Planting And Growing A Small Medicinal GardenChoosing Plants For My Medicinal GardenAs well as a medic garden featuring al of the culinary herbs, I am going to be making one with some of the commonly seen wild plants too. - A lot of these plants were considered herbs in the olden days, and also used in the kitchen. I started my medicinal garden plans by looking through some books of medicinal plants and their properties, I am mainly using 'Culpeper's Complete Herbal' as it is more fun that way! I love his descriptions, and I have a good knowledge of plants, so I am not worried about poisoning myself. After reading up on all the plants I made a list of the ones I was interested in, I am making this medicinal garden very personal to me and have chosen plants that will help me with some of the problems that I suffer. The wild plants I am having for my medicinal garden are... Sweet Violet Red Deadnettle White Deadnettle Borage Chamomile Bugle Ground Ivy Calamint Lady's Mantel Self Heal The Plants I Am Including In My GardenRed Deadnettle"It makes the heart merry, drives away melancholy, and quickens the spirits." That is what Nicholas Culpepper had to say about this commonly seen plant, and I sure could do with some of that! In times gone by, the red deadnettle was considered a food source and was even cultivated for this purpose. You can find this plant growing almost everywhere, it thrives in hedgerows, borders of fields, along the banks of streams, on waste ground... Ground IvyAccording to Culpepper this little weed is useful for pretty much everything... Personally I am most interested in its use for 'exulcerated-lungs', the way it 'easteth all gripping pains', and it's power to 'drive away melancholy.' Groud ivy had previous use of flavouring beer and was also eaten, there is an interesting recipie for ground ivy leaf in tempura, which I really want to try! This is another plant that you can find almost anywhere, it likes shade, and light, and it grows in woods, fields, in fact, it grows in every space it can, look out for its delicate purple flowers winking up from the grass. Ladys Mantel"And such women as have large breasts, causing them to grow less and hard." This statement from Culpepper concerns me as they have gone small enough already and don't fancy them being hard as well as small! Anyway I am only interested in this plant purely for its 'celestial waters' which it produces through its leaves, an old wives tale states that if you douse your face in these waters at dawn you will not age....well, I did this when I was young, and now I am 33 and still getting asked for ID to buy cigarettes and lottery tickets! I want to splash enough of it on my face to keep me going till I'm 90! Sweet VioletAhh, the sweet violet, one of my favourite plants! "It eases pains in the head caused by want of sleep, is effectual in the pleurasy, and all desieses of the lungs, horsesness of the throat, and all pains of the back." - This is infact a short summery of what Culpeper had to say about the sweet violet plant, he lists many other benefits. One of the properties that I have heard about sweet violet having, is an ability to breakdown cancerous tumours..... Sweet violets don't seem to enjoy direct sun, you can find them growing on laws, verges, banks, and other grassy areas, it is easy to confuse these with dog violets, dog violets have smaller, glossier leaves, and they have pointed sepals, sweet violets have rounded sepals. The sepals are the green bits on the back of the flower......I will draw a diagram to explain.. White DeadnettleCulpepper calls this plant 'white archangel' it has the same properties as the red deadnettle, and can also be eaten in a salad, deadnettles are in the mint family. You can find this plant growing by streams and rivers, in fields, hedgerows, and also in the woods, it loves the damp and dries out quickly when not watered. Bugle"The decoction of the leaves and flowers made in wine, and taken, dissolves the congealed blood in those that are bruised inwardly by a fall, or otherwise is very effectual for any inward wounds, thrusts, or stabs in the body." - Nicholas Culpeper Seeing as I was stabbed myself and am not fully recovered, I thought it would be prudent to include this useful plant, Culpeper also states that 2 spoonfuls of bugle syrup will sober up a drunk, and from what he seems to be saying (though it's hard to understand what he is going on about sometimes,) is that it also cures some sort of psychotic episode too, not that I need it for that, I don't want to cure my psychotic episodes, I enjoy them ;-) This plant grows in meadows, woods and on wasteland, I have not managed to locate any of this plant yet myself. Self Heal"The juice hereof used with oil of roses to anoint the temples and forehead, is very effectual to remove head ache." Says Culpepper! And that is why I am planting it in my medicinal garden, I suffer with headaches a lot and am willing to experiment with different ways of shifting them. Self heal is also well known for its ability to heal sores, cuts, ulcers, and other conditions, it is used in oncology too which I will be reading into more. Self heal loves to grow on lawns, it has a thick matting spread that roots very easily, you can also find it amongst paving slabs, on wasteland, and in fields and meadows. Stacked Planters Are Ideal For Indoor And Outdoor Medicinal Gardens.I have a few stacked planters in my house, I really love them, these pots keep all your plants separate and make it easy to tend to them, I am not sure how the plants at the back of my planter will do indoors, I keep turning it, so we will see.
As well as using a stacking planter for my herb garden, I am also using one to make a 'salad bar.' Each of the compartments has a different salad leaf.
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