Thankful Thursday........Aphids beware!

I haven't officially joined in this week but I wanted to say how thankful I am that my mother has been given the all clear from the hospital. Yesterday, when we saw the consultant he was able to confirm they had removed all the cancerous cells from her leg, and the area is healing well. I only have to continue nursing duties (dressing the wound) for another ten days and the consultant thinks it will then be OK to leave it open to continue healing. My mother wanted me to say a particularly big thank you to everyone who wished her well and prayed for her. This, really, has helped her to cope with all the discomfort. She is sure her Guardian Angel has been looking after her and she is thanking God for her recovery.

As I write this she is getting ready to go out with her friend, Kathleen and she is even talking about walking the few hundred yards to our local Tesco shop in a few days. I think we can safely say she is back to normal!

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Remember this post about making a spray to get rid of aphids. Well Embee picked the first rhubarb and, using the recipe for the leaves, I made up these two bottles..........aphids be warned if you come near my plants you will get an unpleasant surprise!

Archives:
2007: A visit to the Country

Rhubarb

I will soon be having the first picking of the season! Rhubarb is very tolerant of cold weather and in fact does need the cold to trigger stem growth. It does not like temperatures over 30 degrees centigrade so it does well in the British climate! I manage to grow several plants in a very small raised bed.

Did you know Rhubarb was first recorded in China in 2700BC, for centuries it was imported for medicinal use as a purgative. Apparently in small doses the powdered root would stimulate the appetite and cure dysentery. It wasn't until 1778 in France that it was mentioned as being eaten for pleasure! Access to sugar from the West Indies soon made it a palatable dish in Britain. Then by 1860 when Mrs Beaton published her 'Book of Household Management' it was being used for pies, jam and wine in many households.

The leaves are dangerous and should not be eaten as they contain oxalic acid; however, this can be made into a safe control for aphids, particularly for roses.

Method:
Cut 1 lb rhubarb leaves, place in an old saucepan with 2pts (1.1 litres) of water and boil for half an hour, topping up as necessary.
When cool, add 1 dessertspoon of soap flakes dissolved in 1/2pt (275ml) of warm water.
Stir thoroughly and use undiluted as a spray.

I don't have roses but I have other plants that suffer from aphids so I'm going give this a try.

Archives:
2007: My dilema

British is Best- traditional English meal

My daughter Sam at 'becks&posh' has set a challenge on her food blog to promote English food and whilst I've not officially entered I decided I would do my bit anyway. I've shown you my hot cross buns and my Easter biscuits and today I'm going to show you a few photos of a traditional English meal. I've also been trying to follow Sam's example and buy local produce. Well here in the UK that's easier said than done. It's almost impossible to source food that's produced within a 100 miles radius but for this meal I made sure everything was produced in the UK.

My computer won't support picasso so I had to enlist Beccy's help to put together this collage.

 

The beef is 'topside' and although Irish that's Northern Ireland which is still British. The vegetables are all organic. The leeks come from Lincolnshire, the sprouts from Fife and the potatoes, carrots and parsnips from Perthshire (Scotland). The horseradish sauce is made closest to home about 25 miles away in Stonehouse in Gloucestershire (I got this at a local Farmer's market I'll tell you more about that soon). The Yorkshire pudding is made with organic milk and egg, of course I have no idea where the wheat for the flour is grown. The rhubarb we grow ourselves and this was the first picking of the season and the crumble recipe I used is this one. The mustard is the famous Coleman's (Sam if you read this see the quote "ONE TABLESPOON OF MUSTARD WILL STOP THE HICKUPS." I think your cure sounds much more pleasant but I know you like mustard- now I've got you all curious). The gravy is made from the meat juice and is very tasty.

Drat I've only just realised I didn't even think about where the wine came from, I've run down to the cellar to check and oh dear it's French so I didn't quite achieve the all British meal!!