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Stoney Ground Herbs

Beautiful, strong herbs for NZ gardeners and herbalists of all levels

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Elderly Kokedama

May 4, 2021 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

Really, this is a blog post about how I don’t have time to do a decent blog post! Personal life (as apposed to business life) is at full stretch this month.

So here’s some pictures of what happens to kokedamas’ as they age…

Two year old kokedama
This is the very first kokedama that I made two years ago! It’s a goldfish plant, obviously has a small root system as I’ve only had to restring it once (and not add moss)

Two year old kokedama
This wee guy is around the two year mark too…see those roots?

succulent kokedama
He’s actually seemingly happy to wrap his roots around the ball, despite that I have re-mossed and strung him up twice now

Old kokedama
Last year I made Chrysanthemum kokedamas’, they looked gorgeous but didn’t sell, seems people didn’t dig flowering indoor plants. I plonked this one in my garden, the moss and string is slightly falling off but the roots have gone down, the plant has shot up and it looks like it will flower by mother’s day!

Crazy hair Kokedama
The ever popular crazy hair kokedama! The moss is going slightly green (I like that) the string going brown, they’re all natural products this is what you should expect to happen. Eventually that string will start falling off. I may wait till it’s easy to come off then re-string or I might just re-string over it…haven’t decided yet.

Old kokedama
Sometimes plants die. sad but true, it happens to the best of us. But all is not lost! Dig out what you can from the top of the kokedama, just enough to make space for the root system of another plant..

Elderly kokedama
That’s what I did with this one. If you have any succulents around they don’t mind going into old dry soil. This string of pearls is more happy here than what it was in it’s pot, and the kokedama is happy because now it’s supporting another plant!

So take care y’all, remember indoor plants need less watering during the winter months. Number one killer is too much love! If you have kokedamas, let them dry out completely before soaking.

I will be back for next months (Haratua) Maramataka Māori gardening guide, hopefully before the New Moon! Oh, and keep your eyes peeled, working in the background are some busy beavers and I believe I’m going to be having a new website soon-ish!! I’ve been wanting a new website that is a bit easier to navigate to find plants and relevant information and my wishes might be coming true, whoop whoop!!

Filed Under: Indoor Plants, Kokedama, Pretty Pictures Tagged With: chrysanthemums, crazy hair, Goldfish plant, Kokedama, kokedama as they age, old kokedama, string of pearls, succulents, what to do with kokedama

Kia ora!

January 12, 2021 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

Kia ora folk! Hoo-wee! Feels like I haven’t been here in a while, happy new year and all that jazz!

My negligence here, hmm, no let’s word that differently… My concentration has been taken up by a few other things. Firstly the whole Christmas and New Years thing; I was quite pleased once it was all over to be honest, it was nice it was fun, but always takes a bit of extra-curricular planning and hyped expectations, especially if you have kids!

Not the most complimentary shot of any of us, but here’s our family in Whakatāne way for Christmas

Secondly, it is drying season and with this weather being so higgedly piggedly working out the ideal times to harvest my herbs and know that they will dry in premium time, takes a bit of forethought. White sage season has also begun, this is when I go through my wait list, send out emails 20 at a time, wait for responses, get plants ready, freak out that I’m not going to cut it or my plants aren’t, know that I’m fine, check that I’ve been paid, send them out….and repeat!

Vegie garden maintaining, staking, de-lateraling tomatoes, weeding… at least I’ve hardly had to water, thanks grey days…not!

But mainly, I’ve been a bit pre-occupied with a new project; it’s an expansion on Stoney Ground Herbs but well, almost a whole ‘nother beast. I can’t really say too much about it yet but it’s going to be really cool and I’m super excited. There’s a whole lot of work involved (it’s huge!), but fortunately I’m a team player and I’ve got people on my side working on the products, the developments, the technical parts and the ‘keep SandRa real’ parts! So if I’m a bit quiet, this is what I’m doing… But be ready for some noise!

In the meantime here’s some photos of the gardens and I promise I will get back onto the blog writing wagon!

Hope your gardens are flourishing too!

