All About Herbs

31/03/2026

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.
Herbs and Flowers
Flowers in all parts of the garden will attract beneficial predators, such as hoverflies, and thus avoid the need for harmful pesticide sprays. The poached-egg flower, Limnanthes douglasii will provide an early feast. The sooner you fill your garden with the pest-eaters, the sooner you'll get the pests under control, there are lots of annuals you can sow now including borage, Californian poppy, bronze fennel, and poached egg plant. The latter is useful sown around fruit bushes to attract aphid-eating predators. You can still sow lobelia, snapdragons, chrisanthemum, sweet peas, asters, Ageratum, Coreopsis, Brachycome, Celosia, and geraniums in a heated propagator. Hard-prune roses and clear away lingering dead leaves to clear away remaining black-spot spores and, give established roses, herbaceous plants, climbers and bulbs a spring feed with garden compost. If you only have farm manure, make sure it’s well-composted, use at half the rate of garden compost, and keep away from plant stems. Fork in lightly, or just leave on the soil surface and let soil creatures take it down. You can still prune overwintered fuchsias back to one or two buds on each shoot, as well as winter flowering jasmine after it finishes flowering, cut back the previous year's growth to 5cm from the old wood. Deadhead daffodils as the flowers finish off but leave the foliage die back naturally, you need to deadhead hydrangers of any flowers that have been left on before the new growth starts. Trim winter flowering heathers as the flowers start to fade to avoid the plants becoming leggy. Repot any houseplants that require it before they start the active growth phase. Sow Cleome on a windowsill indoors as early as possible, it needs a variable temperature to germinate and this will make sure it gets the drop in temperature at night.

27/03/2026

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 Vegetable
Without bees there would be no fruit, so it pays to make your organic garden bee-friendly, in sunny spots, sow clumps of bee-attractant flowering plants. There are lots of annuals you can sow now including borage, Californian poppy, bronze fennel, and poached egg plant. The latter is useful sown around fruit bushes to attract aphid-eating predators. They will control currant aphids, the cause of red currant blister leaf damage. Use this month to pre-warm soils with a cloche or sheet of plastic for a week or two before sowing or planting. 'Top dress' overwintered crops, such as autumn-planted onions and cabbage, with some rich garden compost, or well-rotted manure, this will give them a boost for spring growth. Don't forget to plan a crop rotation for your fruit and veg. This helps prevent disease and makes best use of the soil's nutrition. If you have had rye growing as a green manure over winter, it is important not to follow it with a direct-sown, small-seeded crop, such as carrots or parsnips. The decomposing rye foliage can temporarily inhibit germination. Wait 2 or 3 weeks after digging the rye in, then sow. Dig up any potato plants from tubers left in the ground from last year, they could be carrying the potato blight fungus. They can be composted but smash them well first. Bury stems and stumps of overwintered brassicas in the compost heap as soon as they have finished cropping. This will help reduce the population of mealy aphids and whitefly which otherwise would simply move on to your spring planted crops. As the soil warms up, apply mulches around/under established trees and fruit bushes. First remove existing w**ds, then hoe carefully (avoiding roots) to expose pests to birds. (This is particularly useful to get rid of the gooseberry sawfly cocoons. Sawfly will eat and eventually defoliate the bushes.) Wait a few days, then mulch with well-rotted manure, garden compost or straw and hay (up to 10cm deep). Move plants out from a greenhouse to a cold frame to harden them up before planting out.

22/03/2026

The Tomato Fortress: A Complete System

This isn't companion planting by guesswork. Every plant in this bed has a job — pest confusion, pollination, soil improvement, or trap cropping. Nine companions, zero passengers.

BASIL — Plant within 12 inches of tomato stems. The aromatic oils confuse whiteflies and hornworm moths. They navigate by scent, and basil scrambles the signal.

FRENCH MARIGOLD — Edges and corners. Ladybugs use them as landing pads. Below ground, root compounds called alpha-terthienyl suppress root-knot nematodes for the full season.

BORAGE — One plant per bed is enough. Blue star flowers attract bumblebees that buzz-pollinate tomato flowers. Tomatoes self-pollinate, but buzz pollination increases fruit set by 20-30%.

NASTURTIUM — Outer edge, trailing. Aphids prefer nasturtium leaves over tomato leaves every time. It's a sacrifice plant — let the aphids have it while your tomatoes stay clean.

CHIVES — Border the perimeter. Sulfur compounds in the foliage create a scent barrier that deters aphids, spider mites, and Japanese beetles.

