Lala’s urban farm

21/07/2023

Egyptian egg ovens, considered more wondrous than the pyramids, were devised 2,000 years ago and are still used in rural Egypt.⁠ https://bit.ly/2FR209O
⁠
This ingenious system of mud ovens is designed to replicate the conditions under a broody hen. With lots of heat, moisture, and periodical egg-turning, an egg oven could hatch as many as 4,500 fertilized eggs in two to three weeks, a volume that impressed foreigners for centuries. ⁠
⁠
Western travelers mentioned the structures constantly in their writings about Egypt. In 1750, French entomologist René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur visited an egg incubator and declared that “Egypt ought to be prouder of them than her pyramids.”⁠ https://bit.ly/2FR209O

07/07/2023

🥂

Learn how to make Vin de Noix: a little-known French specialty made from unripe green walnuts, red wine and brandy.

07/06/2023

🌸🌻🌺

11/05/2023

Make some peony flower jelly! It's stunning! It tastes somewhere between peach and strawberry jelly, and yet there is the unmistakable essence of the amazing fragrance from the showy, short-lived blooms.

https://yeyfood.com/make-one-beautiful-peony-flower-jelly-from-blossoms/

27/04/2023

Angel Trumpet Tree - Brugmansia hardy, vigorous plants, producing large, fragrant, pendent, trumpet-shaped flowers 6' - 10' inches. [GROWING CARE DETAILS]

18/04/2023

18/04/2023

LILAC POPSICLES

For dreaming in the afternoon sunlight...These popsicles originally came together for a course in the late Spring many years ago, and they’ve stood the test of time with a light flavor and vibrant color that echoes the flowers they come from.

Everywhere we’ve lived in the past 10 years, I’ve planted lilacs, even knowing our time in a place was temporary, sometimes only a couple seasons; sometimes just enough to see them bloom the first time.

Hopefully they continue on and grow into the old twisting branches that tell the story of the Olive family of plants, wafting their ephemeral magic across the land and into open windows.

Maybe it even becomes the mainstream to eat lilacs, and the new tenants are out harvesting blooms for jellies and sweet lilac water-I’m dreaming it.

The more we all know, the more we protect, and the less we spray and add chemicals!

These are lightly sweetened with lilac honey, a squeeze of grapefruit, and a lilac water base with the fresh blooms.

These are a perfect quick treat as the weather warms up!

16/04/2023

Build the Best Tomato Cages Ever!: Every year my wife and I plant a variety of tomatoes - and every year we encounter the same problem: finding or making cages big enough and strong enough to contain and support the monsters we tend to grow. Having been unable to find a satisfactory…

16/04/2023

Living in a wildlife corridor, I’m in a high-traffic deer zone. There are many reasons to avoid attracting wild animals to our gardens and blooming backyards. Not only are deer destructive in the…

10/04/2023

Plantain Ointment
Pick Plantago leaves when they are vibrant and green. Chop them coarsely and pack loosely into a clean, very dry jar. Add olive oil, dislodge air bubbles with a knife or chopstick until the jar is filled to the very top. label and cap securely. Let sit out of direct sunlight, on a surface that won't be marred by oozing oil.
Decant after six weeks, pouring off the oil and squeezing out what remains in the plant material. Discard the herb. Grate one tablespoon of beeswax for every ounce of oil. Stirring constantly, heat the oil and beeswax until the wax melts, usually within a minute. Pour the liquid into small, wide-mouthed jars (a good excuse for buying marinated artichoke hearts) and cool.
Use this ointment lavishly for diaper rash, insect bites, all itches, and minor wounds. It heals, stops itching, checks bleeding, and eases pain.
*
Excerpt from Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year.
www.wisewomanbookshop.com/susun-weed-books

06/04/2023

Don't plant cucumbers with sunflowers! It's a myth--an old gardeners' tale. Sunflowers are allelopathic! They emit herbicidal chemicals that inhibit or kill nearby plants. (If you’ve had a bird feeder where you used sunflower seeds, you've probably noticed a lack of growth where the hulls fall.) Use spent sunflower stalks for path mulch where you don't want stuff to grow.
Plant sunflowers in your landscape to attract pollinators, as a crop, and for their beauty, but don't plant them near anything you care about.
Read more about this and other debunked garden myths in my Smart Gardening article: https://greengardeningmatters.blogspot.com/2020/01/smart-gardening.html

06/04/2023

With Easter right around the corner, remember that plastic Easter basket grass (left) lasts forever in the environment, often ending up in bird's nests and our waterways. Opt for the crinkled paper version (right). It eventually biodegrades and is much safer. Or even better, make your own re-purposed paper Easter grass so you can skip the plastic packaging all together! 🐰🐣🌱