For many gardeners, Sow Thistle is just another pesky weed that needs removing, but do you know her secrets? Sow Thistle is actually a potent powerhouse in both the kitchen and the medicine cabinet.

Do you like the smell of allicin? No, not the girl’s name! Allicin is a highly volatile sulphur compound. It comes as a gas from a freshly cut onion. That odour is probably the first thing that comes to most people’s minds when someone says onions. Or ung-yuns, if you’re my old gardener-mate Shovel. (We called him that because his real name was Doug.) He ate them every day to keep healthy, but he could never get the tip of his tongue in place to say that word.

Now, the ancient Egyptians ….