Visit to Sigrid Seel's garden in Flayosc - 28 April 2026

Sigrid,  a member of our Garden Group, lives in Flayosc with her husband. They have created a wonderful, productive vegetable garden planted under olive trees, just as the local Provencal people used to do.

Sigrid had offered to give a presentation on culinary and medicinal herbs. On a large table a number of herbs were displayed, we had to guess what they were:

Basil (Basilicum), Bayleaf (Lauris nobilis), Borage (Borago officials), Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium), Dill (Anethum graveolens), Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana), Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis), Lavender (Lavandula), Lemon verbena/Verveine  (Aloysia triphylla), Lovage (Levisticum), Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon), Marigold (Calendula), Mint (Mentha), Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), Parsley (Petroselinum crisp), Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Sage (Salvia), Sorrel (Rumex acetosa), Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus), Thyme (Thymus),

I've put the Latin name behind the common English name.  Our foreign members can translate the Latin names into their own language.

With each herb Sigrid gave an explanation on the uses of the herbs. She had seeds of different herbs that we could take home,  I took several branches of Basil and followed her lead in sprinkling the seeds around plant pots that have already plants in them.  It works, the seedling have all come up. 

One herb that no one could recognise was Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris).  It is not a very attractive plant, a bit unruly but it has culinary and medical properties. The only Artemisia that is used in cooking especially in Germany and Spain in dishes that use Eel or Carp and in stuffing for geese, duck, pork and game. Medicinally it was used to stimulate the menstrual flow.  

        

After the presentation we walked around the swimming pool and came across a Patchouli plant in a pot.  I had never seen a Patchouli plant before. It is grown commercially mainly in Indonesia and the Philippines for its essential oil made from the leaves used in the perfumery industry. It was a very popular scent during the 1970s when Patchouli oil was used as a perfume by Hippie girls.

As Sigrid has spent many years in China and is a frequent visiter to the Orient, reminders of her time spent there are everywhere.  She has a collection of Chinese orchids that she has brought back.

We continued our walk around the garden. We came across a very large Chinese pot with waterlilies:

a pond with waterlilies

 and on one side of the pool a collection of Lemon Trees in pots.

Onwards an area with fruit trees and there was her husband dividing up Lemon Grass plants for us to take home. I think we all took some home.

Afterwards we had a cool drink on the terrace.  Sigrid had made some tarts with fruit toppings and a very refreshing drink in a Carafe filled with a combination of Lemon Verbena, Lemon Juice and Lemon Grass.

Her recipes for the drinks are as follows:

Lemongrass or Citronella (a bunch of herbs similar in size to what you find in the market for sale), add to that a few twigs of Lemon Verbena, slices of Lemon, ginger and honey optional, depending on taste. If you happen to have the root of Lemongrass or Citronella you can put that in as well. Pour 500 ml of hot water, just of the boil, on the herbs, let it steep for 5 minutes, even after 15 minutes if you happen to forget it, it is still very nice to drink. You can either have it hot, warm or as a cold drink with ice cubes. 

Altogether a lovely visit. 

After our visit we had lunch together at Restaurant 'Les Cigales' in Villecroze.

Thanks to Marie-Framce and Sigrid for the photos. 

 Urtica - Nettle - Ortie - Brennesse

The nettle is a fibrous plant and was used in cloth manufacture from the Bronze Age to the early 20th century.  Already in Ancient Greece it was used medicinally, Hippocrates (often called the father of medicine) used it as a diuretic (increased passing of urine).  The Romans used it against hair loss.

During WWII with no fresh vegetables available in early spring it was a welcome source of Vitamin C and for more practical reasons hundreds of tons were gathered annually in the UK for the extraction of chlorophyll and to make dyes for camouflage nets.

Nettles are found in damp, shady environments in hedgerows, woodlands and around settlements. The stem and underside of the leaves are covered in hollow hairs. The hairs contain an acid (formic acid), histamine and other chemicals that causes the stinging sensation.

Medicinal properties
In Europe we have a few different varieties of Nettle, all three have medicinal properties: 

• Urtica dioica (Common Nettle), a perennial, female and male flowers on separate plants, 1.5m. The hanging female flowers are in dense racemes, upright male flowers have interrupted racemes.
• Urtica urens (Annual Nettle), male and female flowers on the same plants, flowers look similar to the ones of the Common Nettle.
• Urtica pilulifera (Roman Nettle) male and female flowers on the same plant, found in S. Europe, with interrupted racemes of male flowers and globose female flowers.

Nettles are rich in vitamins notably A, C, B2, K and Pantothenic acid (B5) and minerals such as Potassium, Calcium and Silicium and trace elements like Magnesium, Manganese, Copper, Sulphur and Iron. The available Vitamin C helps with the absorption of the iron.

It is an astringent herb (causing contraction of skin cells and other tissues i.e. stops bleeding), a diuretic (causing increased passing of urine) and a tonic herb (controls bleeding, clears toxins and slightly reduces blood pressure and blood sugar levels).

Nettles increase the passing of urine. They expel uric acid from the joints as well as the body tissues.  Uric acid can form sharp crystals in the joints (gout, a form of joint arthritis) and can also build up in the kidneys forming kidney stones. 

Inside the Nettle is a plant hormone called Secretin. One of the functions of Secretin is the regulation of the gastric acids which in turn improves the digestion.  It stimulates the digestive system to expel digestion enzymes into the duodenum, the first section of the small intestines. 

In Folk Medicine, in spring the young leaves were gathered as a tonic for the body to restore itself after the winter when the available nutrients were limited and people used to eat heavier food. The period to use the nettle was from 15 March to 15 April.

Other uses
Hair:  Nettle tea is a tonic for the scalp in the form of a last rinse as it helps against dandruff, but only for dark hair as the high chlorophyll content colours fair and grey hair.

Spring Tonic:  Only fresh new leaves should be used for culinary purposes. The plant should be no more than 20-30 cm high to gather the leaves (don’t forget to used gloves!).   Make a tea with 30 grams of fresh nettle leaves to one litre of boiling water, let it seep for 3 minutes, drink 3 cups a day from March to April for one month.   If making a cup of spring tonic use a tbsp of fresh or 1tsp of dried nettle.

Culinary purposes
The most common way to use Nettles is to either add to a vegetable soup just 5 mins before it is ready and then puree the soup or in quiches, any baked recipe that uses vegetables.  On its own it has a rather bland taste.

Nettles are also used in Cheese-making – it makes a firm cheese.   Apparently it is supposed to be nice to add to Fromage Blanc but I have not tried is myself.  

If you are wondering where the knowledge of herbs comes from, 29 years ago I trained as a herbalist in Belgium, where Lance and I were living at the time.  It was a two-year course followed by a one-year course on how to grow herbs commercially, and another year on how to prepare herbal remedies.   A long time ago and although it changed my life I did not go further into it, but the interest remained.