Day 96 - delicate pleasures are very unlikely.

Saturday 6^th April

I am whispering….another glorious day on the island. 

Saturday is a day of work for me as there is no home school and I have the day to do what needs to be done.  I have focused on my flower tasks today because this is the focus of my growing this year.  Creating a series of new cut flower beds can only really be achieved if I grow as much as possible from seed.  That way I will get financial return in year 1.  I have order 72 plug perennials and they are due any day but the remainder of the growing is from seed. 

I think every cut flower grower has their favourites and I am no exception.  Sweet Peas are my obvious number one but beyond that I love Stocks, Scabiosa and Lupins. 

 

 

So, today was potting on day to try and keep up with the growth of the seedlings.  This is such a tricky time of the year with the days warming but the nights still prone to frost.  I have, sadly, lost far too many Lavenders through the winter and have already started to replace as my pennies allow.  I am not a fan of annuals as they are not sustainable unless they are good self seeders.  I grow calendula every year now because it does it all by itself.  My one exception is the Sweet Pea.  I have some perennial Sweet Peas but the majority are annuals.  My biggest problem is with traditional hanging baskets.  Lovely as they are they are nearly always full of annuals that are in the most demanding growing context you can find.  Often in sunny places, they require huge amounts of water through the season as well as feed.  I have kind of reinvented the humble hanging basket to grow food for us.  Tumbling tomatoes, basil and strawberries are my favourite combination.  If we are to use hanging baskets let them be fruitful as well as decorative.  I also like growing Mediterranean herbs in the baskets as they require far less water. 

My cut flowers are for my florist orders which seem to trickle in at just the right pace for me.  There is a bit of a gush for Mother’s Day but beyond that they come in just as I need them to.  This year the demands on my cut flowers will be greater as I am adding courses back into our portfolio.  I also dry certain varieties for use in my autumn and Christmas wreaths.  The oregano herb has a lovely mauve flower and when dried it holds that colour.  It is a favourite in all my wreaths.  One of my most popular wreaths is the drying herb wreath.  Loading the willow wreath with fresh herbs that will improve in flavour as they dry is a tradition of our business.  I have lost count of how many I have done.  The hope, this year, is that we will be able to use our first willow coppice.  How exciting!

Flowers also have medicinal value as well.  I have studied the work of Dr EdwardBach.  Dr Bach gave up his traditional medicine practice in 1930 to concentrate on his own research.  His premise was that the essence of flowers could be useful in treating illness.  Further to that he believed that a lot of illness was the result of anxiety and stress.  He was a firm believer in keeping the mind healthy in order to sustain the body.  Dr Bach had an incredibly powerful instinct when it came to flowers that could provide relief or even a cure.  He would be naturally drawn to a particular flower before collecting its essence and testing its capabilities.  Everything was very carefully documented. 

As a result of his research he identified 38 adverse mental states and offered a flower remedy for each.  I am quite sure I have all 38 adverse mental states. 

The process of collecting the essence uses either the sun or a boiling method.  The purpose of both methods is to allow the fluid essence to drain from the flower into the water and this is achieved by adding heat to the equation.  It is an area of alternative health practice that has been the subject of many trials.  Because the remedies are linked to mental states it is difficult to assess whether the essence is making a real difference or the fact that you think you should feel better.  That said, my personal experience has only ever been positive.  You can purchase Bach Remedies in any good health shop.

If all that is a huge leap too far you might like to give flower teas a go instead.  One of my favourite teas is made with boiling water and sprigs of Lemon Verbena.  It is about as refreshing as it gets and it also cleanses the gut.  In the west we are not everso good at cleansing our guts and I think we pay the price with higher rates of diseases such as cancer.  Of course, I drink Peppermint tea whenever I am poorly so I drink buckets of the stuff.  I know it is not a flower but it is an essential part of my tea cupboard. 

 

To calm anxiety we turn to Chamomile as its soothing properties help to cleanse the mind.  We can then have a cleansed mind and a cleansed gut.  Excellent. 

I don’t drink as much flower/herbal teas as I should and I fall back on the black tea far too quickly.  I watch my health conscious son drink his green tea with envy.  He is drinking a real cancer busting drink but I can not stand the taste or smell of it.  Good for him though. 

As with everything I do there are always multiple outcomes and my flower growing is just another example.  Perhaps the most important reason why I grow flowers is that I love them.  One of my favourite things to do is to ask people what their favourite flower is and then tell them the meaning of that flower.  It is uncanny how often the meaning is strongly associated with their personality.  Now, sadly, this theory is about to land on its back side because my favourite flower is the Sweet Pea and that means ‘delicate pleasure’.  Those of you that know me will know that that simply doesn’t fit! 

Until tomorrow. xx