The Bee's Knees

I have some new residents on my allotment...some bees have moved into my chamomile bed.  They must think my plot is the bee's knees! Well they won't have to travel far carrying pollen on their knees as they have moved right next to the borage bed! In fact two borage plants are growing in the chamomile bed (seeds blown from last year). Well, the bees are more than welcome. I doubt I will have problems with pollination this year!  I'll have to take care not to disturb them which isn't a problem. I don't dig the raised beds - I just add compost and green manure mulches. I'll take care not to cover the entrance to the hive.  I have two beds for borage this year, so they will be pleased when they flower.

The allotment has been a bit neglected this year. I have been so busy creating paintings and jewellery amongst other things that I haven't had the time to visit. I sowed some seeds the last time I was there (shamefully two weeks ago) but the weather has been so dry lately, and I haven't been able to find the time to visit to water them.  If I lived closer or had transport I would visit more often, but it takes me nearly an hour to get there and back.

Last year I started some plants off at home. I live in a flat and I don't have a garden or a yard.  I had to grow them in my bedroom as it is the only window that gets the sun (but only late afternoon). The plants would lean towards the window and grow leggy. Also I ended up with an infestation of flies ( probably from the compost). Not very nice in the bedroom! So this year I decided to sow direct instead. I wasn't expecting such dry weather though! This is very unusual for this corner of the world! It's better than the relentless rain of last year though. The perfect weather would be a good balance of sunshine and rain rather than long dry spells and long wet spells.

 This is a salad with rocket, dill, purple sage, green sage, oregano, golden oregano, thyme, chives, chive flowers and rocket flowers. Very tasty!

The herb spiral is doing really well. The lavender has grown so large that it has grown over the rosemary..poor rosemary! It is just about to flower. The green sage and chives are in flower. The lemon balm will need harvesting as it is very large. The echinacea that I sowed last year is doing well. I hope to see the flowers this year. The second bed of rocket is now ready, so I am no longer on rocket rations! It should be very fiery due to the lack of water - just how I like it!

I think I may have inherited an apple tree and a few very large blackcurrant bushes if my plot extends that far - I need to confirm this with the previous owner. When I visited at the weekend it looked more like a jungle than an allotment, so I am assuming that they probably are part of this plot, as they were very well kept last year.  I cut the grass around the tree and bushes. I cut the grass manually as I am not a fan of strimmers. I'm not very good with machines and I find strimmers are too noisy for my liking. Also the smell of petrol makes me nauseous. I think it's much nicer to listen to the birds singing than the angry sound of a strimmer. It's a good work out for the arms too - when I arrived on the plot I felt like Olive Oyl, but when I left I felt like Popeye!

I'm hoping to find more time to tend my plot. Now that we have a new government I wonder if I could persuade them to put more hours in a day and more days in a week! Wishful thinking!!!

The Bee's Knees

Borage for The Bees

What fabulous weather we have had over the last couple of weeks! I have been making the most of it, where time permits by sowing plenty of seeds. I think I will sow some borage seeds over the weekend. The soil should be warm enough now for the seeds to germinate. April to May is the best time to sow borage seeds. I prefer to wait for a prolonged period of sunny weather to give the seeds the best chance to germinate. So now is the ideal time. It's important to keep the soil moist though, so if sowing during a dry spell, they will need to be watered until they become established. Borage is best grown in full sun or partial shade.

Borage is great for attracting bees. I think it is important to provide for the bees as their numbers are declining rapidly. This could be due to many factors including pesticides and herbicides used in agriculture, GM crops, mites, disease and terminal seeds (infertile seeds which farmers cannot replant).

Imagine a life without bees - we would have to pollinate everything by hand! Wild flowers would disapear rapidly. Other pollinators such as butterflies are also declining in numbers. When you think that these wonderful creatures do all the work of pollinating our flowers so that we can have food, I think that the least we can do is to try to provide for them. So if you have some space in your garden, allotment or land, why not sow some borage and/or wild flower seeds for the bees and other pollinating insects before it's too late? If growing wild flower seeds it is wise to check that they are native to your local area as some seed packets contain non-native flowers that can compete with local flowers which can affect wildlife and the environment.

If you prefer to grow flowers to eat rather than wild flowers, there are many edible flowers to choose from. I have a book called 'The Edible Flower Garden' by Kathy Brown (ISBN 1 - 85967-879-3) which lists the many different types of edible flowers, how to grow them and it also has many recipes. It's a great book with plenty of photos. I definitely recommend it for anyone interested in edible flowers.

Borage is my favourite edible flower. It is also known as 'starflower'. It is a beautiful blue colour and it makes a wonderful addition to salads. They have a mild flavour similar to cucumber. As far as I know they are the only natural blue food. Last year I had many edible flowers such as calendula, rocket, thyme, oregano, nasturtiums. These all make wonderful additions to salads. This year I will be growing as many edible flowers as possible. I will be posting pictures of my colourful salads in the summer! The rocket that I sowed late last year has just started to flower. Rocket flowers have a mild peppery flavour. Some people dislike the leaves of the rocket when it has gone to flower, but I prefer it - they are slightly hotter than normal. Chives are also a wonderful flower to eat. The flower head can be sprinkled over salads. They are deep pink in colour and even taste like chives.

Going back to the subject of bees, I saw a bee that appeared to be dying the other day. Whilst some people may think that they should put a dying bee out of its misery and kill it, I think it is best to leave it. It is probably suffering from exhaustion and may recover if left alone. Alternatively you can place a flower near it so it can have some nectar or give it some sugared water or syrup, which will help it to recover. We need to do all we can to save our bees.

Borage for The Bees