Even though we associate November with Halloween and the many fun and games associated with this festival of the dead, I felt the humble potato deserved a mention this month. As we have had such fine weather, there are very few potatoes still in the ground and most, if not […]

Among the different types of  plantain growing  in Ireland the most well-known are Plantago major or broad-leaved plantain, and  Plantago lanceolata or narrow leaved plantain, also known as  ribwort.  Broadleaf plantain (BP; Plantago major, Plantaginaceae), also known as great plantain, is a flowering perennial, which often grows in disturbed soils, in fields […]

Yarrow is a herb, found in the temperate regions of Europe, North America and Asia. It has been used medicinally for thousands of years by many cultures. In North America the Navajo people considered yarrow  one of the ‘sacred life’ medicine herbs. In Greek myth, the god Achilles used yarrow […]

We are all familiar with nettles and I doubt if any of us have evaded their power to sting. However they have other attributes, and we should not be so quick to remove them from our gardens, as they give many benefits. Firstly, nettles improve soils that are over-fertilised with […]