wow! has it really been a week since the last post? yep. uh-huh. my bad!

so it's been another one of those weeks where you are so busy that you can't even remember what you were busy with! we had a couple of rainy days, nothing crazy, just some nice rain for all of the plants, grass, trees and garden. but we have also had a few stellar days as well. we are finally at the point of mid20C's all week - it's been an incredible june!

ok - on to the aphid problem - arghghghgh! we tried the soap and water thing on our pepper plants and it worked, but then i found another recipe on the internet. write this one down kids - it REALLY works! you chop up about 2 cups of tomatoe leaves and mix that with 4 cups of water. let it sit overnight. you will see immediately that the water starts turning a funny colour brown and has a strong tomatoe smell. strain out the tomatoe leaves and pour about 1/2 cup in a regular sized spray bottle and fill the rest of the bottle with water. spray your pepper plants with this. this really did the job and the aphids are gone from the pepper plants.

however, our amazing pepper plants now look like this:



because it's still early in the season and because some of the peppers are bouncing right back, we are not panicking. all of the pepper stalks have new buds on them. so fingers crossed kids!

and even though they were planted in sifted soil which contained 5yr old manure, our own 3yr old compost, and peat moss, i'm not taking any chances! i am making comfrey tea and then feeding them watered-down comfrey tea tomorrow and once a week from here on in until harvest time. comfrey is a wonderful fertilizer and we have tons of it growing on our land! here is the tea - it's kind of stinky but i don't care!



and here i am drying comfrey leaves and flowers! my friend Dani has a super-duper solar powered oven and i recommend everyone visit her site - she lives totally off-grid and cooks almost everything and anything in her solar oven! she also has recipe books for solar cooking and i really enjoy mine. but here at the Manor we just have screens and pallets - bahhahahah! but on a hot day like today and for the next few - we can just dry the leaves and flowers on screens and make comfrey tea, salves and ointments!

if you aren't aware of the medicinal value of comfrey - go here or here. or just look it up on the internet! comfrey has been used medicinally for centuries! here's the flowers below:

here's a big bunch that will be turned into mulch to mulch around the tomatoes:

when foraging or harvesting from natural-growing plants, we us the Mi'kmaq rule of thirds: one third for you, one third for insects, birds, bees, etc. and one third for Mother Nature.

oh and speaking of birds and bees - no, not that kind PP! - hummingbirds and all kinds of bees love comfrey flowers! you know what else they love? lupins baby! and we got lupins all over our land! they are so beautiful and come in so many colours!

in this group on the driveway you can see a beautiful pink lupin and a beautiful white lupin:



we also have beautiful scotch broom growing all over our land - the bees and birds love them too!



want to see some more beauty? how about kymberz famous sorta-eggrolls/sorta-potstickers? ok, here ya go:



i can eat 3 of those babies 25 times a day and never get sick of them! recipe coming on our recipe blog soon!

and more beauty - beef raosted in the slow cooker and smashed potatoes - oh, when i sat down to eat this plate, i swear i was in heaven!

i found a new recipe for kimchi and i WILL NEVER make kimchi the old, traditional way again. bless my poor Korean teacher's heart who taught me to make traditional proper kimchi - this is faster and way more delicious. recipe coming on our recipe blog soon!



people - if you have never tried kimchi - try it! it is so good for you! and this recipe is made with regular cabbage - NOT nappa cabbage which is 3 times the price of regular cabbage. you can grow your own cabbage like we do or you can buy it for real cheap at the store. get some cabbages when they are in season and on sale, put them in a box in a cool room, basement or closet, cover them with a towel and you can be making kimchi all year for very little cost!

more beauty:

again - that is the front yard view and the blue brook is called Strachan's Brook. i love that view!

lastly how about a nice light dinner to keep you working until supper? raw broccoli, raw cauliflower, homemade pickles, radish and carrot kimchi, pineapple and apricots - deelish!

anyway - it's been a great week! i'm off to catch up on your blogs soon! much love to all of you!