Jekka's Herbetum Open Days

Don’t miss the chance to sneak a peak behind the scenes of Jamie Oliver’s favourite herb grower, with open days at Jekka McVicar’s new Herbetum in South Gloucestershire.

Over the last 3 years Jekka has slowly transformed her working nursery into a beautiful display garden that showcases over 300 different culinary herbs in rather stylish (and practical) wooden raised beds. It’s said to be the biggest display of its kind in the UK so you’ll find plenty of inspiration about which herbs you can try in your garden, balcony or window sill.

Jekka takes two mini-tours of her Herbetum during the day, so you have plenty of opportunity to ask her advice and pick up tips about growing herbs as well as taste some of the varieties used in a delicious selection of homemade cakes as well as herbal teas on offer in their tearoom.

Look out for the August issue of The Simple Things, featuring Jekka's herb garden planting plans.

Jekka McVicar’s Herbetum Open Days:

13, 25 & 26 July, 10am - 4pm

(13 July opens for the NGS and a £5 entry fee goes to the charity)

Find out more.

Words: Cinead McTernan

Photograph of Jekka McVicar: Jason Ingram

Recipe: Lemon verbena sherbet

In June's The Simple Things, Lia Leendertz picks early-season crops and herbs for that first taste of summer. Turn to page 44 for fresh and tasty home-grown recipes, including this one for lemon verbena sherbet.

If you don't have a dedicated space for growing veggies, you can still pack your food full of summer flavours by growing a few pots of herbs. If you haven't discovered lemon verbena, then make procuring a plant your new resolution. The leaves taste like sherbet and make the best herb tea.

Or try making lemon verbena sherbet: 'A couple of years ago I came across a recipe for making sherbet, and I have been strangely addicted to it ever since. Hand your children a little egg cup full of sherbet with a handful of strawberries to dip in - and they'll be delighted', says Lia Leendertz.

The fizziness comes from the tongue-tingling combination of citric acid and bicarbonate of soda: the moisture on your tongue sets of the reaction, releasing fizzing carbon dioxide.

Lemon verbena sherbet (makes about 70g)

You will need:

Pared peel of 4 lemons About 8 lemon verbena stems, hung up to dry for a few days 60g icing sugar 1/4 tsp citric acid (from chemists) 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1. Roast lemon peel on a baking tray in a low oven for 30 minutes until crispy.

2. Strip the leaves from the stems (they must also be crispy) and whizz peel and leaves together in a blender.

3. Sift sugar, citric acid and bicarb into a bowl and add the ground leaf and peel. Serve with sliced fruit.

Not got June’s The Simple Things yet? Buy or download your copy now.

More recipes from The Simple Things.

Sponsored post: June’s cut flower patch planting diary

Louise Curley, author of The Cut Flower Patch, shares this month’s planting diary.

'June is the month when I breathe a little sigh of relief. The seeds which I have nurtured into young plants over the last few months are all now planted into their final homes on my cut flower patch. The last of the half-hardy annuals have been planted out as the days and nights should hopefully be warm enough now for these tender plants. Cosmos, rudbeckias and dahlias will take a little longer to come into flower than the hardy annuals but they will provide buckets full of blooms throughout the summer and autumn.

'It’s a little odd after months of there being a sea of green my windowsills, greenhouses and cold frame are now empty. It would be easy to sit back and think that was the last of the seed sowing for the year but there’s a range of plants which can be sown now if you can muster up some more seed sowing energy. Miss this opportunity and you’ll miss out on some of the best cut flowers.

'Biennials tend to be a bit neglected but they are well worth the effort. Sow from now up until mid-July and they’ll make small plants this year which will sit in the ground over winter. Then, next spring they will shoot away providing cut flowers in late spring through to August. This makes them perfect for that difficult gap when spring bulbs have finished and your hardy annuals are yet to start flowering. Sweet williams and wallflowers are classic cottage garden flowers; both are fragrant and last well once picked. Other biennials to try are Iceland poppies, forget-me-nots, sweet rocket and honesty.'

Louise Curley is the author of The Cut Flower Patch, published by Frances Lincoln.

