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).

Planting of the top of the garden

Having gardened on saturday with two Elpm students to start the thyme patch and after discussing with them possibilities for the top part of the garden beyond the thyms, I felt inspired. I used the many medicinal plants dotted around the place that badly needed replanting. During the time I spent cutting off the dead wood and preparing the plants and then planting them in their big holes full of home-made compost, I realised how badly I had gardened up to then and how gardening is about learning and realising things little by little over the years as one spends time actually doing it. I had planted many different herbs and medicinal plants but I had planted them more or less anywhere, spending little attention on where, how and with what each plant needed......in consequence, the plants were in a sorry state and defintely needed some tender loving care. Anyway today I had a planting plan, I knew how large the plants would be at maturity and I knew what type of exposition, soil etc they needed.....things are looking up.