June Blog Party

Ali English, the Lincolnshire Herbalist at Eldrum Herbs is hosting this month's blog party. She writes, 

"The topic this month is that of personal herbalism – what about herbalism is so personal to you?  What do you do that makes your herbalism uniquely yours?  This can be an experience, a subject close to your heart, even a herbal ally that you work with more closely than any others – whatever resonates most with you!

Email the links to entries to Ali at enquiries@eldrumherbs.co.uk, and she will post them all on or around Monday 17th June – She’ll be updating that post til the end of the month, so late entries are very welcome 

Happy blogging, lovely herbal people!"

The forgotten few – Speedwell

Each spring and early summer I am drawn to the carpet of speedwell on my parents' lawn, the stunningly blue flowers shining so brightly in warm sunshine. The variety of speedwell I know is veronica chamaedrys or germander speedwell (not to be confused with wall germander, teucrium chamaedrys, the gout herb).

Maud Grieve says that Germander was a corruption of the Latin chamaedrys which came from the Greek words, chami meaning ground and drus meaning oak. Gerard commented, 'The Germander from the form of the leaves like unto small oak leaves, has the name chamaedrys given it, which signifieth a dwarf oak'.

Germander speedwell is the commonest British species of Speedwell found everywhere, flowering in spring and early summer. I've certainly seen it growing wild in Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Devon and Cornwall over the past month.

There are fourteen other varieties of speedwell in the UK according to Maud Grieve. The most well known is common speedwell, V.offinialis but there are also Buxbaum's Speedwell ( V. Buxbaumii ), V. Serpyllifolia (Thyme-leaved Speedwell); the Marsh Speedwell (V. scutellata); the Ivy-leaved Speedwell (V. hederifolia); the Procumbent Speedwell (V. agrestis); and the Wall Speedwell (V. arvensis).

Maud Grieve says Buxbaum's Speedwell is “a plant of cultivation, springing up in gardens and fields never far from human society and influence.” Although it is found throughout England and Southern Scotland, it prefers southern climes and she thinks it was probably introduced from elsewhere.

The Spiked Speedwell (V. spicata) is rare. The Rock Veronica (V. saxatilis), has few flowers and is found mainly in the highlands of Scotland. Three other extremely rare species are V. verna (Vernal Speedwell), V. alpina (Alpine Speedwell) and V. triphyllos (The Finger Speedwell).

The germander speedwell benefits from both cross and self fertilization. Maud Grieve describes how the drone fly is responsible for cross pollination. “On either side of the big, double, top petal, a little stamen stretches outward like a horn. When an insect approaches, it grasps the stamens with its front legs and they are thus drawn forwards and onwards, so that they dust the under-side of the insect with their pollen. He steadies himself for a moment, probing the flower for the nectar round the ovary and then flies away.”

Both germander and common speedwell were used in folk medicine. Studies of plant uses in Scotland noted that common germander was one of the plants used for general ailments as a tea. Maud Grieve says “Old writers of all countries speak highly of the virtues of the Speedwell as a vulnerary, a purifier of the blood, and a remedy in various skin diseases, ... It was also believed to cure smallpox and measles, and to be a panacea for many ills.”

Gerard recommended it for cancer, 'given in good broth of a hen,' and advocated the use of the root as a specific against pestilential fevers.

In 1887, Lady Francesca Speranza wrote, “There are seven herbs that nothing natural or supernatural can injure; they are vervain, John's-wort, speedwell, eyebright, mallow, yarrow, and self-help. But they must be pulled at noon on a bright day, near the full of the moon, to have full power”

Maud Grieve writes “Among the Welsh peasantry, great virtues are attributed to the Speedwell. The plant has diaphoretic, alterative, diuretic, expectorant and tonic properties, and was formerly employed in pectoral and nephritic complaints, haemorrhages, diseases of the skin and in the treatment of wounds.”

MatthewWood has also researched the use of common speedwell. His earliest quote comes from Salmon writing in 1710, who says, “Speedwell is commended by Crato as specifick in the colick” recommending that speedwell be made into a clyster (enema) using a decoction of speedwell with sugar as this was found to be more effective than any other medicinal form.

