Herb Garden - the revamp of 'the dressing up bed'!

We built this raised bed back in 2020 and it was filled with random plants we had lying around the place, mainly in pots that looked fairly sorry for themselves. I nicknamed it ‘the dressing up bed’ as it reminded me of the dressing up box I had as a child - full of random mismatched clothes that were just perfect for children to play kings and queens with! Or in my case quite often it was ‘shopkeepers and customers’ which usually meant emptying the kitchen cupboards of stuff and then learning to give the correct change (to my dad!!!) - very stealth maths lessons!!! But it was fun learning on a rainy day. 

Anyway, I digress. So I decided the time had come for ‘the dressing up bed’ to ‘grow up’ (!) - it needed refining and it had to have a useful purpose. Quite frankly it had turned into a mess and I just used to stare at it wondering what to do with it and where to start with it. 

The olive trees were thriving, probably because of the poor dry soil, and in fact had grown quite nicely into a centre piece. They had to stay. They will be tamed in time once the herbs below have benefitted from their shelter from the harsh winds and when they have fully established themselves.

I can’t claim to have done the hard work of clearing it all out, but I have now planted it up with 65 different varieties of herbs. 

Guests are more than welcome to grab their scissors and snip away to add mint to their mojitos or Pimms. Staple herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage and marjoram are there which I’m sure will come in handy for BBQs, pasta and pizzas and more for you budding chefs - both hobby and professional @ChefSargie !! The garlic chives in my mind would be a fantastic addition to a warm potato salad. I also have a great simple recipe for butter bean, garlic and rosemary dip - if you want it just message me! 

If, like me, you love mint tea then there are 12 different types of mint from pineapple, lime, ginger, blackcurrant, grapefruit, orange and Swiss. For those that haven’t had fresh mint tea before it’s an absolute game changer compared to the packet mint tea bags you buy. Simply rinse the sprigs, pop in a mug, poor on boiling water, leave for 5-7 mins (or if like me longer because you get distracted!) and then take the leaves out. You really won’t want to go back to bought bagged tea. Fantastically refreshing and great cold in Summer. Also the cost of a little mint plant, that grows and grows, is so much cheaper than a box from a supermarket.

All have pebble labels, not taken from the beach but reclaimed from the floor of our barns prior to restoration, are each written with the herb variety. The pebbles originally came from Wanson - just a stones throw away from here and a great quiet little beach well worth a visit. I wonder how many people have handled each pebble? 

So please save on those pesky little plastic packets of herbs from the supermarkets, grab your scissors, and get snipping! 

Thank you @NorfolkHerbs for the fantastic selection of herbs on your website, delivered sustainably packaged and in tip top condition.