Bee Housekeeping …

Published on by FJBLeave a comment

Winter is here and my native Aussie bees have decided that it’s time to snooze in the warmth of their hive.  But being neat and highly organised creatures, they have to do the occasional spot of housekeeping, so now and then when the daytime temperature climbs to 20C they bring out the rubbish.

Their rubbish consists of a disgusting sticky mess of hundreds of little bee poos and the occasional dead body, all of which they throw from the entrance of the hive.


And while the native bees are sleeping on the job, their cousins the hardy European bees are still hard at work on viburnum and early apricot blossom.

Much more picturesque …

European bee on apricot blossom
European bee on apricot blossom
European bee on Viburnum
European bee on Viburnum

Braving a Weed Salad …

Published on by FJB2 Comments

Last night I ate my first weed salad and obviously, I lived to tell the tale.

My bravery didn’t extend to a full sized bowl, just entrée size, and I took the precaution of texting a photo of the ingredients to a friend with the instruction …
“If I don’t text you back in four hours – call an ambulance”!!

So, first I collected a selection of weeds from the garden, then using my Weed Foragers Handbook I sorted them, only keeping the weeds that I was 99% certain were edible and discarding the rest. I ended up with – farmer’s friend (cobblers pegs), sow thistle, dandelion, chickweed, nasturtium, ribwort (plantain) and a solitary Indian strawberry.

To boost the size of the salad, I added baby rocket, parsley, lime mint, berries & cream mint, common mint, chives and a few clover flowers that I picked whilst en-route to check the letterbox.

Then I added some lightly toasted spiced pine nuts and sunflower seeds and dressed it with an oil, mustard and local organic honey dressing.

Conclusion – individually the weeds tasted a bit “unusual” but the combined salad was really very tasty.  The Indian strawberry was a total non-event.

I can’t believe I’m saying this but … I was actually slightly disappointed that I didn’t find more edible weeds.  I particularly wanted to find some oxalis* flowers. When we tried them on our herbal exploration day they were like a little burst of sherbet (due to the oxalic acid I assume)

My new bible
Toasted spiced pine nuts & sunflower seeds
Salad possibilities ?

* Note: Oxalis is not a house or garden plant in Australia – it is a pesky weed.

A Herbal Exploration …

Published on by FJBLeave a comment

I have to admit that my general attitude is … “all weeds must die”, but yesterday my attitude softened slightly, when I realised that I don’t have to grovel around on my hands and knees pulling them all out and composting them – I can actually eat some!

Potential salad ingredients?

Let me explain … I spent the day with the lovely couple Damien and Laura of Chamomile Naturopathy a Bellingen based natural healthcare business.  In addition to offering remedial massage, blending herbal teas and practising naturopathic medicine, they run herbally focused courses.

Their Day of Herbal Exploration was a chance for me not only to explore our local Northbank Community Garden  but also to indulge in my current obsession of seeking out bee attracting plants. The weed revelation was an unexpected bonus.

Papaya flowers
Purple Amaranth
Bountiful Papaya
Ecological prayer flags
Passionflower
Compost envy!

 

The first part of the morning was a little heavy going as we delved into the Glossary of Therapeutic Terms. More than once, my heathen brain wandered to thoughts of double-shot flat whites.  But I soldiered on, fortified by herbal teas and deliciously healthy protein balls made by Laura.

Damien talking herbs
Laura’s protein balls

 

Soon enough we escaped our outdoor classroom for a quick course on Botany, followed by an exploration of the community garden, beneficial weed identification and a final discussion of 10 or so easily grown beneficial herbs.

 

My favourite photo of the day is of this Native Rosella, a species of hibiscus that is endemic to New South Wales.  I didn’t realise until later that it was packed with bees, so of course it has gone straight on to my plant wish list.

Bees on a native Rosella flower
Bees on a native Rosella flower

I’ve given up veggies !

Published on by FJB3 Comments

I’ve decided to give up veggies.  Not eating them of course, just growing them.

What with the constant watering, applications of fertilizer, minerals and mulch, and fending off marauding birds, wallabies, those “damn bandicoots” and caterpillars – it all got a bit too hard.  So I’ve planted out my vegetable beds with salvia, exotic mints, perennial basil, nasturtiums, society garlic and anything else that I think might make a bee happy.

So far, it’s working well … I’ve seen butterflies, ordinary European bees, native bees, hover flies and other insects all taking advantage of the flower buffet!

Hover Fly?
Ordinary bee
Unknown Bug
Ordinary bee
Native Bee

And it’s not like I’ll have to resort to eating those plastic-wrapped supposedly “fresh” supermarket vegetables … I can still eat local and organic …

Every second Friday we have our Bellopy Organic Market in the main street of town. Then every second  and fourth Saturday we have another Growers Market at the showgrounds.  If I really can’t find what I want at either of those, I can always visit the Green Grocer in the middle of town.  They have a policy of no overseas fruit or vegetables and NO plastic.

Growers Market
Bellopy Market
Bellingen Greengrocers

While the weather’s still warm, I’ve been experimenting using the mints in smoothies, and in Winter I’ll try herbal teas – the Liquorice Mint should make an unusual tea.

Mint, yoghurt, apple & zucchini smoothie
Mint, yoghurt, apple & zucchini smoothie

Seems like a win for me, the bees, the organic growers and the environment.  And those “damn bandicoots” will have to make other arrangements.