Favorite Medicinal Herb In Garden?

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I was wondering if you have a favorite herb or two in the garden that is used mainly for treating family ills. I have put together a beautiful border along a fence over the last three years. I have valerian, feverfew, chamomile, comfrey, mullien, beebalm, and a few more. I'm planning on making some extracts and salves this year, and drying some for teas. Tell us what you couldn't live without and how you use it. Thanks in advance! Cathy

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), May 31, 2000

Answers

Ahh, Herbs! don't you love them? It's hard to pick a favorite-I have between 30 and 40, but Chamomile-smiley sunshine- would probably be it. It is very calming, tastes great and so pretty. I always smile when I walk past my chamomile patch. Sitting on a bucket on a sunny warm afternoon, with blue sky, puffy white clouds, lazy cats close by, birds sining butterflies flitting and picking chamomile is one of favorite ways to relax. Valerian flowers smell so good, kind of hard to beieve when the root smells so bad, worse than bad. I really like borage. the flowers look beatiful in ice bowls or ice cubes. I think it's good for cleansning. (Wish it was good for memory) Lemon Verbena smells the best of all the lemon plants, I have a lemon garden, It is really pleasant. Lemon Balm is good esp. for a drink, Put the stems a glass jar of water and sit it in the sun. Good stuff, it also perks you up. Sage is good for dandruff, digestion and nerves. It has the most beautifulflowers. Feverfew is trying to take over one of the herb gardens. It's good for migrains. It has pretty litle daisy like flowers. And of course mints. So good for your tummy, and so yummy. , . Thanks for asking.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), May 31, 2000.

I just keep adding to my garden. I've only been here three years and have a long way to go. But I can not live without feverfew for migrains, calendula for a healing salve, mint because it smells great and takes care of upset stomachs, and horehound for coughs. The herbs heal with their beauty, smell and actions. What wonderful plants for the homestead or anywhere else. Mint tea saved my daughter's life a few years ago when she was hospitalized with c- dificil. Despite IV drips with medication to control the nausea and diarhea, she was still unable to keep anything down. Plus she had just given birth and her body had swollen terribly especially her feet. The nurses were frightened of even going into her room for fear they would contract it and housekeeping skipped her room whenever possible. I marched down to the nurses station, demanded mint tea for the nausea and a cold basin of water for the swelling in her feet. Within hours she was eating and the swelling was coming down. After that she was given mint tea 6 times a day. It worked!

-- Cheryl Cox (bramblecottage@hotmail.com), May 31, 2000.

Hi, I started growing sweet stevia about a year ago,can't live with out it now. Pull off a leaf and drop it in your coffee or tea,no more sugar. I have started about 100 cuttings ,anyone want to try it drop me a line. Daryll

-- Daryll (twincreek@digitalexp.com), May 31, 2000.

How do you use feverfew,daily or do you wait till the headache starts? Thank You!

-- Allen (allen@sebroach.com), May 31, 2000.

Cathy, Where do we start!? Chamomile, lemon balm, calendula (to make into a salve), sage, mint, feverfew, beebalm, the list can go on & on.

-- Phyllis (almostafarm@yahoo.com), May 31, 2000.


Our family saying is: "one can never have too much underware or too many herbs!" I love my herbs & I can't say I have a favorite! But the mint around all our sidewalks--when we mow the smell is heaven! I don't ever remember serving an iced drink in the summer without a fresh mint leave in the glass! It just makes that cold drink "special" to me & then we eat the leaf when we finish the drink! I dry mint for a thousand uses, also! One can never have too much mint, or too many kinds of mint! ha! I always in the summer have several containers of mint in water, rooting in my kitchen window, I use it for cold drinks--& for that guest that wants a start of my mint! I always have a container of mint sitting in the center of my kitchen table also--each time we brush it --it smells so good! I also use it for drinks & as a splash of green on a serving plate! I also use a mint leaf in the side of the dish, when I serve desert in sherbert glasses! My friends tease me & tell me, Mary stewart struck again, (they say I'm Martha's sister, Mary). I love to walk barefooted through my mint beds also! I could give you a thousand uses for each of my herbs --but I won't bore everyone! Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), May 31, 2000.

You can use the feverfew at any point in the course of the headache however I find that it works best when I first feel the headache coming on. A clinc in England that has studied feverfew has their patients take some everyday. This prevents the headache from ever starting. I have a friend who does this and will not skip a day's capsule. You can chew a leaf however this causes mouth sores in some people. I dry the leaves then fill geletain capsules.

-- Cheryl Cox (bramblecottage@hotmail.com), May 31, 2000.

I couldnt live with out english lavender, sprinkle in my carpets then after awhile vacum up[smells great, very relaxing]sage makes a good tea which will open your chest and help you breath[ asthma, cold ect] a german friend of mine made me some, The taste takes getting use to [ I liked it ]but the effect on breathing is amazing.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), May 31, 2000.