Fernie, writing two hundred years later, says that “It has long been held famous amongst country folk as an excellent plant for coughs, asthma and pulmonary consumption. The leaves are bitter with a rough [astringent] taste and a decoction of the whole plant stimulates the kidneys.”

This mention of kidney stimulation reminded me of a time when I was giving healing to a colleague. I had no idea what condition he was suffering from before the healing session apart from a back problem. After settling him in a chair in the lounge, I went in search of some music on CD and was drawn to some blue quartz crystals from my altar. I rarely use crystals when healing, but something told me to use these with my friend, so I placed them on a table close to him. When the session was over, he told me his back problem had originated with issues with his kidneys. When I checked what blue quartz was useful for, it was for kidneys.

I suppose if you consider that the main function of the kidneys is fluid regulation within the body and water is associated with blue when the sun shines, then speedwell's blue flowers could be seen as a sign of their positive effect on the kidneys.

Fernie also talked about the infusion of speedwell promoting perspiration and feverishness, while the juice could be boiled with honey to make a syrup for asthma and catarrgh. He noted that an external application of the infusion could cure “the itch” and that some herbalists believed that drinking the tea every day could cure sterility.

When Matthew Wood was researching speedwell, he found that its use had almost completely dropped from modern Western herbal materia medica. He did find two herbalists who had written about it, the American, Ben Charles Harris in 1972 and Harald Tietze, an Australian herbalist in 1996.

Harris gathered it as a culinary substitute for watercress in salads. He described its action as “solvent-eliminator” acting on stones, toxins and mucous. He felt it was also useful in cases where throats were irritated or for respiratory organs. He also used it to remove hardened mucus in coughs, bronchitis and asthma.

Tietze had a completely different set of uses for speedwell. He used it for skin conditions, saying “The fresh plant juice has proved itself best for disorders of the skin.” He used the tincture rubbed into skin for conditions of rheumatism and gout. He recommended that “unlike other herbs which are taken in the morning, speedwell should be taken in the evening to calm the nerves and give a peaceful sleep.”

MariaTrebens, the Austrian Herbalist writing in 1984 recommends speedwell for “nervousness caused by mental exhaustion” which made Lucinda Warner wonder whether this was due to the presence of glycoside, scutellarin, which is named after the herb, scullcap. Scullcap, both the native and Virginian varieties, is an exceptionally useful nervine for anyone experiencing the “screaming habdabs”.

For such a beautiful flowering plant with such a wealth of historical uses, it is sad speedwell has fallen out of favour with most modern western herbalists. Lucinda Warner (who will be speaking at this year's Springfield Sanctuary Festival in September) is the only person I know of who has recently taken the time to experiment with speedwell.

After drinking a cup of speedwell tea Lucinda wrote, “The first sip had an immediate mental clearing effect and I felt soothed but not sedated, the effect being both relaxing and clarifying. I became very aware of the area around my head and I felt my meditative abilities heighten and my third eye and crown chakras open. My breathing deepened and I felt both more grounded and more connected. The key things that came through for me were mental clarity and sense of peacefulness.”

This subtle medicine from the plant working on both mind and body led Lucinda to make a flower essence with her local speedwell, V. filiformis or slender speedwell. After taking the remedy she reported, “Both the colour of the flower and the signature of the central white and gold eye, seem to confirm my original feeling that this was a remedy which resonates with the third eye and crown chakras. I’ve only been taking the remedy a few days now but my initial feelings are that this is a flower to help us in seeing deeply, being conscious and aware and deepening our meditation.” 


This positive experience makes me want to know speedwell at a deeper level, something I plan to make time for in the near future.

On holiday with herbs

After a frantic two months of hospital visits, house improvements, cooking and gardening, we're now on holiday in the West Country for two weeks. We started off in Exmouth at the Rotary Club's annual kite festival. Sky Symphony were performing alongside other sport kite display teams such as Air Dynamics and Flame, the international revolution formation team, The Decorators and Avon Kite Fliers' single string soft body kites.

