Winter Leafy Vegetables: How to Grow - Vegetable of the Month

Winter Leafy Vegetables stats/requirements at a glance

Ease of Raising:	1/5 – Daily Check-ups
Water:	3-4/5 – Every 2nd day to daily
Sun:	3/5 - Full sun, dappled shade
Training:	2/5 – Minimal; dead, diseased & damaged
Fertilise/Feeding:	4/5 – Fortnightly
Time to Harvest:	1-2/5 – Immediate (purchase) to Soon (from seed)
Frost Hardiness:	3/4 – Moderately tender (can’t cope with severe frost)
Uses	Culinary
Most Problematic Nemesis:	Dry, hot conditions & Aphids
Container Plant:	Yes

Lettuce & Spinach Botanical Print

Plaque 1: Botanical Lettuces Horticulture; Jardin potager et jardin fruitier 1870, Vintage Printable
Plaque 2:  Spinach, Flora von Deutschland Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Kurt Stuber Online Library
Plaque 3: Botanical Lettuces Horticulture; Jardin potager et jardin fruitier 1870 Vintage Printable

Quick intro

Given the success I had with the winter leafy vegetables (spinach, pak choi and lettuce); I decided it needed a posting. Leafy vegetables are hard to grow during the hot and dry South African summer, since they bolt (go to seed before producing crop) – the exception being chard. This at least puts some use to the bare vegetable plots in winter J. I am going to discuss the cut-and-come again varieties and not the head forming varieties.

Winter Leafy Vegetables

History

The ancient Egyptians knew about lettuce (4500BC) and cultivated it for its leaves and seed oil. Later it was cultivated by the Romans and Greeks. Lettuce was introduced to Britain by the Greeks. In Europe many new lettuce cultivars were developed during the 1800s.

Pak Choi’s origin lies within China and has been cultivated there since the fifth century AD. It isn’t as widely cultivated in the Western countries as it is in Southern China and South-East Asia.

Spinach is quite the ancient traveller. Originating in Iran (ancient Persia) it was brought to China (600AD) via India, it spread to Spain in the 1100s, then to Japan and Korea in the 1400s-1700s and finally made its way to Europe in the 1800s.

Science Stuff

Lettuce, Lactuca sativa, belongs to the Asteraceae family, which includes daisies. Lettuce is classified into two categories; cabbage and cos. Cabbage lettuces have rounded heads with soft/crispy leaves, whereas Cos lettuces have elongated, upright heads. Sometimes a third category is suggested for loose lettuces (leaf lettuces) that don’t readily form heads and are the cut-and-come-again/perpetual varieties.

Slammer green oak
Lactuca sativa

Pak Choi, Brassica rapa (Chinensis group: Brassica chinensis), is a member of the Brassicaceae (Cabbage & Crucifer family) and more related to the turnips than cabbages. Now the Asian greens have similar common names and this can be very confusing. Some of the other names for Pak Choi include; Bok Choi, Chinese chard, Chinese mustard, celery mustard, spoon mustard and Choy Sum. The main classifying feature of the Chinensis group is the fact that is does not make a head.

Spinach, Spinacea oleraceae, is classified within the Amaranthaceae family (formerly the Chenopodiaceae; Beet & Goosefoot family). 

Growing Winter Leafy Veg

All the leafy vegetables listed here require the same conditions to grow. I had them in the full sun (maybe I should put the pak choi in the partial shade next winter…). Anyways, you can also try growing them in full shade in summer, but I have given up on growing them in summer as they are weak, stringy things that bolt.

Sow the seeds once the heat of summer has passed, preferably temperatures below 20^oC (68oF). You can stagger your crop by planting at three week intervals, but I don’t think the SA winter is long enough for that – we only sowed once. Five of the Pak Choi (it is verrryy prolific!) and 8 of each of the others should be more than sufficient for the average family (of three-four people). The leafies can be sown directly into the garden or as start-up punnets and transplanted once the first ‘true leaves’ appear.

