All About Herbs

20/02/2026

Gardening Post - With the usual disclaimer as follows:
I am in no way a professional gardener and the list below isn't exhaustive, it just covers a few things that can be done to various parts of the garden within that particular month. Enjoy anyway, and I hope it encourages you to get out and play in your space; whatever that space might actually consist of.
Fruit and Vegetables
Mulch perennial vegetables such as asparagus and artichokes with well-rotted manure or garden compost. You can start chitting early potatoes, stand them on their ends in either a module tray or an egg box in a bright, cool, frost free place. Cover outdoor strawberries with cloches to promote an earlier crop. Remove old mulches (compost them) to get rid of overwintering pest-pupae. Then hoe around the base of fruit trees and bushes to expose overwintering insects to hungry birds, then top dress fruit bushes and trees with mulch or compost, avoiding direct contact with the trunks. Keep an eye on any stored fruit and throw away any showing signs of rot or disease. February is the last month to cut back autumn fruiting raspberry canes to the ground, the summer fruiting raspberry canes cut back to the top of their supports, cut just above a bud. Protect early fruit blossom from overnight frost. Use hessian, double-thickness netting or fleece to drape small trees and wall-trained fruit. Remember that even early flowering blackcurrants, such as Ben Gairn, can suffer frost damage which will reduce the crop. Check that newly planted fruit bushes and trees have not been lifted by frost, exposing roots. Re-firm them after the ground has thawed.
The earliest vegetable crops such as parsnips and broad beans can be sown outside this month but only if the soil is warm enough, garlic and shallots can be planted out but only in light soil, heavy soils need longer to warm up. Sow asparagus pea seeds under cover along with aubergine, slow growing celeriac, leeks, bolt resistant celery, early carrots, beetroot and chicory for planting out in late spring, Early peas, radish and spring onions can all be sown under cloches this month.

15/02/2026

I absolutely adore calendula. Very multi-purpose.

🌼 Calendula: The Soil-Healing Healer 🌼

Don’t let her bright blooms fool you — Calendula is more than a pretty face. This humble flower is a regenerative workhorse in the garden.

💚 Soil-Friendly:
Her roots feed the microbes that build soil health — fungi, bacteria, the whole crew. She thrives in no-dig beds and compost-rich soil.

🐞 Natural Pest Patrol:
Calendula brings in the good bugs — ladybirds, hoverflies, parasitic wasps — and draws pests away from your leafy greens. That’s biological pest control done right.

🐝 Pollinator Magnet:
Bees love her resin-rich pollen. More bees = better fruit for tomatoes, cukes, and everything that needs a pollination boost.

🌱 Easy to Grow:
Sow in early spring or late summer. She self-seeds like a champ and doesn’t fuss about soil. Just give her sun, compost, and love.

🌿 Medicinal Marvel:
Used for centuries to soothe skin, heal wounds, and calm the gut. Dry the petals for tea or infuse them in oil for healing balms.

✨ Regen Tip:
Add Calendula petals to your compost tea — it’s not just for people, the soil loves it too.

You can plant Calendula to support soil biology, nourish pollinators, and heal people — all from one plant.

Soil first. Always. 🌱

📖 Want to go deeper? Grab Craig’s book Soil is Not a Dirty Word and learn how to grow nutrient-dense food from the ground up. Https://craigcastree.com.au

🪴 Start small. Let Calendula show you what’s possible.

15/02/2026

Now this looks good

I made a hugelkultur bed at my allotment, find out why and how to make your own

15/02/2026

If you have the environment...

Here's something that blew my mind: a single dragonfly eats up to 100 mosquitoes per day, and you can recruit an entire army of them just by planting the right flowers. Forget the toxic sprays and expensive bug zappers – these 12 plants turn your garden into a mosquito-free zone naturally. The best part? Dragonfly babies hunt underwater mosquito larvae while the adults patrol above, giving you round-the-clock protection. [xdzFT]

15/02/2026

Important to know

A lot of folks mix up Queen Anne’s lace (wild carrot) with poison hemlock because the leaves and flowers can look “close enough” at a quick glance. I treat this one like a “stop and double-check” plant.

How I tell them apart (without handling more than necessary):

Stem

Poison hemlock: smooth, often hollow, and usually has purple blotches/streaks

Queen Anne’s lace: more likely hairy/fuzzy and green (no big purple splotches)

Height + vibe

Poison hemlock: can get tall (often towering over nearby plants) and looks more “umbrella-on-a-pole”

Queen Anne’s lace: usually shorter and looks like a delicate roadside wildflower

Flower head

Queen Anne’s lace: often has a tighter, “lacy” look and may have a tiny darker floret in the center (not always)

Poison hemlock: flower clusters can look looser and more “open”

Where it’s growing

Poison hemlock: loves ditches, creek edges, damp low spots, roadsides

Queen Anne’s lace: common in fields, dry roadsides, open sunny areas

Root

Queen Anne’s lace is “wild carrot” for a reason, but please don’t taste-test anything to confirm. Just use the stem/hairs/purple blotches + location combo first.

If you suspect poison hemlock:

Keep kids/pets away and don’t let it go to seed

Avoid w**d-whacking it (spray + debris is a bad combo)

If you remove it: long sleeves, gloves, eye protection, bag it, and trash it (don’t compost)

When in doubt, snap a few clear photos and ask your local extension office/master gardeners for confirmation

If you’ve got lacy white “umbrella flowers” popping up near your place, have you seen purple-blotched stems anywhere this season?