Golden plum tree
Oh, and it’s the start of preserving season, our Golden Plum tree has been over zealous in its generosity, I can’t keep up!
Clary sage, Salvia sclarea 'Turkenstanica'
Clary sage, Salvia sclarea ‘Turkenstanica’. Looking gorgeous, smelling even better, the smell gets stronger as the flowers age.
Vegie garden
OK, maybe I haven’t been that busy weeding…it’s on the to-do list! Zucchini, borlotti beans, corn (somewhere) and spaghetti squash.
Tomato
Nip out the growth that happens between the main stem and the main branches.. this is what’s called “delateraling”, makes for a stronger plant and better fruit.
Container gardening
I’ve been experimenting with container gardening…
Honey
Harvested a couple of frames of honey a couple of weeks ago, very exciting, very messy, very rewarding!

Filed Under: Care and Maintenance, Pretty Pictures, SGH updates, Tomatoes Tagged With: drying, gardening, harvesting, herb gardening, stoney ground herbs, vegie gardening

Happy Balding Hens

May 19, 2020 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

I’ve been having fun lately making up herbal concoctions for our flock of ladies.

bantam rooster with a rose comb, natural chicken keeping
Ice is our bantam rooster with a rose comb. Peaches is a buff orpington x

We currently have 33 chooks (four of those are roosters) and 15 chicks. Too many really but we are a family of five and we like our eggs!

mixed breed pullets, natural chicken keeping
Some young-uns

They free-range around our property when they’re not locked up at night, so they’re pretty lucky and have access to green pastures, tasty weeds and if they’re really naughty fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden!

free range chickens
Blue, our blue orpington x silkie, looking gorgeous

Right now though most of them are molting so just to give them an extra boost I’ve formulated a herbal crumble supplement..

moulting chicken
Poor Blue

When chickens are moulting they need vitamin A, folic acid and zinc for feather growth. As well as extra protein, warmth (circulation) and they’re a little down in the dumps and exposed, so some immunity support as well. They won’t be laying eggs as their energy is going into feather growth rather than egg production, so expect empty nests.

Moulting chicken herbal blend
She’s like a shadow of her former self

In my Moulting Blend (yep, it has a capitalised title because it’s going to be up for sale soon) I have…

  • Flaxseeds… folic acid (B9), feather growth
  • Garlic… warming, protection from infection, vit A
  • Parsley… vit A, protein, feather growth
  • Dill seed… high protein
  • Mint… feather growth, digestive health
  • Star anise… warming, anti-microbial
  • Seaweed… all round health, zinc

Moulting is a natural thing to happen to your chooks, usually yearly and usually in autumn. You can’t stop it and you can’t speed up the re-growth but you can make sure they’re getting a bit of a boost in the vitamins and minerals they need to supplement their normal balanced feed.

I’m giving my girls about a teaspoon each, every 4 days.

Moulting mama
Moulting mama, Star & chick (Barred rock x)

Other things you can do to help them through this awkward phase is to feed them sprouted alfalfa and cat meat/kibble (as in cat food – not minced cat! 😮)

Rooster and hen
Hei Hei, ironically the rooster not the chicken (hei hei is Māori for chicken) and Cocoa Pops

If this is a product you may be interested in for your own flock do let me know in the comments section or via the contact form. Would be handy to be able to gauge interest…

Other potions in the pipeline is a boosted vaseline lotion for scaley leg mite, a golden layer health blend, worming blend and a chick blend…

Sad Sam

Filed Under: Herbs in Use, Pretty Pictures, Uncategorized Tagged With: chicken keeping, chickens moulting, herbal chicken health, herbs for chooks, natural animal health, natural chicken keeping, new zealand, urban chickens

Plot Twist!

March 25, 2020 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

I was really hoping I would still be able to provide dried herbs and tinctures for y’all during this weird ol’ period. I was even going to make up a whole lot of kokedama to sell online due to all my markets having been cancelled. But alas, I’m not an essential business, and couriers + NZ Post whom are essential, are only going to be collecting/delivering/posting essential business, business. So that’s me out. That’s Josh (husband/Industrial Fusion) out. Plot twist!

