Winter in the garden

Winter is here and there isn't much to do in the garden whilst it is covered with snow, except of course enjoy it.

Christine and her Alkekengis

Our first real experimentalist in the garden is Christine, a third year herbalist student who is planning on doing her final dissertation on the properties of the Physalis alkekengi commonly known as Chinese or Japanese lanterns and known for helping heal prostrate problems. We are all familiar with the lovely red calyx that protects the round orange fruits at the end of summer, well Christine has planted ten different varieties of Akekengi, some annuals others perennials, some with small yellow fruit, others with large black fruit. The 60 plants that she planted here have all flourished and the fruit have been carefully collected, each plant labelled so that back home Christine knows which fruit comes from which plant. I will keep you informed of how things develop in terms of the research Christine is going to do.

Getting the yurt out of the cupboard!

We have decided that the yurt would be a great meditation space on the field at Romain,'s, only trouble being that the cover has long since disappeared. Romain being Romain is sure that with a bit of this and a bit of that we will be able to make a make shift cover, so this autumn we put up the yurt in order to take measurements and check it was all there. I always love putting the yurt up, its such a beautiful space and so full of fond memories. we have decided to put down a wooden floor as it won't be being moved around and also need to look for a second hand wood burning stove. Can't wait to be in there on the field, meditating...............................

Late summer update

The garden looks its best now at the beginning of Autumn, with a lovely Indian summer many of the flowers have blossomed for a second time. The presence of humidity has also helped freshen things up. I have transplanted a dozen marjorams and grouped them together, the idea of planting dense groups of the same plant appeals to me at the moment, easier to upkeep and instantly gives more visual structure to the garden. The next jobs are to take off the rather weary plastic from the poly-tunnel, repair the structure and put on a new plastic, the poly-tunnel will then be used for starting off seeds in pots before hardening them off outside. The idea of using the large wooden troughs was OK but unfortunately the soil is quickly drained of its nutrients and so the second year the plants didn't do so well.
I am also trying to get rid of a spiky Yucca that takes up a lot of space at the entrance to the garden, nothing against Yuccas except that they are very spiky and apparently due to this reason not very good Feng-shui. More importantly, originally form South America, it doesn't fit into the garden here with its dry under leaves and shaggy appearance. I am now feeling guilty about it and may just cut it right back...anyway help is needed on this as it is very well anchored.
We will be planting a percentage of all the seeds collected in the seed bank and continuing to fill the wild hedge with small native trees dug up from the local woods.....all help will be greatly received.

Update N° 1.

Sorry but things have been very hectic and keeping up with the blog has proven to be a bit much, however now I am back from all my summer work/plant travels and will make a conscious effort to update at least once a week. In the meantime just a few paragraphs to bring things up to the moment. I continued when I could with planting, clearing and bonding a relationship with the different plants of the garden. The bed that was planted in spring is now looking more mature and the plants are all flourishing. We now have a rotavator, although a little late for this year, it will mean that in spring we can prepare new beds easily.
I also found a lovely new deckchair at the dump and took the opportunity to create a "relaxing area" where one can sit down and enjoy the view and the garden.
I will be working outside this afternoon and will take some detailed photos for my next update.

Names-plates for the different Thymes

Olivier and his wife Sylvie came to help in the garden today, it was very interesting and I must say pleasing to see their reaction when they saw the progress we had made since their last visit in March. Sylvie had made some name plates for the thymes that we planted the last time they were here, we put them in place and then they got on with weeding the beds left untouched on the left hand side of the garden, not the most interesting of jobs but one needing doing!!

Herbal cosmetics

The rain and wind carried on into Wednesday so we decided to try our hand at some herbal cosmetics. I had some basic ingredients, herbs (good start), lavender and Helichrysum hydrosols, macerated St-John's wort, carrot and Helichryseum oils. For the rest we made a list and headed down to the local chemists, this is the countryside here, no super organic shop just around the corner. Our local chemist served us well, glycerine, clay, essential oils, almond oil and the local oil press supplied the other oils we needed. The only thing we could not get our hands on here in the sticks was either cocoa butter, or coconut oil or Shea butter, never mind we would have to adapt our recipes to the ingredients...ooops forgot to mention the beeswax supplied by our local bee-keeper. We began with a simple balm from bees wax and macerated St-John's Wort oil and essential oil of lavender, turned out great and such a lovely colour. Our confidence boosted we moved on to a hydrating cream by using beeswax, almond oil , rose water and essential oils, we then tried a cream with glycerine in it and finally made up our own recipe by changing things around from other recipes. We made a cream with a mix of oils, bees wax, hydrosol, glycerine, white clay, borax and essential oils, it curdled and we felt just like when the mayonnaise separates, however we persevered, returned the pan to the heat, emptied out some of the hydrosol and ended up with a lovely smooth and light cream. What a lovely feeling making your own cosmetics out of your own herbs!

