Last night I went to a lecture by Jekka McVicar – who has to be the UK’s leading herb specialist. She had a large auditorium packed out, and gave a talk that was very well suited to the audience, but a bit lightweight for a keen kitchen gardener or herb enthusiast.
I did still scribble a lot of notes. The topic was ‘Herbs for Scents and Sense’ and although you’re not allowed to assign medicinal value to herbs unless it has been scientifically proven (EU rules!) you are allowed to comment on how herbs have been medicinally used in the past, or what their reputed benefits are.
Woad (Isatis tinctoria) is one of our native plants, and as such will feature in Jekka’s display at Chelsea later on this year. Apparently it smells of honey, which would be a pleasant scent to add to a garden. Woad is famous as a dye plant, and urine is used to extract the dye, but Jekka also mentioned that the leaves are edible (although PFAF suggests they’re not very nice).
Lavendar makes a great moth and mosquito repellent, and is also a natural antisceptic. The leaves are edible, and the flowers are used to flavour sugar, which can then be made into kick-ass meringues!
A useful culinary herb, an infusion of Thyme can also be added to bathwater to sooth aching backs (useful for the diggers among us!).
And apparently basil makes a nice herbal tea, and is a good flavouring for puddings (Jekka mentioned panna cotta). It’s a natural anti-depressant, and mosquito repellent.
I’ll be tweeting some more of my notes as the day goes on.
Jekka has an online shop for seeds and plants, and if you visit the website you can also find details of the Open Days for her nursery in Bristol.