Nettle burgers for dinner: Working in the garden all day…didn’t want to spend much time in the kitchen…needed some fast slow food. My helper Daina Binde had left an organic egg mix in the fridge when she left – not totally sure what was in it….on the balcony was a special potato growing in a large pot which had become “infested” with annual nettle (Urtica urens) (well, not really infested as I’d sown the seed :) )
I cooked the nettles quick, mixed with the egg mix, chili, siberian nodding onion, rolled oats and buckwheat flour and fried in sunflower oil….urtigers I reckon we can call them ;)
Poplar hawk-moth
Neil Young’s Global Ecovillage and Stavern
Apart from being a well known singer / songwriter over the last 40 years, Neil Young is also an environmental activist and through his 2015 album “The Monsanto Years” with its obvious anti-GMO, pro organics theme, he reached out to many. From 2015, he has invited the permaculture movement to man a stand in a tent called ‘News You Can Trust’ in his Global Ecovillage which follows his tours! Permaculture magazine in the UK had been entrusted to organise local people to take part and I was offered two free tickets to take part. Having never seen Young live and seeing the opportunity to promote both permaculture and my book to a new audience, I jumped at the chance. Helene Bøhler joined me on behalf of the Norwegian Permaculture Association for a memorable day in Stavern!
Here is a selection of pictures from my visit to the Stavern Festival and Stavern :)
See also https://www.permaculture.co.uk/news/2906156387/neil-young-invites-permaculture-tour
11 pm beach forage!
A few more pictures from my beach forage with Daina Binde around 11 pm on 4th July 2016!
Sunset on the shore: 4th July 2016
On my garden help Daina Binde from Latvia’s last evening in Malvik, we went down to the shoreline to look at edible beach plants and to watch the sunset. The sun went down just after 11pm. Here are 5 short videos from the beach :) Enjoy!
House sparrow: better late than never
Vennafjellet: 3rd July 2016
A few pictures from a late evening visit to the nearest real mountain to home, Vennafjellet with my garden helper, Daina Binde!
More pictures from a visit last year:
http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=1929
Black throated divers
Daina and Martina
My latest garden helper is Daina Binde from Latvia (recently: UK) and has impressed me by her plant knowledge! Like my last helper Lorna Marie O’Lynn, she was recommended to me by Mount Stewart’s (Northern Ireland) wonderful Mr Neil Porteous!! Anyone recommended by Neil can stay here :)
She was joined by Martina who discovered permaculture through working for 6 months on farms in New Zealand. The girls decorated tonight’s permadiversity salad!
Pakora hasn’t met this selection of veggies before!
I gave myself a little treat this week and made Indian pakora! Pakora are basically fried vegetable fritters, often sold as a starter in Indian restaurants. The vegetables were dipped in a batter made of gram (chick pea) flour, a little chili and garam masala spice. It would be interesting to use broad bean (fava) flour instead of chick peas!
I used: Day lily buds (Hemerocallis), common sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus), radish, red mitsuba (Cryptotaenia japonica atropurpurea), musk mallow (Malva moschata), Korean aster (Aster scaber), sorrel (Rumex acetosa), garden orach (Atriplex hortensis), Parsley pea (tops), Allium nutans x senescens (leaves and flower stems/buds) and Hablitzia tamnoides (tops)…..
DELICIOUS!!