Braving a freezing May morning

The gardening week in May fell on the coldest week we have had for a long time, not only cold but wet. Lucia, who is an ELPM student on the communicating with plants course arrived on Monday evening. I had bought quite a lot of plants back from the UK with me, so on Tuesday morning we braved the rain and wind and set about planting, Star of bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum), woad (Isatis Tinctoria, L), a clump of small leaved Sorrel that I am unable to find its English or Latin name...will look harder later, a lovely big honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum), Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria) and many others (too late in the evening to try and name them all). By the end of the afternoon we were cold right down to the bones and spent the rest of the day trying to warm up, if that's what you call gardening...only joking!

Planting at the field and Distilling Bay

Today we took some plants from the botanic garden that were either better suited to the wetter enironement of the field or that we had too many of to the be planted on the field at Romain's. Everyone was busy, planting comfrey by the river or tarragon in the herb patch or Lemon balm under the trees. We planted a long line of peas, collected some fresh wild herbs for a warming tea, blackberry leaves, ground ivy, wild primroses, nettles... Hisham, a third year herbalist student had arrived laden with branches of freshly cut bay. We decided to distil them in Romain's still, the 20 litre still isn't big enough for producing essential oils but is quite adequate for hydrosols. Bay(Laurus nobilis)hydrosol helps create a balance between thoughts and emotions (sounds good to me), it is also a powerful painkiller, fungicide and anti-bacterial. I read somewhere that at the same time as burning a bay leaf you should make a wish, so we all did this around the still.....the ancient meanings for Bay were protection, clairvoyance, purification.
The hydrosol that we obtained was very aromatic one could even say it smelt a bit too strong, I have noticed that a month later it has a much more recognisable scent of bay. Something to remember about hydrosols is that they are NOT a weaker version of the corresponding essential oil, yes they do contain a tiny amount of some of the active parts of the oil but they also contain active parts that are not necessarily found in the oil, these are the parts that are hydrophilic ( they like water). This means that hydrosols do not always have the same healing properties as the plant in other forms:herbal tea, essential oil etc.

A small woven willow fence.

I had been given by a basket making friend some living willow sticks so we decided that it would be a good idea to try and make a living fence out of them. We did not have enough to double them but we did however have enough to fence of the new woman's bit of the garden created by Sandra and Catherine. I will be careful to water them regularly so they take.

The girls begin a woman's corner

Given free reign on a small section of the left hand side of the garden, Sandra and Catherine decided, surprise surprise, to create a female garden. They busily and lovingly cleared away the weeds and set about creating curves and bumps that represented the female form. Limited by the choice of plants immediately available they chose those that have healing virtues for specific female complaints...Marigold (Calendula off) , Mugwort (Arthemesia officnalis), Borage (Borago officinalis), yarrow (Achillea Millefolium), Ladies Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris), Raspberry leaves (Rubus idaeus). The onlky worry I have about this female garden is that the curvy bumps will be very dry for the plants as the water will run straight of them....something to look at in a bit more detail as the season continues.

Planting at the field

The group had grown by this afternoon, we were now looking a bit more serious with six of us planting and studying the local flora in the field that Romain has lent for the project.
We planted Comfrey (Symphytum officinale L) and willow down by the river, tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) and (Melissa officinalis) or Lemon balm further up the field, we planted the lemon balm on the side of the field, where it had previously grown wildly in the hope that it will naturalise again. We also planted a long row of dwarf peas, I had meant to plant them on my plot between the rows of aromatics but unfortunately mixed up the packets and ended up planting runner beans instead. In hind-site, it is probably better this way as it is a bit late in the season to be planting peas and as the plot at Saint-Joseph is very sunny and in advance, it is better that the peas settle down in a more humid, late developing plot.

The second part of the afternoon was spent distilling Laurus nobilis or bay leaves. We used Romain's 20 litre alembic, an alembic this size is adequate for obtaining hydrolats but not really big enough for essential oils.
The final product had a very intense and strong aroma and was surprisingly gentler when swallowed.
The discussion around the alembic, very quickly go onto the subject of hydrolats, what are they, what do they contain, how does one use them etc.
I am not really experienced enough to answer these questions. All I can say is that the hydrolat is the distilled water obtained once the the condensation is completed, it is an aromatic water containing tiny quantities of some of the active principals found in the essential oil as well as other hydro-soluble active principals that are not present in the essential oil.
It is a very gentle product, that has much less risk when used internally than essential oils and is also ideal used in the aqua phase of the fabrication of organic cosmetic instead of water.

Getting back to our Bay water, its qualities are, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, powerful pain reliever, balances the emotional and the mental. Used for repetitive throat infections when the person does not say what they need to say.

Gardening week with ELPM students

We are not yet inundated with students wanting to get their hands dirty, but we did however get a lot done today with the help of Catherine, a first year herbalist student.