Loose Leaf Lettuce
Lactuca sativa

Keep them well watered, else you’ll have bitter leaves – or worse, bolting leafies! I fed them every two weeks with Starke Ayres Nutrifeed as a half-strength liquid feed.

They are generally are trouble-free as few pests are active during this time of year. I did notice however, with some warming temperature, that the aphids get to them. If these are a real problem, just zap them with my anti-aphid organic home remedy.

Other Winter Leafy Vegetable Tips

Mulching will help with water retention.

Thin out too densely planted leafies to prevent fungal disease.

Even though I had sown these in winter, the pak choi still went to seed when the day temperature goes above 15^oC (59oF).

Pak Choi Bolting
Brassica rapa 
Chinensis Group

Pak Choi Bolting
Brassica rapa 
Chinensis Group

Leafies can be grown in all the weird tiny spots of the garden or as a catch/fill-in crop between slow-growing vegetables (where they also mark out where the slower-growing vegetable has been planted).

Harvesting and Storing

The general rule is that you can harvest up to half of the plant at a given time. Harvesting regularly also stimulates the plants to produce more. Leafies are best harvested in the morning when they haven’t wilted yet and leaves cut with a knife or scissors.

You can’t really store the leafies on their own. All leafies can be left in a cup of water for 5-7 days. I also noticed that leaving them in the water for a day after harvesting takes away any bitterness. The Spinach and Pak Choi can be frozen, but then to go sloppy – so instead freeze them away as part of a ‘meal’. Such as, soups or stews, then it won’t matter too much if they are sloppy J.

Dash Spinach
Spinacia oleracea

Propagation

All leafies will go to seed when the weather warms up and the days become longer. If you can spare the space, let them set their seeds for easy collection.

Lettuces are self-fertile & self-pollinating meaning they do not need a pollinating partner. Seeds are harvested when dry and store in labelled glass jars. Seeds are viable for a whopping 6 years! The seeds are dormant after collection and can be used for next season’s plantings. Seeds need to be at 10-15^oC (50-59oF) to germinate, higher temperatures (25^oC+; 77oF) induces dormancy.

Pak Choi flowers are pollinated by insects (the bees appreciate the late-winter flowers when others are scarce). They need to be exposed to cold period in order to flower. Pak Choi may cross with other Brassica rapa spp., such as mustards and turnips – so hand pollinate and cover individual flowers for seed. Seeds mature from the bottom of the inflorescence upwards and the bottoms ones may burst before the top ones are ripe. Pick ripe pods (brown) and leave in a warm, dry place to cure. Pods burst open once ripe and seeds are separated from dried pods with a sieve. Seeds are held in 50^oC (122^oF) water for 20 minutes prior to sowing.

Pak Choi Flowers
Brassica rapa 
Chinensis Group

Pak Choi Seed Pods
Brassica rapa
Chinensis Group

Spinach plants bare either male or female flowers. Males are borne on long and spindly stalk, whereas females are tight forming clumps at the base of the leaves. Females are wind pollinated. Seeds reach maturity once the plant leaves begin to yellow. Once plants are dry, strip the long stalks of seeds by pulling it through your hands from the base. Prior to sowing, hold spinach seeds at 50^oC (122^oF) water for 25 minutes to control seed borne disease.

Spinach Male & Female Flowers
Spinacia oleraceae
Afbeeldingen der artseny-gewassen met derzelver
Nederduitsche en Latynsche beschryvingen 1800
Kurt Stuber online library

My Winter Leafy Vegetables

I have a mixed seed pack of Starke Ayres loose-leaf lettuces:

‘Dorado’: Red loose leaf cos lettuce

‘Wahoo’: Green tango/curly loose leaf lettuce

‘Slammer’: Green oak loose leaf lettuce

Types of loose leaf lettuce

The other two are also Starke Ayres seeds:

Spinach: Baby Dash

Pak Choi

Pak Choi
Brassica rapa

Dash Baby Spinach
Spinacia oleracea

Do you grow specific vegetables in the winter? Or are you able to grow cool-season vegies year-round?

