Planting a Medicinal Garden

Grow Your Own Medicine Cabinet

As I write this, I am getting over the throes of a nasty head cold. What better time than now to plan a simple medicinal garden?

The following plants would be great additions for an all-purpose medicinal garden. All are fairly easy to grow in either a traditional garden or in a container garden:

Aloe vera: Buy established plants and transplant. Good for treating minor burns and scrapes: just break a leaf and apply the serum to the affected area. 

Calendula: Buy established plants and transplant, or sow from seed. Made into an infusion, calendula is a good all-purpose antiseptic wash; you can also make a balm.

Cayenne: Buy established plants and transplant, or sow from seed. Good ingested as a cold remedy and can also be made into a cream to relieve muscle aches. Caution: when handling any hot peppers, wear gloves. Trust me on this one.

Chamomile: Sow from seed. Made into a tea, chamomile is good for treating stomach upset and for inducing sleep. 

Ginger root: Buy the root and cut it up; plant each piece. Ginger root is the number one treatment for nausea and is good for stomach upset. 

Echinacea: Buy established plants and transplant,  or directly sow the seed. Use the root as a decoction at the first sign of a cold. 

Feverfew: Buy established plants and transplant. This herb is great for fevers as well as headaches, even relieving migraines for some people. 

Lavender: Buy established plants and transplant. This herb prefers a slightly alkaline soil, so it's best to plant it in its own container or planter box. Made into an oil or infusion, lavender can be used to heal cuts, stings, and burns, as well as insomnia and not a few other woes. 

Lemon balm: Buy established plants and transplant, or sow directly from seed. This member of the mint family is great for cold relief as well as digestive complaints. 

Mint, especially peppermint: Buy established plants and transplant, or sow directly from seed. This herb is great for relieving gas and stomach upset, as well as relieving muscle pain when made into a balm. 

Rosemary: Buy established plants and transplant. Made into an infusion, this herb is wonderful for digestive issues and headaches. 

Sage: Buy established plants and transplant. Sore throat relief and alleviation of hot flashes are but two of sage's gifts. 

By User:Mattes (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Medicinal Container Garden of My Dreams

If you want to consult an herbal handbook, I recommend the following books:

Culpepper's Complete Herbal: A Book of Natural Remedies for Ancient Ills.

Walter Last's The Natural Way to Heal: 65 Ways to Create Superior Health.

The New Age Herbalist: How to Use Herbs for Healing, Nutrition, Body Care, and Relaxation.

500 Formulas for Aromatherapy: Mixing Essential Oils for Everyday Use.

Check out the Autumn Abundance Sale going on at Sol Luna Enterprises: enjoy 25% off on orders of $25 and over. The coupon code is FALLSAVINGS. This sale lasts through October 31, 2015, so don’t miss out!


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Herb of the Month: Mint

Refreshing, Versatile Mint

If you want to grow an herb that thrives well and is difficult to kill, look no further than mint (botanical name Mentha). The many varieties of mint--peppermint, spearmint, apple mint and other fruit mints, even chocolate mint--are easy to grow and, once established, will produce copious amounts of fragrant leaves.

Growing Mint in the Garden

Again, mint is easy to grow--perhaps too easy. This herb can be invasive, so it's a good idea to plant it in a pot so that it doesn't take over the entire garden. Make sure the herb receives direct or partial sun, as well as plenty of water: it is all but impossible to over water mint. Some people I know plant mint right underneath a dripping water faucet, for example.

By Mokkie (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Harvesting and Using Mint

Pick leaves as needed, preferably before 10:00 a.m.--or before the day's heat arrives-- on the day you need them. Mint can be steeped in tea and enjoyed in its own right, or it can be taken for stomach upset and flatulence, among other stomach ailments. Mint can also be bruised and added into a sugar syrup: this sugar syrup can be added to various homemade desserts and candies, as well as the famed Mint Julep. And let's not forget about mint jelly.

Even sniffing the bruised mint leaves can be beneficial. The other day, the air conditioner in my house decided that it was a good day to die. While waiting for the air conditioner to be fixed, I found that sniffing mint leaves made it seem as if I were cooler: this is a handy psychological trick.

If there is a perfect herb, mint would be it. Happy gardening, and bon appetit!

Herb of the Month: Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm: A Blissful Herb for August

Each month we are focusing on a particular herb, looking at its growing and cooking potential. This month, the honor belongs to lemon balm, also known as melissa officinalis. This member of the mint family is great for inducing and inspiring calm and tranquility.The balm in the herb's name also hints at the health benefits that this plant offers. Lemon balm, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center,  helps to alleviate stress, insomnia, anxiety, and indigestion.

Nicholas Culpeper, the Early Modern author of Complete Herbal and English Physitian (1652), has further suggestions in how to use this herb: he says that it is good for women recovering from childbirth and may be used to disinfect certain skin irritations, among other maladies; not only can lemon balm be steeped as a tea but can also be steeped in wine.

How to Grow Lemon Balm

Pick a nice sunny spot: a large pot or planter box works fine. Either sow the lemon balm from seed or transplant the plants. Water well, as for mint. Once lemon balm is established--give it a couple of weeks--make sure that the herb is watered regularly. Like other members of the mint family, lemon balm will spread if not contained; also, like other members of the mint family, lemon balm is (happily) difficult to kill.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Lemon_balm_2.JPG

How to Use Lemon Balm in Cooking

If you want an uplifting herbal tea, look no further than lemon balm. This light, citrusy flavored herb tastes great infused in a tea; sweeteners are optional. As an alternative, you can add the bruised leaves to a pitcher of ice tea and let it set for several hours before drinking for a refreshing beverage. As the Herb Society of America points out, the leaves are better used fresh than dried.

Lemon balm can also be used to flavor poultry and fish, and it can also be added to salad greens. The possibilities are nearly limitless.

Have you yet tried lemon balm? If not, I highly encourage you to try this herb. Bon appetit!