A Wee Pinch of Sugar

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Mint – The Essential Summer Herb in the Garden

August 25, 2020 By Rachel Leave a Comment

Mint is one of my most used summer herbs.

Summer might be on the way out but mint and lots of other herbs are still growing reasonably well in my garden.

MintNot that I don’t use it all year round but the fresh and sharp flavour makes it ideal to serve with drinks, cocktails, salads, fruit, desserts and teas. I really couldn’t imagine not having mint in the garden. For me it’s such an essential herb and I thought I’d share a few pics of how I’ve been using the various mints this year.

Growing Mint

Mint

Spearmint and Pineapple Mint

There are many different types of mint that will work well with food of course not forgetting the medicinal uses. I like to have a few varieties growing, all in pots and containers in my herb garden for easy access. As you can see above there’s lots of Spearmint, better known as garden or common mint and pineapple mint .

When we moved into our west of Scotland house 29 years ago parts of the garden were awash with garden mint and it took years to bring it under control and clear it from the beds. These days I grow in containers to restrain the plant as it’s such an invader in the garden. However, I must admit that if I had a suitable area I would grow Mint in the ground as in my experience the plants grow much stronger and last longer than in containers. And, for a great mint harvest every year, I find the bigger the container the bigger and better the harvest. When I’ve planted in smaller containers the vigorous growth means the plants have quickly become pot bound with the quality of the growth and leaves less healthy.

The other varieties I’m growing include, Moroccan mint, lavender mint, Indian mint, ginger mint, berries and cream mint, lime mint and chocolate mint.

Chocolate mint is excellent for using in baking or desserts, especially chocolate mousse. It’s easy to identify with unmistakeable subtle chocolate aroma and the brownish tinge running through the leaves. When I’m working around the garden I often chew on a few leaves for a wee chocolate hit.

Chocolate Mint

Garden mint and Moroccan mint are my 2 favourites for tea and are indispensable for many gut issues. A cup of mint tea after a meal is a great digestive aid and can also help ease upset stomachs and wind.

Mint

Mint makes a lovely addition to summer drinks and cocktails and I like to use lime mint in gin. The leaves can also be individually frozen in ice cubes for adding directly to drinks.

Lime Mint

A handful of herbs lift the flavour of a salad and mint adds a fresh and tasty zing.  I like to use it in salads with fruit and cheese, especially Halloumi and feta.

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Mint

This Berries and Cream mint is a new addition to my collection and as you would expect with a name like that this one is ideal for pairing with ice cream and other desserts or cakes.

Mint

Specialist herb nurseries are usually my first stop for new plants but mint is easy to propagate from runners or cuttings. And, it’s the cheapest way to get new plants. I found most small herb plants costing around £3 – £4 this year. Some of my younger new plants are now past their best in terms of growth for this year and I’ve started to prune some back. Most are sending out runners but the best time for rooting these or taking cuttings is in spring as new rhizomes and growth appears. Check out You tube for examples of how to do this.

Mint

Mint usually dies back around October and sadly this year with lockdown and the demands of family life, I just wasn’t organised enough to dry the best of the new growth in spring and early summer but I’m hoping to dry some bunches of leaves before the good weather leaves for another year.  It’s very easy to dry and I usually either hang the bunch to dry or use a dehydrator.

Fingers crossed for a few more sunny days.

Filed Under: Gardening, Gardening, Gardening, Lifestyle, Seasonal Tagged With: Herbs

In The Herb Garden – The Calendula Project

August 9, 2020 By Rachel Leave a Comment

The Calendula Project as its been called, is a wee lockdown hobby I’ve been enjoying in my herb garden. It’s a flower I’ve always grown in the garden as it’s such a good companion plant for the herbs, salads and vegetables I grow. Calendula Officinalis is also an invaluable herb in its own right.

The Calendula ProjectCalendula is renowned for excellent skin care properties and these include being anti inflammatory, anti fungal and anti bacterial. There are many good calendula oil and cream products available commercially and for me it’s an essential part of skin care and a staple for skin first aid.  Complementary therapies have played a huge part in our family life and in the 80s and 90s when I was at home with my boys, I trained in Aromatherapy. Using essential oils, carrier oils and herbs sits perfectly with my ‘look after your health rather than your illness’ and ‘let food be thy medicine’ approach to life. And, it feels good to be actually producing my own therapeutic oil.

