Stoney Ground Herbs

Beautiful, strong herbs for NZ gardeners and herbalists of all levels

Pleasing The Bee’s Knees ~ Herbs to Grow for Bees

By 1 Comment

French lavender for bees

If you hadn’t heard the news, I’m now the very proud, very amateur, owner of a beehive and a humming colony of busy ladies and lazy males! I am on a quick learning curve to say the least (it was an unexpected but very gratefully received surprise gift).

Beehive

In the past I’ve had people buy herbs off me specifically for the bees and I have had a fair idea of what herbs would be best~ but now my interest has double folded and I’m looking at a lot of my plants in a new light!

Herbs for bees, Borage
Borage

A Bit of Bee Backstory…

Bees need pollen and nectar. And depending on what time of year it is and what your hive is trying to achieve, sometimes they’re searching for mainly pollen (pollen is their source of protein and is essential for the feeding of larvae) or nectar (nectar is their carb source, it is converted into honey- honey for them to live on, and stored for the cold months when plants are not flowering). Often when searching for nectar they also inadvertently collect pollen~ pollination.

(Photo by Andreas Trepte, www.avi-fauna.info)

You can see the pollen stashed on their back legs, nectar is transported in their stomach. It is in the warmer months when lots of flowers are producing the most nectar and this is called “the flow”.

Tarata/Lemonwood in flower
Tarata/Lemonwood in flower

Honey bees also need to collect water for the hive and resin (from trees and buds) to make into propolis.

Many of our native trees are excellent for nectar and pollen, a lot of our fruit trees are great for pollen but some don’t have nectar sweet enough for their taste buds (Pear as an example). But as they say (they being me), there’s a bum for every seat and an insect for every flower!

Bee on cherry plum blossom
They smother our cherry plum trees though

In New Zealand we have four different types of bumblebees, 33 ‘native’ bee species and four introduced bee species, one of these being the honey bee.

What Can We Plant for the Bees…

Being a herby person I’m going to focus on herbs that you can grow that the bees will love and appreciate (my idea of herbs is quite broad!). Firstly though, lets acknowledge their amazing visual spectrum which includes the short wavelength ultra violet range which is beyond our mere mortal human eyes. So blues, yellows, light pink/purple and white are more on their radar than reds and oranges. This is quite a cool clip I found on YouTube that shows how bees and butterflies see, I mainly like it for its music!

EARLY SPRING

It’s a pollen a go go in Spring – the Queen has started laying and there are hungry mouths to feed..

A swathe of poppies that bees would love
Brought to you by the letter P… This is a public garden bed in Masterton
  • Poppies; all and any, plant them in large swathes so it’s like a billboard for the bees, advertising food for the needy.
  • Lacy phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia); often used as green crop- let the bees in before you dig it in
  • Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
  • Honesty (Lunaria annua)
  • Borage (Borago officinalis)
  • French lavender (Lavandula dentata)
  • Let any brassicas you’ve got go to seed- the flowers are an excellent source of nectar
  • Let your dandelion flower and if you can stand it, the buttercup too.
Plants for bees, flowering kale
Kale going to seed

SUMMER ~ The flow is on!

Honey bees are native to the Mediterranean and naturally will go gah gah over thymes, rosemary, sage and oregano. There is also (in no particular order)

Herbs for bees, Rosemary
Rosemary
  • Clover
  • Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium)
  • Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
  • Geraniums/Pelargoniums
  • Rue (Ruta graveolens)
  • St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)
  • Mint (Mentha sp.)
  • Catnip (Nepeta cataria)
  • Catmint (Nepeta mussinii)
  • Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea)
  • Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea)
  • Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
  • Chive flowers (Allium schoenoprasum)
  • Borage (Borago officinalis)
  • Dandelion
  • Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
  • Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis)
  • Marjoram (Majorana hortensis)
  • Comfrey
  • Fennel (Foeniculum sp.)
  • Lovage (Levisticum officinale)
  • Self Heal (Prunella vulgaris)
  • English lavender (Lavandula spica)
  • Basil (but if you want basil for your own needs wait until the end of the season)

AUTUMN

A lot of salvias wait until autumn to flower or are flowering well into autumn. Sunflowers. All the herbs that are onto their last hurrah/going to seed before dying (annuals like basil and dill) or going to ground (perennials like chives and echinacea etc).

Salvia farinacea, Victoria blue
Salvia farinacea, Victoria blue

Even if you don’t have hives it’s really important to have flowers in your garden for the bees and all the other pollinators out there. For their health and well being as well as your gardens productivity.

And I really really hope that it goes without saying that the use of pesticides is an absolute no-no and pretty counter-productive if you’re trying to attract pollinators!

