Something pretty

This red one is just starting to open it's flowers:)

Herbs going great:)

Would you just look at that mint & parsley. Fantastic!

Greenfeast peas

It's a bit blurry but you can see how they are starting to come on nicely:)

Carrots!

I have a ton of these little beauties coming up now.

Go Borlotti go!

My borlottis have finally found the trellis!

Growing leaves

In another month or so I'm hoping this once barren tree will be awash in flowers

More flowers

It survived the storm - yay!

More flowering

After some pretty heavy rain the curry tree is starting to flower up quite a bit

Planting time coming soon

I'll have to get these in the ground pretty soon

Bean update

The scarlet runners climb so well

Here they come!

My perpetual spinach is starting to show it's leaves:)

Something is eating my zucchini!

Must seek and destroy the blighters that are eating my leaves off!

Sooo pretty

And while on the topic of pretty flowers this one bush has lovely lavender and light blue flowers:)

Pretty flowers

Look at the pretty flowers on my freebie garlic chives^^

Figjam:D

 Look at that beauty! Wow!

And more coming - this will be a great fig year:)

3 amigos

These guys are doing nicely:) The mystery chillis:)

Come on fella!

My lone passion fruit plant coming up:)

2 days of rain is all it takes

The herbs ate really coming along - after just 2 days back they are going gangbusters. The basil is really starting to bush out.

 Here's the oregano finally taking off

 Parsley is doing well...

And the spearmint:)

In a row

Getting bushy the little darlings

Smart beans and not so smart beans:)

 My scarlet runners have found the trellis - what smart beans they are!

My borlottis are still pondering...

First tea crop

Here's my first crop of chamomile flowers drying in my kitchen. Tea time soon:)

po-ta-to

I think I am growing potato shrubs - these things are nearly a metre high!

Wow!

Borlotti beans after one week away - go fellas!

 Scarlet runner beans - look at those leaves:D

 Greenfeast peas:)

And here's the whole bed:)

small things

 Because I was in Melbourne for a week I had to put my jiffy pots outside and just hope that they survived. I'm amazed at how well they have done. Here is my first passionfruit plant^^

 Some cavalo nero...

 Capsicums!

 Red iceberg lettuce...

And finally celery. That's pretty darn good I reckon:)

1 week on

 I'be been away for a week and most things have grown quite a bit. The herbs have gone nuts as you can see here. Here's the basil. marjoram. parsley & spearmint

 Here's the sage and oregano..

 Here's the thyme finally:)

 And we have new additions - I thought these seeds got washed away in a storm. This is coriander...

And this is dill! Woooot!! :)

The spiral:D

My hearb spiral is coming to life:) Check out that sage! Don't look at the poor spindly marjoram^^

New technology

Here's my new sprinkler timer - woots! This will save my plants while I'm away:D

Slow growers

Everything else has been growing so well, just my poor tomatoes have grown slowly. I treated them with seaweed and gave them a good soaking and they seem to be a bit happier. I'm hoping they take off soon:)

Chamomile Poem

Die Kraft, das Weh im Leib zu stillen,
verlieh der Schöpfer den Kamillen.
Sie blühn und warten unverzagt
auf jemand, den das Bauchweh plagt.
Der Mensch jedoch in seiner Pein
glaubt nicht an das, was allgemein
zu haben ist. Er schreit nach Pillen.
Verschont mich, sagt er, mit Kamillen,
um Gotteswillen.

Translation Attempt by me:

The power tummy's pain to heal
The Maker gave to Chamomile
They blossom and wait undismayed
For someone who needs tummy aid
The humans though in their own pain
Do not believe that the mundane
Can cure. They shout for pills -
Spare me, they say, with chamomile,
for heaven's sake.

Alternative Translation (Raymond Rowe):

When god, our lord, made chamomile
He lent it power to ease and heal
That simple flower in patience waits
For someone with a stomach-ache
But pain-racked man, that silly race,
Puts no faith in commonplace,
But calls for pills, says,
"Goodness me,
physician spare me with your tea.

Karl Heinrich Waggerl (Heiteres Herbarium)

Chamomile Secrets

So since the chamomile might start to take over the herb spiral soon if not prevented, I thought it might be a nice idea to collect ideas of possible uses for chamomile leaves & flowers:

How To Dry Chamomile
Pick the flowers in the morning, when they have just opened. If they are cut with the stem, they can be bound together and are able to dry hanging in bunches. Keep them in a dry space. Also a good way is to put them in a paper bag with a hole (for air flow), to let them dry in there. Once they are dried store in airtight container.

Chamomile Tea
Pour hot water over 2-3 tsps of chamomile (dried or fresh) flowers per cup. Good especially for digestion problems, calming down, soothing infections, against crams and stomach pain.

Chamomile Tincture
Fill dried chamomile into a screw-cap glass until it is half full. Then pour corn schnapps over the flowers, until they are well covered. Close it well and leave it in a warm spot for about six weeks. The tincture should change colour. After that the tincture need to be filtered. This is best done with a second glass, covered by a coffee filter. Let the tincture slowly drop into the second glass. Once this is done fill it into a dark glass bottle and close it tight. Stored in a cool place the tincture lasts for about a year.
Uses:
Interior: Two to three times daily 10-50 drops can be taken.
Exterior: Compress, Bath, Base for Cremes.

Chamomile Oil
Fill a glass with dried chamomile flowers. Cover them with a good, plant-based oil (eg. Olive Oil). Tightly close the glass. Leave it in a warm glass, shaking the oil every now and then. After three weeks the filtering can be done in the same way, as for the tincture. It might take a few hour for the oil to drop through the filter. Keep it in a dark bottle and dont forget to give it a label with the date of when you made it :)

Chamomile Oil Alternative (Hot)
Fill a third of a glass with crumbled chamomile flowers. Cover it with plant oil and close the lid.Heat in in a bain-marie for fifteen minutes (boiling water). Turn of the stove, but leave the glass in the water until it has cooled down. Then put the glass in a warm spot for one to three days and let it rest. Then same process as with the chamomile oil type one.

Herb Pillow
Sew a pillow (or use a premade one) and fill it with a number of dried herbs of your choice, like for instance lavender, rose and chamomile.

Chamomile Syrup
To cover e.g fruits, pancakes... (not sure about this <.<)
Recipe here

Chamomile Soap


tbc

Bushy bush

My french lavender is flowering wonderfully.

Down the side of the house

This was a bit dead when I moved in but regular watering has brought it back to life nicely.

Climbers

My beans now have a wire mesh to climb up:)

Freebies!

Some friends are moving into an apartment and they can't take all their plants with them so I scored a lot of stuff I didn't have:)

 Lemon thyme tree:)

 Curry tree!

Bay tree - I always wanted one of these!

And in these pots we have garlic, ginger, galanga & lemongrass:)