Hello everyone!
I have been doing some work in the garden today and I took some photos to show you what I have been up to. I was looking through my box of seeds and I found some Betony (Stachys Officinalis) seed, given its medicinal uses I thought it was about time I got it planted!
Betony is a hardy perennial herb, extremely tolerant to less than ideal conditions. It grows happily in average soil and can handle growing in full sun and shade, so a great choice for those shady corners of the garden that other plants might not thrive in. Their flowers are long-lasting and very pretty.
Betony's history dates back to the Middle Ages, where people crafted amulets with it to protect themselves from evil spirits. Nowadays it is used as an alternative to black tea, and also as a base for herbal tea mixes. The whole plant, leaves and all, can be harvested to make the tea.
Medicinally speaking, herbalists use Betony infusions for all sorts of different ailments. From tension headaches, chronic headaches and migraines to heartburn, diarrhea, gout, bladder pain, kidney stones and even respiratory problems such as bronchitis and asthma, Betony treats it all.
I was lucky to be gifted these Betony seeds by my Mum. I planted a full root trainer tray of them, using up every last seed I had. I can't wait to see them grow.
Here is a photo I found online to show what the plants look like when they are flowering:
By Raffi Kojian - http://Gardenology.org, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12734970
Whilst I was in the greenhouse planting the Betony seed I checked up on my other root trainers and watered them. The cold temperatures this week have been slowing things down a bit so I moved the seedlings into the greenhouse to keep them warm and they soon perked up again. The broccoli is almost ready for a transplant I think!
To finish off my afternoon gardening session I dead-headed my Marigold plants. I leave the flowers to dry in the sun before opening them up and harvesting the seeds. As a novice homesteader I am trying to build up a collection of my own homegrown seeds and given the rate these Marigold are flowering I'd be able to open a seed shop!! From time to time I hear of people sharing/swapping seeds which I find interesting. Let me know if you have any experience of that!
That's all for now! If anyone has any tips on seed harvesting please get in touch, I'd love to chat. Happy gardening!
Gardeningchef
