Robbing the Flower Fields.....

Flowers. No matter who you are it's impossible to be unresponsive to the beauty of a flower, and to be able to combine flowers and food is an extraordinary phenomenon that can lead to a really emotional connection with what it is being eaten. Part of my and Incredible Edible Bristol's remit, if you like, is creating both beautiful and productive spaces across the city of Bristol, and use of edible flowers is vital to meeting that. So imagine my delight when I was asked, with Incredible Edible Bristol, to put together two small raised beds in the new Grow Zone at RHS Malvern; one that speaks of the city centre Urban Food Trail and one that supports the more beautiful side of what we do, in showing beautiful blooms that we use, either as edible flowers or to attract pollinators, and all of which are British grown.

So fast forward a few weeks and I had a chat with Jan Billington of Maddocks Farm Organics who grows the most stunning array of edible flowers, some which are instantly recognisable as such but some which are a surprise, such as Wisteria which tastes like peas, who said she was more than happy for me to pop along and raid her flower fields. Well that is not an every day offer now is it folks, so yesterday, with our amazing volunteer coordinator Hannah, off we doodled to have a look.
Now I am a long time fan of Jan. Anyone who creates an organic flower farm on overgrown Devon fields, and grows not just a huge range of edible flowers but also looks after the land and the soil to high organic principles, is inevitably going to be a hero. And oh my.......when I say the farm is beautiful what I mean is the farm is heart rendingly beautiful. Not only are all the plants stunning, healthy and pest free, but the farm is buzzing with life. We saw three different species if bees in one polytunnel alone. Swallows were swooping and buzzards flying. A gigantic bug hotel sits by a pond teaming with life. Swathes of plants are there for pollinators alone. And of course by supporting those pollinators, Jan is supporting the blossoming and blooming of the flowers that make her business sustainable both for people and planet.

Often we see edible flowers as a by product. We might grow Tagetes for example as companion planting and then pick a few flowers to zing up a salad. We might grow Borage for the bees and then fling a few flowers into a salad or a gin and tonic. We all grow violas as part of bedding or hanging basket schemes. Our Wisterias are dripping in glorious flower. But instead of looking at these flowers as incidental perhaps we should begin to look at them as a great way of bringing beauty into the vegetable garden and treating them as a really important part of our salad offering. A salad with mustards, sweet cicely and chervil leaves and flowers, borage flowers, calendula petals, violas and primroses, wild rocket with its flowers attached and bells blooms, is far more exciting than a sad bit of iceberg, and tastes amazing, with different bursts of flavour appearing with each mouthful. Plus of course the more flowers we grow, the more pollinators we attract.

So perhaps let's take inspiration from Jan and l add beauty to our veg patches with more flowers that we grow to eat whilst marvelling at Jan at Maddocks Farm and the many ways we see people farming beautiful British flowers.

Alliums just beginning to open ready for use.

Beautiful calendulas flooring their socks off in the polytunnels and making a grey day bright.

White borage, sweet and full of nectar as well as being covered with bees, which annoyingly weren't in the mood for posing!

Jan grows an amazing array of tulips, and the petals are used to adorn wedding cakes amongst other things.

Two to three inches of local, organic manure is spread on the beds each year, feeding the flora and fauna in the soil that are vital for good organic growth.

Give a bird a home.....

The 14th to the 21st of February is National Nest Box Week, an important week in the year if, like me, you want wildlife to come and use your garden, making it as diverse a space as possible. Of course it's important to look after the birds all year round but National Nest Box Week always reminds me of a few things!!

Firstly, as I sit writing this on February 13th at 4.45, looking occasionally out of the window at the blue sky, I'm reminded of the returning light and the oncoming of the season ahead. It's just now worth sowing seeds in warm greenhouses or on windowsills as the light levels are just long enough to stop the terrible legginess of seeds sown earlier in the year. A month ago it was pitch dark at this time , and the light returning makes us all brighter, gives a Spring to the step and purpose to our actions.

 

And then I remember that bird nesting season will be upon us any minute!! Birds will be gathering nesting material, making their nests and inhabiting nest boxes prior to getting down to the serious matter of mating and laying of eggs. Particularly in urban and peri-urban spaces where trees and hedging are often not available for nesting, bird boxes are vital to ensure successful families of a range of birds can mate and raise their chicks to a point where they can successfully fledge.

So this weekend get out into the garden and clean out your bird boxes, or add a new bird box to your garden. Remember when siting them that they need to be faced away from direct sun, and far enough up the tree or wall that they can't be got at by next doors cat! 

And while you're looking at where to put some bird boxes, don't forget to clean out your bird feeders to stop diseases spreading and fill them up with new food.

A great way to begin a year of supporting wildlife in the garden, and a brilliant thing to do with the children on half term. And you could even get them bird boxes that can be painted to really get them involved. Then just sit back and watch those small feathered friends arrive. 

 

The Autumn Is Here

I'm really not joking but I'm trying not to panic!!

The seed heads of my alliums have finally fallen over. The sunflowers are dropping their heads. The calendula are still flowering but the seed heads are turning black. The dahlias have  gone black in the last frost. The perennial kale looks sad where it hasn't recovered from caterpillar attack and the mints are looking sad  and a bit cross.

 

The leaves are falling from the trees and shrubs that surround the garden, and each day the little Ginkgos leaves turn a bit more buttery in colour. The Acers, both in a bit of a sulk being in a garden that in all honesty is a bit too windy for them, have lost their leaves and the dieback is showing a bit. 

But am I rushing out to tidy it up? Am I panicking about the weeds that are still coming or the grass needing a last cut and it being too wet? What am I doing about the leaves falling everywhere? 

 

Well the answer is, I'm not really doing anything. There is no rush, no panic. It's my garden and at this time of year I'm losing interest in what I want from the garden and concentrating on what the wildlife need to get them through the winter.

Of course I'm still doing things. Sweet peas are sown, plugs bought are potted and being cared for in the greenhouse, several pots are full of primulas and some new bulbs have been planted. We've potted self propagated runners from the Japanese Wineberry, the strawberries have had their runners potted on and all the pots are weeded and top dressed with compost.

The leaves falling on the patio and paths are being collected for leaf mould and soon the compost will be emptied and spread on the beds keeping them full of the rich flora and fauna needed for the best growth next year. 

But most of all I'm enjoying the return of the birds to the feeders, the dewy cobwebs across the shrubs each morning and the feeling of life continuing in the garden despite the cold and damp and dark. I'm enjoying knowing the garden is beginning to take on a life of its own, where nature is the predominant force and Mother Nature is in charge.

 

Just probably need to point out that none of these pics are of my garden, but are photos taken around Bristol during the autumn!!