Calendula

Calendula

Apart from the therapeutic qualities, Calendula or Calendula Officinalis to use the botanical name, makes a welcome and colourful addition to summer food when the flowers are in plentiful supply and I regularly add to salads.  The tangy flavour of the petals makes a good substitute for saffron in paella, bringing the bright yellow colour to the rice. The petals make a good food dye for colouring foods such as dairy produce, omelettes and use the fresh flowers to decorate celebration cakes.

I’m drying the flower heads and macerating in almond oil to make calendula oil. Maceration if you’re not familiar with it, involves steeping the petals in oil and leaving on a sunny windowsill for a few weeks until the volatile oil from the calendula is extracted.  The finished oil will contain the healing and therapeutic qualities of Calendula. The infused oil can be used as a skin care product or mixed with other ingredients to make a range of skin products such as creams, salves and lip balms.

This is the first time I’ve dried calendula and although it’s not rocket science, admittedly it’s been a bit of a learning curve. I started off using an electric dehydrator and despite the machine running for an incredibly long time it didn’t dry the flowers well enough. A more efficient way has been to spread the flowers out on the dehydrator trays to dry naturally.

The Calendula Project

The pop up hanging drier I bought looked much smaller in the picture and in the bag when it arrived. However, when it popped up I discovered each section is almost the size of a tv satellite dish. Just so impractical for using in the house. It’s now hanging in my shed and doing a great job of drying the flower heads.

The Calendula Project

Theres been no shortage of flowers for picking and it’s true that the more you pick the more flowers the plants will produce. The flowers are best picked in the morning and before midday as the hot sun will evaporate the plants volatile oils. This is much the same for any edible flowers and herbs as you really want to get the very best qualities, when using therapeutically or in food.

The Calendula Project

The Calendula Project

The first jar of petals is currently macerating in sweet almond oil and It will take 2-4 weeks for the oil to be ready. The next stage will be strain the the oil to remove the flowers for bottling. This jar will yield around 1 pint and should keep for a a year.

The Calendula Project

For the next jar of oil, the plan is to macerate the whole flower head as a comparison. I planted around 40 organic calendula plants and I’m finding that there’s no shortage of flowers for drying. With this quantity I can also leave plenty growing on for the bees and other pollinators that frequent the garden.The jar is filling up nicely with the dried heads and hopefully in a day or 2 there will be enough to add the oil for macerating.

The Calendula Project

Check in with me in a few weeks time to find out how I got on with my first jar.

Filed Under: Gardening, Gardening, Gardening, Lifestyle

Herbs and Summer Gardening

September 25, 2019 By Rachel Leave a Comment

Herbs and Summer Gardening

 

Summer is just about over and as we move towards autumn, it seems a good time to look back at the past few months in the garden. This year has been challenging  and probably my worst gardening year due to a problem with chronic pain and fatigue. I’ve had to adapt the way I garden and rely on lots of help, and, if you’ll excuse the pun, it’s has been a real pain. There’s been so many tasks I’ve been unable to do and that has led to an incredibly high level of frustration.

Not being one for giving up I’ve been focusing on what I was able to do rather than beating myself up about what I can’t do. There’s a wealth of evidence and research about the health benefits of gardening and from my own experience I can whole heartedly say it’s true.

Keeping a photo diary is always helpful, particularly with spring and summer plants as it’s easy to forget what’s there when the foliage dies back in winter. I’ve been taking lots of pics as a reminder and here’s a look at some of the good stuff from over the summer. This post is mainly about the herbs I’ve been growing and this area is a real favourite in the garden.

Herbs are amongst my favourite plants and have a place in every garden even if they’re just grown in containers or indoors for use in the kitchen.

Summer garden

To help with attracting more wildlife I’ve decided to have several small ponds in containers and the first one is in the herb beds. There’s a need for more plants and that’s on the never ending list of ‘things to do’.

Wildlife pond

The herb beds have grown well and next year I’m planning to have this area planted up solely with aromatic plants to create an area for relaxation.