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Please share with fellow gardening enthusiasts via the various sharing buttons at the end of posts/pages! Else you can vote for posts through the Google reactions bar at the end of articles. To stay up to date I have provided several reader and social networking platforms with which to subscribe: Twitter, Pinterest, RSS Feed Reader or Email/Follow directly using the Blog Followers widget on the left hand side toolbar. Thank you for reading and please feel free to ask if questions arise - I appreciate comments and ideas too! 😆

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Pesticide Resistance: Mechanisms & Prevention

I thought I would just share how pesticide resistance occurs in insect populations J. My studies are in the agricultural sector and I am familiar with this topic, so here goes…

Pests are considered resistant to a certain chemical compound (natural or synthetic compounds) when it is no longer killed or adversely affected by the chemical. Most pesticides target biological systems in order to control pest populations – “control” meaning; to reduce pest populations to levels that do not cause great plant or economical loss.

Pesticides can affect the nervous systems of insects, killing them directly or affect reproduction, such as decreasing the amount of offspring each generation. Pesticides can also be general, affecting a wide variety of insects, or target-specific, affecting a specific insect (aphids) or an insect suborder (Sternorrhyncha: Aphids, scale bugs and whiteflies).

Pesticide resistance is due to a beneficial mutation. The mutation usually occurs in the biochemical site affected by the pesticide, which is then rendered unrecognisable by the pesticide. Resistance can also be due to an increase of detox systems in the insect cell or chemical pumps that pump the pesticide out of the insect cell. These resistance mechanisms are inherited by the offspring of resistant parents. The evolutionary process behind the survival of the beneficial mutation each successive generation is known as natural selection, the Darwinian mechanism of survival of the fittest.

Blue: Susceptible

Red: Resistant

Resistant mutations accumulate through natural replication errors within the DNA of the organisms. Resistant organisms (Parental generation) will survive and reproduce. Their offspring (F1: First generation) will survive subsequent pesticide treatments, and over several insect generations (can be as little as 1-2 years) a resistant population will develop.

Pesticide resistance can remain in insect populations after the product has been discontinued for as much as 2 years. After which the resistant mutation will decrease slowly. After a few years pesticide susceptible insects will dominate the population once more. Resistant insects have a reproductive deficit in an environment with no pesticides, they produce less offspring than susceptible insects and subsequently decrease in the population.

The prevention of pesticide resistance is to use pesticides correctly:

ü    Use pesticides according to the manufacturer’s instructions (not more and not less). This goes for both the concentration at which the pesticide is made and the frequency of use. This prevents resistance and reduces the impact on the environment.

ü    Changing the Class of pesticide (such as chlorinated hydrocarbons, cyclodienes, organophosphates, carbamates, pyrethroids, neonicotinoids) every season will prevent resistance to a single type of pesticide. Mixed, combination or multiple class pesticides will result in multiple-pesticide resistant insects.

ü    Specific pesticides (such as those just for aphids) will reduce the chance of poisoning other beneficial insects or the induction of resistant in non-target insects.

ü Make up enough pesticide for your present application. If you are left with some remaining pesticide-solution, pour it into a plastic bag, tie off and throw into the dustbin - this prevents any pesticides going into the water supply. Wash out pesticide equipment with soap (dish-washing liquid is fine); this will help break down any residual pesticides in the water.

Preferable pest management systems include the use of pest predators, crop rotations and preventing pests from attacking stressed plants (good soil, regular water = healthy and resilient plants) in the first place - AKA Integrated Pest Management: IPM. Planting pest and disease resistant cultivars also go a long way in preventing pest populations form reaching epic proportions in the garden. If a plant does not grow well in your garden or is a weak specimen it is better to remove it than face a constant battle with it harbouring pests (one of the reasons I don’t really like sacrificial companion plants).

