This month has seen flowers and crops emerging in gardens and allotments. I especially love this time of year, perennials are emerging and unfolding before my eyes and the vegetable and herb garden are promising an array of tasty produce.
My herbs are looking especially good at the moment, my chives in the garden are providing edible flowers to brighten up simple salads and my garlic chives at the allotment have made a wonderful pesto. I have just potted up some of our lovely dill, thyme and parsley and looking forward to cooking with them soon.
My allotment is on an open, sunny, south facing slope, with very flinty soil. With the current lack of rain and windy conditions my soil is extremely dry and hard to cultivate. With this in mind, coupled with not being able to get to the allotment regularly to water, I have decided to wait until the autumn to plant my new strawberry plants and have instead used two crates, lined with an old compost bag, with plenty of drainage holes added, to plant my strawberries. I will keep them in my garden for the summer, hopefully being rewarded with some delicious fruit, before planting them out when the conditions are more favourable. The added bonus of them be in a crate is that they are very easy to move around and can be positioned to take full advantage of the sun.
Pour simmering hot water into the jar then cover the top with a saucer so that none of the vapours escape.
Let steep until cool enough to drink. Sweeten to taste & enjoy!
