|
Post by prunella on Mar 6, 2015 8:44:08 GMT -5
A space for information on herbal uses. Here's a list of plants found useful, a site for sore eyes, sore throats, or whatever: www.anniesremedy.com/chart.phpSpices are different. While herbs are generally the herbaceous parts of a plant (leaves, flowers, etc.), spices are the other parts (bark, roots, etc.) that are usually dried.
|
|
|
Post by OregonRed on Mar 6, 2015 10:51:05 GMT -5
oh boy, red could go nuts in here, she uses herbs as medicine for everything - almost
|
|
|
Post by breezygardener on Mar 6, 2015 12:31:38 GMT -5
So does this mean that non-medicinal herbal stuff should be posted elsewhere? Obviously, unless domestic hybrids, all plants are "native" to somewhere.
|
|
|
Post by prunella on Mar 6, 2015 12:37:31 GMT -5
non-medicinal herbal stuff I have already changed the wording. Thanks.
|
|
|
Post by breezygardener on Mar 6, 2015 13:01:34 GMT -5
Thanks! But one more question (& I am NOT trying to be anal here) - should this sub-forum really be under "Native Plants"? Very few herbs used in either cooking or for medicinal use are native plants.
|
|
|
Post by prunella on Mar 6, 2015 13:27:08 GMT -5
Very few herbs used in either cooking or for medicinal use are native plants. Then what, pray tell, are they? All plants are native to some place, and even if imported for tea or cooking or tonic, they are (in my understanding) "native plants" as a general description over cultivated commercial plants. Native Americans, Chinese herbalists, Pioneer treatments from 200 years ago? I sure could be wrong, so please set me straight. And I do appreciate the fine tuning.
|
|
|
Post by breezygardener on Mar 6, 2015 13:36:34 GMT -5
Okay - I guess I was thinking that "Native Plants" meant U.S. natives. Obviously, except for domestic hybrids, all plants are native somewhere.
|
|
|
Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Mar 6, 2015 18:47:00 GMT -5
I'm going to skip over the nomenclature and talk about herbs, which I adore.
I grow chives, parsley, basil, oregano and sage for flavor and sometimes use them in wreaths, from which I pluck selections over the winter for cooking. Basil seed heads are especially nice for wreaths, as are oregano stems once they've bloomed. One variety of creeping thyme is just for mental uplift so I can pick a little stem as I go out the side door. Lemon balm and spearmint serve the same purpose.
Lavender used to be for scent in sachets, but I lost my lavender and rosemary and haven't yet replaced them. Same situation with the orange thyme, which I just loved. It always got my attention and offered a few sprigs for me to carry around as I wandered through the garden.
Germander, rue, hyssop, tansy, borage, comfrey and others (which I can't remember right now as they've gradually died out) are just for appearance. It's not that I wouldn't use them for other purposes if safe and appropriate; I just enjoy their appearance.
This question gives me a chance to dig out my old gardening records to refresh my mind as to what I planted over the years.
Arnica is on my list to get and grow for muscle pain. A wide variety of basils are also on the list, not only just for their scent but because I especially like basil. I'd love to grow cinnamon and cloves, although I thought they were considered spices rather than herbs. Juniper berries are abundant on the junipers I have, but I do recall warnings about their use for medicinal purposes. What I eventually would like to do is use them to start more junipers, as I'd like to do with the dozens of bags of pine cones collected over the years. My now retired blue spruce produced a wonderful crop of little cones every year, some of which were painted and added to wreaths, or put in bases with evergreen sprigs for winter decoration.
Orange peel gets washed well, dried and grated for use in baking. It adds such a nice fresh scent, just from crumbling it up after it's dried. My father got us started on drying and eating pumpkin seeds. What else do others grow for medicinal purposes? I've gotten a lot of ideas from the Herb Quarterly, but haven't yet gotten the seeds or plants.
I'm anxious to learn what others here do with their herbs.