I don’t advocate against the use of pesticides, but I don’t judge those who do use them either. In rural communities, the use pesticides on crops is the only way for them to sustain themselves and feed their families. So instead of telling everybody not to use pesticides, I supply information on safe and effective use. I prefer natural remedies to pesticides. For some environmentally safe and home-based pest control recipes, check out Pest Control.

That basically sums it up J.

Related Posts

Insectary - attracting pest predators and beneficial insects to your garden
Pest Control - Organic control recipes

Biological Control:
Mantis
Wasps
Flies
Ladybeetles

Pest Profiles
Leafhoppers

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Please share with fellow gardening enthusiasts via the various sharing buttons at the end of posts/pages! Else you can vote for posts through the Google reactions bar at the end of articles. To stay up to date I have provided several reader and social networking platforms with which to subscribe: Twitter, Pinterest, RSS Feed Reader or Email/Follow directly using the Blog Followers widget on the left hand side toolbar. Thank you for reading and please feel free to ask if questions arise - I appreciate comments and ideas too! 😆

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Flies: Biological Control - Garden Critter of the Month

Flies at a glance

Occupation:	Predator, pollinator
Value to Gardener:	5/5 - Pest Controller and Pollinator
Danger to Humans:	2/5 – Most are harmless, some bite
Availability:	5/5 – They’ll arrive or you can buy some

Basic anatomy of a fly
Culex pipiens mosquito

Quick Intro

Flies are seen as vermin and disgusting creatures. Although a large portion of flies are detrivores and parasites, most are active predators and excellent pollinators. Fly predators eat a large range of pest species and the pollinator species are valuable when bees are lacking.

Science Stuff

Flies belong to the order Diptera (Greek, di = two and ptera = wing) and includes crane flies, midges, mosquitoes and various fly species. Some species mimic bees in appearance, such as hoverflies and bee flies, and are important pollinators. This often leads to confusion between the two orders; therefore I again provide my little diagram to illustrate the difference between Hymenoptera (Bees, wasps and ants) and Diptera (Flies and mosquitoes). Hymenoptera have a narrow waist, whereas Diptera have their hind wings reduced to spoon-shaped halters used for balance in flight. Strepsiptera (twisted wing parasites) have the opposite, their forewings are reduced to halters and their hind wings are used for flight.

Flies have large diverse niches, making use of all nature’s resources by being parasites, detrivores, fruitivores, pollinators and predators. Mouthparts vary from piercing-and-sucking to only a sucking proboscis. Chewing mouthparts are in some blood-feeding species. There are too many fly families to discuss, therefore, I will cover some of the more ‘garden’ important species:

Tipulidae (Crane flies, daddy longlegs, and leatherjackets): These are large, spindly flies with very long legs. They do not fly well and some are wingless. Larvae, known as leatherjackets, live in water or moist soil. Larvae feed on plant roots and may be destructive, whereas adults never feed. Example specimen in the diagram above.

Culicidae (Mosquitoes): Best known for their blood-feeding (haematophagous) lifestyle and for transmitting diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, encephalitis, yellow fever and elephantiasis. In some species, both males and females feed on plant juices, in others, females need to take a blood meal in order to lay eggs. Males and females look identical, except males have bushy antennae to pick up on the buzzing sound of the females.

Aedes aegypti mosquito male (right) and female (left)
Notice feathery antennae of male

Cecidomyiidae (Gall midges): Small, hairy flies that go mostly unseen. These flies will infest a specific host, to which they have evolved, through a process known as co-speciation. They cause galls formation on host plants. Adults are short-lived, whereas larvae are pests of millet, sorghum and rice.

Gall midge sp.
Cecidomyiidae 

Tabanidae (Horse flies, clegs, and deer flies): Sturdy flies often with iridescent eyes. Both males and females feed on nectar or plant juices, but females are also blood-feeding and inflict very painful bites. The females transmit surra or nagana to cattle and horses respectively, similar to sleeping sickness in humans, and also transmit the Loa loa eye worm to humans and monkeys.

