Boiling water on plants

There was a knock at the door today and in front of me was someone with a very sorry looking Peace lily plant in their hands. These plants tend to have droopy leaves anyway but some of them on this plant were transparent, the person held it up to my face.

“Someone in the office was looking after it whilst I was away for a week” they began “and I asked them to water it”.

“Didn’t they”? I inquired. “It’s looking a bit sorry for itself.”

“They did water it,” came the reply “but as they were in a hurry to finish for the day they used the recently boiling water from the kettle.”

These plants are pretty tough but I think that will be enough to finish it off.

“Could you do something with it?” I was asked.

My first response was to throw it into the compost bin, at least it’ll give the worms a bit of food as it rots down and you could just pop to the shops and buy a new one. But then came the story.

“I’ve had the plant for three years, it was a present from someone very special and I have become very attached to it”. The story continued. “I have it on front of me on the desk in the office and I prefer to look at this plant than out of the window. I couldn’t bear to be without it.” 

Just swap it

I’ve learnt my lesson trying to swap things in the hope that people won’t notice. Take the time I was entrusted to look after a friend’s goldfish. When it died I thought they wouldn’t notice the new one I bought from the pet shop. They did, and I am sure this person would know if a new peace lily appeared on her desk. No-one could explain why all of the leaves miraculously turned a lush green overnight. 

“Could you fix it?” said the person at the door with eyes all wet and expectant.

“I’ll see what I can.” I said helpfully.

Hardy

Peace lilies are really hardy and are one of the favourite house plants of the time. One of the many reasons is that they purify the air making them ideal for offices. They also don’t really require any feeding and can withstand a bit of watering neglect. But not, I fear boiling water.

I took the plant and headed into the polytunnel to work a bit of magic whilst Julie consoled the owner. If truth be known I didn’t really “do magic” These plants are made up of a lot of smaller plants and they divide easily. I just pulled the plant apart and threw away the bits where the roots had turned brown along with the leaves. The remaining smaller plants were then bunched together and put back into the pot with some fresh bark based compost. The lilies grow in tropical woodland conditions and like a bit of composting bark.

Five minutes later I return with a slightly smaller but happier looking plant.  “Don’t water it for a week or so” I told the woman. “The soil was very wet around the roots so it’ll give the plant time to dry off. “And next time just leave the plant to dry out when you are not at work, it’ll stand a greater chance of surviving.”

One happy customer - and hopefully one happier plant.

Easy open fruit and more gardening tips

There’s a video going around on youtube on how to open a banana. It doesn’t sound very exciting but it made me realise I have been doing it wrong all of my life. I complain a lot (it’s true) that the fruit are harder to open now than ever they were. I have always opened them from the top. The video shows you how a monkey does it… from the base. It just pulls apart. Revelation. This got me thinking of a few gardening related tips.

Gently brush your hands across your tiny seedlings several times a day. This stimulates them to grow slightly slower, resulting in stronger, sturdier stems.

Soak finished compost from containers in water to "brew" compost "tea," a nutrient-rich liquid that can be used for foliar feeding or for watering plants in your garden or houseplants.

Use newspapers as weed barriers when creating a new bed. They are printed with soy ink and decompose nicely, and are simple to lay out again when decomposed. Don't use slick colored advertisements or coloured pages.

Once a seed sprouts it must be kept watered. If it dries out, it dies. If seeds are lightly covered with soil, they may need to be gently sprinkled with water once or twice a day to keep them moist.

Check moisture in container plants often with your fingers. Potting soil is often lightweight and dries out quickly.

Cinnamon makes an excellent natural fungicide. Mix in your potting soil when planting seeds to prevent damping off of the seedlings.

Natural sore throat remedies

I haven’t been out in the garden much this week. I went out once or twice to get the coal in and empty the compost bucket from under the sink, but that’s about it. Even the polytunnel seemed too far away and it’s only 20 steps away from the back door.

The reason is that the whole household (including the dog) came down with a bad cold. I’m sure you don’t want all of the gory details as you’ve probably heard them already from friends and family, but this year it was bad.

It was reassuring for me, in a very selfish sort of way to see that a lot of other people were down with it as it made me feel less alone. One of the most uncomfortable symptoms, other than the shivering temperature and throbbing head, was the sore throat.  As I was ill, I couldn’t really be bothered to make any concoctions up, even putting a teaspoon of honey into a cup was an effort I could do without.

There is a recipe for honey and lemons to be made up into a gel then stored in the fridge until needed, but I’m an optimist and wouldn’t pre prepare for anything like that as I think I never get colds. Sucking on a blackcurrant lozenge was as far as my throat easing went.  Of course, now that I am feeling a bit better I think it’s about time I delved into the natural world of pain relief and look for things that we can either grow ourselves or buy locally. This time I’ll be better prepared for the next time, if you know what I mean.

Natural Sore Throat Remedies

Liquorice Root Tea could be a start and this can be got from a health shop. We’re looking at homemade remedies. Some simple ones could be:

• Gargle With Warm Salt Water
• Suck Cloves
• Drink Apple Cider Vinegar
• Suck on Garlic

Marshmallow plant.

