Elder weekend / Vikend s bazgom

Had a really busy weekend. Saturday I visited local farmers market and I got some nice peppers and purple cabbage seedlings so I had to plant them (and make a new garden bed for it), also was busy with some other stuff I had to do, and I also had to make elder juice. That was on my schedule on Sunday so that’s why I didn’t write about plantain herb ( I promise I’ll get back to that soon). As you can guess today I’ll write about elder tree and elder juice. Do you have elder somewhere near your home? I have more than plenty. Do you like elder juice? I do. Most perfect juice you could ever have is elder juice. Only thing better than that is your own homemade elder juice. If you never tried making it at home, don’t worry it’s quite simply. It’s good for your body too – it helps body release toxics and is good for heart. For some 7 liters of juice (I’m not exactly sure how much because I make lot of juice, but this is basic recipe)which you later mix with water you need 40 elder flowers, 4 kg of sugar, 7 liters of waters, half kilos of lemon and some citric acid. Pick elder tree flowers somewhere away of roads and try to pick nice white ones (especially without bugs on it). When you get home take some bigger pot and put elder tree flowers in it – but clean them from sprigs and petioles. You want only flowers.

you don't want ones with bugs on it

After that, take 3 liters of water and pour it in a pot. You can mix it if you want and leave flowers in water for 24 hours.

Next day, take your sugar and mix it with 4 liters of water until its nice syrupy thing. Leave it until its cool. While you’re waiting for your sugary water to cool down (and it can take some time), take colander and strain water with elder flowers.

As you can see in pictures I used colander and sieve to make sure I get it clean from small flowers and parts of it. When you’re done with that, take some citric acid (I’d say you put 2-3 tea spoons of it) and lemon juice and mix it with that elder flower water. You now only need to mix sugary water into it and that’s it. You can now pour your juice into bottles.  If you want to enjoy it longer, you can put in a freezer. Quick tip for all of you who want to have nice clean face – take juice and mix it with water in 1:3 ratio and clean your face with it.

From elder tree flowers you can also make jelly (I’ll make it soon and tell you more about it then and you can easily dry it to make tea (if you’re going to dry it, have in mind it should not change color and become black). Also, you can use leaves and from elder berries (which you can find on tree, if you didn’t take a flower, in September) you can make nice marmalade and juice but you have to cook them first, since they are poisonous if you eat them raw. About elder berries I’ll talk more in September.

Speaking of elder tree, did you know it’s one of the oldest plants in Europe and it has all kind of herbal uses. Flower, if used as tee is good for curing flu and cold, tonsillitis and all kind of bronchial problems and clean the body from toxics. If you have children with chickenpox give them tea made from elder flowers, it will make recovery go faster.  As I said, you can also use leaves of elder tree – use them when they are fully formed and you can squash them and put them on painful place. You can put it on your temple if you have headache.

For the end of the post quick stroll through my garden

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Vikend mi je bio pretrpan. U subotu sam posjetila lokalnu tržnicu i nabavila sadnice paprike i ljubičastog kupusa, pa sam to morala i posaditi (i napraviti novu podignutu gredicu), bila sam zauzeta i nekim drugim stvarima, a morala sam napraviti i sok od baze. To je bilo na nedjeljnom rasporedu, pa zato nisam stigla pisati o trputcu (vratit ću se na tu temu nekad uskoro). Kao što pretpostavljate, danas ću pisati o soku od bazge. Imate li bazgu u blizini svoga doma? Ja je imam i više nego dovoljno. Volite li sok od bazge? Ja obožavam. Najsavršeniji sok ikada. Jedino bolje od njega je sok od bazge koji si sam napravio. Uz to, dobar je i za tijelo – pomaže organizmu u oslobađanju štetnih tvari i dobar je za srce. Za nekih 7 litara soka (nisam točno sigurna koliko, jer uvijek radim puno više soka, ali ovo je osnovni recept) koji kasnije miješate s vodom, potrebno je 40 cvjetova bazge , 4 kg šećera , 7 litara vode , pola kilograma limuna i malo limunske kiseline. Birajte cvijeće bazge koja raste daleko od prometnica i pokušajte ubrati one lijepe bijele (bez raznih bubica na njima ). Kad dođete kući uzmite neku veću posudu i stavite cvijeće u njega - ali očistite ga od grančica i peteljki. Trebate samo cvijeće. Nakon toga, uzmite 3 litre vode i ulijte ju u lonac s bazgom. Možete malo promiješati i ostavite cvijeće u vodi  24 sata. 

