Medicinal Plants to Grow Yourself Part 1 - Basil, Garlic & Ginger.

I want to make this a no-nonsense post about herbal medicine. I am not a professional, but I have been using medicinal herbs for myself and my family for nearly a decade with great success, and as it’s nearing spring here in the UK I wanted to share some of the herbs I’ll be planting this year and why.

I should also add that medicinal herbs are no substitute for life-threatening illnesses and that we use them more as a preventative lifestyle measure. Food is medicine people, and if you cook your own food you are using medicinal herbs every day. And one of the biggest bonuses of all is that side effects are few and far between. I will include any such information when I talk about each plant.

For some countries in the world where they don’t have the privilege of free health care, these tips could be invaluable in saving you money. You can grow your own medicine with the cost of seeds. The empowerment that comes from taking charge of your own health is immense.

I also grow organic, and I make my own compost with scraps and garden waste (find a post about how I make my own potent compost at home here) – but you can get hold of soil any which way you can, just make sure it’s good quality and try to stay organic, because if you are going to be using these plants for your health, you don’t want any additive nasties in it. You want it to be nutrient dense and clean.

I also grow mainly in pots, because we move around, I always want to be able to take my plants with me. So all of these herbs I’ll be mentioning today are also pot friendly. It’s good to take note of what already grows locally to you and what will grow well – that can really help you succeed on your first go round.

I’ll also discuss what kind of herbal remedy I make with each herb, whether it be a tincture, salve, tea, infusion, oil, baths etc, and talk about dosages.

I have about a dozen that I grow and use, so we’ll see how this goes, to see if I need to split it up into multiple posts or not.

Basil

The most common variety is Sweet Basil, and it's well known for its flavour and scent, but what some people might not know is that for centuries it's been used to treat digestive issues, anxiety, and the leaves also have antibacterial properties.

It's sensitive to cold, so I start my seeds indoors in March here in the UK. Spring can be fickle here, so I just gauge the weather and plant the babies in pots, somewhere sunny, when I'm sure that the last frost has passed. Like I mentioned before, my compost is amazing, and I also water my plants sporadically with a compost tea that I blend, throughout the plants life.

For my family I find that 4-5 plants are more than enough for our fresh herb and pesto needs throughout the season and beyond.

There are a number of ways you can use basil, as a tincture or vinegar, and of course making pesto (which we will get to in a minute) but I like to use it primarily as a tea blend for headaches. Combined with lemon balm I find it quite effective for headaches.

I also like to make a salve with dried basil to use on insect bites, because insects seem to love Maddie in the summer, so that has come in handy. You can also make a poultice with basil for more serious bites and stings, it's antibacterial properties should ease the pain and itching.

And probably the best and most common way to use it is for pesto. Again, using basil in combination with garlic, which is good for the immune system, and is also an antimicrobial and antibacterial, as well as adding in another medicinal herb of your choice, to make an incredibly delicious but also potent medicinal pesto.

Garlic

Because we just touched on garlic, let's go there next. It has to be everyone's favourite herb right? Not only does it elevate the flavour of everything it touches, and make your mouth water every time you smell it, but it is good for so many different things, the list goes on and on.

I plant my cloves straight into the garden bed in early spring and let them do their thing, until I harvest them in autumn. It couldn't be any simpler! I do make sure to have a few organic garlic cloves lying around at the bottom of my garlic and onion sack in the kitchen, long enough for them all to sprout a little out their pointy ends, and then plant them pointy end up.

Garlic is good for digestion, immune system, bacterial infections, parasites, blood circulation, blood sugar levels, and more. We use it for all of these things and really, honestly feel a huge difference when we are smashing in the garlic.

Garlic does aggravate some people though, if you feel like you get heartburn or if you get stomach upset when you eat too much garlic then don't. Using food as medicine has a lot to do with listening to your body and doing what feels right for you. We are all individuals and our systems might be similar, but are still very unique.

Vern and I love eating garlic stuffed olives or pickled garlic, and it's no surprise that when I'm cooking, it's in everything. I also like to infuse my olive oil with garlic. I use a recipe I found in a magazine years ago for pickled garlic.

Heat apple cider vinegar, honey and tamari at a boil for 2 mins and pour over peeled garlic cloves in a sterilised jar, then leave to stand for a couple of weeks. So delicious! Some people like to add in other stuff too, like peppercorns, bay leaves, fennel, basil etc. You can also use salt and sugar instead of honey and tamari of course, and I just go by taste with my ratios - play around with it like your own little apothecary.

Ginger

If I had to pick just one - this is the one for me! This is the one everyone already knows is super good for you, but few people know what to do with it, especially if they aren't hitting the asian cooking often. It doesn't have to be complicated, and I know that making your own medicine is a daunting thought nowadays, and people assume it's wizardry - but I have great success with keeping it simple!

Just as I wait for my garlic to start sprouting in my kitchen, I do the same with my ginger - I wait for it to sprout a little on the ends and then I chop the big chunk into smaller thumb sized bits, each with a sprouted end and then I plant those straight into a large pot, pointy side up. I've had fails with ginger before but I try with it every year. I grow it in a pot because I know it likes morning sun and less wind, so I can move it around accordingly. Just keep the soil damp and let it mature in the soil. Harvest when the stems have died away.

Ginger in any form is amazing for inflammation. That is why it's one of my favourites, because doctors and scientists are realising more and more that all disease in the body stems from inflammation. It's also amazing for joint health, blood sugar levels, gut health, colds and flu, as well as period cramps and nausea or motion sickness.

It can also be used safely with no side effects.

For colds and flu we juice ginger and have straight ginger shots everyday, as well as peel and grate or slice a whole chunk of ginger to simmer in a pot of water for ginger tea. We just use a big scoop to pour mugs of warm ginger tea with manuka honey and lemon if we fancy, and drink it throughout the day when we are sick.

My family have for the longest time also used a very potent hot drink remedy that includes strong ginger tea like the one I make above, with cayenne pepper, peppermint and honey. If you like adding a shot of whiskey makes it a proper hot toddy. My husbands family love to do that.

And other than adding it wherever I can when I'm cooking, we enjoy another favourite from a book I own by Rosemary Gladstar, who accidentally made this while trying to make a healthier candied ginger. Basically cover chopped or grated ginger in honey in a pot and heat until the ginger is soft and the honey is a good strong ginger flavour, she adds that you can strain out the ginger if you like but I find if I chop it in sticks I can easily pick it out if I don't want it. This is another great way to take it for menstrual cramps, nausea or colds etc, so enjoy.

I hope that this was helpful and that I've encouraged you to make a start on your own medicinal herb garden. I don't want this post to be too long, so I'm going to split it up into 4 parts - so check back in for part 2 which will cover Rosemary, Turmeric and Aloe.

Sending you all positive vibes for health and wellness.