The Kite Festival takes place on public ground next to the estuary where sunsets are spectacular against the opposing hills and fennel grows in abundance. This year I thought to create a new tea using what I'd brought with me and what I could gather along the estuary banks. It was a delightful drink served either hot or cold.


Exmouth Estuary Tea
4 large fronds of fennel roughly ripped
1 handful of hawthorn blossom
1 elderflower
1” peeled ginger root chopped fine
1 sliced orange
Place everything in a large heat proof jug and pour over up to 1litre or 2 pints of just boiled water. Cover and infuse for ten minutes. Drink warm or chill. It will keep for up to 24 hours.

When the festival finished on Sunday evening, we moved on to southern Devon. We are now based at Lydford, a small village with a rich and ancient past. In Saxon times it was a significant town as important as Exeter, but once the Normans invaded, the domain ended up with Richard, Duke of Cornwall who built a tower used as court and prison where summary justice was dealt to the surrounding populace. It gave rise to the saying that they “Hung and drawn at dawn, then proceeded to the hearing”!

Lydford is also well known for the spectacular Gorge, now managed by the National Trust. Despite intending to have a rest day on Monday, we couldn't resist walking around the Gorge with the White Lady's waterfall and Devil's Cauldron. The round trip of five miles was stunningly beautiful and well worth undertaking, but I managed to damage my big toes with significant bruising.

I was really worried that pressure would build up behind the nail and need lancing, so I took my foraging basket around the caravan park and immediately found yarrow and plantain. These were added to cleavers and what looked like wild valerian leaves to make a strong tea. Then I soaked my feet in a small bowl sitting outside on the grass wrapped up in my purple cloak until the footbath was cold. A spit poultice of more yarrow and plantain was tied around my big toe with a piece of old sheet at 2 hourly intervals and kept on overnight.

The throbbing disappeared by morning and thankfully there was no problem walking in sandals the next day. My toes were still tender to touch, but no swelling. Walking around Morewellham Quay where they filmed the Edwardian Farm was a really enjoyable experience, but the heat and extra exercise did make my ankles swell and my toe look fairly angry, so I spent the evening with my feet up and my toe ensconced in another spit poultice overnight. It is healing slowly.

The interesting point to me of Morewhellam Quay was that in its hayday, thousands of tourists would arrive by paddle steamer, visit the copper and arsenic mines and be served cream teas by the local women. As Ruth Goodman demonstrated during the TV series, the Government supported the teaching of woman how to make clotted cream and preserves to boost the local economy. Amongst the other items sold to tourists were herbal remedies. I think the Trust which now owns the Quay is missing a trick in not including herbal workshops alongside the rope making and child labour rock breaking!

Yesterday we visited Buckfast Abbey which has an extensive lavender garden. The sensory garden was stunning, but I was really disappointed in the physic garden. It has obviously been created by someone with limited knowledge of herbs. Honeysuckle was labelled as “poisonous if eaten” and in the poison garden, goats rue (galega officinalis) was labelled as rue (ruta graveolens). Solomons seal (polygonatum multiflorum) was also present in the poison garden, which was deeply saddening to see.

Today we had a restful day around the village. The church of St Petroc has a beautiful roodscreen carved by two Edwardian ladies at the turn of the century. After a cream tea in the local pub, we stumbled across the ancient Saxon spring newly restored by the local council to celebrate the village's heritage. Beside the spring grows a wonderful profusion of watercress – the blooms almost as strong as horseradish root and very tasty!

Tomorrow we resume our journey to Cornwall to share our grandson's first beach holiday. I'm sure there will be lots more herbs to enjoy.

Food for free

This is the lean time of year for those of us in the northern hemisphere. Spring is so close you can smell the new growth but flowering blackthorn admonishes us to wait, winter is not completely over.

I’m fortunate to have a garden and to know my plants. Our food is not all from the supermarket. We’re on a limited budget just like so many others during this difficult economic climate and we’re trying very hard not to spend beyond our means. Harvesting from your garden is both an economic and aesthetic boon.

