Many of our perennial herbs lie dormant through the winter months. But some herbs are bursting into life right now, producing flowers and berries and giving the farm a vibrancy against the grey winter background.
Anna, our Production Manager, has been busy preparing our December'Herbs Looking Good' list, which is our seasonal pick of the best. If you're looking for organic herbs which look their very best at the moment, then this will help you to choose from our 650 plus varieties.
Chilean Guava
As the temperatures have plummeted to -7°C lately, we've moved some of our special offer Christmas herbs into the glasshouse, to make sure they are protected and are looking, smelling and tasting extra specially good for our mail order customers.
Christmas Herbs for Cooks herb collection- sorry,
now sold out!
Jill, farm propagator, tending our very popular special offer Christmas Herbs collections.
All of the team are getting into the Christmas spirit this year, particularly so because our brand new Herb Recipe cards arrived last week, so we can start sending them out to our many customers who have ordered already.
Herb cards are a new venture for us; as we're often asked for herb recipes, and illustrator Hannah McVicar,
(who has also designed our catalogue covers for the last six years) had done some stunning herb designs, it seemed the perfect collaboration!
Jekka's herb recipes (cooked and devoured by the herb farm team) are printed on the back of each card, which you can cut out and paste into your own recipe book!
Herb recipe cards, blank inside,
herb recipe on the back
Meanwhile, essential maintenance continues on the farm in preparation for our 2009 Herb farm Open Days. It has to be finished before the end of March, when we open our doors to the public..
We have been digging up and relaying the ground in our polytunnels - a job which can only be done at this time of year before our Open Days begin again in spring. By the end of March it will all be finished and brimming with organically grown herbs for our visitors to meander amongst.
December is the season for awards in the gardening and farming world.
Jekka recently attended the Garden Media Guild Awards in London, in her role as a member of the judging panel and as an honoured guest of STIHL, sponsors of the Garden Journalist of the Year Award.
This was closely followed by the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards, which Jekka was delighted to attend, having, of course, a vested interest in UK farmed food.
Although winter may be considered a quiet time in the herb garden, there are still some jobs to be done before sinking into your favourite armchair with a cup of freshly brewed rosemary tea...
Remove all the dead growth that falls into other herb plants, and add more protective layers if needed.
Don't forget to protect tender and half hardy herbs from the frosts with horticultural fleece. Or if you are able, bring them into the greenhouse.
Some herbs, such as Myrtle are in berry now, and can be harvested. This can be a very satisfying and enjoyable pastime (if you wrap up warm first!). If you're not sure what to do with them once you've picked the berries, read on..
If it's just too cold to bear being outside, then make that fresh brew of rosemary tea ( a great detox in preparation for festive celebrations) and have a browse amongst the seeds you wish to sow in spring. If you order them now, you'll be ready to sow when the time comes!
Peppermint is very much in demand these days, to make a refreshing herbal tea, whilst spearmint makes a delicious mint sauce to be savoured with roast lamb.