Tools of the trade: 5 most useful potting shed tools

It's Chelsea Flower Show this week, and we can't wait to get out in the garden. Come shopping for potting shed tools with The Simple Things!  

Is a spade more useful than a fork, or a hoe essential if you grow veg? We investigate the five most useful tools for the potting shed.

1. Soil sieve

This tool looks great hanging up in a shed, but it's also a very practical bit of kit that helps cover seeds in pots and trays if you're not using vermiculite chips. You can buy new sieves, but you can't beat the worn, wooden vintage models. If you're doing a bigger job and need to sieve wheelbarrows of soil, why not knock up your own? Make two timber frames, a little larger than the barrow, sandwich mesh in between and fix in place with screws.

2. Tubtrug

A plastic tubtrug is a great addition to a potting shed as you can use if for many jobs, such as carrying tools out to the garden, filling with green waste when you're tidying, or soaking bare-rooted plants prior to planting out. (Of course, our favourite use is as a large ice-bucket to chill beer and wine after a hard day's graft in the borders!

3. Potting bench tray

If you don't have the luxury of a potting bench, this is a useful alternative that can be placed on any flat, even surface. It's the best way to tackle a seed-sowing session and keep all your compost in one area. Potting bench trays are available in plastic, metal or wood, so you can choose one to suit your budget.

4. Garden knife

A small, foldaway knife is a lifesaver in the garden. Whether you're taking cuttings, nicking a rogue sucker off a raspberry cane, or opening a bag of compost, it's all you need. Garden knives come in a range of styles with plastic, metal or wooden handles. It's a good idea to try before you buy - hold one in your hand to ensure it feels comfortable. If you don't like the idea of having to maintain your tools, go for stainless steel rather than carbon steel, as it won't rust.

5. Hoe

For a speedy way to keep on top of the weeds, find a hoe that really works for you. They come in a range of designs, from a Dutch hoe with a forward-facing blade that cuts through established and seedling weeds, to a half moon shape that helps access awkward parts of a garden border. A short-handled hoe is useful for more focused work.

Sponsored post: May’s cut flower patch planting diary

Louise Curley, author of The Cut Flower Patch, shares this month’s planting diary. 'For most places in the UK May is the month when the danger of frost eases and planting out on to the cut flower patch can begin in earnest. The transition from sunny, protected windowsill or greenhouse to the great outdoors can be quite a shock to young plants. The best way to ease this impact is to harden off any plants for a few weeks by gradually acclimatising them to cooler temperatures, wind and rain. Cold frames are perfect for this job but grouping pots together in a sheltered spot near your house and covering them with a layer of horticultural fleece at night will work just as well.

'Hardy annuals are the first plants to be planted out on to the cut flower patch this month and they will keep me supplied in flowers right through until the first frosts in October or November. There are sunflowers such as ‘Vanilla Ice’, the pincushion-like flowers of Scabiosa atropurpurea, ammi, cornflowers and, for climbing up hazel wigwams, I couldn’t be without fragrant sweet peas. And if spring has caught up with you a little this year and you feel like you’ve missed the boat when it comes to seed sowing don’t despair. Garden centres and some mail order plant nurseries have small cut flower plants which are perfect for planting in May.

'Spring bulbs may be fading but summer flowering varieties are perfect for planting this month. Bulbs take up very little room so are fantastic for maximising your cut flower growing potential – plant in blocks or in between low growing flowers such as statice and Anemone coronaria. Plant acidantheras and freesias for scented flowers in August and September, and forget the old fashioned, frumpy reputation of gladioli; there are some fabulous varieties to choose from. Grow the sumptuous crimson coloured ‘Espresso’, the rich velvety ‘Purple Flora’ or the zingy ‘Green Star’. Sometimes arranging a traditional cut flower in a more contemporary way is all it takes to update an image. Try putting single stems of gladioli in a massed collection of simple milk bottle vases for a modern take on these exotic blooms.'

Louise Curley is the author of The Cut Flower Patch, published by Frances Lincoln.

Gardening: Where the Wild Things Grow

Don’t miss a new exhibition, Where the Wild Things Grow at Oxford House  in London’s Bethnal Green. It’s part of the Chelsea Fringe Festival - the boho, earthy cousin of the more high-brow RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and promises to be a fascinating take on the natural world we often overlook - if we see it all.

