How could I make such a mistake- I watch Monty Don every week!

I've decided to grow my bedding plants from seed this year. That's what being (semi) retired does to you - well to me anyway.

On a glorious sunny day last week I sowed Cosmos, Nigella, Zinnia and Cornflowers into seed plug trays ( a bargain at Hayes , £1.99 for 5 trays of 40 plugs).

I sowed,and then I wrote labels, just like Monty, ("always make sure you label your seeds") and stuck the labels in the seed trays. I made the labels from shiny cardboad, and wrote them with a felt pen.

3 days later, I have seedlings already- fantastic! The only problem is that the labels are now damp, the ink has run, and I don't know what's what.

Basic lesson well learned- use permanent ink on plastic, not soluble ink on card. Obviously. Doh!

I think the first seedling to show are Cosmos. I grew Cosmos from seed last year, as I struggle to find the bedding plants  locally and they tend to be quite expensive. They were brilliant. So easy, so impressive. If I'd known years ago how easy Cosmos was to grow from seed ............ but then every gardener always has regrets don't they?

Here a picture of Cosmos in my Lake District garden last year.

Cosmos grown from seed, White Moss House, Grasmere 2014

If you can't get down to your garden centre you can buy seeds online from Amazon. Here's the link for UK readers



Readers in the USA and Canada can buy Cosmos seeds via this picture link.

Now is the time to plant Lovage

Do you have lovage in your garden? If not, now is the time to sow seeds. In a few weeks you'll be able to buy lovage plants ready to go straight into the garden.

Here's an article I've written about Lovage- how to grow and use the Lovage herb.

If you visit it please leave a message.

Do you love lovage? It tastes rather like celery, it's easy to grow, you can use it all summer in salads and recipes, and it looks pretty too.

Here's a picture of lovage in my herb garden.

Lovage at White Moss House, Grasmere

The sorrel is just appearing, but no sign yet of lovage.

At this time of year I'm checking the herb garden to see if any fresh herbs are on their way.

The tiniest shoots of sorrel are just peeping through, but there is no sign yet of  the lovage . If you click on the links, you'll find lots of reasons to grow these two great herbs.

Lovage in my White Moss Grasmere garden

These two herbs are easy to grow, and as they are not often found in shops, it makes sense to grow your own. Now is the time to sow! You can buy seeds from Amazon.

For more information about sorrel and lovage see my page "Two unusual herbs" 

Rhododendrons - seen around our Lakes holiday cottage and White Moss House

Last year I took a few snaps whilst on my favourite short walk. White Moss House to Brockstone holiday cottage, left past White Moss tarn, down to the duck pond above Dove Cottage, then left back along the old road , past Mark the ice cream man ( stopping for a chat), and back to White Moss House.

I took some photos of the local gardens. Here's one of them. For more photos you can click through to my new Grasmere holiday cottage website. 

Here's a sample.

The herb garden is looking good already, and the sweet cicely is ready for the rhubarb.

With a warm winter and spring, our herb garden is already offering a good choice of fresh herbs. Whenever we cook, we just pop out of the back door and pick whatever seems to fit the meal.

Now that the nights are light it's even easier. No need for blind picking when there isn't a torch to hand. Right now I've got lovage,  sweet cicely,  sorrel, mint, peppermint, rosemary, thyme, sage, fennel and marjoram all at hand. Don't think that because you live in the North of England, in a cool , damp climate, you can't grow herbs. You can. We do!

The thyme and rosemary is actually in a pot, which I've kept under the eaves out of the worst of this winter's rain. In past years I've lost the thyme and rosemary, as they hate having their roots permanently wet. This year they're as happy as the proverbial Larry.

Sweet Cicely in White Moss garden.

Hers a picture of sweet cicely in our White Moss herb garden. It will be a week or so before it's as high as this, but the great thing is that there is enough leaf now to add to the wonderful fresh new rhubarb that's in the shops. The sweet cicely cuts the sharpness of the rhubarb, so you don't need so much sugar. Grow sweet cicely and keep the calories down. Add it to fruit dishes and halve the sugar. That's Herb Magic.
Speaking of Herb Magic, here's a book for herb fans that's on my wish list.

Do you grow lovage?

We love lovage ( corny but true)

During our 30 + years as a top restaurant in the Good Food Guide, lovage featured in many of our dishes. Now with the latest fashion for using a wide range of herbs and finding things in hedgerows, lovage is getting more common in the kitchens of top chefs such as Simon Rogan.

Lovage is very easy to grow. Read all about how to grow and use lovage here.

Here in the Lakes our lovage is already 6 inches high in our Grasmere garden and growing every day. Soon we'll be using the leaves in salads, stews, soups, garnishes. Here's a picture if you're not sure what lovage is. It looks a bit like celery and tastes a little like celery.

You can buy lovage plants ready to go from Amazon UK here. If you prefer to buy the seeds, did you know that Amazon also stock a great range of seeds with free delivery if you order several items? Click on the photo to buy Suttons Lovage seeds from Amazon UK.