So, to keep myself entertained I’m going to do blog posts on how to entertain yourself and coping strategies. Maybe they’ll help you, maybe they won’t, but they’ll probably help me!

Whilst we’re still getting beautiful days get on out there into the garden, there’s still a few jobs to do. Collect seed, harvest and dry herbs, divide your clumping herbs .

Seed saving screen from LovePlantLife
Seed saving screens

A lot of herbs will self seed readily, but there are some that you might want to save just in case and it’s nice to share seeds. The seeds are found within the flowers, once the flowers start dying/drying off on the plant that’s when the seeds start hardening and you can start collecting. Store your seeds in paper envelopes, making sure the seeds are properly dry. Seed saving screens are good for seeds that need cleaning, not dirt hopefully, but husks or flower material etc. Here’s an ooold post about using seed saving screens.

Collecting seed pods for decoration is a lovely thing to do, take the time to appreciate their beauty…

Echinacea
Monarda didyma
Monarda fistulosa

For other autumn jobs in the herb garden go to this post here that I wrote around about this time last year. If you want to get straight into the dividing of your herbs go here.

It breaks my heart every time I see advice on drying (leaf) herbs and they show or tell you to hang your herbs in a nice sunny spot. If you want dull, non flavoured and possibly fly speckled herbs then by all mean dry your herbs in the sun. If you want herbs with as much as their original colour and flavour as well as their (medicinal) volatile oils, dry in a warm, well ventilated dark space. Hot water cupboards are great as are attics if easily accessible. You want them crispy dry, flowers take longer than you think to dry (if they’re going in a vase it’s not a biggy, but if they’re going in a jar you want to make sure they’re dry all the way through, mouldy flowers are so very disappointing).

Dried red clover

Keep busy my people, stay connected, to the earth and to your loved ones. If you know a health worker or supermarket worker send them as much aroha as you can! Stay well, stay at home 🌿❤

Filed Under: Care and Maintenance, Pretty Pictures, SGH updates Tagged With: autumn jobs, dividing plants, drying herbs, herb gardening, plot twist, seed saving

I Got Me a Knife!

June 18, 2019 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

He asked me if I wanted a knife.

I said, yeah, I’d like a knife.

What kind of knife? He asked.

Oh, a cleaver would be handy, I said, to you know, cut up pumpkin and cut up slices etc…

I got me a knife.

Industrial Fusion, hand forged cleaver cutting a pumpkin
You call that a knife?

Take that pumpkin!

Industrial Fusion, hand forged cleaver cutting a pumpkin
Nah, I call it a cleaver..an industrial cleaver.

If you didn’t know, my husband is a full time blacksmith. You can find his amazing creations on his website here; Industrial Fusion. It’s how we live, so it really pays to support him whilst you’re not buying my plants (which I don’t have at this time of year, I forgive you) dried herbs and tinctures!

Cleaver made by Industrial Fusion
Boom!

The whole piece is hand forged out of spring steel with an epoxy infused cord wrap. She ‘aint light but she does make short work of a pumpkin (cuts a pizza pretty good too!).

cleaver hand forged by Industrial Fusion
Nice touch with the touchmark

Touchmark there of JT (Josh Timmins), like a signature on a masterpiece!

Excuse the goose pimples! I have his touchmark too~ (Does that make me a masterpiece? Hmm, I am of my own making, his touchmark is a detail on my own canvas).

So let me run you by that again, Josh Timmins designs at industrialfusion.co.nz Go check it out.

(Promise my next post will be about herbs!)

Filed Under: Pretty Pictures, Uncategorized Tagged With: Hand forged cleaver, How to cut a pumpkin, Industrial Fusion, Josh Timmins, new zealand

Salvia Show Off

June 2, 2019 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

The Salvia genus is where we find all our sages and it’s very easy to fall in love with this group of plants from the mint family. Take mind, it is huuge! So many members, ranging from annuals to perennials, medicinal, culinary, hallucinatory and ornamental. Something for everyone!

It’s a wet miserable often hailing day today. But I have a stash of photos put away here, so I’d like to introduce you to my wee collection, it’s by no means huge but I’m proud of it!

