Even More

There were also some herbs growing in various places. This was another opportunity to put into action our 'good life' skills. You remember the Good Life TV series from the 1970s? Ohhh......... well if you don't, you can see a selection from the video bar to the right. Incidentally, apart from the living off the land aspect of the series, the relationship between the snobby Margot and Gerry her husband, and the down to earth, but still middle class Tom and Barbara, paints such a contrasting picture of middle class English life, whereas here in Bulgaria there is no middle class, even though one is much needed to generate the economy. Anyway more about that next time.
There is a patch of Lavender plants running along the side of the house, in about the second sunniest place of the garden. At the height of the summer heat, when they were most aromatic and when we were most intoxicated by their scent, we gathered and then dried the stalks up on the third floor on the stair rail. Later they would be put into bags to perfume the cupboards and other enclosed spaces.

There are also many other benefits from lavender which can alleviate these conditions :-

Relieving anxiety and tension especially through massage
Aiding sleep
Natural chemical free alternative to perfume
Pain Relief
Muscular aches and pains
Headaches and Migraines
Menstrual Cramps
Burns
Acne/Dry skin/Sunburned Lips
Insect Bites
Dandruff.


Divisil (Lovage) and Mursalski Chai (Mountain tea)

Drying the Lovage

By the other wall there was a clump of Lovage. There is a Bulgarian dish called Bop. I like that name. Bop is a bean casserole, and cooked with lovage is delicious. 

But the star of our garden herbs has to be a visitor from the Rhodope and Pirin Mountain. Although it was only a small plant, we made use of it by drying and making it into tea. I don't know how the herb arrived. Its harvesting is actually protected by law here. But it is endemic in Bulgaria and the Balkans and drunk all over Europe. Its natural habitat is above 1000 metres. Here we live at about 750 metres. It has various names such as Shepherd's tea, Olympus tea (in Greece) and Ironwort. In Germany it is known as Bergtea. 
Once again it has many curative properties:-

Reputedly protects against prostate cancer
Bronchitis and Viral Infections
Promotes elasticity of the skin
Anti aging 
Protects against the formation of free radicals
Anti oxidant.
It is known as the Bulgarian Natural Viagra.

Mursalski

More Fruitfulness

As well as the planting of our vegetables ( ok the tomato is a fruit), there was a natural supply of berries which were already situated in the garden. I assume that they were planted by the previous owners, unless the bushes were there before that and they built the wall around them, which I find unlikely, but you never know. Anyway we had a crop of red currants, black currants and on the other side the fashionable Aronia berries, the now much published wonder food. Aronia, being native of North America, is known as Chokeberry. Not a very confidence boosting name I am sure you will agree but nevertheless

Black currants

we had a reasonable supply which we made into juice. It did taste very nice. Apparently Aronias are a very good anti -oxidant and reducer of blood pressure plus at least half a dozen other benefits. I found this list on the web :-

1) The aronia berry is a great source of antioxidants

2) The aronia berry fights against heart disease and other cardiovascular problems

3) The aronia berry helps prevent blood pressure from becoming too high

4) The aronia berry promotes a healthy urinary tract

5) The aronia berry has anti-inflammatory properties

6) The aronia berry fights bacteria and viruses, such as colds and the flu

7) The aronia berry strengthens memory

8) The aronia berry helps in digestion

9) The aronia berry helps the body produce good cholesterol

10) The aronia berry provides the body with essential oils

So there you go !.

Below I am drinking Aronia juice with breakfast. No, it is really not wine !

Fruitfulness

One of the activities I particularly wanted to get on with as soon as possible was planting vegetables. Being June when we moved in it was well into the growing season. The gardens around were already brimming with produce and we hadn't even started, but within a week or so we bought tomatoes, aubergines, leeks, peppers, onions, and courgettes. 
I cleared a patch of grass just beside the house where the early morning sun would shine and remain for most of the day. We planted most of the tomatoes there and the aubergines, with a great deal of hope rather than surety that we would be successful. The remaining tomatoes, along with the peppers we put in the sunniest place by the garage, where it got particularly hot from mid morning. Because we had to make do with the space we had, we also put the leeks and onions there. The zucchini went up by the wall on the other side of the house where there is more shade and where they would hold the watering longer....and we waited..... no we did not stand there day and night...just watered and kept an anticipating eye on our first agricultural venture.
I must say that although Bulgaria has very fertile soil, I was not sure about the quality in our garden and it was a case of ...well we've planted now let's see what happens.
One pleasure of mine in England was making hanging baskets. I brought some with me and we filled two of them with flowers and hung them on the front porch. This caused quite an interest as most people who visited had not seen hanging baskets before.
We were happy and surprised that within two weeks the tomatoes, aubergines and peppers were thriving. It was a bit dry for the onions as the soil was stony. The leeks were fine though and the zucchini were settling into a green display but with few flowers.

Tomatoes and Aubergines

Peppers

It was not long before we noticed a difference in the zucchini. Two of them turned out to be cucumbers and frankly they were the most successful. Finally we only got two zucchini and several cucumbers...ah well. 
All the watering was achieved by connecting a water pump to a series of hosepipes and then immersing it into the stream that flows across from our house. Another new experience ! The tap water here is metered and also rationed during the hot dry months so the proximity of this water source is really welcome. Incidentally the sticks supporting the tomatoes and aubergines I found as branches at the side of the street. In the UK I would have bought canes but here there is another mentality which I have gradually acquired, as I said.
As the season passed our peppers numbered around one hundred. We had about three hundred tomatoes and fifteen or so aubergines. These were the most successful. As well as eating them immediately in salads---and they were so fresh and delicious, they would be used later in the year to make a variety of Bulgarian preserves which I will describe later.

Unbridled joy at our first tomato

Our Chili Peppers of varying heat

Tomatoes, Aubergines and a Cucumber