Horse fly, Tabanus sp.
Tabanidae

Asilidae (Robber or Assassin flies): Their robust build and prominent proboscis makes them easy to recognise. Many are hairy, aggressive and quite frankly scary - with an equal reputation as voracious predators of other insects. Adults are strong and agile fliers. Most larvae feed on detritus.

Robber fly with stink bug, Tessaratoma papillosa prey 

Bombyliidae (Bee flies): Stumpy flies often covered in fuzz. They have long sucking proboscis and are important pollinators of many plant species. They bask in the sun and are active during the hottest part of the day, common in dry climates. They are graceful fliers and can rival the hovers in, well, hovering. Larvae are predators of insects or eggs.

Bee fly, Bombylius major 
Bombyllidae

Syrphidae (Hover, Flower or Syrphid flies): These are the bee and wasp mimic specialists, all with black and yellow striped bodies – remember to check for the narrow waist when in doubt! They have an astounding precise suspended flight (hover) and can zip about quickly. Adults feed on nectar and pollen. Larvae occupy many different niches; some are predaceous on plant pests, whereas others (known as rat-tailed larvae) feed in mud, and every niche in between.

Hover fly

Tephritidae (Fruit flies): Easily recognised by their long ovipositor (egg laying organ), triangular heads and patterned wings. These flies are host specific and adults deposit eggs in important agricultural fruit plants. Larvae develop inside the fruits and feed on the flesh. Be watchful as some have ‘narrow’ waists, but look out for the halters, they are a dead give-away!

Fruit fly
Euaresta aequalis
Tephritidae 

Habitat

Flies have diverse habitats and are common everywhere. Some larvae live in water, others on plants and some are soil-borne.

Robbers prefer to hunt in fairly open areas with little vegetation, so you will likely have them visit the garden rather than take up refuge.

Hovers are attracted to plants under attack by aphids - plants emit certain volatile chemicals when fed upon by pests that the hovers hone onto. The adults will buzz around the affected plant and promptly lay eggs on the leaves. Eggs hatch and the aphid-eating army munches away!

Bee flies? Just plant a basil – they loovvee the basil flowers! Provide some open areas in the ground or in your pots where they will make little burrows to overnight in. You will also notice that the bee flies make a lot more buzzing noise than bees. My garden is residence to many Woolly bee flies (Systoechus spp.) and they are adorable!

Woolly Bee Fly
Bombyliidae, Systoechus sp.

Woolly Bee Fly
Bombyliidae, Systoechus sp.

 Diet

Robbers ambush bees, wasps, hornets, spiders, grasshoppers, other flies and many species of flying insects in flight. It stabs its prey with their short, strong proboscis. They inject neurotoxic (paralytic) and proteolytic (protein degrading) enzymes into their victims, and subsequently suck out the digested liquids – very gruesome!

Robber fly sp.
 The 'moustache' or mystax and occular fringes are visible in this species

Lots of small flowers, such as those from the Compositae or Asteraceae plant family (dill, fennel) will convince the adult hovers to stick around. The two regular visitors to my garden are, Allograpta fuscitibialis (I will refer to it as the Black thorax hover fly, due to a lack of a common name) and Eristalinus tenax (which I will just call the striped-eye hover fly).

Black thorax hover fly
Allograpta fuscotibialis

Black thorax hover fly
Allograpta fuscotibialis

Striped Eye Hover Fly,
Eristalinus taeniops

Striped Eye Hover Fly
Eristalinus taeniops

Flies – last thoughts

Flies are unfairly defined as gross and need to be exterminated when the majority are misunderstood and beneficial to gardeners as predators of pest species and important pollinators. Seeing as they are so freely available, they make great supplementary pollinators (to bees) and effective biological pest control.

Do you have any pollinator or predatory fly visitors to your garden?

