Unbought Delicacies: Capers, mousemelons and bumblebee bushbeans.............

Wednesday, 15 May 2013

Capers, mousemelons and bumblebee bushbeans.............

Those of you who know me know that one of my favourite jobs is sorting through my seeds; the ravages of damp and mice had taken their toll on my seed basket, carelessly left in one of the greenhouses at the end of the summer:

Interestingly, they had eaten a couple of packets of chilli seeds- rather them than me.Seeds packed in the wee foil inner envelopes were mainly intact, they went for the beans,sunflower seeds andsome of the peas.Didn't touch the zinnias:) A pleasant hour with my feet up was spent sorting,cleaning up and throwing away chewed pakets.When done, I straightened out the reminder as best I could and added in all the new seeds bought over winter - lots of American heirloom seeds and various other unusual stuff I found online - thankfully stored in a drawer in the house - hence the title of the post. The basket was well washed and now is how it should be:

It looks a bit tatty,but I'm very glad I managed to save the majority of them. A lot of things will be later to get going in the garden this year, but with the cold start to the main growing season, this might not be a bad thing. Looking forward to getting my hands dirty and snoozing in the greenhouse again:)

1 comment:

Quilting Cat said...: An interestng selection of seeds there, hope the all come to fruition. I have just put a small bench in my greenhouse so I can have a breather, although not so cold I feel it is far to windy to put young tender plants out yet. Good luck with your planting.; 15 May 2013 at 10:35

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life

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Wednesday, 15 May 2013

Capers, mousemelons and bumblebee bushbeans.............

1 comment: