Macros are fun...

....from the garden...all photos, summer 31/01/2016

Bee enjoying  a feed or collecting nectar; pond flower Pickerel weed.

Ant and spider exploring; miniature Zinnia angustifolia

Sun jewels, Portulaca

Odontonema tubeaforme;




Ixora






Pond plant; Salvinia;

Giant Papyrus bud;



Daylily Chili spice








Scented Pelargonium;






Rose Monsieur Tillier;








Milkweed, especially grown for Butterfly food.



Feverfew;





No, it is not a new hairdo; seedpods Pickerel weed.






Believe it or not:

...there was a bird on the roof when I took the photo...


©Photos Lavender&Vanilla/ Ts

Yellow glistens in variation;

highlight the garden through the year;
Yellow colours glisten, dark and light,  some with a hint of orange, others with a slick of silver,   streaked with ivory.  All perfect in their chosen nuances…soft or strong, light or loud ,bright or shy; yellow is the colour to make the garden shine any days.

Euryops pectinatus; a pretty combination  a bright yellow daisy flower set of by soft, grey foliage.



“Daffodowndilly

She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
"Winter is dead.” 
 A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young





Daylily; been in my garden for ever.



Versatile small Dahlia, freely flowering and reseeding every year. Here a seedling has tiny hints of pink in its yellow petals, from a hybridization with a pink Dahlia.




Lycoris grows from a bulb after the foliage has died. Its bright yellow flowers are spectacular.




Golden Penda in the bush-garden; the yellow flowers have a hint of green. It is a fantastic show when in full flower, buzzing with bees and other insects.




Orchids are welcome surprises, here a pretty Laelia.





Yellow Lantana in the B&B garden, they have also a lovely frgrance, are drought resistant and not seeding.




Miniature Zinnia linaria, a welcome seeder in my herbgarden;




Love the ivory petals with its buttery heart of Elina; reproduced from a cutting from MLs garden.




Miniature Daylily Cosmic Hummingbird, holds its own with two lovely, strong colours complementing each other




Golden Cassia flowers a must in the garden; drought resistant, prune after flowering to prevent seedlings.




Daylily Bold Encounter, pretty and soft;





Found a surprise, pristine yellow gladioli;




Neat flowers of the Fishtail Palm;




Daylily; Something wonderful; ivory yellow  with a pinkish glow.





A favourite shrub; the perfect yellow colour; Tecomaria capensis aurea;



Salvia madrensis;







Lorieet feeding on  gum flowers.



Believe it or not:
Yellow flowers are the metamorphosis of  many suns.

©Photos/Text mygarden Ts Lavender&Vanilla

Food glorious Food;

A simple process called cooking, is the key to healthier, natural food. 

Spend your money to buy the best food  you can find; unrefined, grown in your own country;

Wonderful Australian grown  Macadamia oil; Virgin Olive oil, first cold pressed;

Coconut oil; unrefined, organic, cold pressed.

My hens have a large run to spread their wings in the sun, sit under trees in the shade, take a dust bath to keep their feathers healthy. They forage the grounds for specials! Get good food, clean water and they love special treats like everybody else does.

Do not support egg producers which keep their hens in small cages. Free range eggs are better. The best if it is possible to keep a few hens and to let them forage give them a happy life for giving you eggs, It is said you are what you eat. 

From the kitchen garden, Tomatoes; 

Buy Honey raw and  unadulterated. The best, cultured butter you can find, it has the best taste. Fine cheeses made in your country. 

From the kitchen garden; Potatoes;

I make my own Yogurt in the Thermomix; easy,  because it keeps the aquired Temperture to make  a fine natural yogurt.

. If you buy it, buy a good brand natural yogurt and add some fruit yourself. 

From the kitchen garden; Strawberries for dessert

If you can not produce some of your own food, try to buy food what ever possible grown in your own country; It helps the farmer and the food producer in your country. Try to avoid huge global food producers and GMO products.

