Growing My Own Drugs part 2.

Ok so on the success of the herb garden I decided to give the other small part of the garden a make over in a similar way. It was coming up to May Day bank holiday which ment 3 for 2 plant sale at B&Q YEY!
Plant I was looking for in particular were heather for my bee friends, lemon balm and sage for herbal remedies.
I found all these and set about adding to my medicinal garden, along with the Raspberry bush I raised, strawberry cuttings, blueberry plant and 2 different honeysuckle plants I bought at work for like £2.

I've done a bit of research before choosing the plants I have some remedies are more obvious than others, blueberries are high in antioxidants and along with raspberries and strawberries taste delish. But did you know that raspberry leaf and sage tea is good for hot flushes. And honeysuckle is good for headaches, rashes, colds and flu. Lemon balm has anti viral and anti bacterial properties also so again good for colds and flu.


 Strawberry Plant                                                                                    Raspberry & Honeysuckle

Lemon Balm & Strawberry

Growing my own drugs part 1.

In my first post I mentioned I'd put a herb garden into the back. My reason for this is that herbs are quite hardy and don't need the attention other crops do.

When I started it was with the smallest patch of the garden I was inspired by James Wong from Grow Your Own Drugs, thinking hey I could make my own teas etc and cure everyone of everything.

I bought some cheap edging from B&M (always a winner) and some bark chippings, while I was shopping I saw they were also selling pots of herbs at 3 for £5 so I was in there £10 and I had the makings of a herb garden. Rosemary, thyme, lavender and oregano were my first plants to go in after weeding and turning the soil, I'd then laid a weed membrane over the soil and cut holes in where I wanted the herbs to go.

I planted in these herbs but the patch still looked a bit bald when I remembered the parsley that I'd grown the previous year was still struggling in the green house, out that came, split into 2 plants and put in too. Mum then presented me with another lavender which was too big for it's pot and that went in too.
Lavender as well as smelling beautiful is a bee favorite and will help insects flourish. I finish off the patch by spreading the bark over the top. to make it look tidy and also little beetles and other insects will be at home hiding in the bark.

We did have one problem though with a starling thinking my thyme would make good bedding material so I've had to cover it with net curtain until it grows big and strong enough to handle the attention.

One month on and these are my herbs now after plenty of Spring rain.......

Lavender, thyme and parsley with oregano hiding in the background.









Parsley is now flourishing after being given a home.

My Kingdom

Welcome to the blog of the Urban Veg Queen, this is the blog of a small garden in the middle of Leeds. I have been trying different things for a few years now working on the best plants for small urban spaces.

First is looking at the space I have to work with. One small South facing garden at the front of my house which is completely paved over but the amount of sun it receives makes it ace for growing crops like tomatoes, strawberries & chilies. An urban environment also makes good for these crops as cities are usually warmer. This is my space as it was a bit earlier this year. The plastic coldframe from Morrisons has been replaced by a proper eBay model below. Basically every plant in this garden just about has to be potted.



This however is a great space for starting off
seedlings and hardening them off. I plant crops that need deep roots in green sacks from the Pound Shop. They're fab for potatoes and carrots.








My second space is at the rear of the house and is therefore North facing, most veg gardeners know a North facing garden is hard work as not much grows in shade. So the challenge is finding what will thrive I also intend on using this space to help local wildlife. The pigeons and sparrows already seem to love it and we get Blue Tits nesting most years but I want to make it a wildlife paradise for everything, after all every creature has a role to play in the garden.

This is the space as it is at the mo (ending at the gate just across that council field is Leeds town center). I have put in a herb garden to the right which I'll tell you all about in my next post.
But yeah pretty barren we had to combat a creeping buttercup problem hence the black weed fabric and rug. Now it's gone it's time to start work and keep on top of it.