I have a fascination with medicinal herbs and "old fashioned" remedies. To me, they just make so much sense. I'm a nurse, and I am not knocking modern day medicine by any means - I just think so much can and should be treated at home as simply as possible.
One of the things I would like to do is to replace some of the OTC medicines in my arsenal with herbs. And I'd like to grow those herbs!
Now, taking into account my strengths and weaknesses, I need to decide on some basics, do some planning, and start small. If not, I'll plant a billion herbs that cover EVERYTHING and will be overwhelmed and confused. I need to keep it simple. Believe me, I started a "wish" list of herb seeds from my Richters catalog and it is a LONG list! I need to narrow it down. I have to narrow it down. I MUST NARROW IT DOWN!!! :)
So I'd like to start small find herbs to cover the things we use most.
1. An herbal pain reliever/fever reducer. I think this is the one thing we use the most around here.
2. Something for coughs/chest congestion. Because we always end up with a cold or two each year.
3. Something that has antibacterial and antiviral properties - that can be used internally or externally. Some thing to treat external wounds, or colds internally.
I need them to be kid friendly too. I also need them to be able to grow in zone 5. Am I asking for too much?
So any ideas? Do you use medicinal herbs? What do you think the most important or useful medicinal herbs are? I'd love to hear what you think!!
PS We have applied for new insurance! It is a process though...so no news yet! And more to come...we are building another seed starting light! And I am gearing up to start seeds - planning, plotting, purchasing, and day dreaming for Spring! More on that later.
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Oh you're such a good influence, or a bad one depending on who's reading I guess. I am so going to start planning for seed starting after reading this.
ReplyDeleteAs for herbs, growing up we always had mint (spearmint & peppermint I think, I know there were 2) and chamomile. Also lemon balm. I used to mix them all up and make tea for my Mom whenever she had a cold or felt sick.
According The Complete Medicinal Herbal:
Garlic: antimicrobial/antifungal suitable for a wide range of infectious conditions
Boneset: promotes sweating; reduces fever; expectorant; good for hot feverish colds and influenza with muscle pain
Catnip: cools fevers, promotes sweating, astringent in mucous congestion
Those were all listed under colds & influenza. There are many more listed under respiratory problems. As for pain/fever those are listed more specifically so you'd probably have to narrow it down a bit.
Hope this helps, can't wait to see what you come up with!
I wish I had some answers for you, but I'm new to "medicinal" herbs as well. Hopefully you'll get lots of informative comments and I'll be able to learn something about them, too.
ReplyDeleteYou and I are on the same wavelength so often! I've just been spending a lot of time studying herbs and looking for resources to learn some of these things.
ReplyDeleteI bought the two herbal remedies lessons at homemakers mentor: http://www.thehomemakersmentor.com/store/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&cPath=2_10&products_id=109&zenid=67a5606fd81e2533c4e4c08d8bc954f0
And the herbs made easy video at bulk herb store: http://www.bulkherbstore.com/Making-Herbs-Simple?id=kAtVkmRy (scroll down for the cheaper downloadabe version)
I'd recommend them all, but if you'd want the most amount of info for the least amount of money, part two of the herbal lessons would be a good way to start.
If you go with catnip (it is a good one, and useful for the cats too, lol), be careful, since it's a sedative too. It affects different people very differently, but I can't drink catnip tea and stay awake at all. I'd never drink it before driving or even in the day time.
Bulk Herb Store says that The ABC Herbal is a great one for knowing about herbs and kids. Maybe you can find that one at a health store to look through it or from the library?
Plantain,comfrey, echinacea and yarrow are good ones for scratches,scrapes, stings, bites, etc.
Peppermint, yarrow, elderberry, and echinacea are great for colds and flus. They even sell elderberry syrup as an OTC flu medicine (Sambucol).
Chamomile is really good and safe for kids... is relaxing and helps them sleep.
White willow bark is the original pain/fever reducer. It is a natural source of salicylic acid (what they derive aspirin from). I know it doesn't hurt your stomach the way aspirin can, but I don't know about growing that, or how to harvest it though. You can buy it at bulk herb store. I don't know about dosage, but I sure they could help. I do know it's bitter, so it's probably better made into a tincture with glycerine than given as a tea. Because the food grade glycerine is so sweet.
I'd love to know what you decide on. I'm deciding what "medicines" I want to grow as well, so all the info I can get is great. Let me know if you find any good books for learning this stuff! I checked for online classes, but most are super super expensive and are geared toward becoming a professional herbalist.