Herb Garden

This bed is planted up with varieties of sage, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, savoury, lovage, fennel and I’ve planted new lavender plants as a small hedge along the top border. There’s also lady’s Mantle which grows abundantly in the garden and self seeds at every opportunity – the small leaves can be used in salads. The pink flowers in the image below is echinacea – a great medicinal herb.

Herb garden

Calendula

Calendula is one of my favourite edible flowers to have in the garden and as you can see it’s been a popular addition to summer salads with the cut and come again lettuce I’ve been growing. Next year I plan to have lots more calendula which I will try and macerate to make calendula oil.

Edible Flowers

Edible flowers

This bed is planted with bee friendly borage and has been alive with bees for months. The blue flowers are so gorgeous and look lovely floating in summer drinks or frozen in ice cubes.

The nasturtiums  in the hanging basket are also bee friendly and the flowers and leaves have both made their way into our salads.

Herb garden

 

Mint

Mint is a herb used regularly in my kitchen and I have several varieties growing in containers around the garden – being such an invasive herb that’s the best way to grow. It’s such a refreshing herb and my current collection includes, Indian, Moroccan, chocolate, apple, orange and spearmint.

Herbs and Summer Gardening

Chocolate mint really smells and tastes of chocolate and is brilliant in desserts.

And finally, the utterly delicious and refreshing lemon verbena has grown well this year.

Herbs and Summer Gardening

My plan to make lemon verbena ice cream has yet to happen so watch this space. I planted 3 new plants. One in a container against a south facing wall and the other two in the herb beds. The container grown pot has been the most successful of the three and I suspect that’s because it was in a sunnier spot.

Thanks for dropping by and having a wander through my herb garden. Please share your own gardening stories from this year by leaving a comment below. I’m always looking for new herbs and suppliers so all advice will be warmly welcomed.

In the next post I’ll be taking a wander through the main area of the garden to show what we’ve achieved  this year.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Gardening, Gardening

Springtime in the Garden

April 17, 2019 By Rachel Leave a Comment

Springtime in the garden is a time of wonder, and that usually means wondering what has survived the winter and despite labelling a bit of head scratching as we try to remember where the various perennials every year

Springtime in the Wee Pinch of Sugar garden

It’s now less of a puzzle as I started photographing the garden to help keep an ongoing diary of the progress we’re making.  Although we’ve had this garden for over 30 years, its only since the boys left home that were starting to develop some of the ideas we’ve had since moving here. Its fair to say and I’m sure many gardeners with well established garden will agree, its always work in progress.

The garden is south facing and benefits from the shade of several mature trees. It’s set over three quarters of an acre and there’s a small stream runs through between the bottom of the garden and the house.

Springtime in the Wee Pinch of Sugar Garden

There’s also a separate vegetable garden where I grown soft fruit, herbs, edible flowers and some vegetables. We didn’t grown any vegetables over the winter and the reasonable spring weather has allowed to us to tidy up and get the beds ready for this years plants.

Looking back at the colourful images from last spring and summer gives me a great deal of satisfaction, but winter has been and once again the spades, forks and loppers are to hand as there’s much work to be done if we are create the same attractive pictures in the coming months.

Here’s a snap shot of the vegetable garden from last year.

The raised beds divide the garden into manageable chunks and over the years have provided a healthy load of vegetables for us. Sadly we lost the greenhouse to a winter storm and we’ve never replaced. I’m hoping this year will be as fruitful and I’ve already made a good start on that by planting cauliflowers and kale in one bed and some new herbs into the herbs into another.

Springtime in the Wee Pinch of Sugar Garden

I used to grow courgettes in the greenhouse but I find the plants prefer being outside and produce more flowers and veg.

Springtime in the Wee Pinch of Sugar garden

Edible flowers bring great colour in the summer and last year I grew lots of nasturtiums, borage and calendula. These were great to use in salads and I also used some to decorate a few celebration cakes including my son and daughter in law’s wedding cake.

Springtime in the Wee Pinch of Sugar garden

 Calendula

It’s a constant struggle keeping on top of the weeds on the paths as I don’t use weed killer. Over the next few weeks we’ll be tackling these by laying weed suppressant fabric and new gravel.

