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Post by cletus on Nov 24, 2015 16:51:25 GMT -5
cletus this schizandra.. I tried it various times from seed and nothing came up - which trick did you use? BTW there is an awesome book 'the chinese medical herb farm" it contains instructions how to grow all these chinese plants. Fresh seed is crucial. Try horizon herbs?
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Post by mountaindweller on Nov 25, 2015 2:15:40 GMT -5
I will do an order in autumn
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Post by greenfinger on Nov 25, 2015 9:40:23 GMT -5
An herb that used to be extremely popular in the US until the introduction of aspirin is boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eupatorium_perfoliatum). Used to be in the official US pharmacopoeia, though not anymore. The aerial parts are dried to destroy tremerol (toxic substance) and then used as a tea to treat colds and flu. Germany still recognizes it in its pharmacopoeia as an effective immune stimulant to fight colds and flu. The tea is really bitter. I have used the Eupatorium perfoliatum before flowering, just the greenery, and it is much more pleasant. If you add in goldenrod greenery, a allover body tonic, just a touch of honey makes it a pleasant drink. I don't know if the lack of flowers in the tea reduces it's effectiveness or not. I drank enough to get the effect I needed for an early cold, before flowers formed.
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Post by zeedman on Nov 26, 2015 17:27:30 GMT -5
cletus this schizandra.. I tried it various times from seed and nothing came up - which trick did you use? You might have better luck with plants. I've seen several nurseries carry the plants over the years, but this is the only one I know that still has them. Besides, you need both a male & female to get berries, from seed it would be a crap shoot - you wouldn't know what sex the plants were for years. One Green World
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Post by castanea on Nov 29, 2015 12:48:09 GMT -5
Rosemary. For most of my life I tended to ignore or underestimate rosemary. In the last few years I have come to appreciate it more and more. The scent is just wonderful. As a culinary herb a little can add a huge impact to the right dish. More and more evidence is starting to suggest that smelling rosemary can improve memory and/or mood. It is incredibly easy to grow requiring only sun, light and good drainage. In theory it dies a few degrees below 32F but in practice it can often handle down to 20F and some varieties have been able to tolerate 5-10 degrees F. And if you have those kind of low temps, just grow it in a pot and bring it indoors in the winter. It will do fine in a pot.
And rare basil varieties. The common basils are fine but some of the rarer varieties have amazing scents. Just walking by a basil plant and catching the scent brightens my day. And bees love basil. In my yard I find more honey bees around basil plants than around anything else.
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Post by castanea on Nov 29, 2015 12:53:00 GMT -5
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Post by castanea on Nov 29, 2015 12:53:35 GMT -5
cletus this schizandra.. I tried it various times from seed and nothing came up - which trick did you use? BTW there is an awesome book 'the chinese medical herb farm" it contains instructions how to grow all these chinese plants. Fresh seed is crucial. Try horizon herbs? Horizon Herbs is awesome: www.horizonherbs.com/
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Post by eastex on Jan 9, 2016 20:27:44 GMT -5
I second the yarrow, but for me I use it to stop bleeding quickly. Also, Grindelia, gum plant, is super great for my allergies and asthma. Plus it looks really cool. It's native to North America, but I'm not sure how drought tolerant it may or may not be.
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Post by philagardener on Jan 10, 2016 6:41:14 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum, eastex . Hop on over to our Welcome Thread and tell us a little about your gardens. We have a bunch of members from the Lone Star State!
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Post by eastex on Jan 10, 2016 11:49:31 GMT -5
Thanks Philagardener! I will go do that right now!
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 23, 2016 0:03:45 GMT -5
I've really been enjoying being the medicine man at the farmer's market. I was able to grow a bunch of great medicinals this spring. I failed at more that I succeeded with, but I gotta start somewhere. Next step would be to learn which are frost tolerant, and which are perennial. Perhaps I'll be able to grow some seeds this year for some of them. That would allow me to fail in more different ways to get a better idea of what works for each species.
Because I have new and different medicinals/herbs on the table, it's attracting the local medicine women. That pleases me. I really like hanging out with people that use food as medicine.
