Calendula Balm

Last year I planted Calendula in the garden as a companion plant and for a splash of colour.

In December I harvested some of the petals and steeped them in olive oil in a sunny spot for 6 months.

What evolved was a richly coloured oil concentrated with the medicinal qualities of this pretty flower.

The best use of this oil was to make a balm that could be used for cuts and grazes, nappy rash, chapped lips, dry skin etc.

Recipe:

Calendula oil - 1/4 cup of dried calendula petals steeped in 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Steep for a minimum of 2 weeks.

Balm - melt 1/8 cup of beeswax in a double boiler. Add the strained calendula oil to the mixture with 10-40 drops of lavender oil. Stir to combine then put into containers. Seal when cool.

Easy? Yes!
Messy? Potentially! Beeswax is like a waterproof casing on your pot so make sure you melt it in something set aside for making non-food items.

Calendula Balm

To Infinity and beyond!!

I spotted a tutorial for infinity scarves on Pinterest awhile back and pinned it with anticipation of one day making one.

With the budget a bit tight and families and friends having birthdays this month I decided that this could be a suitable present. Deciding on which fabric to use is the fun bit!

Bel would you like one??

To Infinity and beyond!!

Brighten up

A little bit of paint on this milo tin has brightened up my kitchen and provided handy storage for my utensils!

Brighten up

T-shirt scarf

I saw this idea awhile ago and then revisited it on Pinterest.

A friend of mine has done me a few favours lately so I thought I would make her one out of an old yellow t-shirt I had. I added some black ribbon, black leather tie and a vintage button to make it a bit more glam.

It actually requires no sewing - just cutting and pulling and then some hot glue gun action. Simple really!

There is a great tutorial for this on this site.

T-shirt scarf

Rainbow beets

The other night I had an absolute craving for Silverbeet.

It may have been my body telling me I needed iron and salt after playing football that day. It could have been  my mind reminiscing about my childhood.

Luckily I have these amazing rainbow coloured "beets" growing in abundance in my garden.

This one reminded me of an Oompa Loompa!

I simply cut off the stalks (even though they are so pretty!) and then roll them up into a bunch and slice them in rounds. Then into a pot they go with a bit of water and some salt to cook.

The best bit however is the water left after cooking them (something my Mum gave me as a child). In this case it was a beautiful warm maroon colour. I simply added a bit of salt and pepper and had the most wonderful nutritious drink with my dinner that more than satisfied my craving!

Rainbow beets

Hey presto - pesto!!

I have recently discovered the delights of home made pesto. Now even though I do have a few healthy basil plants growing in my garage I would much rather use herbs that are in abundance.

I have lots of wild rocket growing which whizzed up made this fantastic pesto.

Rocket pesto

2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 cups of rocket
1/4 cup olive oil (approx)

Put everything into a blender and blend until smooth. Add oil gradually until pesto is a good texture.

I also like to make this parsley version:

Parsley pesto

2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2 cups Italian parsley
1 cup of basil mint

So easy and so tasty!

Hey presto - pesto!!

Ear, ear

Apologies for a lack of posts during the month of March. A combination of bad weather, busy work schedules and winter sport starting means that I have been away from the garden, the sewing machine and the house.

Summer has been and gone without warning. The weather changes from hot to mild to freezing cold. Rain, wind, sun - the garden is not sure what is happening to it.

However I managed to pick some of our home sown corn despite the wind making a mockery of the perfect rows. It looked more like a sculpture on the Wellington waterfront than the upright rows in a corn maze.

The corn itself was DELICIOUS! And really this photo does not do it justice. It was sweet and juicy and just so much more satisfying knowing that you had grown it yourself. As my partner said "it's hard to imagine this was grown from one of those tiny bits".

We will be growing corn again in summer, if summer ever arrives again.

Ear, ear