Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Squish and Harvest

I'm squishing it up, I'm squishing it up. Do you remember the song about squishing up a bumble bee and licking it up? Gross, but given the bees in the backyard, I could do it. Instead, I continue to squish up backyard plant matter. Below is a single peony petal. It gave a lovely soft pink. Beside it is Saphire Blue Lobelia. I love it. It is a very pretty flower, lasts ages and gives great colour.


I have added some Lady's Mantle florets to the page. I am using a Japanese paper, I think it is called Koziko but I always get it wrong. I like the pale yellow.


The florets have tiny little bumpy bits to squish and it can be hard to not smear them as they slip around. I used the end of a handle on a thicker paintbrush. A pestle would have worked as well, but I was lazy and didn't want to go back into the kitchen. I had a brain storm. Instead of cutting flowers and taking them into the kitchen, doing the squish and then heading out for more flowers, I clued into the fact that I could work outside because it is summer. Sometimes I can be stoom.




Since the Lady's Mantle gave such a nice yellow, I decided to see what it's leaf would do. Not too much as it turns out. It has a very nice gestural appeal but the colour is a bit too vague.



I tried a bit of leaf from a Liatris plant. Worm like smears but a nice intense green.

February and March and into April, I worked so hard to get seedlings to go. I had massive failure. Even the little poor wretches that made it to their secondary leaves didn't thrive. I managed to get these Japanese turnips to a transplantable stage. I used a different soil in the hopes that this would improve conditions. Nope. This is a plant, like radishes, that children can do. Not me.


That's my pinky finger to give you scale. These should be the size of golf balls. Normally ready in 4 weeks, I lost count on how long these took.  These 8 little turnip buttons are what is left of 24 seedlings. Sigh.


My herbs, on the other hand, were bought as small transplants and have done well over the years. In fact the marjoram and oregano can take over if I don't give them a good haircut or two. This week I am drying herbs for winter use. There is marjoram on the left, loveage in the middle, a fabulous celery substitute all year round and on the right, golden oregano.

It is time to put seeds into the ground for a fall harvest. Since I am a sucker, I'm going to try again.

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