Grow Your Own Apothecary

Herb Growing Kit for Making Your Own Balms, Bath Teas, Infused Oils and More

£15

Christmas offer: buy this with the Little Wild Spa kit and pay just £10 for it (usually £15). The saving is taken off automatically at checkout.

Grow three useful household herbs, learn what to do with them and make something of your own.

Grow Your Own Apothecary is a botanical growing kit for calendula, lemon balm and German chamomile, with everything you need to begin and a beautiful printed guide that takes you from first seed to first salve.

If you have been curious about wanting to make your own herbal remedies, then this is the perfect set to start you off - you just need a little curiosity, a windowsill or garden space, and the willingness to see what happens when you learn the plants properly.

What makes this different

This is not just something to grow, it is something to learn from.

The guide shows you how to sow, care for and gather each herb, then introduces the old household ways of turning plants into simple, useful preparations for skin, comfort and nervous system support.

You will learn the folklore, the folk magic and the practical knowledge that once sat naturally in gardens and kitchen cupboards.

By the end of the season, you will not just have three herbs growing, you will know what they are, why people have kept them close for generations and what you can make with them.

Your first three plants are only the beginning though. Lemon balm is a generous perennial (which means it comes back every year). Look after it well and it can return year after year, often making new little seedlings of its own. If you want to contain it, keep it in a pot - if you want a garden full of it, plant directly in the ground!

Calendula is an annual, but it is beautifully willing to self-seed when it is happy. Save a few seeds, let a few flowers fade in the garden, and you can keep the cycle going year after year.

That is what makes this kit so different. You are not using it once and throwing it away, you are starting a supply of useful herbs for your own teas, balms, bath rituals and old-fashioned home preparations. The box may be where the story begins, but the garden keeps writing it.

What you can make

From the herbs you grow, the guide will help you begin making:

• Herbal infused oils

• Simple herbal balms and salves

• Bath teas and slow evening rituals

• Herbal teas

• Cooled washes and compresses

• The beginnings of your own traditional home remedy cupboard

What's Inside the Box

Everything you need to begin growing three of the most useful herbs in the home apothecary:

• Calendula seeds
  Calendula officinalis

• Lemon balm seeds
  Melissa officinalis

• German chamomile seeds
  Matricaria chamomilla

• Three peat-free coir rings, ready for sowing

• A beautiful 16-page printed guide to growing, gathering, drying and using each herb, with folklore, traditional uses, clear sowing instructions and simple recipes for herbal teas, infused oils, balms, baths and compresses.

Meet the herbs

These three have been kept close in gardens and household cupboards for generations. Each has its own story, its own little kind of magic and its own place in caring for skin, body and the days when life has become a bit much.

Calendula
The golden flower of the cottage garden. Calendula has long been gathered for skin: infused into oils, made into balms and used in baths, washes and salves for hands, heels, chapped places and skin that has had a hard day outdoors.

It is a bright and practical herb. Grow it for its resinous golden blooms, its old folklore of protection and the quiet satisfaction of turning a flower you grew yourself into a beautiful oil or family balm.

Lemon balm
The great nerve herb, and the herb that started Bodhi & Fae. Bright, lemony and generous, lemon balm has traditionally been kept close for busy minds, nervous tummies, overtired evenings and the particular moments when everyone needs a little more softness.

It is also a wonderful herb to grow for your own personal balms and salves, especially for lips and skin prone to cold sores, that is dry & weatherworn and just uncomfortable. One established plant can give you armfuls of leaves, season after season.

German chamomile
The soft-power flower. Apple-scented, gentle and deeply woven into old household rituals, chamomile has long been used in teas, bath blends, infused oils, compresses and sleep pillows.

It is the flower for warm baths, tired bodies, prickly skin, an unsettled tummy and evenings that need helping towards their quieter end. Grow it for its delicate daisy flowers, then discover just how much comfort can come from a small handful gathered on a dry summer day.

Give someone the beginning of a home apothecary

This is the present you give when you want to say, “I saw this and thought of you.”

For the person who has always wanted to know more about herbs. The one with pots on the windowsill, who makes things with their hands, who likes beautiful, useful things and is quietly tired of buying more stuff for the sake of it.

You are giving them three plants to grow, but also the confidence to do something with them. A golden calendula oil, a lemon balm balm, a chamomile bath tea or whatever their imagination takes them. Its a tool to help their mind as much as their skin with a guide they will keep reaching for long after the first seedlings are planted.

Frequently Asked Questions

I have never grown herbs before. Is this for me?

Yes. The guide begins with the first step, from preparing the coir rings and sowing the seeds through to moving your plants into larger pots or the garden. You only need a little space, a little patience and a willingness to get some compost under your nails.

Do I need a garden?

Not necessarily, but this is not a permanent windowsill-growing kit.

You can start all three herbs on a bright windowsill, then move them into larger pots or outside once they are sturdy. A sunny patio, balcony, doorstep or garden will work beautifully.

Lemon balm is especially happy in a pot and will return year after year. Calendula and German chamomile need a sunny outdoor spot to grow well and produce plenty of flowers to gather.

What is included in the kit?

You will receive three seed packets: calendula, lemon balm and German chamomile; three peat-free coir rings; and a beautiful 16-page printed guide to growing, gathering and using your herbs.

What else will I need?

To begin, you will need water and a waterproof tray or saucer for the coir rings. As the seedlings grow, you will need pots and compost, or a suitable place to plant them outside.

When can I sow the seeds?

The guide gives full instructions for each herb. Calendula can usually be started from February, while lemon balm and German chamomile are generally sown from March. It makes a lovely gift at any time of year, ready for the growing season ahead.

What will I be able to make?

The guide introduces simple ways to use the herbs you grow, including herbal teas, infused oils, balms, salves, bath teas and compresses. It is all about learning the old household ways, one plant at a time.

Can children enjoy it too?

Absolutely. It is a lovely kit to grow together, whether that is a child and parent, grandparent and grandchild or a whole family. Children should be supervised by an adult while sowing, growing and making with plants.

Is it a good gift?

It is a gift that keeps unfolding. First comes the box and the beautiful guide, then the planting, the tiny seedlings, the gathering and eventually the lovely things they make from what they have grown. It is especially perfect for anyone who has ever said, “I’d love to learn more about herbs.”