of a carnival of green gardening on this beautiful sunny winter's day. There are some great articles here, which I hope you enjoy - I certainly did and it cheered me up no end to think that Spring is just around the corner.

Louise Manning presents 10 Facts about Bumblebees posted at Green Garden Chat. Louise gives us some great facts about bumblebees and how to attract them into our gardens.

Tiffany Washko presents Recycling “Stuff” for Your Garden posted at Natural Family Living Blog. I love Tiffany's post - some brilliant recycling ideas to plant up all those vegetable seeds. I particularly like the idea of uses for egg shells - I will have to tell my girls that they are laying plant pots for me!

Matron presents First Seeds of the Year Planted! posted at Down on the Allotment, saying, "I'm always trying to find a re-use for household waste items. I've found quite a few uses for loo rolls!"

Dave Trenholm presents Composting Made Easy... Or Something Like That Alberta Home Gardening posted at Alberta Home Gardening.

New Old-Fashioned Gal presents My January Lettuce Surprise posted at Diary of a New Old-Fashioned Gal.

Justin presents Starting a Garden posted at Raw Food Today.

Ben Willis presents Grow Your Own Earthworms: Grow Your Own Earthworms posted at Grow Your Own Earthworms.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of a carnival of green gardening using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our
blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags:

a carnival of green gardening, blog carnival.

The Wiggly Wigglers podcast revisited: Sir Roy Strong

With the Wiggly Wigglers podcast team taking a short break, now is the perfect time to take a look back at some personal favourites. This week I am revisiting a fairly recent special (Podcast 0116) when Richard visited the home of Sir Roy Strong, The Laskett in Herefordshire. It is a moving and poignant portrait of a much loved garden and a tribute to Sir Roy's late wife, Julia Trevelyan Oman.

On a recent trip to Hay-on-Wye I picked up a second hand copy of Sir Roy Strong's book "A Country Life" which starts with an introduction to the garden, followed by a collection of articles that he wrote for Country Life between 1989 and 1994. The entries are described as, “a kaleidoscope of memories and evocations”.

A Country Life contains a plan of The Laskett so it was great to be able to follow the route Richard and Sir Roy Strong took through The Laskett. In his book, Sir Roy Strong's passion for the English countryside, gardening and cats comes through loud and clear.

With regard to cats he states, "I am afraid that no door is too
sacred not to have a hole cut through it to facilitate the passage of these glorious creatures".

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to this podcast, put your feet up and prepare to be transported to one of the most beautiful Herefordshire gardens and share one man’s passion for country living and gardening.

The podcast team is Heather Gorringe, Phil Gorringe (aka Farmer Phil) and Richard Fishbourne (aka Ricardo).

Composting with Worms

It's a "Happy Birthday" to Jane Perrone at Horticultural who has taken delivery of her present, a Can-o-Worms. Jane has posted some great pictures showing how she set up her new wormery.

Almost Mrs Average at The Rubbish Diet is trying to reduce her bin to a size 0 "one bag at a time". How brilliant is that? I am pleased to see that your Can-o-Worms has arrived safely AMA and look forward to getting regular worm composting updates. ps You have inspired me to try harder.

I have just treated myself to a Can-o-Worms shelter (sorry guys we are now completely sold out) and looking forward to the warmer weather and lots of babies (the worms that is, not me).

Perhaps we should have a regular wormery slot (with pictures) here on the Wiggly Wigglers blog with progress updates/ironing out any hiccups. Would anyone be willing to participate?

Edible Plants: Dandelion

The Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is one of the most common British weeds.

The name Dandelion comes from the French for lion’s tooth (dent de lion) and came about because of the shape of the leaves.

If you dream of dandelions it is said to bring bad luck.

To blow a dandelion seed head (a dandelion clock) is said to carry your thoughts to your sweetheart, although flower bouquets might be more acceptable!

Dandelion leaves are great in salads – 40m British rabbits can’t be wrong. Pick the youngest leaves, trim off any excess stalk and add to your salad.

You can also eat dandelion roots. Scrub the roots well and roast like parsnips or chop up and sauté in a little oil.

Dandelion roots can also be used as a coffee substitute. Allow the roots to dry in the sun and then dry roast until brittle. Grind the roasted roots and use in a percolator or filter machine.

Dandelion flowers can be used to make dandelion wine and dandelion beer.

The milky latex from the stalks can be used as a cure for warts and as a mosquito repellent.

For a whole host of dandelion recipes take a look at Astray Recipes.

Tips to get the most out of your log fire

There's nothing better than a crackling log fire and the smell of burning wood and here are some tips to get the most out of your log fire.

Growing trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air, but when wood is burnt carbon is released back into the atmosphere. As long as new trees are planted to replenish stocks, this carbon balance is maintained, making it one of the greenest fuels.

