I’ve just written 289 words about what is happening to Julia at work. A lot of it comes under the heading of “least said, soonest mended” as I mentioned yesterday but she’s just given up over half her day off to a staff meeting and telephone calls with clients, so I wrote my thoughts on the matter.
Then I decided I’d better not publish them. So I won’t. I’ll just show you some photos from yesterday.
Sugar Skulls and Succulents
I don’t know why we seem to have so many sugar skulls around these days, they just seem to be fashionable, despite having nothing to do with the UK. THey don’t even seem to have anything to do with the USA or Australia, which is where we seem to draw a lot of our cultural references from these days. It’s a mystery. Julia doesn’t even know who brought them to the gardens and left them.
Three LIttle Birds and Origami
What with the Three Little Birdsreference and the origami, we seem to have added Reggae and Japanese Paper Folding to or international themes.
Inside the Polytunnel
Virtually everything you see here has been scrounged from skips. Only the polytunnel was purchased brand new, as the chance of finding a discarded polytunnel in a skip is small.
It is now set up to allow twelve people to eat and work in here (I use ‘work’ loosely) and still maintain a semblance of social distancing.
Everything in these pictures is edible. Yes, everything. I’m quite fond of apples and grapes, but have to admit the fat hen and sedum aren’t too bad either.
In fact, with fat hen being used as spinach in Mediaeval times and sedum tasting a little like avocado they can be quite pleasant.
I did have a picture of what I think is ground ivy but it may be purple dead nettle or henbit – they are all edible but as it’s important to be accurate when you are foraging.
I’m going to start doing more foraging again as my interest has been rekindled by a few things I’ve seen recently.
Some flowers from the garden. I have now caught up with yesterday…
I do like what you do, it looks great and that you can use/reuse is also a superlative. Sorry, but if the Fat Hen plant is what’s growing in our boxes, I admit to adding it to the bin-composting type. Then there’s the other various weeds…wild violets, creeping charlie (great smelling, but a great pain…). Ah well, a weed is a plant in the wrong place.
Even composting isn’t a waste – you are adding a good measure of nutrients if you put fat hen in. A lot of the weeds are very nutritious but also very fiddly – the ones with the bigger leaves, like spinach, became successful in vegetable gardens.
As for weeds – the teasel in our front garden are weeds, but we are glad to have them, as are the bees.
I would love a poly tunnel that size, but I know they are expensive. We are always recycling, up-cycling and such here too.
The Fat Hen greens look somewhat like what we call “lambs quarters” here.
https://www.ediblewildfood.com/lambs-quarters.aspx
Yes, fat hen and lambs quarters are the same thing, Chenopodium album.
The polytunnels are great, but we don’t really make the best of them as they have to serve as so many things – including workshop and canteen.
We watched a crow the other day, walking on top – as the plastic ages this damages them more and more.
Fine photography and I do hope whatever is besetting Julia at work is settled soon.
Thank you Derrick – we are pinning our hopes on retirement rather than a sudden surge of good management.
Ah
There are worse things than retirement.
Yep
Impressed at all that was scrounged from skips. I come from a family of scroungers. My daughter Shannon is top scrounger.
People throw so much good stuff away…
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, as the saying goes.
I often say that to Julia. She has started to growl whenever I say it…
Too true!
🙂
I will be interested to see the results when you go foraging. It is a thing that we all should do but i am reluctant to do it as it woulds mean acquiring new skills.
I must document some foraging, though I don’t feel as adventurous as I used to. 🙂
Lovely pics
Thank you. Sometimes the subjects make it easy.