Two meals we’ve enjoyed this week have been a forager’s salad and a root and nettle soup.

The forager’s salad at this time of year comprises dandelion, garlic mustard, chickweed, sweet violet, strawberry, sorrel, young dock and spinach leaves together with shoots of cleavers, marjoram, bronze fennel, St John’s wort and chives. If the sea holly were slightly taller, I would pick those leaves and anyone with access to wild garlic/Ransoms could use those leaves sparingly (I ate my first leaf this morning and they are strong!). Once the hawthorn leaves are fully out, I will add those to the salad.

If you have a family member who is wary of eating “weeds and hedges”, you can disguise it by adding a grated carrot and grated apple. It tastes good dressed with home-made violet infused vinegar. You could also add nettle, pumpkin, sunflower or other seeds or nuts and serve with fresh bread and protein of your choice. (We had a small tin of salmon.)

Late last summer my father sowed some carrot and beetroot seed in the new herb bed. They never grew very large and the carrots were consumed by slugs. We shall be digging over the entire bed shortly, so we dug up all the remaining beetroot and carrots and I brought them home with me on Sunday. Yesterday I thought I’d better do something with them.

It took me a good hour, standing at the kitchen sink with a bowl of water to collect all the soil to wash and peel both vegetables. The carrots would not have been a welcome addition on their own, but hidden inside a soup; they were a really useful contribution to depth of flavour.

I used both the new young leaves and the beetroots, setting the large ones to cook for pickling and the tiny ones went into the soup. I’d also picked a large basketful of nettle tops from the garden. I was expecting to make a red soup, but I learned that red and green make brown!

Root and nettle soup
1 dozen tiny beetroot peeled
Beetroot tops
½ celeriac root, peeled and chopped
1 basket full of young nettle tops (washed)
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 dried chilli (chopped and seeds removed)
2 large carrots (I had about a dozen tiny ones)peeled and chopped
10 green cardamom pods
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 tblsps crème fraiche (optional)
Sweat the onions in a mixture of olive oil and butter together with the spices for 5 minutes covered until soft. Add chopped vegetables and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for ten minutes. Add nettles and seasoning and simmer for a further ten minutes until everything is soft. Remove the cardamom seeds from the top of the soup. Liquidise then pass through a sieve to remove any nettle fibres. Add crème fraiche to give a richer soup if desired. Serve with fresh, homemade bread.

These amounts gave nearly six pints of soup. We’ve eaten it for lunch for two days and the rest has gone in the freezer.

I love foraging in my garden. We had our first free salad on 26th February and yesterday’s soup was my first nettle harvest of 2012. I know there will be many more throughout the months, but such harvests prove the wheel of the year is turning once again.

Urban Hedgerows

When we moved into our current house in 1980, we were pleased to see the garden was bordered on three sides with hedges. Two were hawthorn and the bottom was laurel. Laurel is a difficult shrub to manage because it grows so quickly and is poisonous if ingested. Thankfully my children weren’t interested in eating the leaves, but the fumes given off from burning prunings have given Chris headaches so we know to be careful.

Our neighbours living in the adjoining house have been happy to work with us to keep the mutual hedge in good order. They trim it and have put extra wiring against the bottom to prevent their Jack Russell from escaping into our garden. Our other neighbours are both frail and elderly and for the last ten years kept asking us to remove the hedge so they could replace it with a maintenance free wooden fence.

I always refused, so one year they went ahead and put up a fence on their side of the boundary any way. We happily let them through to complete the erection, but when I returned home from work that day, I found they had dug up my entire valerian bed. It wasn’t intentional malice. They had asked me if there was anything I wanted to keep and had carefully replaced those plants I mentioned. I just hadn’t realised how far along the border they would need to rip up. I remember sitting on the garden bench and sobbing my heart out wondering what I had done to deserve such destruction!

Happily the valerian re-appeared, but in greatly reduced numbers. Last year I only found two plants, but today I counted six and there are many at the farm if I want more.