Let’s start with Salvia officinalis, common sage…

He that would live for aye
Should eat sage in May.
OLD ENGLISH SAYING
Common sage, Salvia officinalis
Common sage, Salvia officinalis

Salvia officinalis is a wonderful herb if not an essential herb to have on hand. Apart from its culinary uses I use it a lot in winter for sore throats, either as a tea/infusion or you can make a decoction and use it as a gargle. The volatile oils sooth the mucous membranes, useful for the inflammation of mouth, gums, tongue, throat and tonsils. Sage can also help women at various stages of their life; due to the tannins and estrogenic substances found in sage, taking the infusion frquently can help dry up mothers milk, lessen excessive bleeding during menses and reduce sweating during perimenopausal time. DO NOT TAKE SAGE MEDICINALLY WHEN PREGNANT. There are many other uses, but these are the ones that I have used sage for.

Salvia purpurea, can be used just like Salvia officinalis. Salvia Icterina, varigated sage, is more ornamental but can be used culinarily in a pinch as can the beautiful tri-coloured sage.

Purple sage, Salvia purpurea
Purple sage, Salvia purpurea
Varigated sage, Salvia icterina
Varigated sage, Salvia icterina
Tri coloured sage
Tri coloured sage

Unfortunately I must admit that both my varigated and tri-coloured sages did not survive the transition when we moved here over a year ago, very sad.

Next in the line up is the all time most popular herb that I sell.. Salvia apiana, White sage…

Salvia apiana, white sage
Salvia apiana, white sage

White sage, in New Zealand is mainly used for smudging, personally, I use it more as a “keep-me-calm-and-happy” tonic by putting a fresh leaf in my (or my kids, or all of us!) water bottle to sup on for the day. I’ve also used it in a headache balm I made with lavender and peppermint. For more info on white sage, go to the side bar to find my articles on growing and caring for your white sage plant. If you would like to grow your own, contact me and I’ll put you on my “White sage email list” to let you know when I have more in stock.

Onwards to Salvia sclarea, Clary sage. The particular clary sage I grow is “turkenstania” which is a powerful white flowering variety, it is amazing as an ornamental, back filler and/or fragrant herb.

Salvia sclarea and bumblebee
Salvia sclarea and bumblebee
Clary sage foliage
Clary sage foliage

Medicinally Clary sage is probably most well known as an essential oil which is made from the seeds. The seeds are also what give Clary sage its country name “Clear Eyes”, the mucilage that the seeds create can help soothe eye irritation caused by foreign bodies. I tried this with my husband.. don’t think I did it right… poor man!

Moving on… Another wonderfully scented salvia is Salvia elegans, Pineapple sage. Mmmm hmmm, this is one delicious smelling plant and because it’s the leaves not the flowers that are scented you’ve got it all year round.

Salvia elegans, pineapple sage
Salvia elegans, pineapple sage

A lot of salvias have flowers especially made for hummingbirds, Pineapple sage flowers give you a perfect example of tubes fit for a long skinny hovering beak (FYI seeing a real life hummingbird is on my bucket list). On a cultivating note, over the last two years I’ve noticed that my pineapple sage plants that are in semi shaded positions are doing better than the ones in full sun. This is something that I know other people have noticed with their plants that usually are “best” in full sun, basils for example, this will most likely come up more and more as our environment deteriorates.

Lets meet Salvia confertiflora now, sometimes known as red velvet sage, but I recently, can’t think where, saw a plant labelled red velvet sage and it wasn’t confertiflora. Knowing botanical names and ensuring plants you buy have their botanical names on their labels is really very important if you care about knowing what you’re talking about!

Salvia confertiflora
Salvia confertiflora

The leaves have a very pungent smell, not entirely pleasant but quite unique. I don’t know of any medicinal uses with this plant, but gives your garden a lovely tropical feel and wax eyes love their flowers. If you live in a frost free area they can grow quite tall.

Did you know that chia seeds, the super food that most people have heard of these days is a salvia? Yah ha, so I planted some this year!

