When planning my garden this year, I mostly picked plants that have multiple functions. Besides looking nice, I like my plants to be edible, control pests, attract pollinators, make nice potpourri, or even have medicinal or cosmetic uses. Two such plants are nasturtium and chamomile.
We had our first nasturtium flower on 5 July! I put it in a salad for my friend as an un-birthday present. It tastes peppery! The leaves are also edible and have that peppery zing, too. (You can see my mildew-covered zucchini leaves in the background.)
Been harvesting chamomile flowers for the past few days. I'm not sure if I want to make them into tea... I've never had chamomile tea before, and I don't know that I'd start drinking it just because I've planted them.
To harvest chamomile flowers, I just lift the flower/s by raking my fingers through. Not sure if it makes a difference, but I only harvest the ones with very yellow (as opposed to green) centres.
Some other uses for Chamomile:
Anti-fungal spray for plants: pour 2 cups boiling water over 1/4 cup; steep until cool. This can be sprayed on plants to kill fungus. You can also soak/start seeds in this mixture to prevent damping off!
Hair rinse: I've read that a chamomile infusion can
highlight blonde to brown hair. Being Chinese, this isn't of much use to me, but it's good to know. I bet it's good for the scalp.
Treat skin problems: To treat skin irritations (ulcers, infections, rashes, burns), grind flowers into a paste, add water, add oatmeal to reach desired consistency. Apply to affected area.
Also: "The flowers can also be used in a bath to ease the pain of hemorrhoids and cystitis, and the essential Oil can be applied to combat neuralgia and eczema." Since chamomile has antibacterial properties,
I assume it can't hurt to wash acne-prone faces with it. It can also
soften the skin. Also: "Chamomile oil has also great wound healing properties and is extensively used with skin problems such as rashes, acne, eczema, psoriasis, hypersensitive skin and allergic conditions."
Steam inhaler: for "respiratory and allergic problems such as asthma, hay fever, and sinusitis."
Those really tall plants are bachelor's button. Mostly, I planted them to be pretty :). There is something kind of magical (to me) about blue and purple flowers--especially the ones that occur naturally (not cultivated for their colour).
I moved some more oregano into this pot. It's doing very well!
EDIT: Turns out, that wasn't oregano, but spearmint I had started from seed! Oops! I've since pulled it out. It wasn't very strong-smelling, either.
Haven't showed off my purple basil for a while. These seem to grow slower than their green relatives.
Broccoli seedlings. Will replace harvested broccoli for next growing season. ...Hopefully!
Already harvested a few zucchini (four; but one started rotting so had to compost it). I've been harvesting them when they get to about 6 or 7 inches. We're going to barbecue some tomorrow! Nothing like grilled zucchini, mmm.
