Speaking of Herbs...Wish I Had Some Comfrey AKA Knitbone!

My youngest daughter broke her index finger Friday! She's almost 6, and a daredevil at that, but it wasn't anything dare-devilish that led to the break. She was running laps in gym class, lost control of her feet, and hit the wall. Truth be told, at the time I was more worried about the lump on her noodle than I was about the hurt finger. I was on duty at the school and I iced both. Her head was fine. The next morning though, her finger was very swollen, painful, and bruised. So off to the ER. The middle bone in her finger is broken clean through. She has a plastic splint for the broken finger and it gets "buddy" wrapped to her middle finger. She isn't thrilled about the wrapping, but she is tolerating it well. She took a nice bath today and got to take it off for a bit. Afterword, she sat and watched a movie and kept her wrapped fingers on ice and elevated. She's a trooper!! :)

I was just thinking it would be nice to have had some Comfrey on hand to make a poultice. So far in my research, it seems to have many uses - treating breaks by encouraging healing is only one of them - so I think I may be growing it this year.

And in my 16+ years of being a parent...this is our first broken bone!

What Are the Most Useful Medicinal Herbs and Home Remedies?

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.