Eastertide 2005
Weather. Weather. Yes, well, the less said the better right now. It has been raining since Easter Saturday. Not the sort of rain you stay dry in, either, but the drenching, subtle, inexorable rain more associated with the west coast of Scotland than with formerly-known-as-sunny Perthshire. This results in:
Slugs
Slow plant growth due to cold and damp
Mud bath in the hen run
More slugs, fed to hens More mud
More slugs
Seedlings specially targeted by slugs: Lovage, Sweet Cicely, Basil , Liatris, Galega. I am particularly offended by the assault on Sweet Cicely, as this is one that's not keen to germinate unless its been through a cold winter. This means I tend to rely on its self-seeding rather than lovingly tending it in seed trays. There were a good few seedlings a week ago...but the slugs have found most of them.
It's worth trying Nematode control for slugs. This is a biological control, which you water into the soil once it warms up. It's expensive, but it has worked well here for two years. However it's not warm enough here to apply yet; looks like I'll have to rely on the frog who lives in the polytunnel (unfortunately some of the slugs are bigger than him) and his garden relatives, and on me finding the time to unearth them by hand and feed them to the hens.
Ah well. The lengthening days have seen the beginning of the dawn chorus, even when its raining, and the bellicose cacophony of four male blackbirds trying to divvy up the - gq1E90OOO (sorry the cat just walked across the keyboard) - garden for territory. Vast numbers of coal tits aiming for obesity empty the window bird feeder every couple of days, and are shadowed by the Bankfoot Sparrow Flock, who come and pick up the bits they drop.
My favourite medicinal herb is in flower in the plantations - Coltsfoot ( Tussilago farfara ), whose flowers and leaves are invaluable for treating those chesty colds and coughs of winter.  It's not one I sell, because it is so invasive, not that that would stop me of course, but it would probably invade its way out of the pots, especially as the flowers come weeks before the leaves. Nonetheless if it didn't grow locally I'd have to find a corner of the garden for it, because it works so well.
Pudding Dock, or Easter Ledges, or Bistort, or Snakeweed, or Easterman Giants (the more common names a plant has the more I love it - and the more lore surrounds it) is coming up thick and fast. It was too late to make Dock Pudding in time for Easter, but I aim to try out a few versions and will report on my favourite recipe next time. Although in the dock family, Bistort ( Polygonum bistorta ) is not the same as Dock, and is a spreading perennial with the most gorgeous pink poker-like flowers. Cultivars are popularly used as ground cover, but to my mind they never match the sight of the native species pouring along a wayside bank in spring. In the same family is Sorrel, and it's great to be able to get at the lemony, succulent leaves again for salads and omelettes. 
Sorry to disappoint anyone who desperately wanted the dye plant Alkanna tinctoria or Alkanet, but I seem to have lost it. In that the seeds I sowed did not germinate, and Something devoured or destroyed the mother plant over winter. I have searched around specialist nurseries and the internet but with no joy; except a possible lead to a seed supplier in America . For now, I've taken it out of the catalogue. A rush of orders for Sedum roseum , Rose-root, together with the dog knocking the stock plant out of its pot onto its head, has severely reduced its availability for now too.
Slugs willing, there should still be plenty of interesting subjects to choose from all the same!
The bees have been up to no good the past week of rain of course, skulking bad-tempered in the hive no doubt, munching all the stores they brought in during the good weather. We put in some extra honey frames a couple of weeks ago before the weather turned, and I'm glad of that. First decent day and they will get their spring anti-varroa treatment. Bumble bees have appeared now, but it's even too soggy for them just now. This is saying something, because bumbles are incredibly rain-resistant and forage in conditions a hive bee wouldn't be seen dead in. If they were out, I should expect to see them on the rosemaries , which are all bursting into flower just now. Primroses and cowslips are out too, if slightly damp.
Rock dust as an organic alternative to fertiliser is catching on around here. I use it in stock beds and potting on composts, having seen it "at work" at the SEER Centre in Pitlochry, and I know of at least three gardeners in Bankfoot (including my resourceful neighbour James, supplier of Mole Plants, designer of display benches and general ideas person for Plants with Purpose), who are giving it a serious trial. If you have a local quarry with a supply of volcanic dust, it's worth investigating.
Wet days have at least driven me inside to do some soap and candle making. Calendula, and Lavender Tea soaps, so far. Can't wait for the summer, and more herbal ingredients to experiment with. As for the candles, the smell of beeswax is one of my favourites. I understand it's used in polish - one day I'll get round to trying housework too! But don't hold your breath.
Margaret Lear
Bankfoot, March 2005.
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