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The picture above shows a field of Sea Buckthorn shrubs (Hippophae L.) growing near the west coast of Denmark. If you look closely you’ll be able to see patches of yellow berries. Sea buckthorn is special because it tolerates the salty and dry climate around here. The shrubs need full sun and can be up to 6 m (20 feet) high. Most of the sea buckthorn in the world grows in China (90%) but it has also spread across Europe.

The berries are interesting because you can make sea buckthorn juice from them. What you get then is juice that is full of antioxidants, caroteniods, vitamin E, amino acids and most importantly, vitamin C. In fact the vitamin C content is 12 times higher than in oranges! All of this puts sea buckthorn in the category of superfoods.

Here’s a tool specially made for making sea buckthorn juice while you walk around in the field and collect the berries. It was used by one of my relatives during a trip to the coast:

Sea buckthorn juice is collected in the small container while working in the field and later poured into glass pitchers in the kitchen back home:

But you need to stir the pitcher now and then or the juice will seperate into three layers, which look really gross; orange cream on top, saturated and polyunsaturated fats in the middle and sediment and juice in the bottom.

Mix the raw sea buckthorn juice with water, 1 part raw juice and 6 parts water.

Here’s a recipe including sea buckthorn made by Pille from Estonia: Sea-Buckthorn Jelly with Kama & Mascarpone Mousse

I was walking past the garage the other day when I noticed this drop of water on the concrete tiles:

And here was another one:

It was weird since the weather was beautiful and had been so for days. So I looked up thinking the gutter must be full of water and leaking. But no, they sky was blue and the gutter is brand new:

I starred at the gutter for a couple of minutes, scratching my head, before I figured out what was going on. Don’t mind the expensive new powder coated metal gutter – the vine is freaking bleeding!:

Oh dear… Just wanted to prevent the vine from ripping down the gutter a couple of days earlier, so I just cut off the ends of the vine, which had been growing in under the gutter and the roof. Bad timing:

Other cuts on the vine had been done in time before the vine started sucking up water and distributing it:

And another correctly timed cut:

So remember to cut or prune your vine when the leaves fall off before winter, or you’ll end up with blood on your hands. Or water. (And where the hell does all that water come from, it’s so dry now?… anyway)

My Watermark soil moisture sensor and additional circuit has been running 24/7 for about 4 months now, and it really is a stable system. Here are the data collected so far:

On the week graph you will notice an oscillation peaking high at 6 PM and low at 10 AM every day:

Compare the above graph to the weekly temperature graph and you will see the connection to the soil temperature:

When the soil temperature goes up, so does the soil moisture reading. It could be that the accuracy of the soil moisture measurement is highly temperature dependent. Another explanation could be, that air is able to contain more moisture at higher temperatures and this more humid air somehow spreads to the soil and raises the soil moisture level.

What do you think is the explanation? Please leave a comment.

So far the young peach tree is doing well behind the plastic canopy I built earlier. Fortunately there’s no sign of peach leaf curl, so hopefully the canopy is keeping the tree dry. When the spring sun is shining from a clear sky the temperature is quite high behind the plastic. It’s almost like a greenhouse although the canopy is open in each side to allow bees to pollinate. I have seen a few big bumble bees around already, but I think I have to help the tree by doing some artificial pollination with a brush. (Check out Gill’s post about peach pollination by hand on mytinyplot.co.uk.)

The leaves still look normal. The flowers are reaching for the sun and inviting the bees. Yep – I think we’ll have peaches this year

Photo by Carl E Lewis.

Lemon balm attracts a number of beneficial insects to your garden and can also be used in the kitchen. It’s a member of the Lamiaceae family with the Latin name Melissa officinalis. Lemon balm is a perennial plant with 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 inch) long leaves. The flowers are light blue to white.

Location

Lemon balm prefers full sun outdoors but is mildly shade tolerant. The soil pH can be in the range 5.6 to 9.0, but preferably it should be 6.0 to 7.5.
The height of lemon balm is between 30 to 120 cm (12 to 47 inch) and the width is between 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 inch).

Planting

Seedlings are grown indoors from seeds resting uncovered on top of the soil. Keep the soil wet during germination, which will take from 10 to 21 days at a temperature of 21 deg. C (70 deg. F). When the seedlings appear lower the temperature to 16 deg. C (60 deg. F).

Growing

Plant the seedlings outdoors after the last frost has passed. Keep the soil moist. In mild climates the stem of the full developed plant will die in the beginning of winter, but shoots will appear again in spring.
There’s a risk that Lemon balm is attacked by Whitefly, Spider mites, Thrips or affected by powdery mildew.

Harvest

Lemon balm should be harvested before flowering to get the best fragrance. Cut down to 5 cm (2 inch) above ground.

Storage

Dry within 2 days at a temperature of 32 to 38 deg. C (90 to 100 deg. F) and store in an airtight container.

Photo by juicyverve.

Dill attracts all kinds of beneficial insect to your garden and it can be used in the kitchen as well. That’s why it makes a lot of sense to grow dill along with your usual vegetables. The Latin name for dill is Anethum graveolens.

Soil
Find a spot with well drained soil, protected from wind and with full sun, or at least 6 hours of sun per day. Dill is a perennial plant that lasts for several years. Dig the soil well down to 45 cm (18 inch) since the roots are long making it difficult to transplant. It tolerates frost down to -4 deg. C (25 deg. F).
Soil pH should be in the range 5.5 to 7.5, preferably only up to 6.5.

Sowing
Dill can be grown from seed sowed in the spring outside in the garden after the last frost has passed, sometime in April or May. Cover the seeds lightly with soil. Rows should be between 30 to 46 cm (12 to 18 inch) apart.

Growing
Seedlings emerge in 1 to 2 weeks after sowing. Thin the plants so they will be 24 cm (9 inch) apart. Dill grows on a single stem to a height of 60 to 90 cm (2 to 3 feet) and the plant looks like fennel.

Harvest
When the flower heads appear no more leaves will be produced. This takes about 4 to 8 weeks after planting. Seeds can be harvested after the heads have turned brown.