Herbs for Healthy People, Pollinators & Soil

Join us on this summer’s morning to learn how to grow herbs and edible flowers that thrive abundantly at this time of year, with a focus on healthy people, pollinators and soil. We’ll spend the morning in Teas for Bees’ small-scale ecological herb farm where Jo will introduce us to all of the herbs she grows for cooking and herbal teas, and the beneficial insects they attract.

The lavender and lavandin flowers will be nearing the time of harvest when we distill them for their essential oils. You will be invited to harvest a bunch to take home. The deep purple buds of varieties of Lavandula angusifolia such as ‘Imperial Gem’ are perfect for their scent or use in baking.

Focusing on our herbs we will then look at how you can grow your own plants, by understanding;

• soil regeneration & maintenance
• how to make new plants by propagation of a variety of health-giving perennial herbs, including; rosemary, catmint, lavender’s, oregano/wild marjoram, hyssop, sage and fennel. You will be able to choose herbs to take cuttings from to take home
• compost preparation
• methods for sowing seeds of edible annual and tender perennial flowers and herbs; calendula, cornflowers, crysanthemums, marshmallow and many more
• the different pollinator and natural insect predators which visit our flowers 
• how to care organically for established plants – feeding, pest control, pruning. 

We’ll celebrate our summer session by building a fire and harvesting our own herbal tea ingredients to infuse around the camp fire, with delicious nourishing herbal treats prepared by Field Food.

This course can be taken as a stand alone workshop or is available to purchase as part of our Complete Guide to to Herb Cultivation across the year.

About Jo and Teas for Bees

The roots of Teas for Bees’ small ecological farm have grown out of a lifelong interest in the ecology of the natural world and a wish to live in balance with nature. They grow a variety of wonderful flowers, herbs, shrubs and trees that are suited to the soil and climate and benefit our beautiful pollinators (as well as other wildlife too!).

Jo uses the leaves, flowers, fruits and roots to produce the herbal teas and fresh herb and flower bouquets.