Now go to your garden and watch the bees, see what they’re gunning for, watch whether they’re lolling about in pollen or head down supping up the nectar. Wonder at how they see the world and hope that they are as thankful for your garden as you are as thankful for their existence and the food on your table!

Salvia sclarea and bumblebee
Salvia sclarea and bumblebee

References/Recommendations;

New Plants on the Books!

By Leave a Comment

Silver tansy, Tanacetum haradjanii
Silver tansy, Tanacetum haradjanii

As Spring is making itself known I’m getting a little more enthused about the coming season… Blossoms are like medicine for the soul aren’t they!

So I’ve been updating my website, working out what I’ve got, what I haven’t.. sadly I’ve had to let go of some plants as I admit defeat to this here climate, Pineapple sage is one, it does grow here, but not strong enough for me to be happy propagating from my mother plants.

But, I have added some new plants, yippee! Pictured above is one, beautiful Silver tansy is a low growing super interesting plant for the dry garden (or dry spot). Sweet violet, Self heal and Borage.

Sweet Violet, Viola odorata, plant for sale

I will also be adding Chocolate peppermint, oh yeah, if you like after dinner mints~ this is the one for you. Lemon bergamot; it’s an annual and I usually only do perennials but the flowers are so fabulous I’m bound to grow too many for just myself! Skullcap might be coming along, just waiting to see how my divisions leaf up, it’s looking pretty promising..

Stay tuned! (If you didn’t know already and you’re that way inclined, I’m on Instagram now and having a bit of fun on there, you can follow me here, https://www.instagram.com/stoneygroundherbs/)

Happy Balding Hens

By Leave a Comment

I’ve been having fun lately making up herbal concoctions for our flock of ladies.

bantam rooster with a rose comb, natural chicken keeping
Ice is our bantam rooster with a rose comb. Peaches is a buff orpington x

We currently have 33 chooks (four of those are roosters) and 15 chicks. Too many really but we are a family of five and we like our eggs!

mixed breed pullets, natural chicken keeping
Some young-uns

They free-range around our property when they’re not locked up at night, so they’re pretty lucky and have access to green pastures, tasty weeds and if they’re really naughty fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden!

free range chickens
Blue, our blue orpington x silkie, looking gorgeous

Right now though most of them are molting so just to give them an extra boost I’ve formulated a herbal crumble supplement..

moulting chicken
Poor Blue

When chickens are moulting they need vitamin A, folic acid and zinc for feather growth. As well as extra protein, warmth (circulation) and they’re a little down in the dumps and exposed, so some immunity support as well. They won’t be laying eggs as their energy is going into feather growth rather than egg production, so expect empty nests.

Moulting chicken herbal blend
She’s like a shadow of her former self

In my Moulting Blend (yep, it has a capitalised title because it’s going to be up for sale soon) I have…

  • Flaxseeds… folic acid (B9), feather growth
  • Garlic… warming, protection from infection, vit A
  • Parsley… vit A, protein, feather growth
  • Dill seed… high protein
  • Mint… feather growth, digestive health
  • Star anise… warming, anti-microbial
  • Seaweed… all round health, zinc

Moulting is a natural thing to happen to your chooks, usually yearly and usually in autumn. You can’t stop it and you can’t speed up the re-growth but you can make sure they’re getting a bit of a boost in the vitamins and minerals they need to supplement their normal balanced feed.

I’m giving my girls about a teaspoon each, every 4 days.

Moulting mama
Moulting mama, Star & chick (Barred rock x)

Other things you can do to help them through this awkward phase is to feed them sprouted alfalfa and cat meat/kibble (as in cat food – not minced cat! 😮)

Rooster and hen
Hei Hei, ironically the rooster not the chicken (hei hei is Māori for chicken) and Cocoa Pops

If this is a product you may be interested in for your own flock do let me know in the comments section or via the contact form. Would be handy to be able to gauge interest…

Other potions in the pipeline is a boosted vaseline lotion for scaley leg mite, a golden layer health blend, worming blend and a chick blend…

Sad Sam

Coming Near You Soon!

By 3 Comments

Corkscrew rush (Juncus effusus "Spiralis") kokedama
Corkscrew rush (Juncus effusus “Spiralis”) kokedama

We had a an imposed computer free week this past week (it spontaneously broke, as computers do and had a bit of a wait for a replacement). It felt a lot longer than a week! We have our phones of course which are pretty clever (and now I’m on Instagram!) but there are a few things that are easier (or preferred) to do on the computer. Emailing, updating website, listening to music! I’m one of those people that find it hard to concentrate if I don’t have music on, I’m sure I’m not the only one…. Eh?

