Herbs not only provide plentiful properties for health and wellbeing; herb gardening is a fun and meaningful pastime that’s healing for the soul too

Growing your own herb garden is one of those little known pleasures in life that can be enormously satisfying and joyous to do – to plant a seed and watch it sprout into a functional, beneficial plant that yields both culinary and medicinal properties. Whether grown in a pot on your kitchen windowsill or within the realms of a beautiful stone-laden herb garden, utilizing your very own herbs can be both fun and very meaningful.

Man has become disconnected from the source of “things” – we pick up our groceries laden with fruit, vegetables and dried herbs from plastic containers on the supermarket shelves; we use plastic money to buy these items not realising that nature, in its abundance, can provide us all our needs if we only put in a minimal amount of effort. Growing your own herb garden helps you to realign with the true nature of the universe and reconnects us to the principle that when we put in a small amount of effort we are rewarded in abundance. All that is asked of us is to place seeds into the soil and with the correct amount of sunlight and water new life bursts forth.

The benefits of planting your own herbs

Not only do herbs grown and nurtured from seed or seedling taste better than their supermarket counterparts, you can also pick them fresh whenever you need and they replenish themselves with very little effort on your part. For kitchen use, only a few plants of each herb are needed and a little will have strong aromatic and culinary effects. Our taste buds have become dulled from too much refined sugar and salt, but adding fresh herbs to food will invigorate and refine your sense of taste. Herbs can also be an important ingredient in many cosmetics and beauty preparations. They are nature’s beauty secret to looking and feeling vitalized.

The following are some easy-to-grow herbs along with their uses and how to prepare them at home:

Chamomile
Chamomile is quite famous for its medical and household uses. It is an excellent, gentle sedative and is safe in small doses for children. It has strong relaxing actions and is therefore very good in the treatment of anxiety and insomnia. Indigestion and inflammations such as gastritis are often eased with chamomile. It can be used as a mouthwash for mouth inflammations, a gargle for sore throats and an eye bath for sore eyes. Inhaling chamomile over a steam bath will speed recovery from nasal congestion. Externally chamomile speeds wound healing and reduces swelling. The parts most commonly used are the flowers and leaves.

Preparation: Pour a cup of boiling water onto 2 tablespoons of dried chamomile leaves and let infuse for 5 – 10 minutes. For digestive problems this tea should be drunk after meals. Half a cup of flowers boiled in 2 litres of water makes a steam bath. Cover your head with a towel and inhale the steam.

Coriander
Coriander can be used medicinally to aid the digestive system in getting rid of wind and ease the spasms that can accompany it. It will also ease diarrhoea, especially in children, and may be used as an equivalent to gripe water, used to ease colic in babies. The oil acts as a stimulant to the stomach, increasing secretion of digestive juices and thus also stimulating the appetite. Coriander has a very distinctive scent and flavour and is an indispensable ingredient in many Indian and Thai dishes.

Preparation: For food preparation the leaves are used. Medicinally, the ripe seeds are used as a carminative and anti-microbial. Pour a cup of boiling water onto 1 tablespoon of the seeds and let infuse for 5 minutes in a closed pot. This should be drunk before meals.

Lavender
This is an effective herb for headaches especially when they are related to stress. Lavender is effective for the treatment of depression, especially if used in conjunction with other remedies. As a gentle strengthening tonic of the nervous system it may be used in states of nervous disability and exhaustion. It can be used to soothe and promote natural sleep. Externally, the oil may be used to help ease the aches and pains of arthritis.

Preparation: To take internally, pour a cup of boiling water onto 1 teaspoon of dried lavender and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. This can be drunk three times a day. The oil should not be taken internally but can be inhaled, rubbed on the skin or used in baths. To relax before bedtime add a cup of the leaves to a warm bath and soak in it to calm and prepare your nervous system for a restful sleep.

Peppermint
Peppermint has a relaxing effect on muscles, anti-flatulent properties and stimulates bile and digestive juice secretion, and so can relieve symptoms of intestinal colic, flatulent dyspepsia and inflammatory bowel disorders. The volatile oil acts as a mild anaesthetic to the stomach wall, which helps relieve the vomiting of pregnancy and travel sickness. It is also valuable in the treatment of fevers, especially colds and flu. As an inhalant it can be used to relieve nasal congestion. Peppermint also aids with period pain and eases anxiety and tension.

Preparation: Pour a cup of boiling water onto a heaped teaspoon of the dried herb and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. This should be drunk as often as desired. One to 2ml of a peppermint tincture can also be taken three times a day.

Parsley

This fresh herb, used widely in cooking, is one of the richest sources of vitamin C. Medicinally, parsley has three main areas of use. Firstly it is an effective diuretic which helps the body get rid of excess water; secondly it works to stimulate the menstrual cycle (although it’s not advisable to use parsley during pregnancy as there may be excessive stimulation of the womb); and thirdly it can be used as a carminative, for easing babies’ colic pains.

Preparation: Pour a cup of boiling water onto 1 – 2 tablespoons of dried parsley and leave to infuse for 5 – 10 minutes in a closed container. This should be drunk three times a day. For culinary uses, it works well when cooked with fish and can also be added to dips like eggplant.

