Use fresh herbs to ward off winter bugs
Brew a cup of herbal tea
If you planned ahead and dried herbs last summer, now is the time to use them toward off the symptoms of winter ailments. Chop dried herbs so they’re a similar size to the smallest leaf in themix so they steep evenly. Explore your garden for fresh herbs too – rosemary, oregano, thyme andmore can be picked throughout winter.
Strictly speaking, all herbal teas are tisanes – that is, fresh or dried herbs (or bark, roots, berries, seeds or spices) steeped in boiling water and used as a beverage often for medicinal effect. Unlike tea, tisanes don’t contain caffeine.
For awinter boost, infuse the mixtures below in 2 cups of boilingwater for 3-5 minutes before drinking. Optional: add 2 teaspoons of dried echinacea to the fresh or dried herbs in either recipe.
This simplewinter tea helps the blood flow and boosts the immune system.
Fresh herbs: 1 sprig rosemary, 2 sprigs lemon verbena, 3 sprigs thyme, 1-2 kawakawa leaves Dried herbs: 1 tablespoon each of lemon verbena, thyme and kawakawa, plus 1 teaspoon rosemary.
Pick-me-up tea helps clear the chest and reduces postnasal drip. Fresh herbs: 2 sprigs peppermint, 3-4 sprigs lemon balm, 1 liquorice root teabag (Make sure the bought tea contains liquorice root and isn’t just ‘‘liquorice flavoured’’.) Dried herbs: 1 tablespoon of each of the above ingredients.
Winter dahlia care
How to look after dahlias over winter really depends on where you live, how old the tubers are and what else you want to do with the garden space.
If your soil freezes or gets sodden overwinter, it’s recommended to lift the tubers so that they don’t rot. Otherwise, you can actually leave them where they are for a couple of years.
If you want to move them or grow something else in the space, you can lift themwhen the foliage dies down. To do this, gently dig them out of the ground with a strong garden fork, brush off the soil and let them dry off. Trim off the stems and any fine roots. Place in shallow trays of dry pottingmix or sand that covers the tubers, but leaves the crown exposed.
Label well with the colour, height and variety name. Store in a cool, dry place and replant in spring.
Rain, rain? Stay away (from your soil)
Great soil is what’s called friable, or nice and crumbly if you rub it between your fingers. Friable soil contains air (enough to allow water to pass through, but not so much that organic matter is washed straight away).
However, walking on, or digging over, wet soil squeezes the air out and causes soil compaction that can take years to recover from.
If you need towalk across your vege beds to harvest, lay down planks to walk on to minimise potential compaction.