GARLIC — Between tomato plants. Masks the scent tomato hornworm moths use to find egg-laying sites. They fly right past.

PARSLEY — Fill the gaps. Let some bolt to flower. The tiny flat umbel flowers attract parasitic wasps — the ones that lay eggs inside hornworm caterpillars.

CARROTS — Between root zones. Their deep taproots break compacted subsoil, improving water pe*******on for neighboring tomato roots.

SWEET ALYSSUM — Ground cover everywhere else. Living mulch that attracts hoverflies. Their larvae eat hundreds of aphids each. Covers bare soil, suppresses w**ds, feeds beneficials.

Straw mulch in remaining gaps. No bare soil anywhere. The bed is full, intentional, and self-defending.

22/03/2026

Just finishing up the talk notes for my hat fever talk at 3pm today at the Wellness fayre in Bradford.

21/03/2026

I have arrived!! And set up. The venue is at Bradford football stadium and open until 5pm both Saturday and Sunday

20/03/2026

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, Lawns and Soil
Move deciduous trees or shrubs. Now is the time to do this task, provided the soil isn’t frozen or waterlogged. Cut out any branches showing signs of coral spot and clear away dead plant tissue where this disease can take hold. Dieback appearing on woody plants after the cold season should also be cut out, down to healthy growth. Good soil structure is the key to growing healthy vigorous plants. If your soil is still wet from winter rains, avoid walking or standing on it until it's had a chance to dry out, use planks to spread your weight. Spread compost, well-rotted manure or other soil- improvers. Organic material in the soil will stimulate the billions of micro-organisms that maintain health and fertility. Feed your organic lawn if it grew poorly last year, alternatively, scatter sieved garden compost over the lawn, and brush or rake in. If you know you have a patch which won't be cultivated until later in the summer, sow a green manure to benefit the soil. Fenugreek or Phacelia tanacetifolia will germinate this month. The former gives the soil a quick fertility boost, the latter will provide beautiful blue flowers loved by pollinators. A patch of unmown long grass adds to the bio-diversity in your organic garden. Butterflies, for instance, like to lay eggs in flowering grasses. Feed any hedges with a garden compost, or well-rotted manure mulch. March is also a good month to empty out any ready compost. Store in bags ready for use around the garden where needed. If you have a worm bin, it can be put outside at the end of the month. Whatever you plant this month, tree, shrub, or perennial, don’t over-feed. A couple of handfuls of garden compost in the planting hole is enough, plus a light mulch around the newly planted. Recut any lawn edges if necessary and install lawn edgings now to make maintenance easier. You can also start prepping the soil for a new lawn if you are starting one from seed or lay new turf, if the ground isn't waterlogged or frozen. Building a compost bin if you don't have one is a good idea now, before the growing season gets underway. Checking your compost bin to see if there is any to use, if so bringing it in bags to the greenhouse to warm up slightly before applying can be helpful.

18/03/2026

Nearly here!! I am looking forward to this so much.
https://www.wellbeingfayre.com/bradford-fayre-2026

17/03/2026

Now this is really interesting

The w**ds in your garden beds aren't random. Every species thriving right now is a soil report you didn't ask for.

Pull them if you want. But read them first.

Broadleaf plantain dominates compacted ground where pore space has collapsed. If it's taking over a bed, the soil needs structural loosening before you plant anything else. White clover fixes its own nitrogen, which means it outcompetes everything else only when soil nitrogen is already low — its density maps your deficiency.

Dandelion taproots fracture compacted subsoil and mine calcium from depth. A bed full of dandelions is flagging both compaction and mineral depletion at once. Horsetail appears almost exclusively in waterlogged acidic ground with poor drainage — one of the most specific soil diagnoses any w**d can give.

Lamb's quarters thrive in fertile biologically active soil with high organic matter. They're a competitive nuisance but actually a good sign — your soil biology is working. Chickw**d does the same in cool moist conditions. Wood sorrel signals acidic soil below about six pH, especially in beds that have been heavily cropped without amendment.

Curly dock is deep-rooted and shows up in wet compacted acidic soil — when dock dominates, the bed usually has multiple overlapping problems. Purslane appears in dry recently disturbed soil with decent fertility but poor water retention.