Where the Wild Things Grow

Photographer, Paul Debois; gardener, TV presenter and author, Alys Fowler; and photographer and artist, Lynn Keddie, were collectively inspired to document nature’s canny persistence to send out green shoots in the most unlikely places. Their exhibition aims to record ‘the ordinary everyday weed, or wildling, and asks us to take notice of the botany, history and geography of our pavements, building edges, bridges and step cracks.

Our garden editor Cinead McTernan had 5 minutes to talk with Paul Debois about the show.

What made you first notice the wild things in our cities?

I frequently walk around towns and cities photographing urban landscapes. As a garden photographer, I often saw escapees - cultivated plants that were making a bid for freedom! I started recording them at first, just as notes. But it soon started to evolve into the project you see today. The first shots I actually took were in towns in Spain, but I soon started to find wildlings in London too.

What's the most unusual wildling you discovered growing?

I found a fig growing in one of the crane buckets outside Battersea Power Station. It's difficult to see at first. I thought it was a bizarre contrast.

When does a wildling become a thing of beauty and a subject for an image as opposed to being 'just a weed growing in the wrong place'

It's possible a wildling is never a thing of beauty in a traditional sense. It's the location and tenacity of a plant combined becoming a point of fascination. It could be a nuisance weed, it could be a classic garden flower. No garden manual would recommend planting in such locations. They would class you as mad for even thinking about it. The appearance of a 'wildling' is nature saying it's quite happy without us interfering. It's the event.

How did you, Alys and Lynne come together to create this Chelsea Fringe exhibition?

I was talking to Lynn about developing a joint exhibition of paintings and photographs. Soon after, I made a short video with Alys, called 'Commuterland', which was accompanied by an essay. Alys made references to Wildlings. The collaboration developed and grew from this.

Will you be touring the exhibition for non-Londoners?

We haven't considered touring yet, as we're so busy preparing for the Chelsea Fringe event. But we would definitely consider a new location if you have ideas in Bristol.

...........

It sounds an excitingly interactive show too - you can listen to Aly’s commentary about the exhibition as well as book on a walk around the neighbourhood with either Paul, Alys or Lynn, to learn about the journey any wildlings took to get to their final destination.

The trio will also be talking to guests and answering questions in the gallery from 6.30pm on 24th May.

Don’t miss the chance to enjoy delicious food in the pop-up restaurant hosted by Clarke and Lee - you’ll need to book ahead.

Finally, if you have little ones, why not get them to take part in the photo competition to snap a wild thing in a surprising place. Prizes will be presented on Thursday 22nd May at 4pm.

Images: Paul Debois (bicycle); Alys Fowler (mushrooms)

Gardening: Grow your own smoothie garden

Gardening can be thirsty work, so what could be better than sipping the fruits of your labours? We're planning to try to grow smoothie ingredients in our very own smoothie garden this summer. Plant pots with a range of fruits and leaves to start yourself on a homegrown smoothie adventure.

Perfect Pears

A truly versatile fruit tree, pears can be pot-grown as a standard (tree-shaped) or trained in elegant fans, espaliers or even 'step-overs' (just one branch high and low enough to step over), which make such a great edge to a vegetable patch. Making them especially tempting smoothie ingredients, homegrown pears have a thin skin compared to the tougher commercial varieties that have been bred not to bruise in transit. They'll add a distinctive flavour to your smoothie too.

Beautiful Beetroot

These crimson-fleshed bulbs are easy to grow and delicious to eat fresh. Choose varieties wisely and you can have a supply almost all year round. Adding a deep red colour to a smoothie, their earthy flavour works well with sweeter fruits. Go for 'Boltardy' for an early crop (as its name suggests, it won't bolt either). 'Regala' is ideal for containers thanks to its small, golf-ball size even when mature. You can also use the young leaves in smoothies as a substitute for kale or spinach.

Colourful Cabbage

Don't be put off by the thought of slippery, tough green leaves that your granny might have served along with the soggy sprouts for Sunday lunch. For a start, the Italian variety 'Cavolo Nero' is not only delicious but tender, too. It has dark, almost black-green, spear-shaped leaves that look really striking.