The hedge is still growing strong, but its age has taken a toll. Several of the original trees have died off, so I have filled in the gaps with other species. They say you can tell the age of a hedge by the number of species in any given length. If you select a 30 metre length and count the number of tree species three times to give an average, you can multiply that number by one hundred to discover the age.

I know my hawthorn hedge was planted in 1957 when the house was built so has been in place just over half a century. The original owners planted hawthorn with various shrubs along its length. The lilac and forsythia have been decimated since we took over the garden. Other trees which have established themselves are sycamore and holly, together with the ubiquitous bramble and ivy –all of which produce flowers for bees and fruits for birds.

My contributions have been cherry plum, rowan and a tiny elder sapling which grew from a dropped seed two years ago. It is so tiny, you would never know it is there, but I am hoping it will grow and mature as the years pass. Cherry plum is a historic hedging material which has fallen from use. I found it in a catalogue when
I was looking for spindle trees and decided to give it a go. The green foliage is beautiful and I’m hoping that soon it might decide to flower and provide small plums we can harvest. It is a relative of the blackthorn but doesn’t have any sharp thorns!

The rowan tree was a mistake. I brought back what I thought was a cherry plum when I was planting out thirty five saplings at the farm ( a mixture of alder, red alder, silver birch, wild cherry and apple). I love rowan trees so was pleased I now have its protective properties in my garden boundary.

I also have a self-seeded yew tree next to the ancient cooking apple tree. It seemed appropriate for it to be in the garden given the amount of work I do with grief and dying. I’m watching to see if it adversely affects any of the other plants around it, but at the moment it is a quiet member of the hedge next to my summer house where I keep it well pruned.

A hedge provides more than just a secure boundary. It is home to robins, blue tits, sparrows and blackbirds. It protects them from marauding magpies, jays, pigeons and rooks. Two of the hawthorns have been allowed to grow into mature trees and these are now harvested for their leaves, flowers and berries in due season.

One of the things I missed most when I moved from the Cotswolds to Birmingham was my hedgerows. I would search for ancient field boundaries along the outer circle roads and feel happy when I was successful. I really enjoy having my own hedges in a suburban environment and watching them flourish.

Book Review: Practical herbs by Henriette Kress

After twenty years of reading herb books, it takes a lot to make me excited when something new is published. Henriette Kress’ first book written in English (she has published others in Finnish and Swedish) makes me want to sing, shout and dance with glee. The title, Practical Herbs, says it all. It exudes common sense and you know the author is speaking from long years of personal experience with every sentence she writes.

Henriette is unique. As a child she moved from Germany to the Swedish-speaking part of Finland and is fluent in four languages. Originally graduating from Helsinki University in Economics in 1991 and working as a finance manager for a multinational corporation, she gave it all up to study with the late Michael Moore at the South Western School of Botanical Medicine, graduating in 1998. She is now a member of the American Herbalist Guild.

After completing her studies, she returned to Helsinki to become a practicing herbalist, teacher and author as well as setting up the most comprehensive herbal website which is used and valued across the world. She also runs a medicinal herb email discussion list which I joined 1996 and has provided me with the majority of my herbal education. In 2009, she was the keynote speaker at the National Institute of Herbal Medicine AGM in Preston where delegates could not get over how young she was to have so much knowledge!

The book begins by taking the reader through the basics of herbalism – how to choose, pick and dry your herbs, then how to make and use herbal teas, oils, salves, tinctures, vinegars and syrups. Henriette also includes a list of why your process hasn’t worked or produced something you weren’t expecting and how to put it right if possible. I have never seen this kind of information in any other book and shows she does not include anything she has not done herself.

Henriette has written about the herbs she grows in her garden or which grow locally to her Helsinki home. The book is illustrated throughout with beautifully clear photographs so you can easily recognise the plant or follow the instructions for a process.

Twenty three plants are discussed in detail in Practical Herbs ranging from the well-known calendula and St John’s wort to completely new to me plants such as Beggarticks (Bidens radiate) and Maral root(Leuzea carthamoides). She also describes the plant families and their actions - carrots (carminatives), mallows (mucilaginous), mints (anti-inflammatory) and roses (astringent)- and how they can be interchanged one with another depending on what you have available to you at the time.