Salvia hispanica, Chia
Salvia hispanica, Chia

This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago, it’s flowering now, glorious purple spikes a lot like the following photo. Next season I will sow earlier (I sowed in late November) because I don’t think I’ll have many seeds to harvest before knarly weather and frosts do their worst to the plants.

Salvia farinacea, Victoria blue
Salvia farinacea, Victoria blue

This is Salvia farinacea, Victoria blue. It was my understanding that it was an annual, but it’s still growing strong in its second year, I’m not complaining, the flowers are an amazing colour. This is a pure ornamental salvia, the leaves don’t even have a scent.

There is another salvia that I have where the leaves have no scent, which surprised me and made me quadruple check that what I had (I had been given a cutting) was actually what I was told it was… Salvia divinorum. If you know what this is please don’t get over-excited, I’m still getting my own plant established (and learning how it grows best) before I can consider propagating off it to sell plants.

Salvia divinorum, the diviners sage
Salvia divinorum, the diviners sage

Salvia divinorum has psychoactive properties and Mazatec shamans have a long and continuous tradition of religious use of Salvia divinorum to facilitate visionary states of consciousness during spiritual healing sessions (thank you Wikipedia). Considering it comes from the montane cloud forests of Oaxaca, Mexico, I might have a good chance of it growing well here in Eketahuna!

So not a massive collection but I love the diversity of it and hope to keep on finding new and interesting salvias to add to it. I’m not selling any plants at this time of year but I’ll be starting cuttings soon so let me know if you’re interested in any of these.

Keep warm and embrace the sun when you see it!

Filed Under: Herbal Lore, Herbs in Use, Pretty Pictures, White sage Tagged With: Chia, clary sage, commonn sage, pineapple sage, purple sage, salvia apiana, salvia confertiflora, Salvia divinorum, salvia elegans, salvia farinacea, Salvia hispanica, salvia officinalis, salvia sclarea, the diviners sage, tri-coloured sage, turkenstania, varigated sage, Victoria Blue, white sage

Seeing Beauty

April 25, 2019 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

A dead tree.

A cold misty morning.

Spiders.

Pure Beauty.

cobwebs on a misty morning
cobwebs on a misty morning
cobwebs on a misty morning

Find the beauty in your day. It’s there if you look.

A reflection. A spinning leaf. Patterns.

It’s been a hard month this month. Death. Grief.

A friends husband. Another friends young son.

Thieving. Dishonesty.

My beautiful handbag handmade by my husband. (And wallet and housekeys).

If there’s beauty out there I’m taking it, because sometimes you forget, sometimes you can hardly see it, sometimes, you can’t believe it still exists.

But it does my friend. Seek it. It may not make things better, it may not bring back loved ones. But it makes things that little bit more bearable. Let it give you strength that one day, more beauty will be visible.

cobwebs on a misty morning

Filed Under: Pretty Pictures Tagged With: cobwebs on a misty morning, death, grief, Seeing beauty

Kia ora 2019!

January 9, 2019 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

Hello, hello 2019, hello you.

Sunshiney St Johns Wort
Sunshiney St Johns Wort

One of my customers told me this week that according to numerology, 2019 is going to be super. So perhaps I won’t give up just yet! 2019 is a number 3 year and three is a pretty fine number for all that it symbolises. If you’re interested in that sort of jazz (or your interest is piqued) go here to Forever Conscious to find out more.

In the spirit of “creativity, self-expression, and alignment” (did you look at that link?) I might write more personal posts, maybe show my paintings and other crafty concoctions as well as herby things. But….

I must admit, apart from time and other priorities the reason my blog posts have been so few and far between lately is because our camera is getting a bit on the old side and the plug points to load the photos on the computer are worn. So to get my photos loaded I have to ever so precisely hold the plug in at some special angle whilst pressing certain buttons (with my nose) and perhaps hold my head/feet/tongue at a particular angle whilst hoping the planets are aligned to be able to successfully get them on there. And still it doesn’t work. So I have to ask my husband to do it whom obviously has his feet in the right position and asks the right gods – because he can do it instantly. But I hate asking him, because as much as I love him he does this bloody eye roll thing or a loaded pause before saying the right words, which are “Yes dear, I’ll do that for you”. And it makes me want to shake him and sometimes I even hate him for about 40 seconds. Nobody likes that. And I’ve got other things to ask him to do – like saw off the chickens roosts because they’re riddled with mites (he can do it so much quicker than me). I can handle eye rolls then, you know, they’re kinda warranted!

