A patch of comfrey and a patch of nettles are all you need. Both make great fertilizer if you turn them into purin my soaking in big bucket with some water for a couple of weeks. Beware do this away from house as buckets will stink. Nettles give nitrogen so use early in year for growth, and comfrey gives potassium so use closer to flowering and fruiting.
If you have lots of comfrey and don’t want it to stink you can hang a huge bag of it in old net curtain and it will drip pure liquid which needs diluting,
If you are near to a beach it is possible to collect a little seaweed and soak it for use on your garden later on during the winter when it will rot down.
That’s if collecting seaweed has not been banned by the local council. Some beaches near to us do not allow the collecting and removal of sea shells.
I realise that, should have mentioned I haven’t seen any at all round here - it’s all box on our cliff above the garden and willow/figs/poplar along this bank of the Lot. However, on reflection there’s a large plantation on the south bank, albeit a few kms up the river…
When I was in West Cork in Ireland some years ago, I saw farmers do this. They gathered the seaweed and put it alongside the road that ran along the sea front. When they had sufficient, they came with a tractor and trailer and took it away. I seem to remember someone telling me they washed it to remove the salt, then chopped it up and either composted it or used it as a mulch - I can’t remember the details.
..and @JaneJones …I grew a stack of them in our place in The Hague and if you go big on the number of plants, after a few years, the slugs and snails make no impact and the blooms are incredibly beautiful.
The young leaves are delicious in stir fries and perhaps, I might too have eaten some baby slugs on the way but whatever…..
You lucky devil! We have to rely on the shops for apricots. Do you prefer them cooked or eat there raw? I like to roast them with a sprig of rosemary, some honey and a little dry vermouth. Yummy
Assuming I can get them harvested I am going to make jam when the weather cools down. This is only the second time in fourteen years that we have had a worthwhile crop the tree blossoms early and t hen looses all the blossoms.
Very nice, CaptainMorgan. I enjoy jam making but limit it to home grown rhubarb and ginger, or gooseberry. Sometimes there’s enough damsons which make delicious jam. Plum, especially Victoria plums, makes a delicious jam.
I also like making different flavour chutney. Usually have a glut of tomatoes to use for the base of the chutney. Delia Smith provides great recipes for chutney making, view online. It’s been suggested that fermented foods such as chutney are good for keeping good health in the gut. Similar to sauerkraut and gherkins.
That’s a good thing to do. I thought about growing them this year but have a normal cucumber instead, à femspot. Have grown crystal apple cucumbers in the past which are prolific and Monty Don’s favourite Cucumber. market more which I grew outside and not in the greenhouse
and how it tastes is surely more importent than what it looks like.