As I previously mentioned, this year we're going to have a bash at growing some medicinal herbs. We already have some herbs in the garden. Charlie is a fantastic cook and couldn't do without his bay (we have a standard bay in a large pot that lives on the patio) and rosemary. We have a nice clump of lemon balm which is one of my favourites; a tisane made out of 5 fresh lemon balm leaves and boiled water which has been allowed to cool a little will settle the most jittery nerves. And we have some sage and thyme…pretty standard offerings….This year however, we are going to expand our herb growing efforts by two more bed with a focus on making our own herbal remedies.
I have a book on herbs which I love. It's by a lady called Jekka McVicar and it really is the herb bible. Mine is a few years old and there is a newer book on sale on Amazon. You can still get hold of the version I have though. It looks like this:
She has a great website too. Well worth a peruse if you're interested in this particular topic:
Ok. We've learnt our lessons over the years and there's no point in growing something we're not going to use so we looked first at the pages that describe the lotions and potions you can make using particular herbs and decided what would be useful for our family:
Chamomile (Chamaemelum Nobile)
I love chamomile tea but a cream of camomile can also be used to treat eczema (Minions 5 and 6 are sufferers).
Marigold (Calendula Officinalis)
Makes a lovely cream for minor wounds (we get a lot of those), skin rashes (ditto) and sun burn (we are, after all, a bunch of pasty-faced Brits that burn easy).
Comfrey, Knitbone (Symphytum Officinale)
An ointment made of Comfrey stimulates growth of new cells and is used for healing external wounds. The leaves can also be made into a liquid feed or put on the compost heap to aid decomposition.
I also fancy having a go at a toning face pack made of dried lady's mantle, spearmint and mallow leaves that sounds heavenly.
And we're going to grow some borage which is so pretty and the flowers can be put in salads and frozen into ice-cubes for summer drinks; elderflower so we can make cordial and some wormwood which is apparently a good deterrent to keep lice out of the chicken house.
Here's the plan:
You might notice we're being far less ambitious with the other beds. The plan with the beds is to just grow a lot of a few things we like to eat and focus on the herbs and the greenhouse goodies this year.
So now we're going to get busy searching for and purchasing seeds and young plants so we're ready to hit the ground running in Spring. If you think we've missed a great herb off our list or have any other suggestions please let us know.
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