 Sljedeći dan, uzmite šećer i pomiješajte ga s 4 litre vode i kuhajte dok se tekućina ne pretvori u sirup. Ostavite da se ohladi. Dok čekate da se voda sa šećerom ohladi  (može potrajati neko vrijeme) , procijedite vodu u kojoj se namakala bazga. Kao što možete vidjeti na slikama ja sam cijedila i kroz ono s velikim i malim rupicama kako bih bila sigurna da sam uklonila sve ostatke cvijeća. Kada ste gotovi, uzmite malo limunske kiseline (rekla bih da stavite 2-3 čajne žličice) i limunov sok i pomiješajte ga vodom od cvjetova bazge. Sada samo trebate dodati šećerni sirup i to je to. Sok sada možete preliti u boce.

Ako želite duže uživati u njemu, spremite ga u zamrzivač. Brzi savjet za sve vas koji želite imati lijepo čisto lice - uzmite sok i pomiješajte ga  s vodom u omjeru 1:3 i s time očistite svoje lice.

Od cvijeća bazge također možete napraviti marmeladu (uskoro mi je u planu i nakon što ju napravim reći ću vam nešto više o tome), a možete ga i jednostavno osušiti i napraviti čaj (pripazite da cvijeće tijekom sušenja ne promijeni boju i ne postane crno) . Također , možete koristiti bazge, a od bobica (možete ih naći na stablima s kojih niste ubrali cvijeće, u rujnu ) možete napraviti pekmez i sok. Bobice prvo morate prokuhati, jer su otrovne ako ih konzumirate sirove. O bobicama bazge više će biti riječi u rujnu.

Govoreći o bazgi, jeste li znali da je to jedna od najstarijih i najljekovitijih biljaka u Europi? Cvijet se koristi za liječenje gripe i prehlade, angina i svih vrsta problema s bronhijama i čisti tijelo od štetnih tvari . Ako imate djecu s vodenim kozicama čaj od bazge ubrzat će njihov oporavak. Kao što sam rekla, možete koristiti i lišće bazge - koristite ih kad su u potpunosti formirani, a možete ih zgnječiti i staviti na bolno mjesto. Ako imate glavobolju, namažite njime sljepoočnice.

Za kraj, brza šetnja kroz moj vrt

How to get rid of the hornets / Kako se riješiti stršljena ?

Do you have problem with hornets? Well I do. It’s not just this year, I've been dealing with them and with wasps for the last five years, since I moved to countryside. I don’t have anything against bees, they are good, but hornets and wasps can give me a really big headache. I don’t like them and I never will. Few years ago, I got stung from more than 50 wasps, thankfully hornet never did. But still, they buzz around my garden and I don’t feel safe when I hear them. Last few days, whenever I go to my garden hornet is there. It means he has his nest somewhere around it probably, but I still dint find it. Hornets are the largest European wasps and some species can reach up to 6 cm. Individual hornets can sting you multiple times because they don’t die after stinging like it happens with typical bees. Same thing is with wasps –they can sting you multiple times. Also, if they feel danger to the nest, they can mobilize the entire nest to sting in defense, which is highly dangerous. So, how to get rid of them? If you found their nest, it's best to call some professionals. You can try with exterminators or in some places fireman’s take care of them too. If you decide to do it by yourself, be really carefully. Wear thick clothing, gloves, safety glasses – basically cover yourself from head to toe.  Also, you should consider treating them at night or early in the morning when they are sleepy.  Their nest is a mud like construction mostly shaped like a pine cone or upside down beehive.  Hornets nest can be found in tree branches, on windows, in attics, under rafters, under leaves and inside abandoned houses. So, there are few methods of getting rid of hornets’ nest (I never tried this one, because I never found their nest) and most people I know use this one. After you protected yourself from their possible stings you should take strong plastic bag which you place under tree branch or where ever is their nest. Try to estimate where the nest will fall so you can place bag under it. Take some long handled trimmer, cut the branch and let nest fall into the bag. Take your insecticide, spray it in bag and tie it really tight. After that you can burn it so you are sure none of the hornets survived. As I said I never tried this method, but I know people who did, and method I use every year is more for keeping them out of my garden then destroying nest. What you need is plastic or glass bottle, some juice (homemade is best because it contains more fruit), sugar, honey and some water. Take your bottle, pour some juice up to half and add some water – you don’t need much water, just about 1dcl. 