We began by planting out some asters that had been dug out last week and were desperately waiting for a new home, we also planted horse-radish and chives in the left hand bed. I then got down to cleaning and digging the large central bed, whilst Catherine spent time planting seeds in the now fully functioning poly-tunnel. A third year student came by with his cousin, just a visit, not a working visit. We did however benefit from their presence, whilst sitting outside drinking a herbal tea together in front of the central plot, ideas were thrown into the air about possible planting and design for this area. Hisham had some stimulating ideas, a god send, as I was running out of fresh themes. The idea of winding path, a bit like a snake going gradually down the plot. The planting would be on the theme of major plants for each part of the human body, starting with the head and going down through all the main body systems. This idea seems a good one to me as it creates a focus for choosing plants and makes a strong link between gardening with medicinal plants and their healing qualities.....very inspiring, well done Hicham!!

At the end of the day, Elohim came into the garden and finished the digging and then got on with sorting out the compost heap......like magic the jobs are gradually getting done.

Second bed completed + garden plan

I did not want to wait for student activity and then find that no-one was around and nothing had been done in the garden, especially at it is the ideal time of year for re-planting and re-planning a garden, what I am trying to say is that I have been getting on with things on my own.
The second bed runs all the way down the left hand side of garden (see plan, kindly drawn up by Aurore) and has the wall behind it. The bed itself is not very deep, so I decided on planting two plants deep. The higher plants obviously behind, as well as some climbers and smaller plants near the front.
Plants include Trachelospermum jasminoides, commonly known as star Jasmin and a blue clematis as climbers along the wall. Origanum vulgare ssp aureum or Golden oregano, Allium Schoenoprasum or chives, Centranthus ruber or red valerien, Mentha citrata or Bergamot mint, Tanacetum balsamita commonly known as Costmary, bible herb, Balsam herb or mint geranium, Chelidonium majus or Greater Celandine and others. In between planting there will be room this year as the plants develop for flowering annuals such as Calendula officinalis or marigold, Centaurea cyanus or Cornflower, echinaceas etc. I will take photos as the bed develops and grows so you can see the progress.

Finally the poly-tunnel is functioning!!

After a third attempt and with the help of Romain and his sturdy wooden framework for the end of the poly tunnel, it is now a real hot house. The seeds are germinating and others can be sown, plants planted etc.

Tapping Birch sap

The beginning of spring is the time to harvest Birch sap, this winter was a long and particularly hard one here in France. I visited the birch wood a couple of times to find that there was no upward moving sap at all. Finally, three weeks later than last year the sap flowed. I had left a bottle ready hanging on one of the birch trees the last time I had visited the forest, so when Romain and I arrived we were greeted by a full bottle of birch sap. What a pleasure to drink this springtime offering from nature amongst the trees themselves.
In order to successfully tap the sap, there are surely many different methods but the one we use is as follows, drill a hole into the tree preferably with a small, hand drill, the hole should be a couple of cm's deep and directed slightly upwards (in order to help the flow of sap). If the sap is flowing, you will quickly notice some moisture forming, followed by drops of clear sap. Put a straw in the hole, tie a bottle around the tree with the straw inside and hey presto.....no in fact not hey presto as it takes some time to fill the bottle, I usually leave them for 24 hours but it can take slightly longer depending on the speed of the sap flow. Do not forget to fill the hole with a stick the right size when you have finished so that the tree doesn't loose all its sap for nothing.
I have read that all birch trees can be tapped and I have also read that certain have a bitter flavour, the birches we have here in our little forest are Betula pendula or silver birch and as I have not tried any others I cannot make the comparison. All I can say is that the Betula pendula produces a fresh, slightly sugary and very tasty sap .
Why tap birch trees in spring you may ask...... well the cleansing and strengthening properties are very useful after a long winter, flushing out built-up toxins and helping in cases of rheumatism, gout, skin diseases and urinary tract problems....not bad eh!
A small glassful the morning for 7 days is a great way to spring clean a clogged up metabolism.
Be careful because birch sap is not a product that keeps for long, keep it in the fridge and consume within 3 or 4 days. It freezes well but freezing will change its molecular structure, so there is the question of whether this change also changes its properties. I personally like to use it fresh from the tree as a once yearly ritual, I connect with nature, from the inside...thanks to these wonderful trees. The symbolism of regeneration linked to the birch is very ancient, the Germanic/Scandinavian rune Berkana or birch represents re-birth, surely linked to this magical substance that flows from the earth through the birch itself and brings new life in the form of the awakening of spring.

Re-planting Tansy

Jeremy helped in the garden today by re-planting the Tansy plants (Tanacetum vulgare), we decided to group them together on the left hand side of the garden, the fact thay they grow to be quite tall will give height in what is at the moment a rather flat part of the garden. Tansy doesn't need a rich soil, just bas long as it is not too humid.
We divided the plants by their roots, trimmed off any dead or bedraggled bits before re-planting.(Jeremy is by the way completely normal, even though he doesn't look it in the photos).