For the more ambitious there is the Marshmallow, or Marshmallow Root. It has been used with a fair amount of success for several centuries in North America and Europe as it contains mucilage, which helps coat and soothe mucus membranes in the throat. I grew some a few years ago but didn’t get a chance to check out if it worked. Note that if you have diabetes, you should consult your doctor before using Marshmallow Root, as it may lower your blood sugar.

Cayenne Pepper.

Drinking warm water with cayenne can actually make you feel better. Eating or drinking something involving hot peppers in any way, shape, or form down your already searing throat seems counterintuitive to helping it, but there’s a method to the madness. Cayenne (and other hot peppers) have a chemical compound called capsaicin that temporarily relieves pain, much like aspirin does. It accomplishes this by hindering something called substance P, which is what transmits pain signals to your brain. You can grow chillies on a windowsill and dry them for the winter.

Honeysuckle

Blessed with a name so tasty you just want to cram it into your mouth, Honeysuckle is one of those plants. It is extremely effective in easing coughs, sore throats, and flu symptoms. Thanks to its bacterial fighting properties, it can help ward off the nasty bugs in your system, and keep them from coming back. On top of that, it flushes toxins out of your bloodstream, and works as an anti-inflammatory to help reduce the swelling tissue in your throats. To enjoy its benefits, just brew yourself a fresh cup of piping hot tea.

Other simple drinks could be:

• Chamomile tea, very easy to grow
• Ginger
• Gargle with Sage
• Soaking cinnamon sticks

Mix and Match

The basics for experimenting with are:

1. Salt: It draws the water out of your swollen mucus membranes, reducing swelling and pain.

2. Honey: Comforting and soothing honey helps coat the throat when it is dry, scratchy and painful. It also kills bacteria. It should not be given to children under 2 years of age.

3. Lemon: Cuts through unwanted mucus, kills bacteria, and can help dull the pain in sore spots. Often used with honey.

4. Apple Cider Vinegar: It’s a major germ-buster, and while it may seem counter-intuitive, ACV can really help relieve your sore throat.

5. And one I haven’t mentioned - Baking Soda: Due to its PH levels it can help soothe minor skin irritations, and also helps rid your body of bad bacteria that could be lurking about and making things worse.

There’s no miracle cure but I have found that I get to feel a whole lot better if everyone know that I am under the weather and I have at least one person running around after me all day.

Seed Sowing

I have most of my seeds now. Mainly from Klaus down at GreenVegetableSeeds.com in County Leitrim.  I was thinking about how I have never really saved my own seeds from one year to the next and it suddenly hit me, I might have been heavily influenced by big companies and advertising.

 We’re told that F1 seeds will either be sterile or resort back to a weaker strain and also that the viability of any other seeds reduces after a few months, especially if they don’t come in hermetically sealed envelopes. It feels like I have been hoodwinked a bit, like being told that the best bread is from the shops because they have additives in them to preserve the loaf for longer, or that the only good product is the one with a big multinational brand name on it and some fancy packaging.

 It’s not in the big seed companies interests to hold seeds for longer than the growing season, in fact it’s said,  the large companies collect all of the unsold stock from around the country at the end of the year then burn them all. Of course I don’t know if that’s true but they do seem to disappear from the shelves every winter. 

Acclimatise

Seeds, and the plants that come from theses seeds could take years to acclimatise to an area and buying them from a central source away from your local area every year doesn’t give the plants time to adapt to local weather conditions. That’s why it’s been so refreshing to get the stock from Klaus this year. He has spent years acclimatising certain varieties of vegetables to the Irish climate.

In the coming year I will try to harvest at least some seeds from the plants I produce and experiment to see if they are as healthy as this year.  Klaus can rest assured that it won’t stop me from buying seeds from him next time though. The main reason for this is that I would need somewhere to store them over the winter and I have a bit of a reputation for putting things in safe places, never to find them again.

I was looking for a few of last year’s seeds in the garden to start sowing as an experiment but only found a few old bean pods that were left behind and not collected. The dogs have been chewing them so I don’t think they will be worth replanting. I have compiled a list of the common veggies that we plant and the amount of time they stay fresh enough to plant, keeping them in a place where it’s cool, dark and dry of course.

How long do seeds last?

·         Artichokes -5 years

·         Beans    -3 years

·         Beets    -4 years

·         Broccoli -3 years

·         Brussels Sprouts -4 years

·         Cabbage -4 years

·         Carrots                 -3 years

·         Cauliflower -4 years

·         Celery/Celeriac -5 years

·         Chard -4 years

·         Corn -2 years

·         Cress -5 years

·         Cucumbers -5 years

·         Fennel -4 years

·         Kale -4 years

·         Kohlrabi -4 years

·         Leeks -1 year

·         Lettuce -5 years

·         Melons -5 years

·         Mustard -4 years

·         Onions 1 year

·         Peas -3 years

·         Peppers -2 years

·         Pumpkins -4 years

·         Radish   -5 years

·         Spinach -2-3 years

·         Squash                 4 years

·         Tomatoes -4 years

·         Turnips                 5 years

It’s claimed that seeds lose their viability after a while so if you have older seeds put some out on a damp tissue to see if they germinate.  I was looking at flower seeds too and most of these have a 1-2 year life expectancy on the packets. There’s no easy answer, all seeds are different but it’s worthwhile collecting as many seeds as you can to germinate again next year.

What have we got to lose?