Fortunately it’s a busy time of year and have been occupied with plenty to do, from the mundane (but satisfying) weeding to having a stall at various markets. This weekend I’m at Te Horo Country Market on the 3rd November. Kapiti people, I’m looking forward to seeing your faces again!

I’m away in Australia the next week for my brothers wedding. It’s in NSW where their temperature lows have been our highs, hoo-wee, wish me luck in avoiding heat stroke!

Soon after I get back I’m at Woodvilles’ Mad Hatters Market, should be fun, 17th November is the date. I’ll have all my selection of herbs, plus dried herbs and my new product, kokedama.

My kokedama has been getting a really good reception. It’s about 50:50 of people that have seen kokedama before. So I’m guessing that 50% of you that are reading this may not of come across kokedama either. So please read my next article and I’ll tell you all about it.

Goldfish plant (Hypocyrta tropicana) hanging kokedama in my sons room
Goldfish plant (Hypocyrta tropicana) hanging kokedama in my sons room

One thing that I’ve been absolutely loving is how it attracts children (except when they start batting the hanging ones around!). Most kids just walk on by my stall, plants, boring. But hanging balls of plants makes them stop… “Oh, wow, cool!”…..”Oh, wow, is it a pineapple?” All fun!

So, hope your garden is getting into the spring swing of things, the weeds aren’t getting too tall and you can feel that summer vibe coming~

White sage, purple sage and climbing rosemary

I Got Me a Knife!

By Leave a Comment

He asked me if I wanted a knife.

I said, yeah, I’d like a knife.

What kind of knife? He asked.

Oh, a cleaver would be handy, I said, to you know, cut up pumpkin and cut up slices etc…

I got me a knife.

Industrial Fusion, hand forged cleaver cutting a pumpkin
You call that a knife?

Take that pumpkin!

Industrial Fusion, hand forged cleaver cutting a pumpkin
Nah, I call it a cleaver..an industrial cleaver.

If you didn’t know, my husband is a full time blacksmith. You can find his amazing creations on his website here; Industrial Fusion. It’s how we live, so it really pays to support him whilst you’re not buying my plants (which I don’t have at this time of year, I forgive you) dried herbs and tinctures!

Cleaver made by Industrial Fusion
Boom!

The whole piece is hand forged out of spring steel with an epoxy infused cord wrap. She ‘aint light but she does make short work of a pumpkin (cuts a pizza pretty good too!).

cleaver hand forged by Industrial Fusion
Nice touch with the touchmark

Touchmark there of JT (Josh Timmins), like a signature on a masterpiece!

Excuse the goose pimples! I have his touchmark too~ (Does that make me a masterpiece? Hmm, I am of my own making, his touchmark is a detail on my own canvas).

So let me run you by that again, Josh Timmins designs at industrialfusion.co.nz Go check it out.

(Promise my next post will be about herbs!)

Flash Sale!!

By Leave a Comment

Is that what they call it?

All my plants are getting too big for their pots and I’m finding places to plant them out..

This is an old photo and not accurate to what I have left..

So get in QUICK before I find homes for them here.

All plants* are $4 each (plus P&P). Here’s what I have left…..

  • Garlic chives

*All plants except White sage

So use that ol’ contact form there to put in your order, remember to give me your address, go to Ordering Your Plants for all the details that you and I need to know. Very limited stock so get in quick!!!

Aphids happen to the best of us…

By 1 Comment

I’ve just come back from a wananga with Robert Guyton at the Oxford Street Community Gardens in Masterton~ and I’m feeling all very inspired as well as comforted by the fact that good things do take time – more so with gardens and forest gardens than even cheese!

Image result for robert guyton

Of course I knew this, we all know this, but it’s good to get reminded now and then…

One thing Robert talked about that I was going to bring up on here (I have several drafts) and that is of aphids.

Aphids on a White Sage (Salvis apiana) plant

Aphids on a White Sage (Salvia apiana) plant

They’re having a bit of a field day here at the moment.  I think because we had a relatively mild winter here (so we’re told, I though it was cold enough!) so their cycle didn’t really get broken.

I’m all for squashing them.  They love white sage and calendula, actually I’m not sure what they don’t like!  But at least squashing them on the aromatics you have nice smells whilst you’re at it.

When squashing you’ve got to do it every three days for at least a couple of weeks if you want be effective.  You’ll always miss some and the poor blighters are born pregnant.  If you have plants in pots you can dunk them in water and rub the aphids off.  If you have well sturdy plants you can try blasting them off with the hose.  And repeat.  Check for ants as well; they are industrious farmers that literally farm/manage aphids for the sweet substance they excrete after sucking your plants.