Power-packed Blueberries

Considered superfruits because they're extremely high in antioxidants, blueberries are best grown in their own containers as they need ericaceous (acid) soil. If you have space, grow several varieties to encourage a larger yield. If you go for an early variety like 'Earliblue' and a late one, such as the large-berried 'Chandler', you'll have a harvesting season stretching from July to September.

Lissome Lettuce

Romaine, also known as cos, is ideal fro smoothies. The juicy, crisp green leaves have a sweet flavour, and it's easy to grow, so try sowing thickly for a summer-long supply of baby cut-and-come-again leaves rather than allowing seedlings more room to bulk up into a heart. Direct sow from March and you can keep going until August. 'Jabeque', an organic variety, is a reliable cropper and slow to bolt, while 'Chartwell' is resistant to downy mildew and copes in hot, dry weather.

Moreish Mint

There are so many delicious varieties of mint, it seems a shame to limit yourself to just one. From pineapple mint to ginger mint, strongly-flavoured Moroccan mint to the more familiar spearmint, they're easy to grow and attract bees, butterflies and hoverflies. They're vigorous plants, so keep their growth under control by planting in a large plastic pot and sinking this in a border or within a container. Restricting mint's roots in this way will prevent it from overwhelming neighbouring plants.

Want more?

For more information on the plants outlined above, and for our favourite homegrown smoothie recipes, turn to page 76 of May's issue of The Simple Things (on sale 29 April 2014 - buy here).

Adventurous with your smoothie ingredients? Tell us about it on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. We'd love to share your ideas.

Sponsored post: April's cut flower patch planting diary

Louise Curley, author of The Cut Flower Patch, shares this month's planting diary.

'Another season on my cut flower patch is starting to come together. After months of poring over seed catalogues and making wish lists of the plants I want for cutting I can actually get started on the best bit – the growing. April is a month of frantic activity with every available surface that gets enough light covered with seed trays and pots. Early sowings in March tend to be indoors to protect them from the fickle nature of spring weather but by now the ground should be warm enough to sow hardy annuals directly into the soil. Country lore used to suggest testing the temperature of the soil by sitting on it with a bare bottom. An easier and less embarrassing way is to see if weed seeds are germinating. If it’s warm enough for them then it’s perfect for your hardy annuals too.

'Sowing directly is an option if you don’t have much space to start off seeds indoors and is the best way to grow certain plants which dislike the root disturbance involved in sowing into trays and then transplanting them. Hardy annuals to sow direct include nigella, cornflowers, ammi, dill, calendula and sunflowers. Direct sown seedlings are vulnerable to slug attack and, as their roots have yet to develop fully, they will suffer in a dry spell, so check over your cut flower patch regularly. Water if necessary and use organic slug pellets to protect your young plants.

'Now is also the time to start off your half-hardy flowers. These are plants which originate from countries such as Mexico. They need warmth to germinate and grow, any hint of frost and they’ll be wiped out. Sow now into seed trays, place on a sunny windowsill and they will be the perfect size to plant out by the end of May when any danger of frost should have passed. Half-hardies perfect for your cut flower patch include zinnias, cosmos, rudbeckia and ten week stocks.'

Louise Curley is the author of The Cut Flower Patch, published by Frances Lincoln.

Sow and grow

The Simple Things Gardening Editor, Cinead McTernan goes back to gardening school, with a course on sowing seeds. Read her top tips for healthy sowing and growing. No matter how many times I sow seeds nothing quite beats the buzz of seeing little green shoots as they start to germinate. The journey from seed to plant is like some form of alchemy and it still amazes me that in a matter of months these tiny things provide a season’s worth (or more) of foliage, flowers and crops.

If you’re new to growing, it’s a good idea to read up about sowing seeds or, better still, find a course that will take you through the basics and ensure you have success when it comes to growing your own plants.

I recently spent the most inspiring morning with garden writer Zia Allaway. She runs half day and day workshops from her Garden Room at her Hertfordshire home. She covers an interesting range of subjects from sowing to propagating, and from container growing to planning a veg garden.

