Proso Millet or White Millet

Proso Millet or [Panicum miliaceum] family Poaceae. Also known as Common Millet, White Millet or Hog Millet.

I have let a lot of crops grow this year, that I normally wouldn't, mainly so that I can experience them; and currently have a crop of White Millet, self-seeded by way of the birds, that is growing only in builders sand.

Millet is an annual grass, with stems of around 4 feet tall. It has large flat leaves, with hairy sheaths and two flowered spikelets. The seedheads grow in bunches and produce a small starchy grain, which due to its lack of gluten, is sold as an alternative to people who are wheat intolerant. Most often it is used in birdseed and sometimes cultivated for fodder.

Opium Poppy

The Opium Poppy or [Papaver somniferum] family Papaveraceae.

Last month as I casually walked through the countryside, I came face to face with fields upon fields of these alien headed pods. Trust me, you don't want to bump into too many of them as they really can throw a heavy punch! When the green pod is cut a milky like substance will ooze from it; and once this is dried out is where opium comes from, however inside each pod are hundreds of poppy seeds, which are not only edible, but can also help you grow your own little crop. So, hopefully I will have more on my first home grown poppy patch over the next year.

Herb Robert

Herb Robert or [Geranium robertianum] family Geraniaceae.

It is a native annual and very common throughout the British Isles, liking to grow in woodland, hedge-banks, walls and stony places, and can grow up to 50cm. Herb Robert flowers from late April into October and produces small pink five-petalled flowers, approximately 1-2cm long, containing red anthers and wrinkled carpels. The leaves are deeply dissected, ternate to palmate, and the hairy stems are usually a reddish colour. At the end of the flowering season, the leaves also turn from green to red. Folk names include: Herb Boonoo (this is our own folk name for it), Red Robin, Dragonsblood, Red Shanks, Stinky Bob (due to the musky odour it may give off if the leaves are crushed or if it is dug up).

The entire Herb Robert plant is actually edible, containing tannins, essential oils and geraniin. It can be eaten raw, or made into a tea, used as a pulstice for cuts, bruises, or other skin conditions, is mildly diuretic, astringent, and helps to stop diarrhoea.

Linseed

This is the first year that we've decided to actually harvest our linseed, and the small crop is continuing to do really well. Oh, if you're not sure, linseed is the blue flowering crop and the seeds are contained in the bulb once the flower has gone and the bulb has turned a brown colour.