5 Easy to Grow Remedies (Page 4) By Dorothy Foltz-Gray, Natural Solutions Luckily, you don’t have to head to landscaping school to create a medicinal garden.
You don’t even need a backyard, since many healing plants do well in containers. Growing herbs is so simple that even people who routinely kill houseplants will find they can do it. Many herbs, in fact, thrive on benign neglect; the less water they get, the stronger their medicinal compounds. And in most cases, there’s no need to fertilize them. Rosemary What it’s good for: Sharpening memory When British herbalist Anne McIntyre was a student, she kept rosemary sprigs on her desk during classes, squeezing the oils onto her hands. How To Grow It: Rosemary is a Mediterranean plant, thriving in sun and well-drained soil.
How To Use It: Ancient scholars used to wear wreaths of rosemary around their heads, but you don’t have to go that far.
Natural World: A Farm for the Future. Wall-Mounted Modular Storage. Chamomile. Growing Herbs for Tea. Even if you only have a balcony or sunny windowsill, you can grow your own herbs to use for tea.
You can dry them for use during the winter, but you can also make great tea with the fresh herbs. If you're going to use fresh, you should tear and bruise the leaves so the aromatic oils can be released into the water. You'll also need to use more fresh herbs than you would of the dried. With most of these plants, you can just pluck off a few leaves throughout the season whenever you want to make tea. If you take off too many leaves at once, you could kill your plant. Mint Mint tea is a favourite among herbal tea drinkers and is one of the easiest to grow yourself. Chamomile Your tea is made with the small white and yellow flowers of the chamomile plant, rather than the leaves.
Lemon Balm The lemon balm plant is actually closely related to mint, but has a distinct lemon aroma. Rose Hips Rose hips will make a nicely citrus-tasting tea that is rich in vitamin C. Secret Ingredient: Fresh, Organic Chocolate Mint Leaves. Fresh, organic, chocolate mint leaves are a revelation.
The first time you taste a fresh chocolate mint leaf, you might think someone is playing a trick on you. Chocolate mint leaves smell and taste like mint and yes, chocolate. This remarkable herb comes from the spearmint family and has a purple stem with green leaves. The Peppermint Plant and its Natural Health Benefits. (Western Herb) Mentha x piperita The Peppermint plant is also known as Mint, Brandy mint, Balm mint, Menthol, and Lamb mint.
The Peppermint plant is a vigorous, aromatic, perennial herb that grows about two feet tall and spreads by runners that grow just under the soil surface. It has dark green leaves that are sometimes tinged with purple, purple stems and small purple flowers that bloom in whorls on terminal spikes in summer. Benefits of peppermint are numerous and one of the most popular is the use in herbal teas.
This summer I discovered Chocolate mint at a local nursery, it has a subtle flavor and scent of mint and dark chocolate. Here are some other benefits of peppermint. Take internally for: Essential Oils. You will need: * The herb or flower you're going to use (more on this in a moment). * Neutral grain spirit of extreme high proof (by us there is a grain alcohol called Everclear that ranges from 150 - 190 proof - this is best - however a Vodka of 120 proof can work, just not as well - less yield). * Clear glass canning jars with lids - 1 quart (.9461 liters) works best (I save glass jars such as for pickles and mayonnaise). * A freezer. * Amber glass bottles.
You will need to use the dropper to get the essential oil into the bottle so if you are not using a bottle that comes with one, make sure you also have a dropper to use. * A strainer (preferably one coated in porcelain). * Tight weave cheese cloth or linen. * A small glass bowl. * Other standard kitchen items, such as bowls and spoons, may be useful.
After you've decided what herb or flower you want to turn into an essential oil you'll need to determine when it is most fragrant. You only want the part that has the highest scent. Lemon balm. Overview Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), a member of the mint family, is considered a calming herb.
It was used as far back as the Middle Ages to reduce stress and anxiety, promote sleep, improve appetite, and ease pain and discomfort from indigestion (including gas and bloating, as well as colic). Even before the Middle Ages, lemon balm was steeped in wine to lift the spirits, help heal wounds, and treat venomous insect bites and stings.