I have a cold. It’s just an ordinary head cold – testing negative for covid, and I got it from my partner who got it from our grandson, and they all tested negative too and got over it in a few days.
But still, I’m miserable.
It has made me very aware of the value in having medicinal plants in the garden. My partner is at work today, and there is no way I want to brave a trip to a pharmacy. Besides being a no-fun thing to do when sick, I imagine my sneezing, coughing, nose running, husky voiced, red eyed self would clear the room very quickly.
I don’t grow a big range of medicinals deliberately. Perhaps I should. Big pharma, for all its bad rap, is dependent on first world science, education, regulation, economy. It will be very vulnerable to collapse, or to turning into a US style system of haves and have-nots. Sharon Astyk has 130 species of medicinal plants on her suburban block, but saying that is cheating a bit because most of those 130 species would have multiple uses – they’d be culinary herbs, predator or pollinator attractants, decorative or shade plants too.
But I am very grateful to past self for having a lemon myrtle tree in the verge planting. It is still little so I am only harvesting leaves for tea, but my daughter has one too and has brought me whole branches to put in the shower under running hot water to fill the whole bathroom with lemon scented steam. It’s a hardy, decorative tree, well known by Aboriginal people as a medicinal.
I’m also grateful to past self for identifying the peppermint gum in the local park, for the same purpose.
I’ve been drinking herb teas all day, a different mix each time. All of these, apart from the pepper, I have growing.
- Turmeric and black pepper
- Elderberry and lemon juice
- Melissa (lemon balm) and ginger
- Lemon myrtle and peppermint
- Thyme and honey
And I’ve made a big pot of Phó Inspired Egg Noodle Soup, but using home-made chicken stock and a lot of bay leaves and garlic.
I’m hoping that’s enough to get me back to myself tomorrow, but it has been a good reminder. I’m not going to aim for Sharon Astyk’s 130 species, but I do think a range of essential herbal medicines in a garden is one of those things you thoroughly thank yourself for when the need occurs. I’ve got passionflowers and chamomile, aloe vera and sage, but I should have yarrow in the garden, and calendula and comfrey. What else should I have in an essentials herbal medicine kit?
Thanks Linda, I hope you get better soon. I was interested to read that you grow Elderberry (is that the same as Elderflower?). I always imagined that it was a cold climate plant.
Yes, elderberries and elderflowers come from the same plant. You want European elderberry (Sambucus nigra), not American (Sambucus canadensis). It’s a small tree, or large shrub, quite decorative, and it can be kept pruned and/or grown in a big pot. It doesn’t like drought, and it prefers full sun to flower well, but otherwise it’s not picky about conditions.
I have Vietnamese mint & coriander, garlic chives and chillies which would a great medicinal and flavour boost to your soup. Speedy recovery!
I grow Vietnamese mint and coriander, garlic chives and chillies which would add great medicinal and flavour to your soup. Speedy recovery!
All those!
That soup sounds good!
Lemons, limes and oranges are top of the list for me for a hit of Vitamin C to help fight off the infection. I often make teas out of lemon balm, lemon verbena and mint to help calm digestive issues. Yarrow and thyme grow in the garden and are great in infusions for head colds with a sore throat. I don’t grow ginger, but I do have some dried ginger root to add to these teas, with a spoonful of honey of course!
Elderberry is amazing as a tonic, I usually make the syrup from dried berries, but at a push you can buy Sambucol from the pharmacy too.
Get better soon Linda.