 You can also put some sugar and honey, and if you want to be sure none of the bees will get in, just add some vinegar.   Put your bottle where you saw most of your hornets and wait. When juice start to ferment smell of it will attract hornets and as they get in the bottle they will stay there because they can’t get out once they are in.  You can make as many traps as you feel are needed to cover your garden.

Also, you can try altering the environment to get rid of hornets, especially if you remove their nest. So, think of cutting down branches, repainting wall where they were nesting and you can also put some old CD’s in the vicinity of removed nest.  But, as I said in the beginning, when you deal with hornets, be very careful, especially if you are allergic.

For the end, quick look at what’s new in my garden. Lettuce I planted from seeds is starting to germinate and it looks good, and 2 garlic’s are out, but I don’t know what will happen with my tomatoes. Too much rain and not so much sun made some problems – leaves got yellow color and some black spots so I had to take them off. We’ll see what will happen with them if a few days.  If nothing, I’ll have to plant them again.

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Imate li problema sa stršljenima? Ja imam. I to ne samo ove godine, nego posljednjih pet, otkako sam se preselila na selo. Protiv pčela nemam ništa protiv, one su dobre, ali stršljeni i ose zadaju mi glavobolju. Nisu mi dragi i nikada neće ni biti. Prije nekoliko godina, tijekom ljeta, ubolo me više od 50 osa, ali srećom stršljeni niti jednom. Ipak, dok god oni zuje po mom vrtu, ne osjećam se sigurno. Zadnjih nekoliko dana, kada god sam u vrtu, i stršljen je tu. Vjerojatno negdje u blizini vrta postoji gnijezdo, no još ga uvijek nisam pronašala. Stršljeni su najveće europske ose i neke vrste mogu doseći i do 6 cm. 

Pojedinačni stršljeni mogu vas ubosti više puta , jer oni ne nakon uboda ne umiru, kao što se događa s tipičnim pčelama. Ista stvar je s osama - one vas mogu ubosti više puta. Isto tako, ako osjećaju opasnost za gnijezdo, stršljeni u obrani mogu mobilizirati cijelu koloniju, da reagira u obrani, što je vrlo opasno. Dakle , kako ih se riješiti? Ako ste pronašli gnijezdo stršljena najbolje je pozvati stručnjake. Možete pokušati s deratizatorima, a u nekim mjestima i vatrogasci vam mogu pomoći u uklanjanju njihovog gnijezda. Ako ste se ipak odlučili sami ga ukloniti, budite jako pažljivi . Nosite debelu odjeću, rukavice, zaštitne naočale – pokrijte se od glave do pete. Također, razmislite o uništavanju njihovih gnijezda ujutro ili navečer, dok su pospani. Njihova gnijezda najčešće su blatne tvorevine u obliku šišarke ili naopako okrenute košnice, a mogu se naći na granama, prozorima, tavanima, ispod greda, pod lišćem i unutar napuštenih kuća. Postoji nekoliko načina za uništavanje njihovih gnijezda ( osobno nikada nisam iskušala ove načine, jer do sada nisam pronašla njihova gnijezda) a većina ljudi za koje znam da su ih uništavali, koristili su sijedeći način. Nakon što ste se zaštitili od mogućih uboda, uzmite čvrstu plastičnu vreću koju postavite ispod stabla, grane ili gdje god se gnijezdo nalazi . Pokušajte procijeniti u kojem će smjeru gnijezdo pasti , tako da vreću stavite na točno to mjesto. Uzmite dugačke škare za orezivanje, odrežite granu na kojoj je gnijezdo i pustite da upadne u vreću. Uzmite insekticid , pošpricajte ga u vreću i dobro zavežite. Nakon toga možete ju i spaliti kako biste se uvjerili da stršljeni nisu preživjeli. Kao što sam rekla nikada nisam iskušala tu metodu , ali znam ljude koji jesu , a ja svake godine koristim mjere za smanjenje broja stršljena u mom vrtu. Sve što trebate plastična je ili staklena boca, sok domaći je najbolji jer sadrži više voćnog šećera) , šećer , med i malo vode. Uzmi svoju bocu , ulijte sok do pola i dodati malo vode - ne treba puno vode , samo oko 1 dcl. 

Također možete staviti malo šećera i meda , a ako želite biti sigurni da smjesa neće privući i pčele, dodajte malo octa. Stavite bocu gdje ste vidjeli najviše stršljena i čekajte. Kad sok počne vriti miris iz njega privući će stršljene, i kako uđu u boce tako će i ostati u njima. Ovakvih zamki možete postaviti koliko želite. Također, kako biste otjerali stršljene, možete pokušati i s mijenjanjem okoline, pogotovo ako ste uništili njihovo gnijezdo. Dakle, možete odrezati grane, prebojiti zid ili staviti stare CD-e na mjesto gdje je nekada bilo gnijezdo. Ali , kao što sam rekla na početku, ako se planirate boriti s njima, budite oprezni, pogotovo ako ste alergični .

