* This is a guest post by a young woman I found on Instagram. Check her out: Elle Meager. Elle is a permaculture teacher, usually found in her food forest with her 4 dogs and surrounded by cattle, horses, chickens, and other wildlife. She enjoys growing weird and wonderful medicinal herbs, making everything from scratch, and sharing it on her blog, Outdoor Happens.
Treat yourself to some effective home-grown remedies by cultivating these five easy-to-grow herbs in your backyard!
Since the beginning of time, herbs have been an important part of life and health. Plants were, and still are, the major source of medicine for millions of people throughout the world. Hippocrate explains it best: “Let food be your medicine and let medicine be your food.”
Herbs aren’t just useful for your health, they add great flavor to your culinary creations too. It’s no wonder herbs were once defined as “the friend of the physician and the praise of cooks”. (Emperor Charlemagne)
You can add this wonderful, free source of health (and flavor!) to your own backyard. Many herbs are surprisingly easy to grow and propagate. Amongst the easiest to grow are rosemary, thyme, lavender, mint, and St. John’s Wort.
I’ll discuss these today, along with their cultivation requirements.
1. ROSEMARY (ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS)
I have a friend who virtually lives on rosemary tea, claiming it boosts the immune system and improves memory. He’s right on both counts. This aromatic herb is also an effective treatment for digestion problems and can alleviate anxiety and symptoms of depression.
Easy to grow, this perennial evergreen thrives in direct sunlight and enjoys a more arid environment. With a little water and frequent pruning, your rosemary shrub will grow to bushy proportions seemingly overnight.
Rosemary can easily grow to 6ft tall. You can keep it at a smaller size by regularly pruning it. Save your prunings and dry them as soon as you can to preserve the volatile oils contained within. Dry them in a well-ventilated space without direct light.
Rosemary propagation is best from cuttings or air layering - seeds can be incredibly slow to get started. Just be sure not to overdo your rosemary intake - too much could lead to nausea, increased sun sensitivity, allergic reactions, or even kidney irritation.
2. ST JOHN'S WORT (HYPERICUM PERFORATUM)
Yellow flowering herbs like St John’s Wort can boost your mood just with their presence. They thrive in partial shade or full sun. St. Johns Wort can be quite thirsty initially but, once mature, is surprisingly drought-resistant.
It is native to Europe but has naturalized in many other countries around the world. It is a hardy perennial herb, quite bushy, and grows to about 2ft tall. If you are ever in doubt as to whether a herb is truly St. John’s Wort, simply rub the flower petals between your fingers. You should see a red stain caused by the resin within. It will also have a turpentine smell.
Widely promoted as a treatment for depression, over the years, St John’s Wort has also been used to treat respiratory problems, kidney complaints, and insomnia. Traditionally harvested on 24th June, St John’s Wort can be picked throughout the year, although it is best done at noon when its medicinal properties are at their most potent.
3. THYME (THYMUS VULGARIS)
Thyme, when happy, is one of the fastest herbs to grow. In less than a month, a tiny thyme seed blossoms into a shrubby, drought-resistant perennial. It’s a small bush, only growing to about 1 ft tall.
Thyme is easy to propagate from seed, cuttings, root divisions, or layering. Layering is the easiest method that almost never fails. Cover some stems near the ground with soil or sand. After 4-8 weeks, new roots will sprout from this air-layered piece, and it can be replanted elsewhere.
While creating an ornamental ground cover dotted with little lilac leaves, thyme will also provide you with an effective treatment for a range of complaints, from arthritis to a sore throat. In the kitchen, thyme adds a subtle, savory flavor and aroma to roasts, stews, and soups.
Easy to grow, thyme enjoys full sunlight and thrives in hot, arid conditions.
4. LAVENDER (LAVENDULA SP)
Indigenous to the Mediterranean, lavender prefers a hot, arid climate. If you live in colder, more humid conditions, it’s advisable to plant your lavender in pots so you can move them indoors during the winter months.
More and more varieties of lavender are released each year, however, so you may find one that is better suited to your climate than others. The commercial variety of lavender is L. augustifolia, English lavender. A variety that grows well outdoors in my hot, humid climate is the Canary Island lavender (L. canariensis).
Lavender has been used in the kitchen for over 2,500 years and adds a beautiful aroma and flavor, and a smoother texture, to soups and stews, desserts, and roasts.
A vital part of any first-aid kit, lavender has antiseptic and anti-fungal properties and is an effective treatment for both insomnia, and anxiety. It will also brighten your mood by attracting butterflies to your garden.
5. MINT (MENTHA SP.)
Mint is so easy to grow, it’s liable to take over your entire garden! That means it makes for an excellent ground cover, provided you give it enough water, rich soil, and partial shade. It also means that, if you have a smaller garden or you don’t want it to take over, you may need to keep it in a pot.
Personally, I love mint and let it grow rampant. It’s an amazing weed suppressor. It might grow like a weed, but it certainly isn’t one! Its benefits are numerous and I believe that when something so useful grows that easily - why not take advantage of it?
Mint has creeping rootstock, which means it doesn’t just spread above the ground, it spreads underneath the soil too. This is why it can get “out of control”. Mint loves loose, rich soil in shade to part shade. If you have plenty of moisture in the soil, it will grow in full sun too. As with most herbs, the essential oil content is highest when you grow it in the sun.
Highly versatile as a culinary herb, as well as a medicinal one, you add mint to salads, smoothies, soups, and pestos. Make a soothing tea using the growing tips or ease stomach discomfort by chewing on some fresh leaves. You can even use it to keep your pets free of ticks and fleas!
CONCLUSION
These five herbs are easy to grow, add color and nutrition to your garden while giving you new flavors to add to your home-cooked dishes and natural remedies for a variety of complaints and conditions. We would love to hear what you think are the easiest herbs to grow at home!