Robert Guyton talked about some plants he has in profusion on his land, for example Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum), Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) and (gasp!) Hemlock (Conium maculatum).   All Umbellifers/Apiaceae and all attractive to hoverflies, and hoverflies loove aphids.  Dill, you may flower!

Now that is a long term solution that I am into.  Ladybird larvae also eat aphids.  You are not going to get these predatory/beneficial insects if you spray with chemicals though so put them away.  Please!  

It will take some time but Nature will find its balance, that’s what it does… you could almost say it’s an expert~

 

 

New Herbs and a Secret Herb!

By Leave a Comment

Hey, how’s it going?

Old English potato masher turned soil patter

I’ve been celebrating sunshine by sowing seeds (albeit still with heatpads and glasshouses!).  How are your garden plans coming along?

Black elder plants for sale, new zealand

Elder, Sambucus nigra

 

I have new herbs available for you this season.. I have Elder, Basil Mint and Pennyroyal, I have Greek Oregano, Rue is back and there’s more hopefully coming in (just waiting for those seeds to pop).

Rue, Ruta graveolens

Rue, Ruta graveolens

Are you building a new herb garden or wanting to fill in some gaps?  Looking for plants for your food forest or some companion plants for the vege patch?  I very well will have the herb for you.  Always pays to ask even if you can’t see it here on my website.

Now.  There’s one herb that I’m not advertising on my website because I’m not actually sure if I’m allowed to sell it… So if you’re reading this and know the plant I’m going to be talking about, you’ll be as excited as I was when I clapped eyes on this plant in a friends garden…

It’s Aconitum napellus, AKA Monkshood, Helmet Flower, Turks-Cap, the Aconite in your homeopath kit..

Aconitum napellus

Aconitum napellus

This is the quintessential plant of the occult.  An infamous herb that the Christians of the 15th century loved to peg onto witches.  “How is the ointment with which you you rub your broomstick made?”  Seriously, this is one of the questions asked in a witches trial, the answer they’re looking for is “Yes sir, I made my flying ointment out of Aconite and Belladonna”.  They (they being the witches of course) also made an ointment out of Aconite and other beastlies that would put witches in a “sabbatical” state in which they could leave their physical body to communicate with the spiritual world.  DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS!!

From the roots to the seeds this plant is poisonous.  It is also quite gorgeous with tall spikes of purple flowers quite similar to delphiniums.  If you’re at all interested (and I suggest you should be) here is a list of other gorgeous poisonous plants.

Unlike a lot of other herbs, Monkshood does best in rich soil and some shade.  It’s dormant during the winter so make sure you remember where you’ve planted it.  If you do have young children make sure they are well educated of its dangers or err on the side of caution and wait til they’re older and wiser before introducing this plant to your garden.

If you’re interested in this fascinating plant use the contact from on the right near the top to get in touch with me.

Right, I’m getting back out there whilst it’s still sunny; can you believe day light savings is next week already??!!

 

 

Climate Change

By Leave a Comment

Things have been going a bit tits up here at Stoney Ground Herbs.  I’ve been throwing blame about but have now cottoned on to what actually is the issue.

 

We are now living in a completely different climate that we have ever lived in.  My gardening and Stoney Ground Herbs has always been in temperate New Zealand, coastal and warmer.  Eketahuna is in the bronx of the cool/mountain climate.  I somewhat foolishly haven’t adjusted my growing practices to reflect the differences between coastal and mountainous.  And in actual fact, without some massive tunnel houses a lot of my plants aren’t going to be ready until November.  My mother plants are still adjusting to the change so I have limited stock for some plants and none at all for some of my stock standards…

Very limited stock;

  • Motherwort
  • Southernwood
  • Oregano vulgare
  • Purple sage
  • Soapwort
  • Lemon thyme
  • Vietnamese mint
  • Bergamot, wild
  • French Tarragon
  • Pineapple sage

Plants that won’t be available this year;

  • Echinacea
  • Rose geranium
  • Common sage
  • Nutmeg geranium
  • Creeping thyme
  • Thyme, English winter
  • Summer savory
  • Stevia
  • And I’m thinking I’m going to flag the tomatoes this year as well as the zucchini.

In so saying though I do have new plants available!!

  • Basil mint (I love this herb, the taste is great but mainly because it sounds slightly bedazzling!)
  • St Johns Wort
  • Greek oregano
  • Elder
  • Dill
  • Silver Posy thyme

Give me a bit and I’ll start updating my website accordingly.

Other changes are that courier prices have gone up so I’m having to change my costs accordingly.  Whilst we’re on the subject of couriers they just get too crazy busy during the Xmas period so I will not be sending any plants after the 10th December until the new year.

Here’s to learning curves!