Springtime in the Wee Pinch of Sugar garden

Every kitchen garden needs a collection of herbs and I grow as many possible including my favourites, Rosemary, a variety of thymes  and sages, several different mints, parsley and fennel. Alongside the rhubarb there’s a healthy crop of sweet cicely and both of those will be put to good use this weekend.

Springtime in the Wee Pinch of Sugar garden

                                                     Sage

Springtime n the Wee Pinch of Sugar garden

Chocolate Mint

This will hopefully be the first in a series of posts about the progress we make this year. Thanks for reading and pop by soon to see how the garden is changing as the weather warms up and we move further into spring.

 

There are so many great garden blogs to read and I’m linking this post to Down By the Sea blog where you can see some other fantastic gardens.

Filed Under: Gardening

Herbs, Parsley, Sage and Rosemary

June 8, 2017 By Rachel Leave a Comment

Herbs and Gardening

In a change from my usual food and recipe posts, I’m writing about herbs and my garden this week. The garden plays a big part in what happenes in the kitchen throughout the year and particularly over the summer and autumn months.
As long as I’ve had a garden, it’s always been a case of work in progress, and I think that’s probably the case for most people if they have a sizeable garden. I’ve had this garden for 26 years and although over that time we’ve put our own stamp on it, we’ve also made lots of mistakes.

Vegetable garden

Vegetable garden

Some plants failed to thrive, others just didn’t survive and my ambitions for a Mediterranean style garden in the West of Scotland saw the demise of plants that really weren’t suited to the garden.

Gardening

Some area’s suffered from too much shade, others from bad drainage, and then there was the flock of free range chickens whose love of my herbs and salads led to the name ‘peck and come again.

Herbs

The recent spell of warm weather has been a real boost for the plants and this year the herbs have got off to a particularly good start.
Fennel

This fennel plant is well established and every year produces a healthy crop which is well used in many of the fish dishes I cook and is a delicious addition in salads. Apart from cutting back and removing the old woody stems it seems to take care of itself. Fennel is drought resistant but as you can imagine, that’s not a problem in my Scottish garden.

Sage

Sage is a herb I’m never short of and this plant will need to be cut back next spring. It started off as a small plant and has completely taken over the top of one of the beds. I tend to use sage with chicken and pork; it’s always in my Christmas sage and onion stuffing and fried leaves pair beautifully with butternut squash, particularly if it’s with ravioli and melted butter. It also dries well and leaves can be frozen. Parsley

This bed has a bit of a mixed bunch of herbs – parsley, lemon verbena, red veined sorrel and there’s a new cornflower plant peeping through in the background.  Parsley is a herb I can never have enough of and try to grow as much as possible throughout the year. It’s so versatile and makes its way into soups, sauces and casseroles, sometimes on a daily basis and always on a weekly basis. It’s great with many fish dishes and can also be found in many of my pasta dishes.

The red veined sorrel is new to the garden this year and will most likely be used in salads. The sharp tangy flavour makes it useful addition to fish dishes and sauces. I’ll report back on how I use it although if you have any ideas, please leave me your comments at the bottom of this post.

Lemon balm is a herb I’ve always grown, mainly for the aroma rather than for culinary use. The leaves have a very uplifting smell and on a summers day it’s nice to run your hands through and inhale. As it’s part of the mint family I’ve been thinking of adding it to iced water to make a refreshing drink. Perhaps it’s time to make more of an effort to use lemon balm in the kitchen as it will add a delicious lemon flavour, particularly in sweet dishes.

Rosemary

As a family of lamb lovers, one herb I’m never without is rosemary and this picture shows a small rosemary hedge I had grown along the edge of one of the beds. Unfortunately it was attacked by a pest last year and the entire hedge and the curry plant growing along side had to be dug up.  Since then, I’ve planted several plants in containers and most of them seem to flourishing this year. Rosemary and garlic are essential partners with roast lamb and I regularly chop rosemary sprigs to add to roast potatoes.

I’m not growing as many vegetables this year but have set myself a challenge to be completely self sufficient in salads.

Grow your own salads

To ensure success I’m doing this in 3 ways. I’ve been making regular sowings of mixed cut and come again salads, both indoors and outdoors and I bought a few established plants that have already been planted into the beds.