I chose to brush up on my seed sowing techniques and though I’ve sown a fair few seeds in my time I picked up some clever tips that will ensure I get my seeds off to the very best start this year. Thanks to Zia I will try to be more vigilant when it comes to spotting the moment my seeds start to germinate when they’re in a propagator (or covered seed tray). Removing the plastic cover as soon as the green shoots appear will help prevent the dreaded damping off disease from killing-off a tray or pot of seedlings.

Knowledge is power as they say, and we spent an interesting hour or so going over the science behind seeds - why and how they grow. Zia believes that understanding the whole picture will give you useful pointers about how to look after your seedlings and plants when you start sowing yourself. It’s a great way to approach other aspects of gardening too - if you’re choosing a new plant, knowing where it originally came from indicates where it will grow best in your own garden: If a plant is used to the dry hot Mediterranean conditions found in its native habitat, chances are it won’t be very happy in a damp, woodland area.

The other great thing about gardening courses is that you have the chance to get your hands dirty. After coffee and cake Zia took us through sowing dahlia seeds and pricking out dahlia seedlings. Not only great fun, it helped boost confidence levels for those attendees that weren’t familiar with the techniques. I found it thoroughly inspiring and a morning spent talking seeds with Zia prompted me to do another round of seed-ordering when I got home that afternoon. It also sowed the seeds of an idea to grow extra plants to sell on my doorstep!

Grow indoor herbs PLUS a competition (closed 30 April 2014)

Add colour to your kitchen and flavour to your food…and win some brilliant freebies along the way! Choose a few herbs to grow indoors and you'll be killing two birds with one stone. You'll instantly be able to enliven home-cooked dishes with fresh flavours as well as introducing a bit of colour and interest in your kitchen while you're at it.

Indoor herbs are easy to grow providing you give them plenty of light and water them regularly - though not too much as their roots won't appreciate 'sitting' in water. Read on for our top tips, and win with Carbon Gold.

Choose robust varieties like rosemary, bay, thyme, mint, basil, parsley and hyssop if you're new to growing and buy from a good independent garden nursery. Don't be tempted to pot up supermarket-bought plants because they've been raised in specific conditions (warm temperatures and often grown in water) which make them more delicate and less likely to thrive for longer than the few weeks shelf-life they've been raised for.

Says The Simple Things' Gardening Editor, Cinead McTernan:

'I went for hyssop, which I can add to soups and stews and when the weather warms up a bit, salads. I use thyme in lots of cooking and found a really pretty variety, 'Foxley' from my local garden centre.'

Go for herbs with fairly shallow roots rather than long, tap roots if you're growing in smaller indoor pots, again to give them the best chance of growing healthily. You can use quirky containers and recycle tins, pots, and other vessels but make sure they're big enough to give the plants chance to develop a good root system, and if they don't have a drainage hole (such as a very large teapot), add a few stones to create a layer of drainage.

Fill your container with compost - go for peat-free if you can and try something like Carbon Gold'sGroChar, which is fantastic for retaining moisture in the soil. You won't have to water so often, which is ideal if you're often out and about. Cinead bought two thyme plants, dividing and planting one in the Allison's bread tin using Grochar and leaving the other in its pot.

She says: 'I often discover that the one left in the pot has dried out and I've had issues with browning leaves due to irregular watering (or lack of watering). No such problems with GroChar. Top tip: If you're using GroChar, you might think the soil is dry. Use your finger to test just underneath the top layer of soil and check the moisture levels, watering only when this feels dry.'

Don't be afraid to divide herbs, teasing the roots apart carefully, to end up with two or three plants rather than just one.

Try sowing seeds too - micro herbs are a great idea as they'll be ready to harvest in a matter of weeks and the small leaves are packed with an intense flavour compared with the mature leaves. Again, Carbon Gold have a really good seed sowing compost which I'm going to try. I've chosen 3 varieties from Jekka's Herb Farm - Bull's Blood, Wild Rocket and Red Frills Mustard. Check back in a few weeks to see how my micro seeds get on...

COMPETITION

Add colour to your kitchen and flavour to your food…and win some brilliant freebies along the way!

Give seeds the best start in Carbon Gold’s Seed Compost and add a dash of glamour by planting them in something out of the ordinary – vintage tins, charity shop teapots or even a colourful wellington boot!