Every herb is described by name, family, when to harvest, its habitat and appearance and its important constituents. She explains how to pick and process, including such gems as “If you go looking for this species, take a lot of patience with you.” Each plant’s effects and uses are discussed together with recipes and how to include the herb in your food.

The book is peppered with pages headed “Quick Help for small troubles”. These include painful menses, advice for the flu season, digestive upset, earache, itching, bleeding, toothache and sciatica – all subjects which arise and can be addressed in a home situation. Henriette doesn’t expect her readers to suddenly become experienced professionals. There are wise words of caution such as not to take too much dandelion if you have low blood pressure and to be sure to consult a doctor if you have bronchitis.

What really excited me the most was Henriette’s discussion about Echinacea. I knew you could not use the small root system until the plant was three years old, but I have been loath to sacrifice my plants so have been using the entire aerial parts in my syrups and tinctures, thinking I was producing a much less effective medicine. My joy at discovering that Henriette also uses the flower and, most importantly, considers the seedpods to be as effective as the roots was unbounded!

I began this review by describing Henriette Kress as unique. She has an uncanny ability to provide the struggling “amateur” with confidence. She believes in personal experience and knowledge over book-learning and “scientifically proven” research findings. She has said that “herbs don’t read books” but if they could, they would be proud of what their champion has written.

Practical Herbs by Henriette Kress was published on November 18, 2011 as a pdf file or paperback. Currently it is only available from her website for $5.50 or $32 plus p&p. Discussions with Amazon are continuing.

Spring sowing

The past few weeks have been very strange weather for the time of year – incredibly warm and sunny. My garden is very sheltered thanks to two hawthorn hedges and a laurel hedge, so when the sun shines and the wind isn’t too fierce, it’s very, very pleasant.

I’ve always grown a few vegetables, mainly runner beans, but there has never been time to do as much as I’d like. This year will be different since I’ve loads of time and a reduced income means that growing our own food will be a serious help to our finances.

Compared with modern gardens, we have a lot of space with 100 feet to play with, but most of it is down to lawn and I’m a little apprehensive of biting off more than I can dig if I extend our growing space by a large amount. I’ve extended our bottom bed by two feet and reclaimed a border for more veg growing which has historically been neglected, so there is probably over one third of the garden which is dedicated to growing food. Once the last frosts have disappeared our patio area will be covered in tomatoes, salad leaves and other seedlings waiting to be planted out in either the garden or Sanctuary beds.

I’ve also been designating different herbs to different areas. New lemon balm plants have been relegated to shady areas because I know it will grow wherever I put it. Dandelions weeded from other parts of the garden have also been given their own patch near the sorrel in the hope I can go to one place for my salad greens rather than hunting over the entire garden. Two huge patches of golden rod have also been relegated from the sunniest bed to underneath the hawthorn trees because they were shading the roses and I have lots of other golden rod at the sanctuary.

Weeding is a strange activity when you value plants you used to know as weeds. I feel incredibly guilty putting self-heal and nettles onto the compost heap and find myself wondering if I shouldn’t give them their own bed as well. I have resisted so far, because I know there will be hundreds of other plants of the same species who will appear in other beds where they will be welcomed. I don’t have the same anxiety when it comes to red dock and creeping buttercup, since I can’t use either of them except as nitrogen rich additions to my compost!

There is always a dilemma between allowing plants to grow where they will compared with regimenting them into clearly defined spaces. I tend to yo-yo between the two methods. I will let plants wander around the garden for several years until I realise they aren’t an effective use of soil whereupon they are placed somewhere else or reduced to the odd space where they can flower but be somewhat controlled. Mint and sweet woodruff are being managed this year as I need their positions for other plants I have more use for.

Feeling the sun’s warmth on my skin yesterday made me dare to start my spring planting. I don’t have a greenhouse and historically my seed sowing has been non-existent as I left it all to my mother, but as she is not able to do this anymore, it’s now all down to me.