Rosemary
Rosemary acts as a circulatory and nerving stimulant. It has a toning and calming effect on the digestive system and can also be used where psychological tension is present. It is therefore useful where headache or depression is associated with disability. Externally it may be used to ease muscular pain, sciatica and neuralgia. The oil acts as a stimulant to the hair follicles and can be used for premature baldness.

Preparation: Pour a cup of boiling water onto 1 – 2 tablespoons of dried rosemary and leave to infuse in a covered container for 10 – 15 minutes. This should be drunk three times a day. As a tincture take 1 – 2 ml three times a day. For culinary uses, it can be added to roast potatoes and pasta dishes to enhance the flavour.

Did you know?

Herbs are amazing plants. They have been used for centuries to promote recovery, health and wellbeing. We find their use within the Indian Ayurvedic system and in Chinese medicine alongside acupuncture. They were used in the spiritual healing ecology of Native North Americans and we see their constituents being used as a source of drugs in modern day medicine. In fact modern medicine has its roots in the use of herbs and only until about 50 years ago, drugs were manufactured using herbs alone. Despite the refinement of chemical technology, the majority of drugs on today’s market still have their origin in plant material.

By Laurey Hyman

Laurey is a qualified nutritionist who has studied holistic nutrition, herbalism, environmental medicine and Ayurveda. Originally from South Africa, Laurey lives in Israel with her husband and children. Laurey’s passionate about natural medicine and is currently writing a cookbook using healthy foods as a basis for delicious meals.

PRACTICAL GARDENING TIPS FOR THE MONTH OF MAY….

* May is the ideal time to plant tulip bulbs

* Lift and store dahlia tubers as soon as their foliage has been blackened by the first frost alternatively cut the hollow stems back down to about 10cm (4in) above the tuber.

* Protect conifers from Aphids with Eds Health Meridian for Conifers every four to five weeks throughout autumn and winter for the Italian cypress aphid and water them regularly

* Reduce the amount of watering of water on your Kikuyu lawns; twice a month will be sufficient

* Water plants more sparingly now-conditions are turning cooler and make sure there is good circulation around their foliage, to prevent fungal diseases.

* Buds on autumn flowering shrubs are developing so make sure you keep them fertilised and watered.

* Houseplants should be watered less frequently as temperatures drop

* Lift and divide overcrowded perennials like dietes, daylilies, asters and agapanthus

*Sow cool season lawns like Shade Over and All Seasons Evergreen

*Sow vegetables seeds like broad beans, kale, lettuce, radish and spinach

*Sow flower seeds like Namaqualand daisies, poppies, sweepeas and Virginan stocks

*Plant flower seedlings like primula, pansy, stocks, cineraria, poppies, foxgloves and petunias

*Fruit trees can be planted between autumn and spring although species which need warmth (apricot or peach trees) should not be planted until after the winter.

Courtesy of The Garden Shop – visit their website at www.gardenshop.co.za or email them on info@gardenshop.co.za

The first record of farming dates as far back as the ancient Egyptians whose hieroglyphics revealed methods of planting that were more align with the relationship between nature and the environment than we realise, Barry says. The cycles of the moon, the seasons and the lay of the land were as critical to crop growing as was their worship of the Gods.

“The use of pesticides for mass farming began in the 1940’s as a result of burgeoning population numbers and wartime technology. In fact, many of these chlorine-based products are still available today,” Barry says. But according to him, what many people don’t realise is the devastating effect these chemical fertilisers and toxins have on the soil.

Equally concerned about the use of inorganic fertilisers on the soil and plants is Malcolm Thompson of Wildflower Nursery, a purely indigenous 50-year established nursery situated in Fourways, Johannesburg. “Plants thrive in an environment that they are naturally adapted to. Indigenous plants add value in creating symbiotic relationships for local wildlife like birds and insects,” he says.

What’s vital to plants health and survival is further attributed to the micro-organisms that inhabit the soil creating a healthy underground environment for plants to grow in. Malcolm says that we should think carefully before using insecticides as “toxins remain active in both the plant species and soil for many generations to come”. Also, as Malcolm explains, “insecticides may in fact be killing many other ecologically useful insects and micro-organisms that are beneficial to the plants survival”.

The term “organic” traditionally means not using any chemical pesticides or fertilisers because they are damaging to the environment. But experts warn that some organic substances like tobacco dust can be toxic too and urge consumers to read labels carefully. It is understood that organic gardening is then more a philosophy of gardening and not a style or design. You still need to plant at the right times, prune, control pests and mow the lawn.

Understanding the interrelationship between all elements in the garden – the ecosystem – of life and decay, of pollination and natural pest control and the synergy of plants are all associated with organic gardening or, more liberally, making a connection with the earth – an earth touch, so to speak.

Val Wright, an avid gardener of many years, believes that “nature has a way of sorting itself out”. She says that “understanding the natural intelligence inherent in all nature, is the key to successful gardening”. Creating a lifestyle that is geared towards creating harmony for your natural surrounds and creating balance through recycling and being water-wise and getting involved in community clean-up programmes is a great way of offering respect to nature and developing self-respect for ourselves and the sustainable future of our country, she says.

If you are thinking about growing your own herbs and veggies to eat, organic gardening is something you should think about as the sprays, fertilisers and insecticides you use could be harming you too.