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Sunday 19 June 2011

Vinegar prints


I'm working on a method of transferring the pigment from leaves and flowers onto paper using vinegar. This process is completely non-toxic and environmentally friendly, which is quite refreshing after so many years in the photographic darkroom. Here are some of my first results...

Poppy and Rose petals

Garlic Mustard

Sunday 12 June 2011

Allotment update


I spent yesterday afternoon in the sunshine happily tidying up the plot. My weeding strategy is to never pull out anything useful, edible, interesting, harmless or unidentified. In other words, I don't do much weeding! Although I do remove thistles and nettles for my own comfort. I enjoy finding self-sown herbs and unusual flowers, which I leave to grow on where they appear. My allotment has become a random jungle of curiosities rather than a collection of neat little rows of cabbages. I'm gradually learning which plants succeed there naturally, and I'm no longer bothering with those that don't (apart from a few exceptions which I keep in pots, like my Fig tree and my giant Lavender).

This morning I took a rainy trip to the garden centre, where I bought a little Bay tree to add to my potted collection. It's now on the allotment along with my three baby Kumquats which need some fresh air and sunlight after spending the first six months of their lives on my miserable north-facing windowsill. Let's hope they don't die of shock...



The photograph is of wild Ox-eye Daisies and Sorrel growing at the edge of my plot - both are edible as well as beautiful!