9 Plants To Grow In a Medicinal Garden
So far in our Medicinal Garden blog series, we've talked a bit about prep work. Prepping is 90% of the battle of having any type of garden, especially when you're basically starting from scratch like we are.
I thought we could take a little break from talking about the prep and talk more about the plants. That brings me to...
There are a ton of medicinal plants out there. Some are more common than others. I'm sure you can think of a few right off the bat that you know have some sort of medicinal properties.
Do these come to mind?
- lavender
- chamomile
- echinacea
- peppermint
You've probably seen or at least heard of those plants above before, but what about these plants?
- bee balm
- yarrow
- lamb's ear
- dandelion
- mullein
- calendula
These are just some of the plants we will be featuring in our medicinal garden.
Some of these plants probably sound familiar to you because you've seen them as ingredients in herbal teas, also known as tisanes. They have been used for hundreds of years in teas, salves, tincures and even natural beauty products. Some even act as nature's band-aid.
If you're outdoorsy like the two of us, learning about these plants may come in handy in case of an outdoor accident when you don't have access to a first aid kit. These plants can also be dried for your own herbal tea blends at home! You can get cute little herb drying racks on the cheap like these or use a dehydrator like the one we use at home featured below.
What else can you do with medicinal plants? How about infused honey?! Infused honey is so easy to make, just follow these steps from Emily over at The Kitchn. If you aren't into growing your own medicinal plants for infused honey, you can always purchase organic dried herbs.
Believe it or not, there are local beekeepers in many, many places. We have several right here near our little town. Like us, you may have your own little beekeepers association. Ours is called 2 Cs and a Bee Association. Once I discovered how accessible local organic honey was, there was no going back to that little honey bear shaped bottle from Wal-Mart.
Along the way we will showcase each one of the medicinal plants that we will be planting in our garden. We'll teach you about each of their medicinal properties, what size you can expect the plant to grow to, and how to harvest your herbs. Until then...
Be Natural. Be Honest. Be Healthy.
Bri
