Planting & Harvesting Seeds
Hello everyone!
I have been doing some work in the garden today and I took some photos to show you what I have been up to. I was looking through my box of seeds and I found some Betony (Stachys Officinalis) seed, given its medicinal uses I thought it was about time I got it planted!
Betony is a hardy perennial herb, extremely tolerant to less than ideal conditions. It grows happily in average soil and can handle growing in full sun and shade, so a great choice for those shady corners of the garden that other plants might not thrive in. Their flowers are long-lasting and very pretty.
Betony's history dates back to the Middle Ages, where people crafted amulets with it to protect themselves from evil spirits. Nowadays it is used as an alternative to black tea, and also as a base for herbal tea mixes. The whole plant, leaves and all, can be harvested to make the tea.
Medicinally speaking, herbalists use Betony infusions for all sorts of different ailments. From tension headaches, chronic headaches and migraines to heartburn, diarrhea, gout, bladder pain, kidney stones and even respiratory problems such as bronchitis and asthma, Betony treats it all.
I was lucky to be gifted these Betony seeds by my Mum. I planted a full root trainer tray of them, using up every last seed I had. I can't wait to see them grow.
Here is a photo I found online to show what the plants look like when they are flowering:
By Raffi Kojian - http://Gardenology.org, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12734970
Whilst I was in the greenhouse planting the Betony seed I checked up on my other root trainers and watered them. The cold temperatures this week have been slowing things down a bit so I moved the seedlings into the greenhouse to keep them warm and they soon perked up again. The broccoli is almost ready for a transplant I think!
To finish off my afternoon gardening session I dead-headed my Marigold plants. I leave the flowers to dry in the sun before opening them up and harvesting the seeds. As a novice homesteader I am trying to build up a collection of my own homegrown seeds and given the rate these Marigold are flowering I'd be able to open a seed shop!! From time to time I hear of people sharing/swapping seeds which I find interesting. Let me know if you have any experience of that!
That's all for now! If anyone has any tips on seed harvesting please get in touch, I'd love to chat. Happy gardening!
Gardeningchef
@ gardeningchef Great post! I've never heard of betony but it sounds as good as it looks, I've have a fairly good year on saving seeds so I'm looking forward to to been able to invest in some new seeds next year. I'd love to swap seeds with fellow GHSC'ers but im not sure how many members we have in the UK at the moment. Thanks for sharing
Nice to meet you @digitaldan! I'm glad you liked the post. It seems Betony is new to a lot of us, I am hoping the seeds germinate well and I'll have a whole bunch of plants that eventually go to seed, then I can share them!
Lucky you have successfully collected a bunch of seed this year. What kind of seeds are we talking? I don't have many at the moment but I'd be happy to swap once I have more to offer, I am in Spain so not too far to post!
Hey @gardeningchef nice to meet another GHSCer this side of the water. Lots of herbs, wild flowers, salads, tomatos and peppers. I need to sit down with brew and figure out exactly what ive got this might be a good post in this for the community once everything is done for the year and accounted for 🙂 push those healing herbs fsr and wide. Take care and keep up the good work!
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Great post!
Thanks for tasting the eden!
Great post @gardeningchef. I love home grown medicine and the Betony looks really pretty as well as being useful for health. I shall look forward to seeing it full grown and flowering in your garden. I do like collecting seeds and sharing is fun too. I am hoping to send some Moringa seeds to @yogajill who is keen to grow her own miracle tree. I think it’s a beautiful thing to do. Happy gardening! ❤️🦋🌴🌈💛🍀
Pleased you liked the post @sallybeth23. I am just getting into homegrown medicine, the next step in my gardening journey! Goodbye common pharmaceuticals and hello natural health.
Lucky @yogajill! I am sure she will be very grateful to receive some of these miracle seeds. I would love to share seeds with friends!
Oh yes! I am really looking forward to discovering this fascinating plant 🙏❤🐞🐛
Brilliant photography as always @gardeningchef. I especially like the shot of your plants in he root trainers ready to be transplanted.
Very fascinating stuff about the Betony plant and seeds. The herbalists infusions sounds quite beneficial.
Your plants are looking superb. I bet you can’t wait to get them in the ground.
Thank you @magiccleatus! I look forward to making the tea myself and enjoying the benefits of it.
I certainly am looking forward to planting out my other veggies. I shall post all about it when I do :)
I don't know that I have heard of Betony before. I can't wait to see your plants grow and how you end up using them! I'm still coming up with different ways to use my massive amounts of lemon balm that keep popping up all around our garden! :)
I hadn't heard of it until I was given the seeds! I am looking forward to making tea with them! Pretty cool that the whole plant can be used. I'll post all about the process when the time comes :)
That's great you have loads of lemon balm! What has been your favourite use for it so far?
I have started doing more tea with dried lemon balm and mint now that the weather is getting colder. I also had made a batch lemon balm extract a few months ago and finally used it in some spinach muffins instead of vanilla. They turned out delicious! The extract added a nice subtle flavor, so it wasn't too overpowering. I'll definitely try to find more ways to use it in baking since I tend to do more of that in cooler weather, too. :)
That lemon and mint tea sounds great and your spinach muffins with the extract sound inspiring. I would have never thought to pair those! I look forward to seeing more lemon balm baking from you ;)
That is a first for me, I have never heard of it, but it sure sounds useful.
It definitely seems like a good plant to have in the garden, both for visual and health purposes. I'll let you know how I get on with it. Once it goes to seed I could send you some!
Never heard of Betony, I need to check it out!
Happy to introduce you to it! You should try planting some if you can get the seed. A lovely looking plant with health benefits to boot... can't go wrong!
Aw cool! Betony looks like a beautiful plant with its purple flowers :) how cool! Its awesome you are growing so much of your own plants, super beneficial! Also I would look forward to seeing the broccoli replanted and growing big, its probably my favorite veg :)
I am looking forward to seeing the Betony grow, and I’ll be sure to show the broccoli as it grows as well. It’s my favourite veg too! :) thanks for your comment @sunsethunter!
Good job, they are looking great!!
Ill add this to my list of herbs to grow, haha! I want some of everything!
Thanks @squishysquid! You should totally grow some if you can. The more healing herbs we grow the merrier :)
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Hey @heart0048, long time no see! Hope you are well.
Thank you for your kind comment and support!
Yes long to no see too but still I'm regular and always be with me please