Carbon Gold would love to hear about the most quirky container you’d use to house your herbs.

Their favourite idea will win a Home Grower Starter Pack worth £51.95 and five runners up will win a 1kg tube of Soil Improver each.

You have until April 30 2014 to share your most inspired ideas! Here’s how to take part…

1. Simply ‘like’ the Carbon Gold Facebook page

2. Seek out The Simple Things competition poster nestled amongst Carbon Gold’s Facebook pictures

3. Leave a comment underneath the poster, sharing your creative container concepts.

Competition closes 30 April 2014

Escape: The country's oldest daffodil hotspot

They brighten our homes and herald spring. Grow them, visit them or simply enjoy them - you've got to love a daff While the wild daffodils of the Lake District, with their Wordsworth associations, might be the most well known, the largest concentration of daffodils in Britain is the so-called 'Golden Triangle' around the town of Newent and the villages of Dymock and Kempley, on the Gloucestershire/Herefordshire border.

Quite why the plant should be here in such huge quantities is impossible to say; at some stage the plant must have appeared and then had better opportunities to survive and spread than elsewhere. One reason is that since Medieval times the open woodland it prefers has been maintained through selective cutting and coppicing - both traditional management practices - creating conditions that are perfect for certain bulbs: wild daffodils, wild garlic and English bluebells. Deciduous woodland offers enough shade to suppress grass but enough light early in the year for the bulbs to shoot. Grazing, by sheep, cattle or pigs, also helped reduce bramble, the greatest enemy of bulbs.

Find the stems to suit your style

Every garden needs the morale boost of cheery daffodils in early spring - pick your favourites

THE CLASSICS - reliable, good all-rounders Carlton AGM (Large-cupped), Dutch Master AGM (Trumpet), Golden Rapture AGM (Trumpet), King Alfred (Trumpet), Saint Keverne AGM (Large-cupped)

THE PURISTS - white varieties Broomhill AGM (Large-cupped), Empress of Ireland AGM (Trumpet), Ice Follies AGM (Large-cupped), Misty Glen AGM (Small-cupped), Mount Hood AGM (Trumpet), Dickissel AGM (Jonquil)

For more, including THE OLDIES, THE SHORTIES, THE WILD THINGS, THE POT HEADS, and THE EARLY BIRDS, plus a guide to the best locations in the Golden Triangle, turn to page 82 of The Simple Things issue 21.

Buy now, or have a look through the digital sampler:

Zingy sorrel soup

Sorrel is one of those herbs that’s not as well known as it should be. It’s easy to grow, will come back year after year and tastes utterly delicious - a sort of zingy, lemon flavour that works just as well in savoury dishes as it does in sweet. If you don’t grow it yourself, (and you should) keep an eye out for wild sorrel in fields and hedgerows, anytime from now onwards. Cinead McTernan, gardening editor shows us how to use sorrel to flavour a soup. Thanks to my brother-in-law, Chef Paul Collins, over the years I’ve picked up some clever tips about using sorrel in soups. I always use the larger, more mature leaves to make soup, leaving the young, tender leaves for salads. I make a simple potato and onion base and add three handfuls of shredded leaves (having removed any tough stalks) at the last moment, blanching them quickly before buzzing up in the liquidiser. All you need is 3-4 potatoes, 2 medium onions - both peeled and diced; 1.5 pints of vegetable stock (or chicken), plenty of seasoning and, of course, sorrel leaves. Using a heavy saucepan, sweat the onion and potato in butter over a gentle heat. Add the stock to the potatoes and onions once they are soft, but not browned, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the sorrel leaves and let them wilt, season well and pour into a food processor. Buzz up until it's a nice smooth consistency and serve with fresh crusty bread.

It has to be said that sorrel does loose its fresh, green colour once it's cooked - I don't mind this as it's so tasty, but if you’re looking to try and keep as much colour in your soup as possible, Paul suggests using young leaves, simply adding them in the liquidiser just as you’re about to blend your soup. They’re so tender the heat of the soup-liquor will be enough to ‘cook’ them.

He also recommends using a handful or two of spinach along with the sorrel leaves to help boost the colour. Don't be tempted to use too much as it will overpower that deliciously fresh, lemony sorrel flavour.