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Please share with fellow gardening enthusiasts via the various sharing buttons at the end of posts/pages! Else you can vote for posts through the Google reactions bar at the end of articles. To stay up to date I have provided several reader and social networking platforms with which to subscribe: Twitter, Pinterest, RSS Feed Reader or Email/Follow directly using the Blog Followers widget on the left hand side toolbar. Thank you for reading and please feel free to ask if questions arise - I appreciate comments and ideas too! 😆

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Happy Birthday Roots ‘n’ Shoots 2#

My paint doodles
I know that warts are missing!
Can't seem to paint them on correctly :)

So the blog is 2 years old today. On this special edition birthday post I generally give a good rant, not anything specific or too sciency – my OCDness also needs a break sometimes J

So I am going to start off with two cool new sites I found:

1    1.      Down to Earth

Sustainable Living

This blog is maintained by a very inspirational lady who is striving to live sustainably. You won’t necessarily get garden-specific information here, but it worth a look-see for her methods to simplify your life.

2    2.      MyFolia

MyFolia.com

This is a website that provides online-based tools for organising your garden and ‘tracking’ your plants. You fill in your garden(s), load the plants and keep track of who is productive and who isn’t. Also keeps a dairy of when and where you planted what (You think you’ll remember, but you don’t really J). It will take work from your side to maintain this, but it does help a lot! You can catch me there and my lasted doings in the garden.

Ok, I know I said no science, but this wasn’t that hard to whip up – MyFolia had all the info already I just put it to good use J

Here is a table of all the plants (germinating & growing) in my garden, which families they belong to and how many of them.

Then a Pie chart of the types of plants I grow:

So, I suppose this info is generally useless, but it was fun and interesting to make!

*Insert comments on my lack of social life* J

Oh! You can become a Folia Supported (Donate money) and they'll do this (plant reports) and more (harvest tally & planting time line) for you! J

Now for a garden update. The garden has had a major make-over, I have moved the greenhouse, since nothing survives in there for too long (too hot & no bugs get in for pollination!). The greenhouse has been used for something else, I will report on that later…

Greenhouse moved & replaced

Garden Panorama! - so rarely do I get to use this camera function :)

Whisker Flowers have migrated

Then the pumpkin patch has expanded and we have acquired a 5000L tank! Phew, that is a lot of water! Now we can get lots of vegies going and make it through the winter on mostly stored rainwater. Also, we don’t have to haul water from my main garden’s 1000L tank all the way to the pumpkin patch anymore – cuts down on lots of effort and saves time for more veg growing J

Monster Tank

New patch under construction
P.S: The chickens are convinced I should feed
them every time they see me

On to some interesting blog stats:

Here are the links to the top posts: ...and the likely reasons why

Eggplant - This post is famous for that one cartoon picture of the eggplant there
Praying Mantis - It gets hits due to the origami fold instructions at the end
Sistas in da Coop! - Mostly hits from South Africa concerning our native chickens: Koekoek, Boschveld ...
Peppers - Info on Blossom end rot & holy sunburned green peppers
Basil - Likely for the rooting in water part
Parktown Prawn - Just because anyone in Highveld knows the horror of having one in your house!
Amphibians - Has a nice comparative picture of a toad vs. frog morphology
Potato - Chitting of potatoes
Carrot - Powedery mildew on carrot tops
Rosemary - Pruning instructions (albeit one/two sentences) for most herbs

I think that the eggplant post is likely going to stick to the top spot - like a perpetual pendulum! Some really strange things for which these posts are famous for - hopefully the content is read as well, and its not just a smash and grab picture scenario J Links to the most popular pages are above in the 'Page bar' for your convenience. Also please feel free to check out my other posts @ the Index & Info page.

The Whisker Flowers are multiplying!
- and competing for sun worshipping

Last year's B-day post:   2012 Happy birthday Roots 'n' Shoots

I have run out of nonsense! So I hope you will stay with Roots 'n' Shoots until its next birthday and will enjoy content (and pictures) along the way.