15/02/2026

These are the seeds I planted in January. I am very pleased these have sprouted. They are aubergine, little gem lettuce, broccoli and Savoy cabbage.
Hopefully I will be competent enough that they produce. (When I start my gardening posts with 'I am not a professional gardener ' I am not kidding!)

13/02/2026

Gardening Post - With the usual disclaimer as follows:
I am in no way a professional gardener and the list below isn't exhaustive, it just covers a few things that can be done to various parts of the garden within that particular month. Enjoy anyway, and I hope it encourages you to get out and play in your space; whatever that space might actually consist of.
Trees, Lawn and Soil
Your soil is the beating heart of your organic garden. Make sure it is in tip top condition for the season ahead. Bare soil needs to be covered at all times to protect its structure and its micro-organisms. Mulch with leaves or homemade compost until plants start to grow again. Keep off wet soils to avoid compaction. Use long boards as walkways, to spread your weight. Adding grit to heavy clay soils will help with drainage and improve growing conditions for many plants. Herbs in particular need good drainage. Give your compost heap a 'spring turn' this month. Turning will aerate and stimulate the heap. If it's too dry, continue adding wet kitchen waste, and water it occasionally. If too wet, add more carbon-rich stuff such as twigs, scrumpled cardboard and paper waste, to open up and aerate the heap. Move any deciduous trees or shrubs that need repositioning now as long as the soil is not frozen or waterlogged. Cut back shrubs such as cornus and salix cultivars down to their bases. Winter flowering shrubs such as mahonia and vibernum once their colourful display has ended. Rake lime into acid soils if required and prep your veg seed beds by w**ding them and covering with plenty of compost. Cover the prepared soil to keep it drier and warmer for earlier spring planting. Cut back vines such as Ivy, Virginia creeper and Boston ivy which will keep windows and guttering and roofs clear. Shred or chop any woody cuttings before adding them to the compost. Buy new potting compost (peat free and organic) for this year’s sowing and growing. Last year’s product shouldn’t be used as it deteriorates over winter. Spread the old stuff over the garden, or use it as top dressing on the lawn. Prepare a ‘compost trench’ using the old stems from Brussels sprouts, kale and other tough brassicas once cropping finishes. The trench should be about a spade’s depth, and positioned where runner beans, or other peas and beans will grow next year. Lay the stems along the bottom of the trench, and then roughly chop them up with a sharp spade. Other uncooked vegetable scraps can also be added. As the veg waste reaches the top of the trench, cover over with soil. Plant or pot hardwood cuttings taken last year and winter flowering shrubs can be planted now, bare root stock is best.

08/02/2026

Gardening Post - With the usual disclaimer as follows:
I am in no way a professional gardener and the list below isn't exhaustive, it just covers a few things that can be done to various parts of the garden within that particular month. Enjoy anyway, and I hope it encourages you to get out and play in your space; whatever that space might actually consist of.
General Maintenance
Entice hungry birds into your area with fat balls and other bird feeding stations. They will repay you by eating up a lot of insect pests that lurk out of our sight and reach, under buds and on stems. Birds are especially helpful in cleaning up over-wintering aphids in fruit trees and bushes. Organise this year’s seeds by sowing date. Get hold of a box with dividers, and file your seed packets by the month they need to be sown in. You’ll be so glad of this effort in the weeks to come. Check your tools are sound and your garden machinery is working. Give your tools and equipment the once over and apply a little TLC to anything that needs it. Build raised beds now if you have plans for them in your garden, very good with clay soils and it will give you an earlier start. Clean pots and trays thoroughly before starting to sow new seeds. Pests and diseases can overwinter in old potting compost, surviving to damage newly emerging seedlings. Scrub well in hot soapy water.

02/02/2026

Parenting 😅

02/02/2026

30/01/2026

Gardening Post - With the usual disclaimer as follows:
I am in no way a professional gardener and the list below isn't exhaustive, it just covers a few things that can be done to various parts of the garden within that particular month. Enjoy anyway, and I hope it encourages you to get out and play in your space; whatever that space might actually consist of.
Trees, Lawn and Soil
Protect bare soil during the winter months. Use autumn leaves as a mulch (cover) during winter weather. If necessary, cover with fleece to prevent wind blowing everything away. Continue to collect fallen autumn leaves to make leafmould. Pile them in large bin bags or heaps, keeping them damp, or, make comfrey leafmould. Cut 2/3rds of the plant's leaves (leaving the remainder to die down and feed back into the comfrey plant) and fill a container (such as a dustbin) in alternating layers of leafmould and chopped comfrey leaves. This will take up to 18 months to rot down, but it is an excellent medium for seed planting. Don't stop w**ding, hoe off/pull out any annual w**ds and dig out perennial ones that are revealed. Compost green foliage, but not seed heads nor perennial w**d roots. Add enough dry waste to your compost to balance the large amounts of wet waste coming out of the kitchen just now. Scrumpled up Christmas card envelopes and bits of cardboard are very useful to provide the carbon element needed, aerate your compost heap by turning it. Shred your Christmas tree and add to the compost, or the stripped down branches make good pea sticks. Look for bay tree leaf edges thickened and curled over. The sucker nymphs live there under a white woolly wax. Remove all affected leaves and clear away any leaf litter at the base of trees where adults will over-winter. Don’t throw leaves in the compost heap, put all material into the green waste bin.

27/01/2026

I certainly didn't think that one of my learning goals this year would be 'how to cut chain mail open to facilitate resuscitation'
Amazing what life throws at you isn't it?