🌱 What to do with the report:

- Plantain and dandelion dominant — the bed needs loosening. A broadfork session before planting opens the structure without destroying soil biology
- Clover dominant — add compost or a nitrogen-rich amendment like composted manure before planting. The clover is compensating for what the soil lacks
- Horsetail — improve drainage before anything else. Raised beds or heavy compost incorporation lifts the planting zone above the waterlogged layer
- Wood sorrel or dock — test pH and add lime if it's below six. These two are the clearest acid indicators in most gardens
- Lamb's quarters and chickw**d — your soil is already fertile. Pull them and plant directly. No amendment needed

The w**ds aren't the problem. They're the report. Read them once and every bed tells you what it needs before you spend a cent 🌿

17/03/2026

Getting ready for the stall at the health and wellbeing fayre in Bradford this weekend. First one of the year and you soon forget exactly how much prep work there is....

16/03/2026

Look, I have a helper.......

15/03/2026

I've cut and pasted this from What Doctors Dont Tell You. Apparently the American College of Cardiology have decided its not cholesterol that causes CVD, its inflammation.
At last they've caught up with us. Apparently over half of women presenting with myocardial infarction have no associated narrowing of arteries and the same for 30% of men.
Stop the statins, exercise and reduce sugar (looks at waistline)
https://www.acc.org/.../new-acc-scientific-statement....
_____________________
It’s inflammation, stupid
One of America’s leading heart groups made such a momentous statement recently that, quite naturally, the world’s media has utterly ignored it.
The American College of Cardiology (ACC), which influences heart disease therapy, has pronounced that cardiovascular disease (CVD) has less to do with ‘bad’ cholesterol, and more to do with inflammation.
The announcement—sent out to American cardiologists—implies that the ‘blocked pipe’ theory of CVD that launched the multi-billion-dollar statins and low-fats industries has been going down a false trail.
The theory, which has dominated heart therapy since around 1950, is based on the observation that a heart attack happens when the heart is starved of oxygen because LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol has closed the artery and stopped the flow of blood.
But why does LDL collect around arteries in the first place? According to the theory, it’s because we are eating too many fats, an idea promoted by American physiologist Ancel Keys in the 1980s. Replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats—found in fish, nuts, seeds, and plant oils—and we’d see a decline in heart disease.
It didn’t make any difference, and nor did the introduction of cholesterol-lowering statins, the world’s most prescribed family of drugs. Heart disease was, and is today, still the biggest killer—and it’s the biggest killer of women, too, despite the focus on breast cancer.
So, what did we get wrong (aside from everything)? There’s a major clue when we look at heart attacks in women: nearly half have clear and healthy arteries. The same is true for a smaller proportion of men: 30 percent of them don’t have blocked arteries.
Cardiologists have known about this for years and they even have a name for these cases: MINOCAs (Myocardial Infarction with Non-Obstructive Coronary Arteries).
Not that they tell the patient. Cardiologists and health agencies still promote statins and a low-fat diet when the reality is that blocked arteries are a downstream response to inflammation. Inflammation—brought on by stress, a high-sugar diet and insulin insensitivity, amongst others—damages arteries and the endothelium, the small cells that line arteries, and LDL cholesterol is the repair agent that tries to heal the wounds.
The greater the inflammation, the greater the damage to the arteries, the greater the accumulation of LDL around the artery wall.
In its statement, the ACC states: “There is now compelling evidence of adverse CVD (cardiovascular disease) outcomes in the setting of elevated markers of inflammation and that targeting inflammation significantly reduces recurrent CVD events.” So, stop pushing the pills and instead promote anti-inflammatory lifestyle strategies.
Will this stop the wholesale prescribing of statins—recommended to everyone over the age of 50—in its tracks? Of course not, even though the drugs cause a range of side effects, from muscle weakness, kidney failure and, ultimately, death.
There’s far too much money tied up in statins, and as we all know, profits precede health for Big Pharma

13/03/2026

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
Put supports in. If any of your garden plants need supporting this year, put them in now, so plants can grow up through them. Adding supports afterwards is trickier and often looks unattractive. Resurface paths before plants start to grow and smother them. Aphids of all sorts will be on the increase this month. Before summer predators such as ladybirds and wasps are ready to eat them, use hand picking/squishing to control an infestation build-up, rather than resort to toxic sprays, insects to encourage are ladybirds (will eat aphids), beetles (will eat slugs) and wasps, which will devour hundreds of grubs and flies in the course of a summer. A healthy garden is filled with a huge range of wildlife, ugly and beautiful, a balance that keeps the garden flourishing. Make sure your greenhouse is clean and washed down and hang sticky traps to catch flying pests such as whitefly and sciarid fly. Temperatures are too still too low for biological control, so traps will keep pest levels down until predators can be introduced. Carefully remove any decaying plant debris from ponds, frogs will arrive soon to breed. Make sure they have plants nearby to shelter in.