- Me Out -


Follow me on Twitter @ Roots 'n' Shoots for blog updates and other interesting stuff!

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If you enjoy the content please share with fellow gardening enthusiasts via the various sharing buttons at the end of posts/pages! Else you can vote for posts through the Google reactions bar at the end of articles. To stay up to date I have provided several reader and social networking platforms with which to subscribe: Twitter, Pinterest, RSS Feed Reader or Email/Follow directly using the Blog Followers or Follow Your Way widget on the left hand side toolbar. Thank you for reading and please feel free to ask if questions arise - I appreciate comments and ideas too! J
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Garden Talk - Herbs, Bulbs & Flowers

Another talk we attended at Garden World

Garden World

Picture from Garden World's Website

Margaret Roberts has done for South Africa what Jekka McVicar has done for the United Kingdom when it comes to herbs. She has been a herbal pioneer for more than 40 years and has several (30) published books under her name. She consults and lectures on herbs, medicinal food and organic garden practises. She runs a herb farm; the Herbal Center @ De Wildt (about ~40km from us) . Her daughter, Sandy Roberts, runs the restaurant at the herbal center.

- P.S. for those who don't know, De Wildt sports a Cheetah and Wildlife reserve -

The University of Pretoria has given Margaret Roberts a Laureate Award in recognition for her contribution to the herbology field.

Website

Hadeco is an international company specialising in bulbs and fresh-cut flowers: Website & Blog


... Again the talk was jam-packed with all interesting things, a fat goody bag, prizes (again my luck wasn't with me) and lively atmosphere.

I mainly went to this talk for Margaret Roberts and her daughter, Sandy Roberts. Margaret Roberts is very big on an 'edible & healthy garden'. Her latest passion is edible flowers - how to use them in your food and their medicinal uses. Sandy specifically mentioned that flowers with more fragrance and 'higher tones' are more suited to sweet dishes (lavender, tuber rose), whereas herb flowers are more reserved for savoury dishes (thyme, sage).

Margaret Roberts gave us a quick cream recipe for dry skin and general purpose moisturising.

1 Cup of Flowers petals (Carnation & Calendula - AKA Marigold)
1 Cup of Aqueous cream

Boil for 20 minutes in a double boiler or until the flower petals have 'melted'. Cool the cream and run through a sieve to remove any petal remains. A natural preservative to add, would be 2 teaspoons of Vitamin E oil. An optional extra is 2 tsp of almond oil for a richer lotion. Place in sterile jars (boil jar for 5 minutes).

Another recipe is her Health Juice:

Celery - 1 stick per person
Parsley - 4 sprigs per person
1 Cup of wheat grass
1-2 peeled apples
1-2 beets
1-2 carrots

To remove most unwanted chemicals form store bought fruits - was the fruits with a solution of apple cider vinegar (1/2 cup vinegar to 2 liters of water).

Margaret Roberts has several herbs and fruits that must be part of an edible garden for all their health benefits:

Thyme
Oregano
Sage
Mint
Basil
Celery
Parsley
Pomegranate
Berries (raspberry, blueberry, cape gooseberry and blackberry)
Lemon
Pawpaw or Papaya
Granadilla

We also had a specialist from Hadeco to give us a quick 101 on bulbs and a flower arrangement demonstration.

Previous Garden Talk: Jane Griffiths & Grow your own food

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If you enjoy the content please share with fellow gardening enthusiasts via the various sharing buttons at the end of posts/pages! Else you can vote for posts through the Google reactions bar at the end of articles. To stay up to date I have provided several reader and social networking platforms with which to subscribe: Twitter, Pinterest, RSS Feed Reader or Email/Follow directly using the Blog Followers or Follow Your Way widget on the left hand side toolbar. Thank you for reading and please feel free to ask if questions arise - I appreciate comments and ideas too! J
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