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Post by castanea on May 26, 2016 8:50:44 GMT -5
A lady told me at the farmer's market a few weeks ago that I was the only person at market offering herbs... I was confused, because I often see basil, and oregano, and dill. I asked her to clarify. Eventually it became clear that she was calling me a medicine man. I was immensely pleased. I often gather plants that are renowned for their medicinal properties and take them to market with me. I give 90% of them away because they don't sell, but at least I made the effort, and a few people really appreciate what I do. What that means, is that the local shamans and medicine women associate with me a lot. A couple days ago I told one of the shaman that the deer had eaten about 1/3 of my cantaloupes, and that was OK with me, because "When/Where else are the deer folk going to get to taste such glorious muskmelons?" The response was along the lines of, "I think that you have just out shaman-ed this ol shaman". I never would have imagined 7 growing seasons ago when I started down the path of landrace gardening that it would result in me being called a medicine man or shaman. But once I started saving my own corn seed, then it wasn't a very big step to start making my own catsup. It was only a small step from there to growing flavorings like stevia, garlic, mustard, dill, and fennel. And if I'm already growing my own food and flavorings, then I might as well be growing my own medicines. And if I'm growing and using medicinal herbs, then I might as well take them to market with me. So during the next few growing seasons, I intend to put more thought and effort into growing medicinal herbs. I'd welcome feedback about which herbs you find the most useful. Any suggestions about growing conditions? Winter hardiness? etc... Get the seed catalogs from Horizon Herbs, which is now called Strictly Medicinal Seeds: www.strictlymedicinalseeds.com/pilot.aspAside from being the best source of medicinal herb seeds in the US, the catalogs contain some good information about the seeds they sell.
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Post by mskrieger on Jun 15, 2016 10:51:35 GMT -5
This thread interests me very much. Thanks for starting it, Joseph Lofthouse. I just planted yarrow, uva-ursi and marshmallow near my blueberry bushes this spring, and they seem to be doing well. Looking forward to learning to use them...growing herbs is inspirational. My first effort to get into medicinal herbs was a pollinator patch of milkweed, echinacea and boneset. I'm making a (whole plant) echinacea tincture this growing season. Started out with the young fresh leaves in brandy, added immature flowers a few weeks ago, will add flowers this week or next and then some 2 or 3 year old roots in the fall. BTW, the milkweed (Asclepias, bright orange variety with skinny leaves) self-seeded abundantly. It never seems to suffer from rainless stretches, and might be a candidate for drier climates. The root is supposedly good for respiratory complaints and pleurisy, though I have not experimented yet.
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Post by philagardener on Jun 15, 2016 18:10:55 GMT -5
supposedly good for respiratory complaints and pleurisy, though I have not experimented yet. Probably better you haven't had to!
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Post by 12540dumont on Jul 9, 2016 12:03:46 GMT -5
We have grown both culinary and medicinal plants for many years. My two recent favorites are Korean mint (Agastache Rugosa) and Chervil (Many thanks to Oxbow for this one!). The Korean mint tastes like sweet licorice. It's stunning pulverized and slipped into a martini. The bees absolutely love it. It's tall and sprightly. It doubles as a flower in my bouquets. We also make a tea out of it and put it in lemonade. The chervil we are using in salad. The mint will take any weather. It's also perennial. The gophers mostly leave it alone. The chervil is only a spring thing here. But, it's great while it lasts.
I got my mint seed from Wild Garden Seeds. The chervil came from Oxbow.
Our new herb this year is Fenugreek. (Of course it's a bean!) We're going to use the greens this year. Zack also started some Motherwort and Self Heal. His bugle from last year and hyssop are really beautiful. He thinks herbs are way more interesting than veges. He's always pointing things out and saying, "Mom! This is a vulnerary!"
Herbs are wonderful. Many of them make lovely garden plants and borders. For me, they are a nifty wee path divergent from the same old veges. Old dogs learning new tricks. Woof.
This year I've also started dye plants....Japanese Indigo, Madder, Weld & Woad.
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