Check back next week to see how the salad project is growing.

 

Filed Under: Gardening, Lifestyle

A Bucket for a Bottle – Gordon Castle needs your apples

September 16, 2015 By Rachel Leave a Comment

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Gordon Castle needs your apples

Gordon Castle in Fochabers has kicked off a campaign to source more apples and pears to make its cider. It is offering a free bottle of the tasty, locally made Apple & Pear cider in exchange for 7kg of fruit.

Anybody with spare apples or pears from their gardens, or those with large orchards that have surplus fruit, are being encouraged to bring them to the Gordon Castle Shop over the next fortnight.

Gordon Castle Cider

Angus Gordon Lennox of Gordon Castle said: “Our cider is one of our best sellers and we need more apples and pears to keep up with the demand, which is a fortunate position to be in.

“Everything we make here at Gordon Castle Scotland is created using ingredients either from our own Walled Garden or the local area, so using locally grown fruit from across the North East in our cider means we are staying true to that provenance. The North East of Scotland is not known for its cider, perhaps we can change that.”

For those who don’t have any fruit to spare, Gordon Castle still has lots of fruit to pick and welcomes anyone who wants to come help with this fun task in its Walled Garden, home to 249 espariled fruit trees, some of which have been at the Castle for hundreds of years.

Sticking with the apple theme, the Gordon Castle Walled Garden Restaurant will be serving Roast Pork and apple along with delicious crumbles, incase anyone is hungry after all that hard work.

Gordon Castle is set on the banks of the River Spey in picturesque Moray, the Gordon Castle Estate is the spiritual home of the Gordon Clan and its Walled Garden, which, at over eight acres in size, is one of Scotland’s oldest and largest.

The Walled Garden has provided inspiration for Gordon Castle Scotland’s range of luxury products, all of which contain natural ingredients sourced from the impressive garden.

Find out more Gordon Castle www.gordoncastlescotland.com or follow on twitter @gcwalledgarden

 

 

 

Filed Under: Food News, Gardening

Herbs and Vegetables in the Wee Pinch of Sugar garden

May 29, 2015 By Rachel 2 Comments

herb bed

Growing some of my own food is always something I’ve enjoyed and although far from being self sufficient, I manage to keep the kitchen partially stocked with some of my efforts. On reflection, I’m definitely on the ‘could do better’ list, but this year, despite the current weather and winter flood damage, things are looking pretty good in the Wee Pinch of Sugar garden.

Whether this years spoils will match my previous efforts, remains to be seen but progress, albeit slow, is being made. An old injury means I’m unable to do any heavy work but I’m ably assisted by Mr G who happily acts as labourer, digging and planting when I need help. As they say, every job needs a gaffer.

This year I’m keeping a photographic record of the progress, as when winter sets in and plants die back, it’s easy to forget what it looked like during spring and summer. There’s also the added problem of the younger dog stealing the plant markers.

I’ve also embarked on planting edible plants and herbs in different parts of the garden and the long term plan is to convert as much of the garden over to this style of planting. What I now need is for temperatures to rise to allow the summer vegetables to grow and to encourage growth in the new herbs and edible plants.

Here’s a snapshot of what I have going on at present.

Some new apple tress have been added this year, including some heritage varieties.

Some new apple tress have been added this year, including some heritage varieties. The lone pear tree is having a new partner as it’s lonesome existence has prevented the production of fruit.

Rhubarb and Sweet Cicely are side by side and the rhubarb is growing magnificently.

Rhubarb and Sweet Cicely are side by side and the rhubarb is growing magnificently.

The gooseberries, blueberries & currants have lots of flowers and fruit is forming on the gooseberry bushes.

The gooseberries, blueberries & currants have lots of flowers and fruit is forming on the gooseberry bushes.

There’s also a wide selection of herbs growing and I’ve also planted some edible flowers this year. One major casualty was the rosemary hedge which was lost as a result of a fungus. New plants have been planted in a different part of the garden and I will need to add more as rosemary is a regular addition to my cooking.

The edible flowers include borage, cornflowers, marigolds and there's still a few patches of wild garlic. The white flowers make a lovely addition to salads.

