Fennel (for John)

I meant to to this a while ago but between one thing and another.....

Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel)



I love to use the herb in the flower border. The acid green feathery foliage is great for setting off dark purple and orange flowers and it adds height with out being to overpowering or obstructing any views. It looks gorgeous with verbena boneriensis and echnineaca. I love the bronze fennel but I'd plant it with yellow and green flowers like bells of Ireland, or nicotiana lime green. In fact as foliage plants go I think fennel is the best for sticking in a herbaceous border because it is so light and airy.

It goes really well with fish especially if you stuff it inside the cavity and barbecue it or if you use some dried stems in a cooking fire it adds a a lovely smoky aniseed flavour. The seeds go really nicely with pork.

Medicinally fennel is used to help indigestion and stomach cramps. Its also supposed to be an aid to weight loss. Cotton wool soaked in fennel tea and placed on your eyes is good to reduce puffiness and watering eyes, and a mix of fennel tea and honey is supposed to be a good face pack for getting rid of wrinkles?

According to some of my old herbal books....
Prometheus used a hollow fennel branch to steal fire from the gods on Olympus. Dionysus carried a fennel wand as a symbol of fertility (because of its crazy self seeding habit). Its reported to have grown around the fields of marathon in ancient Greece and was eaten before the Olympic games to give strength to the athletes. It was also given to gladiators before entering the arena to give them a hunger for blood lust, and a crown of fennel was placed on the victor.
Charlemagne ate it on his campaigns to curb his hunger. Edward I's retinue once consumed eight pounds of it during lent. Fast days must have been noisy -one medieval poet recommends fennel seed because in it "This virtue shall you finde, foorth of your lower parts to drive the winde."

one final things you may or may not know about Fennel is its one of the main herbs used in Absinthe. I actually have in my hands right now an old herbal book with a recipe for Absinthe. Hmmm maybe I'll work on home made wine first before I attempt to brew a potion that will most likely kill me or at the very least make me blind or insane.

Thursdays favourite plant

Rosemary(Rosmarinus officinalis)

This is one herb I could never be without. If I was only allowed one herb no scratch that if i was only allowed one herb there would be a mutiny and I'd find a way of sneaking more in.
So Rosemary, I find the scent of rosemary so comforting and warm, there was always a huge bush of it in my mums old garden and I used to lie on the grass hidden by it reading Watership down and Narnia, so the smell reminds me of home. Its supposed to grow in the gardens where the women wears the trousers or if your rosemary grows rampant your daughters will never marry (not true well not in my case anyway) or something (I'll have to dig out my book on old wives tales) Its also considered a lucky plant to grow by your garden gate. Its also supposed to be really good for you drunk as a tea but as much I love the smell of it I've never fancied Drinking it.

I use Rosemary more in autumn and winter cooking, roast potatoes, stews, tomato pasta sauces, pumpkin soup etc. Its a very robust flavour that lends itself better towards the colder months than summer. Saying that though I keep a jar of sugar with a sprig of rosemary in the larder for baking, and I make a mean rosemary and honey cake with the little flowers sprinkled over the icing, that I only ever bake in summer. Just remember a little bit goes a long way.

Rosemary couldn't be easier to grow, just remember being a Mediterranean plant it needs really really good drainage. If you grow them in pots you want about 50/50 mix of compost and grit/sand. If it looks far to sandy then its about right. If you have it in the ground dig in plenty of sand/grit to the planting hole. If your soil is heavy and holds moisture or clay than I'd play it safe and grow them in pots. They can grow quite huge in the ground if they're happy. Ohh and never ever over water them.

There is more info here

One last thing watch out for Rosemary beetle. Why do all the nasty bugs look so pretty with the exception of beautiful beneficial ladybirds or the evil Vine weevil that looks quite harmless and dull.

Thursdays favourite Plant

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)



This is one of my favourite herbs. I have a huge pot of it my the kitchen door and I love rubbing the leaves to get a hit of that yummy lemon scent. It just smells so summery and makes you feel all happy. In aromatherapy and herbal medicine its used to help ease stress, and reduce anxiety and create a feeling of calmness. It also is supposed to help improve your memory. I love to make a tea from a few leaves crushed and steeped in boiling water. I also add a few leaves when I make lemonade to give it and additional lemony kick.

Lemon balm is in the same family as mint and is as easy to grow. Its happy grown in a container (add lots of gravel/grit for drainage) or in the ground. Lemon balm is a really good plant to grow for bees as they love the delicate little white flowers. I prefer it to lemon verbena that I also grow as I find the lemon verbena has a bit of a sugary sherbet taste to it and lemon verbena doesn't like the cold and can be vulnerable to frost damage whereas lemon balm is fully hardy and comes back year after year.