So know that these photos that come to your eyes right now came with a little bit of eye roll, a lot of stern eye and a whole lot of garden love~

The side garden with Clary sage and white hydraengas
The side garden with Clary sage and white hydraengas

My “Turkenstein” Clary sage (Salvia sclarea) is in full bloom at the moment and is amazing. (Still have plants available, go here..) It gives you heaps of coverage, a beauts musky scent that really, only a salvia can pull off. Flowers for bees and bumblebees AND any sturdy vase you have on hand.

Clary sage with Feverfew underneth a plum tree
Clary sage with Feverfew underneth a plum tree
Salvia sclarea and bumblebee
Salvia sclarea and bumblebee
..and here we have Clary modelling with Gladioli
..and here we have Clary modelling with Gladioli
Fingers after picking Hypercium perforatum flowers
What have these guys been up to?!

St Johns Wort (Hypercium perforatum) has been flowering steadily since Christmas and I’m starting my second lot of St Johns Wort oil. Fabulous for healing, here’s a link that will tell you more. I grow St Johns Wort in my garden. It’s usually wildcrafted, but last year I couldn’t find any that wasn’t beside a dusty roadside, so I plucked a runner or two and set them in a bed. It’s been growing like the clappers and I’ve got to make sure I harvest as many flowers as I can or else the seeds will pop all over the place and become the invasive weed it is known as in some parts of the country. What doesn’t go in my oil I will snip and use as a fabric dye.

St Johns Wort and it's fabulous oil that keeps getting redder and redder
St Johns Wort and it’s fabulous oil that just keeps getting redder and redder

It takes two to three weeks for the redness to show through in your oil. During that time it should be in the sun, I usually pick everyday for a week then leave it be~ and then start another!

Catnip in bloom
I dare the cat that can reach this!

The above picture is a small portion of my Catnip (Nepeta cataria) that is now drying as we speak/read/write.

Aghhh! What’s happened to my Golden marjoram!

Recall me mentioning the mites thing…

Buff orpington self medicating in oregano
It’s Waiohine self medicating..

My clever chickens are self medicating themselves in the herb patch, luckily I’m a generous soul and I have this in other places where the chooks don’t go!

Anyhoo, this is a good start for me for the new year, lets see if I can keep it up (I have photos pre-loaded now so it’s looking promising!)

PS. To be fair, I actually got a “Righty-o” when I asked my benevolent hubby to do the photo thing. We’re all good!

Filed Under: Herbs in Use, Pretty Pictures Tagged With: Catnip in flower, clary sage, Hypercium perforatum, mites, numerology 2019, oil, salvia sclarea, self medicating chickens in the oregano, St Johns Wort, Turkenstein

Pretty Pictures on a Dreary Day

October 4, 2018 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

Another grey day required me to go out and find the pretty things in the garden…. enjoy~

Calendula

 

Just the two colours of the bgorage and calendula make my garden "pop"

Just the two colours of the borage and calendula make my garden “pop”

 

Grannys Bonnet coming into flower

Grannys Bonnet coming into flower

 

Dead camellias are pretty too!

 

Purple Honesty flowers coming up through the lavender

 

Do you know what this? Because I don’t!

 

My main crop waiting to be planted (Agria and Red Rascal)

 

I looove the smell of Roman Chamomile…

 

..so much that I just have to lie down on it (it’s ok, it likes to be squashed or walked on now and then!)

 

Pear blossoms, hope the pears will be just as nice as last year

Pear blossoms, hope the pears will be just as nice as last year

 

Raspberry leaf, maybe I’ll save the hassle of birds eating my crop and harvest the leaves..

 

Lifted my saffron bulbs the other day…

 

Look what my clever husband (Industrial Fusion) has started making. Steel garden art!