A really good fire requires dry seasoned wood and, as a guide, a 3" diameter log will be seasoned after 1 year in dry conditions and a 6" diameter log will take 2 years.

To successfully season timber, split and stack the logs so as to allow air circulation and store it under cover. You should be aiming for a moisture content of less than 20%.

Whilst all logs will burn, the calorific values of wood varies according to the tree species. Broadleaf species, such as oak, ash and beech, produce more kilowatts of energy than conifers, such as pine and fir.

When wood is burnt efficiently it breaks down with air into ash, carbon dioxide and steam. If you can see smoke from the chimney it’s a sign of inefficient burning. Maintain a fast burn when adding new wood to the fire to prevent a build up of tarry deposits in your chimney.

Avoid drying out timber inside your house as it is likely to contain wood-boring insects, such as woodworm or the common furniture beetle (Anobium punctatum), which may enjoy eating things other than your logs.

If you want to supplement your wood supply and recycle newspapers you could use a log maker. There are two types a dry log maker and a wet log maker that Melanie Rimmer at Bean Sprouts wrote about recently.

Rats and random ramblings

Here is a Victorian tip on how to deal with rats. A number of corks must be cut down as thin as sixpences and stored in grease. These are then placed in the way of the rats. Apparently the rats will greedily devour the pieces of cork and will die of indigestion! Alternatively, you could just use a humane rat trap. How about one of these revolting rat recipies, which makes Muggety Pie look absolutely fab?

I would like to say hello to Carol who has recently befriended me on Facebook. Carol lives in Saskatchewan and would like to talk to other keen gardeners on Facebook or out there in cyberspace. Does anyone know of any good online gardening groups in her neck of the woods?

We have had some great feedback from Helen on taking receipt of her new paper potter.

“Delivery arrived at approx 3pm yesterday. All items present and correct. Spent all night making paper pots out of the newspaper you packed the box with! Am I very sad to say its great fun?”

Some facts about Shrove Tuesday, aka Pancake Day

The last three days before the start of Lent is known as Shrovetide and involved feasting and other revelries. Shrove Tuesday is the last of these three days and always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday.

All eggs and butter not allowed during Lent would have been eaten up on Shrove Tuesday and what better way to do this than “knock up” a quick pancake, hence the name Pancake Day.

To this day we still publicly celebrate Shrove Tuesday with towns around the UK holding pancake races and church bells being rung in some villages.

The name Shrove originates from the old word shrive, which means to confess, and in the Middle Ages, Shrove Tuesday was traditionally a day of confession prior to Lent.

Well, here is my confession… I love pancakes, but am a bit of a traditionalist – only lemon and sugar will do.

Here is the basic batter mixture for making
pancakes:

4oz (100g) of plain flour
Pinch of salt
½ pint (250ml) of milk
1 egg

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl, make a well in the centre and drop in the egg and milk. Beat the mixture, gradually drawing the flour into the liquid, then beat until smooth.

I find that this mixture is best left to rest for a while before using.

If you like something a bit more adventurous, there are some great pancake recipe ideas on the BBC Good Food web site.

Valentine's Day: The Language of flowers

Throughout the Victorian era flowers were used to send coded messages to loved ones expressing true feelings that couldn’t be spoken of. This was known as the language of flowers.

Whilst the world has changed dramatically since Victorian times there is something very romantic about sending messages using flowers and Valentine's Day provides the perfect opportunity to send your loved one a message.

The Wiggly Valentine’s Day bouquet contains a striking mixture of red flowers including chrysanthemums, lilies, tulips and alstroemeria. In the language of flowers, tulips represent a declaration of love and chrysanthemums say, “I love you”.

Because we only use British flowers, you can send your message of love in an eco-friendly bouquet.

Six facts about mistletoe and how to grow it

It might seem to be the wrong time of the year to be writing about mistletoe, but it’s at this time of the year when the berries are at their ripest and ready to introduce to your tree or shrub.

• There are over a thousand mistletoe species worldwide, but the one we are most familiar with is the native British mistletoe, Viscum album.
  


• Traditionally we associate mistletoe with apple trees, but you can also use hosts such as poplar, lime and hawthorn trees.
  


• Mistletoe is one of a number of parasitic plants, gaining some of it’s nutrients from a root under the host’s bark.
  


• The common name of mistletoe is derived from the berries being eaten by birds, usually the Mistle Thrush. The seeds are excreted by birds, complete with sticky mucus, and attach to the host tree or bush.
  


• Mistletoe takes several years to become established. In the first year they bond with their host plant and only in the following year will produce leaves. The picture above shows a three year old mistletoe plant.
  


• Avoid placing seeds on your most prolific apple tree as mistletoe can severely affect the crop. They are best placed on an older tree where cropping is not an issue.

To learn more about all things mistletoe take a look at these sites:

The Mistletoe Pages

Jonathan Briggs' blog Mistletoe Travels

The Tenbury Wells Mistletoe Festival