Kailyard Herbs

22/08/2026

My first attempt at a Fair Isle inspired basket with one of Eve Eunson kits. A few things to tighten up but a satisfying first attempt.

16/08/2026

Lemon verbena has had a good year in our garden, both in the greenhouse and outdoors.

How do you like to use lemon verbena?

🌿🍋🍸😴

Herbal teas
Baking
Lemony syrups or sugars
Salad dressings
Adding zing to stews
Cocktails
or as a health or relaxing tonic?

This versatile herb is popular in the kitchen, for making body products and medicines.

🌿 Growers tips 🌿

🪴Pot it up in fresh compost in spring.
🌱Feed occasionally through spring and summer.
💦 Water regularly in dry spells, this heat-loving herb is easy to grow.
🌿Bring it into the greenhouse or polytunnel over winter to protect from the Scottish winter rain and frosts.
✂️Cut and harvest fresh stems through spring and summer.
🌱 Dry some for using in winter.

13/08/2026

Why do you grow herbs? Yes, they’re tasty, medicinal, aromatic.

But do you also grow them for the bees and butterflies? The gorgeous flowers? 🌸

28/07/2026

This season, we’ve been using some wool and straw mulch in our Kailyard.

🐌 Not only does it help to protect our veggies from slugs, it’s also helped keep moisture in the soil through these hot and dry weeks.

A local product, from the lovely team at
High Cluniter Smallholding

Check them out to see what other goods they have for sale from their smallholding. 🌿🌸👌

📸 Giant goosefoot, squash and dill in one of our veg beds.

28/07/2026

What a fun day at the Dunoon Rhubarb Festival! Including a really fascinating talk by Caroline Davidson on using rhubarb to dye natural fabrics 🌸 And a lot of tasty rhubarb themed food, games and fun along Hillfoot Street hosted by

We had some more of our herb plants along for sale, and added a kitchen garden festival special - rhubarb chard! Bright red stems and yummy leaves, this gorgeous chard is one of my favourites to grow through autumn and winter. ❤️

27/07/2026

What a fantastic day! 🌿

22/07/2026

22/07/2026

This Saturday, 25 July, it's the Dunoon Goes POP Dunoon Rhubarb Festival, part of Taste Dunoon by Dunoon Presents.

We'll have a small selection of herbs for sale at the self-serve kiosk in the Dunoon Goes POP garden at the POP shop on Hillfoot Street.
🌿

We selected a range of plants that you can find there in the garden, including chicory, marshmallow and yarrow. And a few others: Corsican mint, Icelandic chives and Dyer's Chamomile.

❤️ Festival special: Rhubarb Chard, less of a herb but we couldn’t resist! The colourful crop evokes those rhubarb stalks. This chard is ideal for those with a kitchen garden or polytunnel. Plant it now for autumn and winter cropping.

💙 Chicory(Cichorium intybus): no, it's not a dandelion, although its young edible leaves do resemble the notched leaves of our yellow-flowered friend. Chicory is traditionally used for its roots as a coffee substitute. The flowers and young leaves are edible and can be used in salads and other recipes.

🩷 Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) was once used to make sweeties, due to its sticky properties. It also has a long medicinal history, and I enjoy using the roots and leaves to make teas. For the kitchen, various parts are edible.

🌿 Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), another plant with a long medicinal history and it is steeped in plant lore. I use the leaves for making teas. It's a wildflower of Scotland and, like chicory, likes dry grasslands. It's less tolerant of very damp soil. Makes a gorgeous addition to your wildflower areas.

🌱 Corsican mint (Mentha requienii) is a teeny tiny minty-smelling creeping plant that looks a bit like Mind-your-own-business. It's ideal planted in a rock garden or in paths, where you can release the aromas when you walk on it. It's a bit fiddly to use in the kitchen.

🌼 Dyer's chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria) flowers are used by fabric dyers and natural ink makers to make a buttery coloured dye.

💚 Icelandic chives (Allium schoenoprasum ‘Icelandic’) are a hardy variety of the kitchen garden favourite chives. So far I find them flavoursome with finer foliage than regular chives. As someone who doesn't love the texture of onions, chives are my herby substitute for that gentle onion flavour.

Look out for more content about these different herbs for ideas and inspiration.

https://www.popshop.scot/post/rhubarb-rhubarb-rhubarb

We are The POP Shop members and help to maintain their Dunoon Goes POP garden.