11 Herbs of King Arthur’s England
In southwest England, in Somerset, sits the town of Glastonbury, a quaint historical town that has been inhabited since 7th millennium BCE (Glastonbury, n.d.). This area has always felt magical to many people as it’s thought by some to be the location of the magical island of Avalon from the famous King Arthur tale that…
Reflections of an Herb Gardener
To those who are afraid of starting an herb garden, don’t be. The rewards of having your own fresh herbs to use and dry, the therapy of working in the dirt, the ability to sit quietly and meditate in your own special place far outweigh the “errors in judgment” one can make. Looking back at…
4 Ways To Fertilize Your Garden With Herbs
We use herbs for nutrition and health but don’t often consider that these same benefits can also extend to our gardens. Fertilizing with many of the herbs you already grow is a simple way to give the garden a boost and reduce the expense of purchased fertilizer. Many of the herbs that are already growing…
How to Craft the Perfect Herb Planter
Earth is home to an incredible array of natural herbs that have been integral to society for as far as we can see into the past. Herbalism is a proud tradition of knowledge, community with nature, and responsibility. Herbs are available for such a myriad of uses that it is nearly impossible not to encounter…
How to Plan a Seed Swap in Your Neighborhood
Seed swaps are an excellent way of sharing your plant knowledge—and your seeds—with your local community. What’s more, seed swaps have the added benefit of connecting like-minded growers. Whether you’re looking for an informal, one-time get together with fellow gardening friends, or a more organized yearly event, here are a few tips to help plan…
6 Natural Ways to Deter Insects From Your Herbs
Herbs tend to be relatively low-maintenance plants, which is one reason they are so popular to grow. They also add to our lives in more concrete ways, like providing delicious additions to family meals, preventing infections for minor cuts or scrapes, and providing many other health benefits. So it stands to reason that these wonderful…
Designing An Herb Garden
This is the second article in a two-part series on planning and designing your herb garden! Part I – Tips for Making An Herb Garden Plan – discusses planning your garden – choosing a location, prepping the soil, and gathering plants. Part II – Designing Your Herb Garden – discusses design ideas for theme gardens and color selections. …
Tips For Making An Herb Garden Plan
Join us in this two-part series on planning and designing your herb garden! In this article, we’ll dive into creating an herb garden plan – choosing a location, prepping the soil, and gathering plants. Have you’ve been poring over seed catalogs and making your lists? You are not alone! Have you made your final choices, or are you…
5 Herbs that Attract Beneficial Insects to the Garden
If you’ve been interested in organic gardening but are wondering what to do about pests, consider planting herbs! Many herbs encourage biodiversity and attract the beneficial insects that keep pest populations down. Herbs reduce pests by encouraging biodiversity In nature, herbs perform a wide range of functions. They provide nectar for pollinators, repel pests with…
How To Grow Pea Shoots Indoors: Fresh Greens Year-Round
With the garden tucked in for the winter and the farmer’s markets closing up shop until spring, we’re back to listless strolls through the produce aisles of the local grocery store, seeing the stacks of vegetables but just not feeling them. They are beautiful, yes, and abundant — we are grateful for that. Some of…
Planting Fruit Trees in the Fall
In some areas of the country, fall is the best season for planting fruit trees. While it seems like planting fruit trees would be a complicated endeavor, using this simple planting process will set you up for success.
How To Save Seeds: From Harvesting to Using Them
When It Comes To Gardening, Timing Is Everything I am sure you have been in that place, being the careful gardener that you are. That is, you mindfully plant your seeds in April, May, or June for summer-long harvests of aromatic culinary greens. You water, watch, and wait until the little first leaves emerge and then…
How to Plan and Plant a Fall Garden
Believe it or not even in cold weather climates, you can plant a fall garden and watch it grow. While the thought of a lush, vibrant garden typically conjures up images of summer, with the right planning and the right planting, you can achieve autumn abundance. In fact, depending on where you live, many plants…
Starting a Keyhole Garden
Gardening is a passion that has resurfaced with a vengeance in recent years. Whether it’s to save money on veggies and fruits, or a purposeful garden to avoid GMOs, getting dirt under your fingernails in the garden is catching on. With so many newcomers to the gardening game, it’s no surprise that there are many…
How To Start An Indoor Herb Garden
Have you ever wondered about the bounty that nature gives us each and every year? If you’re here, I’m betting you have. We do love wildcrafting here at the Herbal Academy of New England, but we understand that maybe you need some herbs that don’t naturally grow in your backyard or down the local nature trail….