Na kraju , brzi pogled na što je novo u mom vrtu. Salata koju sam posijala počela je klijati i izgleda dobro, iznikla su i dva češnjaka, no ne znam što će biti s rajčicama. Previše kiše i ne baš puno sunca napravili su probleme - listovi su dobili žutu boju i crne mrlje, pa sam ih morala ukloniti. Vidjet ćemo što će se dogoditi s njima za nekoliko dana. Ako ništa ne uspije, posadit ću ih ponovno.

What to plant in May / Što saditi u svibnju ?

Last few days we finally had some nice, sunny weather. I really missed sun for the last 2 weeks as we only had gray skies and rain. Before I start with today’s subject I want to show you what’s new in my raised bed garden. I showed you my tomatoes but since then I planted carrot seed, lettuce seeds and some pumpkin seeds. I also found some paprika seed leftovers from last year so I planted that too, but we will see if it grows out (never had paprika growing from seeds in my garden, quite hard to get them out).

I also got some lettuce from my grandma so I planted that too. In a next few days I should get cucumbers too and maybe something else, but still not sure what. Now something about today’s subject. What to plant when? That question is in my head every spring. You don’t want to plant something too early or too late because your work won’t give any good results. You probably had that same problem when you started growing your own vegetables for the first time. And it’s totally ok to ask that question. So, it’s May now, and it’s still not late to plant your own vegetables. Warm temperatures are here and you don’t have to worry about frost, and warm soil allows fast germination and growing plants. 

May is perfect time for transplanting seedlings of brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, leeks and tomatoes. If you didn’t make your own seedlings you can buy some at farmer’s marker or somewhere else, but you should think of getting organic ones. Also in May, you can plant (from seeds) carrots, chives, corn salad (one of my favorite), lettuce, kohlrabi, onion, garlic, pak choy, parsley, peas, radish, turnip, spinach, broccoli, pumpkins, squashes,  green beans, beans, beetroot, cucumbers, sweet corn, cabbage, peppers. In May you can also plant herbs like basil, oregano, thyme and sage, and some fruits like strawberries, melons and watermelons. Just keep in mind that whatever you plant in your garden requires daily care (watering, weeding and stuff like that) and without it, probably won’t be as good as it should.  Also, if you plant your vegetables from seeds you should be patient because some plants need more time to grow out than the others. Let’s see how it works (I’ll tell you how long you’ll have to wait for all those vegetables I told you, you can plant from seeds, to germinate). 

Carrots take 7-15 days, chives 20-25 days, corn salad 7-15 days, lettuce 5-7 days, kohlrabi 5-10 days,  onion 6-12 days, garlic 10-15 days, pak choy 5-10 days, parsley 10-28 days, peas 5-8 days, radish 4-10 days, turnip 5-7 days, spinach 7-21 days, broccoli 5-10 days, pumpkins 4-8 days, squashes 4-10 days,  green beans 5-10 days, beans 5-8 days, beetroot 4-14 days, cucumbers 4-8 days, sweet corn 4-8 days, cabbage 5-10 days, peppers 10-21 days.

Now you know what you can plant in May and how long you’ll have to wait it to germinate. But when will you be able to enjoy their taste? Let’s see…

You can harvest your carrots (which you planted in May) from September, chives from August, corn salad from July, lettuce from July, kohlrabi from August,  onion from November, garlic from October, pak choy from July, parsley from August, peas from August, radish from July, turnip from July, spinach from July, broccoli from September, pumpkins from September/October/November depending on type, squashes from September/October/November depending on type,  green beans from September, beans from September, beetroot from August, cucumbers from July, sweet corn from August/September, cabbage from July, peppers from July/August.

Now that you know all of this it’s time for you to plant something (if you didn’t do it already) and wait to harvest your plants. I hope this post will help you and I’ll do same post about what to plant in June in the beginning of month. If you’re not sure when to plant something (if I missed something you want to grow) feel free to ask me.