From the kitchen garden; Pitaya/dragon fruit; tastes delicious. Sadly bought from the shop they are mostly tasteless and bland.

Plenty of food is available. Most of it is carbs and sugar, bad for you. Fruit and vegetables, even if they come from the shops they are still better for you.

Home made Pesto; Basil from the herb garden.

From the kitchen garden; salad greens ready for a simple salad sauce; naturally home made, herb salt, pepper, apple vinegar and the best cold pressed oil of your choice.

From the orchard; I love Persimmon, so delicious.

From the kitchen garden; pickled cucumbers.

From the orchard; Pomegranate; I juice them with a orange juicer and make  Pomegranate Molasses in the Thermomix, 

Cooking and good food invites a nicely set table.

From the kitchen garden; Silverbeet makes a delicious vegetable dish.

From the kitchen garden; homegrown Beetroot, sweet and tender, such a difference to store bought ones.

From the kitchen garden; snap beans cooked perfectly are very delicious. Not half raw, not mushy, cooked with onions and garlic; steamed they make a delectable salad.

From the kitchen garden; Fennel, a fine vegetable to create many tasty dishes.

From the kitchen garden; ready to be roasted.

From the kitchen garden; glorious Aubergines; versatile and delicious.

For the sweet tooth; little Apricot tartlets.

  Ditch the cheap, manufactured breakfast cereals, just more carbs and sugar.  

Chocolate, 

Cheap chocolate is full of additives and never melts properly on  the tongue. Splurge on the  best quality chocolate to replace cheap desserts, such as packaged baked goods and other empty carbs. 

.

Believe it or not:

Food, glorious food!
What wouldn't we give for 
That extra bit more --
That's all that we live for
Why should we be fated to
Do nothing but brood
On food, 
Magical food, 
Wonderful food,
Marvelous food,
Fabulous food,

Oliver Twist, Musical.

©Photos/Text Ts Lavender & Vanilla

Herbetum;Thyme;

The herb garden; herbs, which I use constantly in my cooking are always present, like Thyme, Rosemary, different chives and a few different types of Basil. Mint is kept under the tap. I grow Mexican Tarragon which is as aromatic as French T. but does much better in my sub tropical climate.  I like to grow achillea for their lovely foliage, scent and sweet flowers. Self heal grows in a small bog garden, as it needs constant moisture to flourish. I also grow a few Strawberries which were discarded from the vegetable garden, a fig tree which I try to curb in its spurts of growth. A miniature Peach tree which I received as a B.present and a Brazilian cherry in a pot. Sometimes a pot plant in need of a bit of TLC finds its way into the herb garden until recovery.  I also grow a bay tree as I like to use bay leaves liberally in my cooking. Generally I  grow those herbs which I use for cooking or for tea. 

Thymus pulegioides Broad Leaved Thyme with pretty pink flowers.

This is my favourite Thyme and I might use it every day. 

Thymus vulgaris (common thyme, English thyme, summer thyme, winter thyme, French thyme,] or garden thyme). Common thyme is a Mediterranean perennial which is best suited to well drained soils and full sun. I have always a few plants of this one growing. It propagates well from a cutting.

Meow carries a mantle of woolly Thyme, a very pretty ground cover but not used for culinary purposes. Thymus pseudolanuginosus.

Thyme, evokes memories of La Garrigue where the scent of rosemary and thyme fills the air. 
 La Garrigue or phrygana is a type of low, soft-leaved scrubland eco region in the Mediterranean. Found on limestone soils around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast, where the climate is ameliorated, but where annual summer drought conditions obtain. The term has also found its way into haute cuisine, suggestive of the resinous flavours of a garrigue shrub land.
Thyme is best cultivated in a hot, sunny location with well-drained soil. It is generally planted in the spring, and thereafter grows as a perennial. It can be propagated by seed, cuttings, or by dividing rooted sections of the plant. It tolerates drought well. The plants can take deep freezes and are found growing wild on mountain highlands. Along the Riviera, it is found from sea level and up to 800m.

Believe it or not;
You are what you eat.