5 Simple Ways to Conserve Water for Your Garden
Much of the country, including the Southwest and northern Texas, are currently experiencing significant drought. This is not only an alarming situation, but it can be a frustration to those who enjoy long showers and like to keep their lawns a perfect shade of emerald green. But it’s also a problem for those of us…
How to Harden Seedlings and Protect Your Garden
Gardening is a popular past-time, and many people invest a large amount of money every year in plants and seedlings, only to be rewarded with droopy, wilted, dead plants within a few weeks. Fix.com has created an infographic entitled 9 Steps to Harden Seedlings, giving you all the info you need in order to give…
5 Herbs That Grow In Shade
With the coming of summer, you’re all ready to take in the majesty of the large, sweeping landscape that is your forty-acre property. You can picture the vast plots of land you will use to grow your garden of sun-loving herbs like basil, sage, lavender and—wait a minute. Actually, this may not be your scenario…
3 Easy Tips for Late Gardening
It seems like everyone in your life is gardener extraordinaire…except for you. Your neighbor, your best friend, and your perfect sister-in-law have all found the time to plant a whole garden amidst schedules that are as crazy as yours. And since you haven’t even gotten started, is it possible to do some late gardening? What…
What is Compost Tea? Plants Drink Tea, Too!
At the Herbal Academy, we believe in cultivating awareness of our interconnectedness with the living communities all around us. When we use the earth’s resources with wisdom and respect, all of us (plants, animals, humans) will live far more healthy and abundant lives. A key way we enjoy these gifts is by consuming herbs for…
How to Compost: Getting Started Guide
Spring is finally starting to show its face in our corner of the world, and Earth Day is just around the corner. What better time to talk about ways to keep our lovely planet healthy? It may seem impossible, but each of us can make a difference, in small or large ways. “Food makes up…
Easy Seed Starting Guide
Gardeners around the nation are chomping at the bit to get some dirt under their fingernails. Gardening is one of the top hobbies in the nation. In fact, almost 50% of the population gardens in one shape, way, or form. And the hobby shows no sign of slowing down. In the past year, edible gardening…
Blackberry Winter – Tips for Helping Bees
“Blackberry Winter” is a hauntingly beautiful song mourning a love affair that ends coldly and without warning. For gardeners eager to embrace the onset of the spring growing season, a sudden cold snap (or a blackberry winter) can damage tender blooms of flowering herbs, fruits, and other spring plants. Blackberry winter comes without warning Just…
Companion Planting Herbs
If you’ve been keeping up with our articles, have taken our Intermediate Herbal Course, or even have only just visited us for the first time, you probably already know how strongly we at the Herbal Academy believe herbs can improve our health and enrich our lives. But did you know that herbs can benefit the…
Deter Garden Bugs and Pests with Nontoxic Methods
When your neighbors see you walking through your garden spreading cayenne pepper and seaweed all around your crops, they may think that you’ve gone off the deep end. Gardens are for watering and spreading fertilizer, aren’t they? But sprinkling herbs around your herbal garden isn’t the work of a crazy person—it’s the work of a…
5 Easy Herbs to Grow
You may have decided that you would like to start your very own herbal garden this year, and have even had some ideas of where on your property (or in your home) it will go. But what sort of herbs should you grow in it? Starting a new garden can seem somewhat daunting, especially if…
5 Steps to Starting Seeds
Most of us associate springtime with re-birth and growth, and never is this idea more in line with the season than when we grow our own herbs from tiny little seeds. Even the mightiest oak trees start as an acorn, and we can create a smaller scale version with anything from basil to tarragon to…
Secrets To Transplanting Seedlings: 3 Tips To Success
Do you remember bringing a goldfish home from the pet store and placing it in the aquarium? You were probably told to keep it in the bag for the first half hour before releasing it, to help acclimate the fish to his new environment. Transplanting seedlings of herbs and other plants you plan to grow…
How to Create a Reflection Garden in 4 Steps
With the coming of winter, many of us start to miss time in our gardens. And why shouldn’t we? Our garden is a special, dedicated place. We go to great effort to cultivate the land so that plants of our choosing can have a home. We till the soil, fertilize it, and make sure that…
3 Easy Ways To Dry Herbs
As summer winds down, things change. The children go back to school, the days are getting shorter, and gardening season is drawing to a close. Given this, you may be wondering what to do with the herbal bounty still growing in your garden. Must you make pesto with all of your basil? Must you take…
