The deer have been busy whilst we've been away.

We've been away for three weeks and the deer have got bolder. Nothing much keeps them out at this time of year when nothing much is growing, but our absence and lack of human scent does seem to encourage them. Even though it is just the beginning of March, we had hoped to see the early herbs peeping out. The Lake District has had a lovely sunny two weeks, and though cold at night, the days have been glorious. Herbs such as Lovage should be ready to start growing very soon, but any shoots that pop up are immediately eaten. Ho hum- the problems of wildlife in the garden never go away. This is what that lovage will look like in a few weeks time- hopefully. Click here for lots more photos and information about lovage. For more information about herbs there are lots of articles and links about how to grow herbs right here. Get planning your herb garden now for a tasty 2013.

Time to cut the sweet cicely back

Actually, I should have cut the sweet cicely back some time ago, but it was too wet or I was too busy. I got out yesterday and cut all the foliage and flower heads right down to about 2 inches off the ground. Another crop will come along soon, and we'll be able to use the sweet cicely leaves to sweeten berry desserts, so cutting down on the sugar.

For more about sweet cicely, how to grow and use it, take a look at my article All about how to grow and use sweet cicely, with recipes too. It's a pretty herb when it's in flower as you can see here.

Sweet cicely, White Moss House, Grasmere

Now's the time to take a look at the herb garden

It's hard to imagine, looking at the bare patches of soil, that pretty soon I'll have an abundance of fresh herbs in the herb garden.
If you haven't already seen all the stuff I've written about my herb garden you can pop over to this page to get started.

I think that two of my favourite herbs are sorrel and lovage. Both are easy to grow, and both are easy to use to give interesting flavours to you cooking and salads.

Here's lovage growing in the White Moss herb garden.

Time to plan your herb garden for 2012 now!

Dark at 5 pm- so little time to garden

Here we are on the first day after the clocks have gone back, and I'm realising that the joy of evening gardening is a pleasure that will now have to wait until March.

The garden has been tidied up pretty well, apart from my own private terrace, which needs a lots of TLC.The cold night a few days ago killed off the begonias, and the phlox are drooping. A serious afternoon with the secateurs and trowel is needed to clear out the debris.

The White Moss herb garden is actually looking pretty good. We've cleared all the tired herbs and weeded around, but we now have a few fresh sprouts of fennel, and some lovely fresh baby sorrel, great for making sorrel soup or using in a salad. The sage is still looking great, but probably needs to be picked and dried if it's going to be ready for Christmas stuffings.

Here's a baby sorrel leaf, still growing in our Grasmere herb garden at the end of October.

The bay tree is blooming after it's drastic pruning on the order of Monty Don this spring. Will it survive another cold winter? We'll have to wait and see.