The edible flowers include borage, cornflowers, marigolds and there’s still a few patches of wild garlic. The white flowers make a lovely addition to salads.

The lovage on the left has really taken off this year and the sorrel is also establishing a god plant. The angelica is new this year but is already looking healthy.

The lovage on the left has really taken off this year and the sorrel is also establishing a good plant. The angelica is new this year but is already looking healthy.

 

mints

There a four mints, some growing better than others. Spearmint, chocolate mint, Indian mint and ginger mint.You can never have enough mint and over the summer I have a plentiful supply of mint tea.

 

There's Greek Oregano and golden oregano growing and I use lots, both dried and fresh in the kitchen.

There’s Greek oregano and golden oregano growing and I use lots, both dried and fresh in the kitchen.

Thyme is one of my  favourites I have plants in pots and in the ground as I use so much of it.Alongside the common garden thyme, there's lemon thyme and caraway thyme. All great for using in the kitchen.

Thyme is one of my favourites I have plants in pots and in the ground as I use so much of it. ‘;Alongside the common garden thyme, there’s lemon thyme and caraway thyme. All great for using in the kitchen.

Sage

Sage seems to grow well in the garden and the large broad leaved sage has survived a few years although it’s starting to get a bit woody. There’s also purple sage and a new addition is the blackcurrant sage in the pot.

Over the next few weeks, the runner beans and courgettes will get planted and the salads and strawberries that are in tubs will hopefully benefit from some much needed warmer weather. It’s always very satisfying to eat what you’ve grown. Fingers crossed and who knows what the next pictures will show.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Gardening, Lifestyle

Secret Herb Garden

May 20, 2014 By Rachel Leave a Comment

Orange mint and Strawberry mint are some of the first plants to catch my eye as I walk around Edinburgh’s latest secret attraction with owner Hamish Martin. The Secret Herb Garden in the rural Pentland area is indeed a hidden gem, away from the hustle and bustle of the nearby city. The mention of the word secret tells me I want to be part of it and believe me, this is definitely a secret worth sharing. I’m excited by these two mints, but Hamish tells me has another 58 varieties of mint in the garden. Can you imagine 60 varieties of mint in the one garden?  Being a lover of  herbs, this was my child in a sweetie shop moment.

Edinburgh's Secret Herb Garden, a secret worth sharing.

The Secret Herb Garden, a secret worth sharing.

Set over 7.5 acres, the garden is set out on the site of the former Dam head organics. The brainchild of Hamish and Libby Martin, the couple discovered the place when they were house hunting two years ago and at the beginning of May fulfilled their dream when the Secret Herb Garden opened the gates to public. After two years of renovations it really was a dream come true for them.

Hamish and Libby with adorable baby Violet

Hamish and Libby with adorable baby Violet

When I visited, final touches for the opening day were well underway and it was easy to see that as the place evolves, this will be no ordinary garden and nursery. Most of us are familiar with the usual selection of everyday culinary herbs, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme, I grow these in my own garden and constantly use them when I’m cooking. In the Secret Herb garden however, the definition of a herb has a much broader meaning. Here, plants that we might view as weeds, have pride of place.

When I met Hamish at a Slow Food Edinburgh Dinner the previous week, he had given me a glass of Sticky Willy Beer. In my mind a weed, and one that given us hours of pleasure as child as we played the ‘sticky willy game, sticking the plant to each other’s backs. And here was I drinking a delicious beer and eating a tasty sticky willy salad. How times change!

Made in Scotland from Sticky Willy. Hamish's homemade beer

Made in Scotland from Sticky Willy. Hamish’s homemade beer

 The Secret Garden is the perfect haven of peace and tranquillity.Visitors will find a warm welcoming place, set out to ensure there’s space for everyone.  A retreat where people can relax and enjoy the moment, being among herbs and aromatic plants.

Take time to relax and enjoy the scent from the herbs and aromatic plants in the greenhouse

Take time to relax and enjoy the scent from the herbs and aromatic plants in the greenhouse

 

Or if you prefer a more comfortable seat, stretch out on one of the big comfy sofas.

Or if you prefer a more comfortable seat, stretch out on one of the big comfy sofas.