Queen of herbs, Jekka McVicar, has an amazing recipe for sorrel soup in her ‘Herb Cookbook’. It was her grandmother, Ruth Lowinsky’s recipe, who was also a cookery book writer, and was included in her book ‘Food for Pleasure’ published in 1950. The recipe calls for 3 large handfuls of sorrel, a knob of butter (the size of an egg), seasoning and 300ml of chicken stock. I love the additional touch of 2 egg yolks and a tablespoon of milk that’s mixed into the broth just before serving and thinly sliced bread, toasted and broken into ‘crutons’.

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s Lentil and Sorrel soup is another favourite winter warmer and well worth a try.

How not to kill a houseplant

THE HOUSE PLANT IS BACK (and not a spider plant in sight!). Create an pretty indoor country garden like this one or a striking display of succulents (the minimalist houseplant perfect for the lazy gardener). Don't be put off by any previous disasters, follow the golden rules of how to keep your house plants happy and your indoor garden will thrive.

9 ways not to kill your house plants

1. Position with care. Choose plants that suit the light levels and temperature of the room in which they'll be positioned - don't expect a sun-loving plant to thrive in a cold, shady area.

2. Avoid extremes. Windowsills in direct sunlight will be too hot for most houseplants. Don't place houseplants over direct sources of heat, such as radiators. Make sure you keep delicate plants away from drying draughts.

3. Seek the light. Ensure there's sufficient light for your plants to photosynthesise effectively.

4. Pot on regularly. You should aim to repot your house plants into larger pots every two years or so to help them thrive. Use a good compost such as GroChar from Carbon Gold.

5. Be well equipped. Use the proper tools for indoor gardening. You'll need a long-spouted watering can, a mister, a long-handled fork and a pair of scissors.

6. Water wisely. Don't overwater house plants - adding drainage material to the bottom of the pot will help to keep roots aerated and ensure they don't drown.

7. Allow to rest. During the winter, move plants to a cooler position - most plants are dormant at this time, so don't need as much sunlight. Reduce the amount of water and food you provide to prevent mould and root rot. Move plants away from windows, which will be too cold in winter.

8. Be vigilant. Learn to recognise potential problems early on before a pest infestation or other physiological problems kill off your plants. Danger signs for low air humidity include flower buds falling off, leaves withering and leaves with brown tips. Signs of high humidity include mould, rot and soft growth.

9. Think long-term. Some popular house plants have a short growing period, so choose plants that will thrive for longer if you want a year-round display.

Read more about how to create your indoor garden in The Green Room, Issue 20 of The Simple Things, out now.

The House Gardener by Isabelle Palmer. Photography Helen Cathcart. Cico Books.

Rabbits are cute, as long as they're not in our gardens...

Remember the story about Beatrix Potter's cheeky Peter Rabbit and the long-suffering Mr. McGregor?

While we might think Mr. McGregor is mean and grumpy towards Peter and his family, it’s a regrettable truth that rabbits and gardens really don’t mix. Though most of us would prefer to live in harmony with our fluffy friends, the reality is they cause immeasurable damage to young trees and munch their way through newly planted borders and veg patches in one sitting.

Forewarned is forearmed as the saying goes, and rabbits are at their busiest during winter and spring, so it’s the perfect time to plan ahead to prevent them from causing mayhem in your plot this year...

It’s thought by some gardeners that family pets can be enough of a deterrent to nervous young rabbits, but while this might help in smaller gardens, a dog or a cat isn’t a practical solution at night when your pets are most likely to be found snoozing indoors (or if you have an allotment or veg patch away from your house). Alternatively, you could try a deterrent-based product that you’ll find in garden centres, DIY stores and online. They range from chemical-based sprays to gadgets that emit a sonic pulse or offensive odour. Be warned, success rates can be fairly erratic so it might not be worth spending too much money trying these out.

Rabbits are inquisitive creatures and will happily try those precious new plants and shrubs that you’ve bought. Try covering freshly planted specimens with nets or, if you’re really infested with rabbits, it might be worth going for varieties that are generally considered to be unpopular with rabbits, like peony, veronica, saliva, siberian iris, astilbe, allium, daylily. The RHS has a useful and comprehensive lists of plants and trees.