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Zadnjih nekoliko dana napokon imamo lijepo, sunčano vrijeme. Sunce mi je zaista nedostajalo jer smo zadnjih nekoliko tjedana imali samo sivilo i kišu. Prije nego što počnem s današnjom temom, želim vam pokazati što je novo u mom vrtu s podignutim gredicama. Rajčice sam vam pokazala, a od tada sam posijala sjeme mrkve, selene salate i bundeva. Također, pronašla sam i sjeme paprike koje mi je ostalo od prošle godine pa sam posijala i njega, ali vidjet ćemo hoće li paprika izrasti (do sada u vrtu nikako nisam uspjela uzgojiti papriku iz sjemena). Također presadila sam i salatu čije sam sadnice dobila od bake.

 U sljedećih nekoliko dana treba zasaditi krastavce, a možda i nešto drugo , ali još uvijek nisam odlučila što. Sada nešto o današnjoj temi . Što kada posaditi? To pitanje u glavi mi je svakog proljeća . Ne želite posaditi nešto prerano i prekasno, jer unatoč trudu nećete imati zadovoljavajuće rezultate. I vama se to pitanje vjerojatno vrzmalo po glavi kada ste po prvi puta odlučili uzgajati vlastito povrće. I to je pitanje potpuno ok. Svibnja je i još uvijek nije kasno da posadite svoje povrće. Toplo vrijeme je stiglo i više se ne morate brinuti zbog mraza, a toplo tlo omogućuje brzo klijanje i uzgoj biljaka. Svibanj je idealno vrijeme za presađivanje sadnica prokulica , kupusa, cvjetače, kelja, poriluka i rajčica. Ako niste napraviti vlastite sadnice, možete ih kupiti u rasadnicima ali imate na umu da birate one organske. Također u svibnju , možete posijati (iz sjemena) mrkvu, vlasac, matovilac (jedna od mojih omiljenih vrsta ), zelenu salatu, korabu, luk, češnjak, kineski kupus , peršin, grašak, rotkvicu, repu, špinat, brokulu, bundevu, tikvice , mahune , grah, ciklu, krastavce, kukuruz , kupus i papriku . U svibnju također možete posaditi i bilje poput bosiljka , origana, timijana i kadulje , ali i neke voćne vrste poput jagoda, dinje i lubenice. Samo imajte na umu da biljke u vašem vrtu zahtijevaju svakodnevnu njegu ( zalijevanje, plijevljenje i takve stvari ) i bez njege, vjerojatno neće roditi tako dobro kao što bi trebale. Isto tako, ako biljku uzgajate iz sjemena budite strpljivi, jer nekim biljkama je potrebno više vremena da izrastu od drugih. Da vidimo kako to ide (reći ću vam koliko morate čekati da sjeme isklija, za sve one biljke koje sam napomenula da možete uzgojiti iz sjemena). 

Mrkva klija 7 do 15 dana , vlasac 20-25 dana, matovilac 7-15 dana, salata 5-7 dana, koraba 5-10 dana, luk 6-12 dana, češnjak 10-15 dana, kineski kupus 5-10 dana, peršin 10-28 dana, grašak 5-8 dana, rotkvica 4-10 dana, repa 5-7 dana, špinat 7 do 21 dan, brokula 5 do 10 dana, bundeve 4-8 dana, tikvica 4-10 dana, zeleni grah 5-10 dana, grah 5-8 dana, cikla 4-14 dana, krastavci 4-8 dana, kukuruz 4-8 dana, kupus 5-10 dana, paprike 10 do 21 dan.

Sad znate što možete posaditi u svibnju i koliko dugo ćete morati čekati da sjeme proklija. No, kada ćete moći uživati u njihovom ukusu ? Da vidimo ...

Mrkvu (koje ste posadili u svibnju) možete brati od rujna, vlasac od kolovoza, matovilac od srpnja, korabu od kolovoza, luk od studenog, češnjak od listopada, kineski kupus od srpnja, peršin od kolovoza, grašak od kolovoza, rotkvice od srpnja, repu od srpnja, špinat također od srpnja, brokulu od rujna , bundevu od rujna/listopada/studenog - ovisno o vrsti , tikvice također, mahune od rujna , grah od rujna, ciklu od kolovoza, krastavce od srpnja, kukuruz od kolovoza/rujna, kupus od srpnja , paprike od srpnja/kolovoza .

Sada kada znate sve to, vrijeme je da posadite neke od biljaka (ako to već niste učinili) i onda pričekate berbu plodova. Nadam se da će vam ovaj post pomoći, a početkom lipnja pisat ću o tome što možete saditi tijekom tog mjeseca. Ako niste sigurni kada se nešto sadi (ako sam propustila nešto što želite u svom vrtu) slobodno me pitajte.