Look what my clever husband (Industrial Fusion) has started making. Steel garden art!

 

Isn't this beautiful...walnut leaves unfurling

Isn’t this beautiful…walnut leaves unfurling

Filed Under: Pretty Pictures

Things of Beauty

April 25, 2018 By SandRa Timmins 2 Comments

Here are some lovely things that have been happening in the garden over the last month…

Saffron in flower

I bought some saffron bulbs at the Carterton Market several months back and was super surprised one day to find three of them flowering.  The plants themselves don’t give any indication that they’re about to flower, it seemingly happens over night!  And you’ve got to be onto it because the bloom (and those lovely red stamens) only last for two days before withering.

Wax Eye and Salvia confertiflora, red velvet sage

We don’t have hummingbirds in New Zealand (damn it!) but we do have wax eyes.  I spotted about 4 or 5 of them sipping from my red velvet sage, Salvia confertiflora (that’s why the photo isn’t the best, I was shooting through the lounge window not wanting to scare them off!).  Salvias are a favourite for hummingbirds whom love the tubular flowers and particularly the ones in the red spectrum~ not that that is useful information for us here in Aotearoa!

Salvia elegans in flower

Can you picture a wee hummingbird hovering next to these (Salvia elegans) pineapple sage flowers?  I would love to see one in real life, I have a pretty good imagination but imagining a bird the size of a bumblebee blows my mind!

salvia farinacea, Victoria Blue

This is another salvia flowering at the moment, Salvia farinacea Victoria Blue.  The picture really doesn’t do it justice as the flowers are an amazing intense purple.

birdsnest mushroom

I was checking my french tarragon and saw these little balls around it, I squished one and seeds came out… So I did a quick google search to see if they’re friend or foe… They are ‘friend’ and they are called Birdsnest mushrooms, they feed on dead plant matter and eventually open up to reveal their seeds!  So I had another look and found one that had only just opened…

birdsnest mushroom

Pretty cool eh!  To get an idea of size, that spiky looking thing underneath it is a calendula seed.

apple trees from edible garden

We bought four heritage apple trees for what will be our orchard area.  We got them from the delightful Edible Gardens in Ashurst.  I chose Priscilla and 20oz for our early-mid season and Belle de Boskoop and Tydemans Late Orange for our late season.  A hole diggin’ I go!

Also got a bunch of feijoas that will be part of our shelter for the orchard.

Figs are ripening, for the second time this season, score!  I don’t know what type of fig they are, do you?

I found this behind the shed,,, have absolutely no idea what it is and it’s heavy as fck but I’m thinking garden sculpture!

We are now proud owners of 8 chickens; the kids love them, I love them too but I will love them more when they start laying!  They’re young and it’s getting cold I know I have to wait til spring.  In the meantime they’re getting a lot of affection round these here parts…

And here is quite possibly the most exciting thing that’s happened garden wise in the last month….

monkshood daughters

Those sticks in the ground give me great joy… attached to them are the daughters of Monkshood Aconitum napellus.  I’ve been on the lookout for this plant for quite some time, purely for the fact that it is an antique herb with a fascinating history that is mostly associated with witches.  Whilst checking out a friends garden that she had acquired from the previous owner, I saw these stunning tall purple spikes of flowers, slightly suspicious I took a photo and cross checked them with one of my herb books, whoop whoop!  Immediately told my friend what they were with the heads up that every single part of it is incredibly poisonous, but not to worry because I will take them off her hands if she’s concerned about kids mucking about with them.  They were planted right next to the trampoline so was only too pleased for me to take them away!  (Because of what I do my kids are well educated about what plants they can and cannot touch/play with)

Hope life is fabulous and your eyes are clear to the little things~

Image result for art is everywhere for those who bother to look, matisse

 

 

 

Filed Under: Pretty Pictures Tagged With: birdsnest mushroom, chicken love, edible gardens ashurst, figs, hummingbirds, Monkshood Aconitum napellus, pineapple sage, red velvet sage, saffron, salvia confertiflora, salvia elegans flowers, salvia farinacea, Victoria Blue, wax eyes

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Beautiful, strong herbs
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