Saturday, March 9, 2019

It´s all in the leaves

The new roses that we bought last week have now all been planted in the rose garden.
I´m sure it won´t be long before the tiny foliage buds will be sprouting.
Really looking forward to seeing them bloom.

I have been saving our tea bags, drying them out before removing them from the bag, I remember many years ago that my Grandma used to always swill the dregs of the teapot and put it around her roses. Easier when you use loose tea, she always had a good show in the summer.

The tea leaves contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and some trace minerals, which is supposed to be very beneficial to acid loving plants, including tomatoes. By sprinkling them around the plant base and scratching in it will give them a boost.


Well no harm in trying it rather than just going in the bin, a good bit of recycling too.

Decided to swap meals around today, a heavier lunch then a lighter tea. Haven´t made paella for ages.
My recipe is not quite authentic, but then it is to our taste, so that´s ok by me. It does help having the correct rice which absorbs quite quickly.

It was rather yummy!

Not much going on on the craft front, I added a few rows to the lacy bolero but must have missed a yarn over so had to unpick it, grr
Although I did recover the bench seat cushion, which now looks much fresher and finished off the backs of the hexie coasters. Not all a fail then lol.

take care
xcx

10 comments:

  1. I didn't know that about the tea... but we do keep ours in the bags and chuck it in with our compost. I do occasionally have loose tea in a pot. Love the look of that paella - what rice is used?
    Hugz

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    1. I found it interesting to find out why Grandma did that with the dregs. The rice is sabroz, a round rice which absorbs very well, it´s shorter and a bit fatter and works well xcx

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  2. Dear Chrissie
    I hope your new roses settle in and do well for you. I am in the process of pruning mine, but am only about half way through.
    Have a good rest of the weekend.
    Best wishes
    Ellie

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    1. It took me a while to comprehend pruning the roses so much earlier than in the Uk, I never used to do it before end of Feb but here they are well on their way by then. xcx

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  3. I use tea leaves around my blueberry bushes, as you say, they give a boost to acid loving plants. Yum! I love paella and that looks very tasty indeed.

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    1. Nice plump blueberries, yum. The paella certainly doesn´t hang around long, but I do use chicken or turkey meat rather than the traditional bones with a little meat attached. xcx

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  4. Goodness, reading about your Grandma and the roses bought back some wonderful memories. My dear Gran used to do the same, she loved her garden and spent many happy hours in it, and always used to encourage her grandchildren to go and help her. She was such a wonderful person, and I have many happy memories.

    Your paella looks good.

    All the best Jan

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    1. How lovely that a few words brought back happy memories. Grandma loved her garden too, it was full of old cottage plants like London pride, golden rod and lavender, we used to sit under the shade of the apple trees and stitch little lavender bags with her teaching me the names of her plants. Xcx

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  5. Hi Chrissie thankyou for the hint using the tea leaves on your roses,i will do that now too.Oh your paella looks so yummy,hope you have a wonderful day my friend xx

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  6. Seems our Grandmothers knew more than a trick or two. Enjoy your weekend xcx

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