By Mel Evans

Herbs are obviously great for cooking with, but we also often use them for crafts and sensory play too. Adding fresh herbs to water play or the mud kitchen adds an extra sensory element and the herbs’ fragrances release as they are played with.

I have the fondest memories of making Mint Tea in my Granny’s garden. I would bash the leaves into cold water in a steel tea pot before pouring it into tiny cups and handing it out to everyone. Nobody ever drank it, but that wasn’t really the point!

Incorporating herbs in Hapa Zome means the scents release as you bash them and they are usually juicy enough to get good prints from even in the height of Summer.

Rumour has it that Fairies are more likely to visit Fairy Gardens decorated with herb as they are drawn in by the fragrances. You could even make your own Flower Fairy adorned with herbs.

Of course before you can do any of this you need to grow some herbs! The good news is they are simple to grow from seed or you can buy plants. At this time of year its probably better to plant fully grown plants outside as a pose to starting from seed. You can get them in a garden centre, but the easiest (and chespest) way to get started is to pick up some of those herb plants you see in the supermarket veg aisle. They will continue to grow if you repot them and the ease of planting and replacing them will mean you won’t be precious about using them to make cold mint tea that nobody drinks!

Delicate herbs such as Basil and Coriander will need to be kept on a sunny window ledge inside the house. Other herbs such as Mint, Lemon Balm, Parsley, Rosemary and Thyme can all be planted in a sunny sheltered spot outside.

We also added Nasturtiums and French Marigolds for a bit of colour and these flowers are also edible too.

Once you have sourced your herbs you need a container with drainage holes, filled with soil to plant them into. Tin baths herb gardens are popular right now, but can cost up to £50 unless you can salvage one yourself for free. Instead you could use an old bucket or washing up bowl. Whatever you use the most important thing is drainage holes! If your container dosn’’t have any you need to make some. This can be done with a drill or a screwdriver and a mallet.