Grow Your Own

from Members magazine Living Earth Summer 2020

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Even if you missed out on this summer’s harvest, it’s never too late to start sowing your own seeds, and as September is also ‘Have a Go month’, why not try something new?

Growing your own herbs at home is an easy place to start at any time of year, and you won’t need much more than a windowsill to get going. Herbs are amazing plants for adding flavour to any dish plus, you’ll get an endless supply by growing your own.

The Soil Association and Pukka Herbs have teamed up to help you make small, positive changes for you and the planet.

Growing herbs from cuttings

Our Head of Horticulture and resident author of Ben’s growing corner (a regular feature in this members’ magazine) demonstrates this method by taking cuttings of rosemary. All you will need to get started is…

Watch our videos

You can watch this video at

soilassociation.org/herbs

You can also see our other videos demonstrating how to make a turmeric skincare face mask:

soilassociation.org/skincare

and zero waste oat milk and pancakes:

soilassociation.org/zerowaste

1 A fully-grown herb plant

2 Pair of scissors

3

4 A glass of water

A pot with compost in

Technique:

1 Take your fully-grown plant and select

a green stem. To take a cutting, simply snip just below a leaf node (where the leaves come out of the stem). A piece 3 or 4 inches long should do.

2

3

4

5 Remove the bottom leaves and put your cutting into a glass of water.

Leave it on a sunny windowsill. Change the water every few days to encourage growth. It may take a few weeks, but you should start to see some roots forming on the bottom of the cutting.

Once you have some roots, it’s ready

to plant. Fill your pot loosely with compost, poke your finger into it to make a hole then, holding the cutting gently at the top, pop the cutting in and carefully firm the compost down. Water the cutting in – and watch it grow! If you want to try some different herbs, this method will also work for some other woody herbs like basil or sage.

Growing your own herbs is a great way of connecting with nature, and studies suggest growing could even improve your mental health. We hope this helps you make small, positive changes that boost your wellbeing

and help you feel closer to our natural world.

– made in partnership with Pukka Herbs.

Don’t miss

Ben’s growing corner on page 24. You can find tips on sowing seeds and how you can even save seeds from flowers or fruit and veg ready to plant out next year.

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