I wish I could remember the name of a mystery series that aired several years ago about a medieval monk who was knowledgeable in herbal medicine. If I recall correctly some of the herbs were involved in crimes which he solved.
|
|
|
Post by breezygardener on Mar 6, 2015 18:52:57 GMT -5
Be wary of Rue. While its blue-green foliage is attractive (I used it in "blue" gardens when I had my herbal landscaping business), it can be quite the irritant. After planting it, next morning I found my arms covered in a dark-red/purple rash. No itching or anything like that - just the discoloration. And I do not have sensitive skin or allergies. It lasted for months & turned out that it was from the Rue. So I suggest - to be on the safe side - that planting it or working around it one wears long sleeves.
|
|
|
Post by lisaann on Mar 6, 2015 18:57:01 GMT -5
This is cool! And I was thinking at work today: I'm going to ask Breezy if she would mind starting a thread about the best times to harvest different herbs. Breezy knows this stuff, and I need a refresher course. Please edit my post to put it where it should be till all is said and done with the new space. Freezing basil: Chop it up and put in ice cube trays and freeze and put in bags. And my pic: Breezy, I and others would be very happy if you post things here ,that would be easy to GO TO, instead of having to SEARCH the net! Thanking you in advance!
|
|
|
Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Mar 6, 2015 19:01:24 GMT -5
Breezy, I also read warnings about Rue and fortunately haven't yet had any reactions from it, but I did try to stay away from it. And that makes it hard to grow because generally I wouldn't want to touch it and gamble on a reaction. There are other plants in the garden that have caused intense itching, but I never did figure out what they were. Actually, given Rue's unpleasant smell and rash causing properties, it's probably better to just eliminate it from my garden entirely. Just found information on the mystery solving monk I just about: It was the Brother Cadfael series: www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/detectives/cadfael.html.
|
|
|
Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Mar 6, 2015 19:02:33 GMT -5
Second the request for Breezy's tutoring on herbs!
|
|
|
Post by ncgarden on Mar 6, 2015 19:20:33 GMT -5
I am kind of crazy about the herbs, and use most dried and as teas, or when I feeling witchy, I call my teas infusions or tisanes.
St. John's wort for depression, chamomile for soothing - although both of them are a pain to harvest and dry. I grow valerian for the roots (a mild sedative).
Wild yam and black cohosh for balancing the reproductive systems.
Burdock for digestion, and it is supposed to be good for the skin. I don't like it, so I refuse to eat it and am waiting until I actually have a digestive problem!
Elderberry is not really an herb, but I use the berries, and will dry some flowers this year. I am convinced my elderberry habit is why I have not had a cold in two years.
Plantain as a topical, I make a salve and a wash with it. Works pretty well and since I keep getting stung by the bees, comes in handy! I made a salve from chickweed but did not like it as well.
I grow yarrow for fevers, although I have not had an opportunity to use any.
I have goldenseal going on its second year, but have not yet harvested any and it is struggling - I need to pay more attention to it.
Blackberry and peppermint and spearmint used mostly to mix with the others for flavoring, although they each have their own properties too, mostly I use them for flavor.
Mullein is touted as being an expectorant and decongestant, but I did not find it to be helpful, although I have a LOT of it as it grows wild here.
I seem to be the only person in the US who is unable to grow echinacea - although I am trying for the third year in a different spot.
|
|
|
Post by breezygardener on Mar 6, 2015 19:28:54 GMT -5
Breezy, I also read warnings about Rue and fortunately haven't yet had any reactions from it, but I did try to stay away from it. And that makes it hard to grow because generally I wouldn't want to touch it and gamble on a reaction. There are other plants in the garden that have caused intense itching, but I never did figure out what they were. Actually, given Rue's unpleasant smell and rash causing properties, it's probably better to just eliminate it from my garden entirely. Just found information on the mystery solving monk I just about: It was the Brother Cadfael series: www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/detectives/cadfael.html. But it is a pretty plant in its own right. I had one that grew into a small shrub. But again - I worked carefully around it, & would never ingest it (older herbal medicinals notwithstanding). I planted one in a garden for a doctor that wanted an old-fashioned medicinal herbal garden. He didn't have plans to use most of the plants - just wanted it for enjoyment.
|
|
|
Post by breezygardener on Mar 6, 2015 19:33:00 GMT -5
This is cool! And I was thinking at work today: Breezy, I and others would be very happy if you post things here ,that would be easy to GO TO, instead of having to SEARCH the net! Thanking you in advance!
Goodness - I'm flattered, but really, most vegetal herbs (aka leafy) are best harvested when young & tender. And as you point out, can easily be frozen (in either water or olive oil) for future use. This works well for all the tender herbs - basil, cilantro, sage, parsley....
|
|