When it comes to the veg garden, rabbits can be fairly ruthless, leaving you little in the way of untouched crops to harvest. The one-acre, organic kitchen garden at The Grove in Pembrokeshire is surrounded by glorious countryside, and so vulnerable to rabbits who have to make the short journey from field to veg patch for their breakfast, lunch and dinner. Thankfully, head gardener, David Butt, is something of a horticultural genius and swears by his homemade garlic ‘potion’ to keep the rabbits at bay. The recipe is simple, 400g of garlic granules in a muslin bag tied to the inside of a 10 litre watering can filled with water. He leaves it for a day to steep and then decants the liquid. He dilutes 100ml of the garlic concentrate with 10 litres of water and spray over plants and crops.

However, if rabbits are a real problem for you, Richard Todd, Head Gardener at the National Trust’s Anglesey Abbey, suggests investing in a rabbit-proof fence to secure the whole garden to keep rabbits and all manner of other pests out. When they recently planted their new Winter Garden, the first consideration was to build such a fence around the perimeter to ensure their new, young trees, shrubs and plants would be left untouched. You can build them yourself or if you're not that handy with a mallet and drill, find a pest control company to do it for you. If you’re planting a few trees, rather than an arboretum’s worth, Richard says that a spiral tree guard is sufficient  to protect the vulnerable bark. In true National Trust style, he adds ‘wrap wire netting around the tree guard and peg it into the ground as a belt and braces measure’.

Create your own indoor herb garden

Create your own indoor herb garden this weekend and you could be picking homegrown rosemary to flavour your Sunday roast!

WHAT TO GROW There's nothing more rewarding than enhancing your cooking using homegrown freshly picked herbs. Plant this trio and you're covered for a host of dishes.

THYME can be grown successfully indoors – it simply needs a bright windowsill and some basic care and attention to thrive.

ROSEMARY The heady scent emanating from rosemary is delicious, and this highly fragrant herb is very easy to grow. Being a Mediterranean herb, it will appreciate a warm sunny spot.

LAVENDER The lavender plant makes a lovely partner for both the thyme and the rosemary. Lavender is hard to resist, boasting beautiful flowers and an arresting scent. It adds a delicate flavour to cooking that’s especially wonderful in light desserts.

HOW TO PLANT YOUR CONTAINER A wooden crate found in a junk shop makes a perfect herb garden planter.

You will need

• An old wooden crate
• Drainage material eg. gravel or small pebbles
• Potting compost. We recommend environmentally friendly, peat-free enriched BioChar compost eg. GroChar from Carbon Gold.
• Decorative mulch eg. fine gravel or shells

1. Cover the bottom of the crate with a layer of drainage material, such as gravel or pebbles, aiming to fill about a quarter of the container’s volume. This will allow the roots to breathe and prevent them from drowning.

2. Fill the container with potting mix to bring the plant up so that the top of the root-ball is just beneath the rim of the container. Make sure it is not lopsided.

3. Carefully feed more potting mix in between the plants and container, and firm it down. Avoid compacting the potting mix too much, though, as this will hinder drainage.

4. Add a layer of decorative mulch, such as fine gravel or shells, to finish off the planting. Not only does this make the container look more attractive, but it can also help to reduce the rate of water evaporation.

Find more inspiring indoor gardening ideas in issue 20 of The Simple Things.

Cabbage never tasted this good

The star of our Seed to Stove series, Lia Leendertz, is turning her winter crop of cabbages and kale into tangy winter treats in this month's The Simple Things (Issue 19).  Cavolo nero crispy seaweed anyone? If you're inspired to grow your own crop, Lia has persuaded the good people at Otter Farm in Devon to do a special offer on her favourite varieties of cabbage. So click here to buy seeds of Cavalo Nero (25% off) and Red Russian at £1.50 per packet instead of £2. Type in the code SimpleThingsKale.

Otter Farm is a treasure trove of unusual and forgotten foods. Smallholder Mark Diacono grows them on his plot and has written an award-winning book A Taste of the Unexpected. He sells plants and seeds through his online shop.