It might be a secret garden but nothing is hidden away.  A cafe, tastefully designed by Libby will be stocked with homemade cakes, salads, from the garden and other locally sourced food.

Fill a picnic basket and enjoy some freshly made food from the cafe

Fill a picnic basket and enjoy some freshly made food from the cafe

Picnic baskets can be filled with fresh food from the cafe and enjoyed outside, or on the comfy sofa’s that look completely at home, dotted around greenhouse. There are open and relaxing spaces  for everyone to unwind.

Relax with coffee and a piece of delicious homemade cakes

Relax with coffee and a piece of delicious homemade cake

Interestingly the nursery has been established with a helping hand from one of the country’s leading herb experts. The mother stock came from the South Gloucestershire garden of  Hamish’s friend and leading herb specialist Jekka MacVicar. There’s  also an emphasis on specialist Scottish herbs with stock from the Poyntzfield herbs on the Black Isle in the north of Scotland.

 Hamish has an infectious enthusiasm for herbs and there are some plants that some visitors will find unusual. Chick weed and nettles, weeds you may think, but a visit to the Secret Garden will make you think again. How often have you pulled them out, casting the plants aside as a nuisance. Every plant has it’s place and as far as Hamish is concerned, weeds are just plants in the wrong place.

Edible flowers and wild salads. Just some of the freshly grown produce available from the Secret Herb Garden

Edible flowers and wild salads. Just some of the freshly grown produce available from the Secret Herb Garden

Most can can be included in salads and many are amongst the selections of the popular herbs the Secret Herb Garden supply to a number of Edinburgh restaurants. You’ll also find the Secret Herb Garden stall at the Sunday Stockbridge Market.

Herbs from the Secret Herb Garden are available at the regular Stockbridge Market

Herbs from the Secret Herb Garden are available at the regular Stockbridge Market

Walking through the garden, the greenhouses and the raised beds you’ll find an exceptional range of varieties of different herbs. Twelve varieties of Rosemary, several varieties of sage and there’s even a cola pelargonium, and yes, the smell is just like the sweet and sugary drink.

'Rosemary for remembrance'

‘Rosemary for remembrance’

There are so  many different connections to the plants throughout the garden. An enormous old fuel tank has been cleverly converted to house a therapy room that will be used by a herbalist and aromatherapist. A magnificent Esse stove has been installed in the building housing the school and eventually this will be the base for a number of courses, including herbalism, cookery and making cosmetics, all with natural links to the onsite source of herbs. Also within the school area is a drying room where herbs and flowers can dry on hessian covered trays at the optimum temperature of 37 degrees.

Beyond the main herb garden an orchard has been planted with traditional Scottish apple trees, pears and medlars.  At the far end of the orchard, there are several bee hives and the first bee keeping course, under the expert eye of bee keeper, Brian Pool has already been held.

Dusk over the orchard where several varieties of  native Scottish Apple trees have been planted

Dusk over the orchard where several varieties of native Scottish apple trees have been planted

There’s so much going on at the Secret Herb and there’s no doubt that this is a garden with all the ingredients to grow and flourish. Libby’s love of vintage furniture is evident in the many pieces of furniture around the place and Hamish’s collection of old gardening tools will all add to the character of this attractive and inspiring place. Opening the garden has fulfilled a dream for Hamish and Libby but as this place progresses I think they will be amazed at how far that dream will take them in their future lives.

 My visit has certainly inspired me to expand the range of herbs I grow in my own garden and also to look closely at plants I class as weeds.

The Secret Herb Garden

32a Old Pentland Road

Lothian urn

Edinburgh

EH10 7EA

 Open every day 10am – 4pm.

 Twitter @secretherbgarde

Filed Under: -Uncategorized-, Gardening, Lifestyle

A new herb garden

May 24, 2013 By Rachel Leave a Comment

Aromatic plants and herbs have always interested me and for more years than I can remember I’ve grown a range of culinary herbs both in the garden and on the kitchen windowsill. There’s something very satisfying about being able cut what you need for a recipe from the garden without having to make a journey to the shops, in my case it’s a 5 mile journey and very often what I’m after is out of stock.