Rosemary

http://www.hgmn.com/downloads/rosemary.htm

-- Ima Gardener (ima@gardener.com), May 31, 2000.


Sorry to be a boob--any suggestions how to make a salve? And what are good resources for beginners growing medicinal herbs (besides this forum, which is the best)?

-- Betsy (sassyweitzel@yahoo.com), June 01, 2000.


Betsy, I make a calendula ointment in the following manner. Herbal Oil 1/4 c. dried herbs or 3c. fresh herbs, washed and dried well 2 c. Olive oil

Crush the herbs and add the oil. Let steep for several days; strain, then bottle.

Herbal Ointment 1 oz. melted beeswax Herbal Oil from the previous recipe Mix together. Store in a cool place for 1 week. As it cools the beeswax hardens the salve so be careful not to add more than one and a half oz. This stuff heals cuts, burns, rashes ets. I will not be without it. Although vegetable oil can be used, the olive oil itself has healing properties.

-- Cheryl Cox (bramblecottage@hotmail.com), June 01, 2000.


Hello, I don't know too much about herbs,but there is one that I could NOT do without:Peppermint! A few years ago I noticed that strong,genuine peppermint candy seemed to greatly help during an asthma attack.So I would buy some when wheezy. Then I moved on to the tea. Wonderful stuff! I have rather severe asthma-especially bothersome when I catch cold.Occasionally I even have to use a nebulizer. There have been times when I have taken two,three treatments IN A ROW to no avail and then I finally brew some strong p. tea- to find the wheezing gone within 5 minutes or so! By the way, I've given it to my two little ones when they are a bit croupy and it seems to help them quite a bit also. Thanks for reading this rather wordy note!God Bless~T.J.

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), June 02, 2000.

Just a funny note. My husband had a headache and I gave him some feverfew concentrate I had and he almost threw up. He kept going, "Blah, that's terrible." Those city boys.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), June 02, 2000.

comfrey, hands down!! Wouldn't want to be without it.

-- sissy sylvester (jerreleene@hotmail.com), June 03, 2000.

Does anyone have chocolate mint and how do you use it?

-- Donna Deen (grammied@aol.com), June 04, 2000.


We haven't gotten into medicinal uses of herbs too much yet, but find that mint tea (our mint patch is a cross of orange mint and chocolate mint -- very nice mint) does help with some things, and comfrey is very handy -- we've used that as a poultice on poison ivy, amongst other things.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 05, 2000.

How do you keep comfrey from taking over your garden? Cheryl, thanks for the recipe...what's Herbal Oil?

-- Betsy (sassyweitzel@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

The herbal oil is the first part of the recipe where the herbs soak in olive oil.

-- Cheryl Cox (bramblecottage@hotmail.com), June 05, 2000.

Donna, You asked if anyone had cho. mint? How do they use it? I put cho. mint leaves on the side of any desert dish---cheese cake with a drizzel of cho. over it presented with cho. mint leaves on the side is a real treat for us! Almost any dessert presents better with cho. or reg. mint leaves on the side! Fix almost any desert--thin slice a strawberry put a slice & a mint leave on the side---I believe food not only has to taste good but presenting it is half the joy! On one of the threads is recipes for drink mixes---look it up---any of those coffee drink mixes will be wonderful this winter with a dried cho. mint leaves served with it! Dry it & it makes a wonderful cho/mint hot tea! Does that get you started?? Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), June 05, 2000.

Now that I read your previous answer, Cheryl, that's totally obvious...don't know where my brain was at. Apologies.

-- Betsy (sassyweitzel@yahoo.com), June 06, 2000.

We didn't put our comfrey in the garden. It, and the mint, which so far has been MUCH more invasive, are in a front yard garden surrounded by the driveway and the highway. We have a semi-circle driveway, and call the space between it and the highway "the crescent", and we stuck all the spreading plants in there. Most have done well, and we don't care if they spread!! Otherwise, cut the bottom out of a bucket, or a tub, or something, and bury it, then put the invasive plants in that. We never have had trouble with comfrey spreading, though, even when we were in the Willamette Valley with a better climate and much better soil.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 06, 2000.

Hi, I am thinking of starting a herb garden, and was wondering if it was possible to grow mint from a cutting, and how you do it. I know there is a potting medium involved, although I am not sure what kind to use, as well as rooting hormones. Can anyone give an answer for this poor inexperienced gardner? Thanks!

-- Shannon Smith (thesmithgroup@rogers.ca), April 08, 2002.

Shannon- I just put cuttings in the ground and they take off. Sometimes I completely cover them up and sometimes I leave it sticking out, depends on my mood. I planted peppermint all over my yard so, when we cut the grass, the yard smells great.

-- Gayle in KY (gayleannesmith@yahoo.com), April 11, 2002.

Yes, they root very easily. Just take some cuttings and cover the roots with about about an 1 inch of soil. No hormone needed, no special soil needed, just keep it moist. Mints can handle wet areas really good.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), April 11, 2002.

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