Back in May as part of the gardening project at a local school I planted a wildflower meadow with the help of the children. A local farmer turned the sod and each child scattered a handful of seeds onto the bare earth. Four months later this is the result. Fab!
Earlier in the week Andy strimmed a path alongside the wildflower area to create a pathway for the children to walk among the flowers which have grown tremendously since the children got their Summer holidays at the end of June.
The kilo of seeds was meant to have 16 varieties of native flowers, as you can see this has’nt materialised, nontheless it makes a great impact. The white flowers are Chamomile, they can be dried and used to make a tea which relieves nausea and indigestion. A decoction can be used as a hair conditioner.
The yellow flowers are Corn Marigold, as far as I know they have no use as a herb. The benefit of wildflower areas like this are enormous for wildlife. On Wednesday evening when Andy did the strimming the flowers were buzzing with insects, Hoverflies, Bees and Bumble Bees the most common.
Among the yellow and whites there are also Poppies and Corn Cockle (above). When seeds form they will be collected and used to extend this wildflower area next Spring. The children will be involved in the seed collecting and drying. The area will then be strimmed and the cuttings taken away so as not to over fertilise the soil. Wildflowers do better on poorer soils.
Back at home and the Tomatoes are ripening at last. It was been such a weird weather year that everything has been slow. Even Lettuce was problematic, it just came up and went straight to seed. These are Moneymaker Tomatoes which a lot of people say have a bland flavour but when grown organically I do not find this to be so.
arignagardener 