Merry meet all,
Oh the heat! Halifax is literally a hot cauldron- and I am planted in it! There is no escaping it. What a heatwave.
I just harvested some St. John’s wort from a fenced in wildflower patch. I was so happy to have found it. As soon as I saw the sunny flowers, I knew it was true St. John’s Wort. I went back to my Mom’s place, I returned and cut some stems and flowers. I had to reach in to cut the flowers and it was a bit awkward but I managed. When I pulled my left arm out, and I eased the flowers through the bars of the fence, I noticed my left arm was bloodstained. Before that, I squished the flower petals in my fingers. The flowers released a red juice on my right hand. I have no idea how my left arm was wounded. I barely even felt it. I may have been bitten by an insect.
I returned with an offering to make nice with the spirits there who clearly don’t know me. I hope they accepted the offering of oats. Most people don’t understand the reciprocal relationship I have with nature spirits. They have been very generous with me. I usually leave offerings at the nature trail where I live. I am staying at my Mom’s right now. They love it when someone leaves an offering. It is a way of showing respect and caring.
I noticed that two white onions had long green stems! I cut them each in half and noticed they wanted to keep growing. I looked at the red onions ( though they are coloured purple), and one of them showed a green tip. I cheered up because that means it will grow into a big lovely red onion bulb. I couldn’t ask for more.
I hope my garden survives the heatwave. I bought a big green pepper plant, a tomato plant, and red onion starts. I was hoping to grow potatoes. It is too late in the year to start now. I can grow other things though. I am using straw as a mulch this year. I think it is working.! I hope it keeps away the slugs. Today I added fertilizer, mycorrhizae, and sand to the soil in a burgundy coloured rectangle shaped planter. I mixed it all well then watered the soil then I added carrots seeds. I will have to thin them out later. I hope this works. The carrots are small. The planter is not very deep so that works out. I am determined to grow carrots. I did it once- indoors! Outside, the carrots are exposed to all the elements- and hopefully not pests. It’s a challenge but worth it. I also noticed that my bean seeds have germinated or are starting to! I want to wait to add in a support thing because I don’t want to hurt the roots. Once the vines reach a few inches, I will then add the supports to help the vines grow upwards.
With luck and some effort, I should hopefully get to harvest celeriac, tomatoes, peppers, kale, red onions, the white onions I planted, and of course, the herbs. I also planted a pumpkin seedling, celery, and onion starts in the grow cloth bag. I added straw mulch to the bag. The veggie seedlings are getting plenty of sun too. I sprinkled in fertilizer today. I also finally was able to add soil to my compost pile. I hope that makes a difference. I now have a proper compost pail.
I made lotion bars with marshmallow root and a few other herbs. They turned out beautifully. I strained the remaining marshmallow root herbal oil into an amber coloured glass jar, labeled it and left it on the kitchen table. I had bought an extra amber coloured jar. I now realize I didn’t need it. I had strained the oil from the herbs for the witches flying ointment. I just haven’t made the actual ointment yet. I shall do that soon.
Homemade marshmallow root lotion bars
Ah my work is never done. It is so hard to move in this infernal heat. We had a ton of rain but my poor garden probably still needs water. I am staying hydrated too.
Have fun, drink lots of water and enjoy summer!
Spiderwitch