During the summer months when parsley, mint, sage, coriander and dill are plentiful, I freeze them in ice cubes trays and that keeps me stocked during winter. Other more robust herbs such as rosemary, thyme and sage continue growing on quite happily throughout the winter although sage usually needs some fleece protection in winter.

I’ve had my current garden for for 31 years and the herbs have a small bed beside the raised veg beds with several containers dotted around with mint and extra parsley. All the old favourites are there, parsley, thyme, rosemary, bay, dill, sage, mints, wild garlic, oregano and marjoram. Basil grows happily all year round on the kitchen windowsill as it never seems to grow well either in the garden or an outside container, even during the warm Scottish summer.

This year I’m making some changes in the garden as growing vegetables and maintaining the beds has become more challenging due to some problems with some old injuries. Scaling back the veg growing leaves me with a large empty bed and I’ve decide to turn that into a kitchen herb garden.

A helping hand to clear the bed from one of my chickens

A helping hand to clear the bed from one of my chickens

Sketching a plan and deciding on plants is the challenge at the moment. Obviously growing from seed is the cheapest option but I’ll also be buying some plants as I want to have a number of mature plants in the beds. Several of my seed sowings including parsley, thyme, oregano and basil have already germinated and will help fill the spaces and can also be planted in containers.

Some of the already established plants such as this Rosemary will be replanted into the bed and I'm thinking that Rosemary will will make an attractive small hedge on one side.

Some of the already established plants such as this Rosemary will be replanted into the bed and I’m thinking that Rosemary will will make an attractive small hedge on one side.

Dividing the bed into four sections separated by a narrow cross brick type path seems like the simplest way of arranging the area and that design will allow for easy access to maintain and cut herbs for cooking. I’ll also place some the herbs in containers on the paths around the new bed and near to seating areas in the garden as there is nothing nicer than running your hands through a herbal plant and inhaling the aroma. Close your eyes and you can visualise being somewhere on the med.

Jekka McVicars book, ‘Jekka’s Complete Herb Book’ is a great reference for herbal plants and advice about cultivation and it was interesting to read that some of the plants I have growing in flower beds are classed as herbal plants, some of which are edible.

Here’s a few of those plants.

Alchemilla Mollis, Lady's Mantle grows prolifically on the banks of the stream and anywhere else it manages to seed itself. The leaves are edible and the bitter tasting leaves can be used in Salads.

Alchemilla Mollis, Lady’s Mantle grows prolifically on the banks of the stream and anywhere else it manages to seed itself. The leaves are edible and the bitter tasting leaves can be used in Salads.


Yarrow,Achilea Anthea is growing in the flower beds and the young leaves can used in salads and in a hot infusion is one of the best herbal remedies for fevers.

Yarrow,Achilea Anthea is growing in the flower beds and the young leaves can used in salads and in a hot infusion is one of the best herbal remedies for fevers.

I’ve always grown bergamot for it’s interest and and for it’s wonderful citrus aroma. The essential of bergamot is a long time favourite of mine and it was one of the oils I used to treat my sons skin when he had shingles as a toddler. The flowers are edible and can be used in salads, while the leaves can be used in sauces, teas and drinks. It has only started growing again so no picture at this stage.

I've being growing Angelica for a few years and it has successfully self seeded but until now I've enjoyed it for it's beautiful foliage and flowers. This year I'lwill make a point of using the leaves will follow Jekka McVicars advice to add the young Angelica leaves when stewing rhubarb or gooseberries. Less sugar will be needed and although it doesn't sweeten the fruit, it's muscatel flavour cuts through the acidity of the rhubarb.

I’ve being growing Angelica for a few years and it has successfully self seeded but until now I’ve enjoyed it for it’s beautiful foliage and flowers. This year I’ll make a point of using the leaves will follow Jekka McVicars advice to add the young Angelica leaves when stewing rhubarb or gooseberries. Less sugar will be needed and although it doesn’t sweeten the fruit, it’s muscatel flavour cuts through the acidity of the rhubarb.

Parsley, protected to keep the chickens out.

Parsley, protected to keep the chickens out.


I’ll be posting updates on the progress of the new patch over the next few weeks and I’ll be delighted if you’ll share your advice and similar projects with me.

Filed Under: Gardening, Lifestyle

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