Every morning, after my grandmother had drunk her multiple cups of tea with breakfast she’d top up the teapot with water, give it a swirl, and pour the dregs over the hydrangeas by the front gate.
I am too. There is something very profound in how one mineral helps absorption of another sometimes more important mineral. There is a lesson here for us - even beyond the obvious. Do you think?
Read this hours ago (yes, knew the fact and remember Mother using it!) and have gone 'searching' on IG for every free moment found 'cause there is one gardener there whose ideas you would love .to share . . . perhaps lucky tomorrow . . . love to bubs hopefully having an afternoon kip ?
Celi - I totally gave up Facebook almost a decade back - but I find IG the fastest to communicate with friends. We all have roughly the same times we are on and messages, photos, recipes, jokes go back/forth at a fast rate - sometimes talking to the same person 4-5 times within minutes. The gal I am talking about is brilliant as far as natural ways of growing plants is concerned - using banana peel, potato pieces etc to make natural fertilizers - I am certain she is accessible in other ways also - I just did not see anything today! Yes - our NSW meteorologists have all mentioned Melbourne winds - we had about an hour of roughly 60-80 kms/hr a few hours back and are meant to have more tonight but our worst is over - I am v close to a national park - so one always worries about sudden bushfires . . . be well . . .
Yay I got a shoutout 🤗☕ love hydrangeas but they have to be independent in our garden, survival of the fittest unless they're a weed... Odd how we use weeds to refer to weaklings when they are tenacious in the garden
My Granddad always put the tea leaves on the garden, but, these days, tea bags have conquored the world! However, I put my Barry's tea bags and coffee grounds into the compost, along with veggie peelings, stale bread (when it goes off) and plant cuttings!
But at the same time, I don't want specialty tea leaves, I want Barry's! They do still sell loose tea, but I think it's only available in Ireland. If you like strong tea and you try Barry's, you'll never go back! The addiction is worse than cigarettes or heroin!
Exactly! I don’t want special tea either - give me ordinary gumboot/builders tea. Interesting about Barry’s tea. I bet I can’t get it here. Though the Irish are everywhere!!
They sell it in Boston! It's strong and distinctively smokey. If you can find an Irish shop in Melbourne, I'm sure they'll sell it! Barry's Gold Blend, in a red box is the best one in the range ;-)
I love it too. It is a short story if ever there was one - she was part of the local mafia and I did not find out til much later after we all had to make the hasty exit. Lordy. I loved her though.
Oh my! It is one big story but what is funny is I had no idea who these people were and was just super stupid friendly with everyone. Until the film unit up sticks and left the Amalfi coast overnight. I was put in a car and driven away!! 😂 what a dummy. Delightful - but a dummy!
Same goes for the vinegar left at the end of a pickle jar, at least according to grandmother wisdom.
That would hike up the acidity fast.! Did she mix it with water? I’ll try it.
Her brine was a 1/2 water, 1/2 vinegar solution, but I don't think she watered it down any further than that.
Hmm. This is interesting. I am going to look into this.
thanks for sharing these natural ways of plants feeding and nurturing each other, I'm always fascinated by these
I am too. There is something very profound in how one mineral helps absorption of another sometimes more important mineral. There is a lesson here for us - even beyond the obvious. Do you think?
absolutely
Read this hours ago (yes, knew the fact and remember Mother using it!) and have gone 'searching' on IG for every free moment found 'cause there is one gardener there whose ideas you would love .to share . . . perhaps lucky tomorrow . . . love to bubs hopefully having an afternoon kip ?
That’s fine! I am almost never on Instagram or Facebook now. Don’t waste precious time on there for me! 😆 very windy here today - how about you?
Celi - I totally gave up Facebook almost a decade back - but I find IG the fastest to communicate with friends. We all have roughly the same times we are on and messages, photos, recipes, jokes go back/forth at a fast rate - sometimes talking to the same person 4-5 times within minutes. The gal I am talking about is brilliant as far as natural ways of growing plants is concerned - using banana peel, potato pieces etc to make natural fertilizers - I am certain she is accessible in other ways also - I just did not see anything today! Yes - our NSW meteorologists have all mentioned Melbourne winds - we had about an hour of roughly 60-80 kms/hr a few hours back and are meant to have more tonight but our worst is over - I am v close to a national park - so one always worries about sudden bushfires . . . be well . . .
Yay I got a shoutout 🤗☕ love hydrangeas but they have to be independent in our garden, survival of the fittest unless they're a weed... Odd how we use weeds to refer to weaklings when they are tenacious in the garden
A weed is just a plant in the wrong place. Hydrangeas do well in NZ - not as easy here, I am finding.
My Granddad always put the tea leaves on the garden, but, these days, tea bags have conquored the world! However, I put my Barry's tea bags and coffee grounds into the compost, along with veggie peelings, stale bread (when it goes off) and plant cuttings!
It is impossibly stupidly hard to find tea leaves now. In the supermarkets anyway. We have to go online to ‘specialty’ shops. So boring!
That’s horrible. Many IGAs have tea leaves and if you come into suburbs where there shops like The Source or Wholefoods you can get tea leaves there.
So hard to find in rural Illinois but hopefully more opportunity here in Melbourne where the tea drinkers are.
But at the same time, I don't want specialty tea leaves, I want Barry's! They do still sell loose tea, but I think it's only available in Ireland. If you like strong tea and you try Barry's, you'll never go back! The addiction is worse than cigarettes or heroin!
Exactly! I don’t want special tea either - give me ordinary gumboot/builders tea. Interesting about Barry’s tea. I bet I can’t get it here. Though the Irish are everywhere!!
They sell it in Boston! It's strong and distinctively smokey. If you can find an Irish shop in Melbourne, I'm sure they'll sell it! Barry's Gold Blend, in a red box is the best one in the range ;-)
On it! 😀
;-)
The Italian Housekeeper story is wonderful!
I love it too. It is a short story if ever there was one - she was part of the local mafia and I did not find out til much later after we all had to make the hasty exit. Lordy. I loved her though.
Okay, so the "we all had to make the hasty exit" is surely another story. All of this is part of your memoir, right? Do we need to talk about this?
Oh my! It is one big story but what is funny is I had no idea who these people were and was just super stupid friendly with everyone. Until the film unit up sticks and left the Amalfi coast overnight. I was put in a car and driven away!! 😂 what a dummy. Delightful - but a dummy!
Excellent advice, as always told with panache.
Arcade Fire: “Chemistry”
https://youtu.be/ru4T3m48o5Y?si=x8jWlpY_ClGQ8SDd
Thank you! Have a great evening!