July in The Wild Bee Garden

Edible Plants, Harvests & Sustainable Gardening

STORIES FROM OUR SANCTUARY

A compilation of notes, research and observations from my sanctuary. 

An opportunity to remember, reflect, observe, and mindfully learn from our mutually platonic relationship with Mama earth.

I am still a long way from the utopian dream of self-sufficiency. However I am most definitely reaping the rewards from the small steps and initiative we have taken in our garden this year.

As I quest through overgrown foliage in our vegetable beds, I visually make note of the week by week; day by day; hour by hour changes that are constantly happening within the rhythm of our garden. 

While I tune in and out of the birds provoking my cat, I simply observe both the steady and the unexpected flow of life within my little sanctuary. 

A quote that recently resonated with me from Maria Rodale perfectly said -  “With gardening, we harvest more than food and flowers; we harvest health and healing.”

People have been playing in the dirt for millennia but a large majority of us have become disconnected from nature. By putting your hands in soil, caring for something and being responsible for it to grow, we become connected with Mama Earth. No matter how small, simply growing any plant can be rewarding - to our mental, physical or spiritual health. (Trust me...I managed to grow cherry tomatoes and bullet chillis with a tiny hanging purple lamp and a wooden crate when I lived in a highrise apartment in Beijing and it brought a smile to my face everyday!)

SELF-SUFFICIENT SALAD FROM MY SANCTUARY
TODAY'S HARVEST:

Cherry tomatoes, spring onions, a skinny asparagus that randomly popped up, coriander, calendula, Mauritian cucumber and creeping wood sorrel. (A follow up post regarding the cucumber soon to come) Mixed with honey from our hives for a delicious sweet dressing.

CREEPING WOOD SORREL
Oxalis corniculata - is commonly put into the category of garden weed. Unfortunately they were living up to this expectation as they had overwhelmingly started to suffocate my vegetable plants. However, a quick and careful search informed me that all parts of wood sorrel are edible including leaves, flowers, seed pods, and roots. So we gathered up a couple of handfuls to add to our salad. Wood sorrel has a slightly bitter, lemon-like flavour which complemented the refreshing flavours of cucumber and tomatoes.

Wood sorrel is rich in Vitamin C. Historically, it was used to treat fevers and urinary infections, Wood sorrel contains oxalic acid so it should be consumed in moderation as it can inhibit calcium consumption. Although completely safe in low dosage and a varied diet, people with gout and kidney stones should avoid oxalic acid.

Their heart shaped leaves fold up at night and open during the day. They are mostly green but can also be purple. Creeping wood sorrel flower is usually yellow coloured with five petals. Wood sorrel seed pods resemble tiny okra pods. They explode at the slightest touch when ripe, scattering their seeds several feet into the air.

PASSIONATE

Our passionflora opened up yesterday to reveal its hypnotic, beautiful interior. Passion flowers are an intricate kaleidoscope of enticing colour.

The name:

The passion flower is often used to symbolise events in the last hours of the life of Christ. Passionflowers feature five sepals, five petals, two thin rings above the reproductive organs, five stamens, and three stigmas. These features have been used since the 1500s as symbols in Christianity to tell the story of Christ's crucifixion - commonly referred to as "The Passion." The five sepals and five petals represent 10 of Jesus' 12 apostles, excluding Peter and Judas who denounced Christ just before his crucifixion.

The two filament rings above the reproductive ornaments symbolise the crown of thorns. The five stamens represent Jesus' wounds, while the three stigmas symbolise the three nails used to hold Jesus on the cross. The climbing tendrils symbolise the leather whips

TOXIC TOMATES?

People used to be afraid to eat tomatoes, thinking that they were poisonous due to their relation to belladonna/deadly nightshade plant. (Solanaceae family)

Luckily, around 500 BC they were domesticated by Aztecs and used not only as food, but also as a hallucinogenic.

Due to this toxic myth, I think many people still avoid eating the leaves of this nutritional plant and maybe why they are never sold in supermarkets.

They are toxic because they do contain toxic alkaloids, including tomatine and solanine. However they are not toxic enough to poison you unless you consume them in very large quantities. (An adult would have to consume around 450g of tomato leaves to become sick!) Unripened green tomatoes also have these alkaloids but reduce as they ripen.

There appears to be no risk in consuming tomato leaves in moderate quantities so it would be something I would like to try, I just won’t overdo it!

PICK AS YOU GROW

Some are fruiting and some are flowering. It's great having them at different stages as it means we can harvest over a longer period of time.

THE RICH ONE

Coriandrum sativum - known in India as dhanya which means “the rich one” is most deserving of its name because of its many culinary and medicinal uses.

Coriander seeds were a common ingredient in love potions in the Middle Ages and were found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen.

Coriander has the tendency to immediately start wilting as soon as it comes out the shop bought packet. That's why I was adamant to grow my own in plentiful supply. It grew abundantly and quickly.

This herb and its seed is great for digestion and the skin. Many people say it tastes of soap. To me, it's an essential part of any good curry. 💚

BOLTED KALE

This summer our kale went to seed. We have managed to successfully harvest so many leaves from this single plant over the past couple of years. We happily collected the hundreds of seeds that shook out the pods, ready for the next installment of delicious, nutritious, hearty greens. To collect the ripe seeds, kale pods need to be light brown and dry. We already planted a few of the seeds and they've started to germinate. The rest I've popped in an envelope, to distribute amongst family and save for future seasons.

Since moving back home, the magickal growth in my sanctuary has strengthened my understanding of patience, humility and our connection to the earth. Most importantly, it has opened a new realm of playfulness and creativity to explore.

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