Last March we had a wonderful Mercian Herb Group meeting led by Louise Twigger, Sam Green and Carrie Pailthorpe, all current or former employees at Garden Organic in Coventry. They went through the basics of seed sowing and we all had a chance to plant something. The basil I sowed that night germinated and grew into strong, aromatic plants. I’d not used basil very much before and I really appreciated the opportunity to add it to my repertoire of culinary herbs.

This success gave me the confidence to try other herbs and vegetables from seed. Soon my little seedhouse was awash with seedlings of holy basil, tomatoes, butternut squash, Himalayan pokeroot, sweet clover, ashwagandha and hyssop. Over thirty tomato plants filled the patio and I lost count of how many runner beans and French beans I grew in pots and then planted out. I gave away over forty runner bean plants.

We really enjoyed eating our own salad leaves, radishes and tomatoes and I’m hoping to repeat their success this year. I’m also planning to grow some dried beans which will save me having to buy quite so many pulses at the supermarket for my Nepalese bean soup. I’ve already planted two rows of broad beans in my new border and there are seed trays planted with cabbage, lettuce, carrots, celery, basil and meadowsweet sitting on my summerhouse table in the hope they will germinate soon.

I expect most of you reading this post will already been expert seed planters, but for anyone who is new to the idea of growing your own plants, here are a few tips.

The first task is to prepare the seed trays. Remember they should be sterilised before you use them, so that any lingering bugs from last year's plantings can be destroyed. If you are using plastic trays, this can be achieved with a good wash and scrub, but if you are using wooden trays, you can sterilise them by heating in the bottom of the oven at 160-180 degrees F for about half an hour. Don't worry if the smell while they're cooking is terrible!

Once they're cooled, fill your containers with sterile potting mix, making sure that this doesn't contain irreplaceable peat. There are good alternatives on the market now, so that fewer peat bogs have to be destroyed. Make sure that all the potting mix is broken up into minute particles. This can be achieved by sieving it through a 1/4 " wire sieve.

If you decide to use garden soil and compost for your potting mix, again make sure that the soil is sterilised by baking it in the oven at the same temperatures as before for about 2 hours.

Plant your seeds according to the instructions on the packet and cover them over lightly with soil. If you are planting seeds on the surface of the soil, water the soil before you plant them, otherwise they will float off the soil if you water them afterwards. Cover them with a lid or a clear plastic bag to help keep in the heat and prevent too much evaporation. Some gardeners recommend using a thin layer of perlite on top of the seedling to ensure they don’t become waterlogged.

Some seeds will germinate faster if you soak them before you plant them. Parsley seeds are notoriously hard to germinate and actually need soaking in hot water!

Make sure that your seed trays are sufficiently warm (70-75 degrees F) and are situated in a place that will get light and heat all day. You may have to turn the trays or pots around so that they all get an even spread of light. Some people buy fluorescent growlights if they don’t have enough sunlight, but I don't have any experience of this. You may want to place your seed trays in heated propagators, which plug into the electric, to give the seeds a head start.

Seeds may have different kinds of coats which mean that they require extra preparation before planting.

Scarification
This needs to be done when seeds have very thick coats. You can either nick or sandpaper the seeds to allow water to penetrate or pour near boiling water on them or soak them.

Stratification
Seeds which need stratifying are usually those which lie dormant in the ground over the winter. They need to be exposed to a cold, moist environment before planting. Seeds can be tricked into thinking that they have gone through the winter by keeping them in a plastic bag in sand in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. Open the bag, two to three times to allow contact with the air.

Wild flower seeds often need stratifying in some way, but the easiest method to start the seeds off is to plant them either in the Autumn or at least by February and leave the seed tray outside for the rain and frost and snow to provide the right kind of environment for you. Remember to keep the seed tray well watered if you are trying to germinate seeds from water-loving plants e.g . Meadowsweet.

Acidification
Examples of seeds which need acidification are tomatoes and kiwi fruit. They can be washed in a "grease-busting washing up liquid” or soaking in water with a squeeze of lemon juice in it.

What are you hoping to grow this year and what are your favourite tips for planting seeds?