Gardenig in Turkey. Tips & Guides

Anthropologie

How to Grow Flavorful Greek Oregano Origanum vulgare var. hirtum

The following is excerpted from Taras Grescoe’s The Lost Supper, and has been lightly edited for length and clarity. 

A native of China, tea leaves  were delivered around the world in Clipper ships, created the furore at the Boston Tea Party during the American war of independence and still provides badly paid work for workers in India, Sri Lanka, Kenya and China.

How to Plant and Grow ‘Dark Opal’ Basil Ocimum basilicum var. basilicum ‘Dark Opal’

Last week, I showed you the Turkish astrobotany investigations flying on the Axiom 3 Private Space Mission, which launched to the International Space Mission yesterday. The plant experiments are part of a larger research program for the mission, much of which focuses on human biology and medical research. 

Header image: An illustration of a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft approaching the International Space Station for docking. Image credit: NASA

LauriPatterson / Getty Images

‘Marian Sampson’ hummingbird coyote mint

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In avian intelligence, there’s a widespread misconception about the Dumbest Birds in the World that may lack cognitive skills compared to others. Time to find out the truth!

Marjoram or sweet marjoram (Origanum majorana) is a half-hardy perennial sub-shrub in the Lamiaceae or mint family. It has small rounded leaves and white tubular flowers in summer and early autumn that attract bees and other pollinating insects. Marjoram originates from the Mediterranean and Turkey.

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Ever wondered what the National Flower of Turkey is and why it holds such significance in the country’s culture and history? You’re about to embark on a fascinating journey that will reveal not only the identity of this captivating bloom but also its deep-rooted symbolism and influence in Turkish society.

These Cool Looking Mushrooms can be a great addition to your garden, thanks to their striking colors and weird shapes. Explore the fascinating world of fungi!

Don’t know about the yellow tulips meaning? From representing joy and friendship to embodying optimism and new beginnings, read on to find the answer to “What do yellow tulips mean?”

The latest edition of Joy Larkcom’s classic, The Salad Garden, has been sitting on my ‘to review’ pile for some weeks now. It’s not that I didn’t want to read it – I did read it. It’s just that it’s extremely dense, in the sense that it contains a lot of useful information about a lot of useful plants. It’s not a book you can read quickly, digest, and move on from. It’s a reference manual that will be part of your collection for years. Forever, probably.

The morning after last week’s storms, our morning walk was littered with ‘conkers’, the large and shiny seeds of the Horse Chesnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). Ryan started picking some of the nicer ones up. “The people at work”, he said, “have been discussing whether or not conkers repel spiders. I’m going to try it.”

Header image: Landsat 8 natural-colour image of water, sea ice, and phytoplankton in Antarctica’s Granite Harbor – a cove in the vicinity of the Ross Sea – on 5 March 2017. Image credit: NASA.

I admire Cyclamen more and more as the years go by.

The Brown Turkey fig, Ficus carica, produces large, sweet, juicy figs even in British conditions.

Chionodoxa are beautiful, hardy spring flowering bulbs that are easy to grow. They grow 6inches tall from small bulbs and have pretty star-shaped flowers with long narrow leaves. (Also spelled Chinodoxa and common name Glory of the Snow). The blossom has a central line on each of 6 petals.

I have a strong liking for Pelargoniums (which I will call Geraniums from now on). They are still producing lots of colour and variety late into October. Because we suffer strong winds and early frosts up on the Pennines of Yorkshire I am in the process of protecting the varieties I am keen to keep through winter.

The seeds of Islamic gardens grew from Persian gardens that were created to be oasis in the desert. Islam spread the sphere of influence to India, Turkey, and Spain from the Taj Mahal to Alhambra.

Our transatlantic cousins still benefit from the Pilgrim fathers gardening knowledge taken to their shores centuries ago. The potato famine of 1845-50 caused Irish farmers to discover the Idaho potato. Now these and other horticultural favours can be returned by this book of organic homespun tips.

The Amazons of the summer border, hollyhocks tower on 1.5 to 2.5-metre stems from June to August. Their funnel-shaped blooms, which open in shades of ivory, lemon, pink, red, and plum, can often be seen peeping over a garden wall, basking in the sun. Bumblebees love to sup the nectar, and, as they do, become covered in a dusting of the flowers’ plentiful creamy pollen.

Before cooking your turkey, it is highly recommended to make sure it is completely defrosted.

How to avoid common pitfalls that can turn Holiday Meals into a foodborne illness disaster and how to handle leftovers safely? For more details see, HGIC 3566, Food Safety Pitfalls at Thanksgiving & Beyond.

It’s turkey time!

It is time to think about how you are going to prepare your Thanksgiving turkey. How do you prepare yours? Have you ever tried brining to add flavor and moisture? Brining meat is the process of adding salt before cooking to add moisture and flavor. A turkey can be brined using a wet or dry process. It is important to consider both methods before choosing which one you want to use. Both ways produce a flavorful and moist turkey but have other important considerations that may impact your choice.

SHE SERVED TURKEY AT SAID GARDEN PARTY. You ate too much.

In the Q&A that follows, Ellen’s answers contain green links to audio files from BirdNote’s archive that you won’t want to miss. A recap of earlier stories in our ongoing series is at the bottom of the page, along with information on how to get BirdNote daily–and if you want to give thanks to nonprofit BirdNote for all their wonderful avian “aha’s,” you can do so at this link.the turkey q&a with ellen blackstoneQ. Why isn’t the wild turkey our national bird? A. In 1784, that wise old Ben Franklin groused to his daughter, after the fact, about the choice of the bald eagle as our national symbol:“For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. …Too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle

“Primula veris is the ‘English cowslip’ that was once commonly found in pastures and meadows,” says the American Primrose Society website. The plant, which extends into Siberia, Turkey and Iran, is also one of the parents of the modern polyanthus hybrids—the plant most people envision when you say “primrose.”The species name—veris—means “of spring,” particularly apt once you’ve seen its cheerful yellow flowers held well above ample foliage.So why aren’t we all growing this charmer—which owing to its origins in those meadows of the U.K., Europe and Asia is sturdy enough to hold its own even in competitive quarters such as those I inadvertently subjected it to?“It is not common,” Marilyn Barlo

After Lee’s early warning signal, I studied up–both in his most recent book, “Grow Fruit Naturally,” and elsewhere. Since my fig is in a pot, not the ground, and I’m in Zone 5, I can’t take the tack that I used to see where I grew up, in Zone 6-bordering-on-7ish: wrapping the tree in tar paper and/or burlap, then stuffing the whole enclosure with leaves.Even more dramatic, I remember some growers actually digging around the fig’s root zone on one side, then tipping the tree over into a trench they’d dug alongside, and burying it. Wow, even more work that the tar paper-burlap-leaf deal.So what to do? At least I got this much right: I bought a small, hardy variety (at least as hardy as figs get): ‘Brown Turkey,’ which will fruit mostly on new wood (meaning if I have to prune off any dieback, or simply have to trim to get it i

Renowned for its distinctive aroma and warm, earthy flavor,Cumin Plant has become a staple spice in various cuisines, adding depth and complexity to a wide range of dishes. The best part- you can grow it at home! Here’s how!

Back in 2009, in a coincidence that was clearly instigated by flower fairies, two separate teams of scientists stumbled upon the exquisite handiwork of Osmia avosetta bees. The discoveries were a single day apart; one team in Turkey, the other in Iran.