Hello my friends!
It's the start of summer on our Homestead, more time is spent out in the garden, keeping
the plants hydrated, harvesting the wonderful food and medicine as soon as it's ready to
come in, there is light pruning to be done as well as managing any pests and diseases
early on.
In the kitchen the flowers and produce are turned into something or preserved for later...
I think I planted this mulberry tree about six or seven years ago I've been pruning it
into shape and feeding it compost and manure to really get it established.
This is the best Harvest that we've ever had with it, I think due to the really wet few
seasons we've had that's contributed to the really good crop that we're getting this season
[Music]
The Elders are starting to flower, I've not fully mastered making elderflower champagne
like my good friend John yet, he has had great success making the elderflower champagne and
it inspires me to have another go at it this season.
Sometimes when you're trying something new on the homestead it doesn't work out and you
have to just keep trying so that you can master it and have some success.
Youngberries are also starting to come in, we always have a good crop of Youngberries
here and it's hard to walk past them without picking a few for a snack.
[Music]
Making Elderflower fritters is a nice treat to make with your summer blossoms, be sure
not to eat the stems, the stems contain cyanide, so while I leave some of the stems on the
blossoms to hold the flower together while I'm making the fritters, we choose not to
eat the stems so that there are no consequences afterwards.
[Music]
I don't use sugar in my batter, instead I choose to coat them in the end, either using
icing sugar or caster sugar, apart from it being delicious this also means that I can
leave some without sugar for my diabetic child if he's going to be enjoying some as well
and lastly a dash of maple syrup or melted honey just finishes it nicely and it can be
served with ice cream as well if you like
Citrus trees don't need much pruning but a light summer prune underneath to prevent the
lower branch is getting too low and cleaning up inside will actually prevent growth.
If it was pruned in Winter that actually stimulates growth, these smaller Twiggy branches are
too small to really hold fruit and by cleaning them out will help to create more air flow
under the tree so that it dries out quicker with the damp weather and that will reduce
risks of fungus attacks and it also makes it easier to harvest the fruit when it's in
season
[Music]
the pineapple guava.
my feijoa that I transplanted from a pot into the garden bed in the winter time is doing
really well.
I also threw in some seeds at the start of spring and now they're starting to flower,
I'm able to harvest the calendula as they're coming into their prime so that I can dry
them for making tinctures and other herbal remedies [Music]
St John's wart grows like a weed around here so it's easy to forage it when it's in flower,
just near my gate [Music] St John's Wort has antibacterial, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory
and antiviral properties and it's also pain relieving
St John's Wort is stronger than calendula and I've seen it heal up fingers that were
dragged along the road in a motorbike crash and you would never have even known, once
it was healed up.
The whole flower heads are used fresh and today I have enough to make a tincture, just
a small amount [Music]
I love how it turns a beautiful red burgundy color
[Music]
the chickens and ducks have been going really well, after three full seasons of heavy rain
and lots of mud, it has finally stopped raining and we've even had a few sunny days which
one was really hot so the ground has dried up and it's as hard as a rock and now I'm
having to water as well
spending a little time each day in the vegetable garden at this time of year means that I can
keep on top of the weeds, see what's going on in the vegetable garden with all the vegetables,
tie up the tomatoes when they need tying and also keep an eye out for pests and any funguses
and problems that I'm having.
Like with anything it's easier to maintain things than to fix them when they're a big
problem
I love to see who's visiting the garden and make sure that I don't miss anything that
needs to be harvested
we're still getting some really cold weather despite having a couple of really hot days
it's a really confusing season so far
but this is the first of my squash and zucchini for the summer season
so at least the food's still growing
[Music]
and on those days where it's too cold to really enjoy being outside I may as well get some
baking done in the kitchen [Music] it's not often I can get lots of baking done during
the summer [Music] Wherever you are in the world and whatever season you're in, I hope
you're doing something homesteady for the weather that you've got, where you are...
Thanks for watching.