In the old days, your ancestors didn't have to rely on pharmacies to get medicine for their ailments. Instead, they had powerful, reliable, and effective medicinal herbs in their gardens. These perennial healing plants also create a living pharmacy in your garden and will survive, thrive, and multiply over the years. Furthermore, your living pharmacy will become stronger and more valuable every year.
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Check PriceThe secret is picking herbs that develop deep root systems and can spread on their own and can be harvested for decades. Here are 12 tried and tested medicinal herbs that will give you a lifetime return on your one-time planting cost.
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1. Echinacea (Purple Coneflower)
This immune booster grows beautiful purple flowers and enhances your body's natural defenses. You only need to plant it once in well-draining soil and full sun. You can harvest the roots and flowers every year for over 20 years. The roots have the most immune-supporting compounds. Start harvesting from the roots after year 3, and try to only harvest what you need and leave the crown to regrow.
2. Lavender
Lavender smells great and relieves stress. Lavender even has antiseptic qualities. Lavender comes from the Mediterranean region, loves poor and rocky soil. Interestingly, the more you neglect it, the more potent the plant becomes. For optimal essential oil content, harvest the flower spikes just before they fully open. Each bush can yield over 15 pounds of medicinal flowers for more than 15 years!
3. Sage
This popular dish ingredient also serves as an ancient medicine for soothing the throat. The antimicrobial properties of sage make it great for gargles and mouthwashes to relieve sore throats and respiratory infections. Sage should be planted in sandy soil and leaves can be harvested at any time. The older the sage, the better the flavor and the more medicinal properties it will have.
4. Thyme
Thyme is a tiny but powerful restorative that has strong antibacterial properties. It is worth having for your Thyme is a low-growing perennial. Once it is established in your garden, it will turn into a fragrant carpet that requires no maintenance. In the summer, harvest the flowering tops in the morning after the dew has dried but before it is hot outside. This will help you to avoid collecting them during periods of low essential oil content.
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5. Chamomile (German Chamomile)
German chamomile is an annual but will self-seed so reliably that you’ll never have to replant it. The flowers smell like apples and make a great bedtime tea to help relieve stress and encourage sleep. If you let some flowers go to seed each year, you will have an unlimited supply of this gentle but effective herb.
6. Mint (Peppermint and Spearmint)
Mint is a great medicinal herb due to its great benefits for the digestive system. It is great to have around because of its aggressive spreading habit. To control its growth, plant it in a container, or fully embrace its takeover tendencies by creating a dedicated mint patch for it. The fresh leaves will allow you to reduce nausea and indigestion, and the dried leaves can be used for teas that will be great to use in winter.
7. Oregano
This pizza herb has some impressive medicinal characteristics. It has antimicrobial compounds that rival some of the commercial treatments. The essential oil of oregano has very potent antifungal and antibacterial properties. For peak potency, harvest the leaves quickly before they begin to flower, and dry them quickly to capture the medicinal volatile oils that make the herb so effective.
8. Bay Laurel
The leaves from true laurel trees have beneficial properties for digestion and have some antimicrobrial properties. True laurel leaves differ from the leaves you will find at grocery stores since they provide greater therapeutic benefits and will not lose their potency. This evergreen shrub or tree is able to help you harvest leaves every year and can be very old since some bay trees that are productive can be over 100 years.
9. Rosemary
This woody perennial has compounds that can boost memory and benefit people with inflammation. Rosemary can grow in drought and deficient soil and will become more concentrated with medicinal properties and more potent under stress. Sprigs can be harvested all year but morning harvests after the dew has dried will have the highest concentration of active compounds.
10. Lemon Balm
Lemon balm is one of the mint family which offers the gentle relaxation, antiviral capacities and stress relief which are particularly useful during the cold and flu season. This herb will self seed and spread through underground runners so you'll never run out of this lemony medicine. For optimal flavor and highest levels of medicinal constituents, harvest the foliage prior to the onset of flowering.
11. Calendula
Calendula's bright orange blooms are great for healing cuts, burns, and other irritating skin problems, and are better than many over-the-counter remedies. It's self-seeding, and will bloom from spring all the way into late autumn. During peak blooming season, be sure to harvest flowers daily, as the plant produces more flowers the more harvesting is done. Petals can be harvested and dried to create skin healing remedies that can be used throughout the entire year.
12. Plantain
Generally seen as a lawn invader, plantain offers very effective first aid for insect bites, stings, and wounds. This versatile herb spreads on its own in any lawn or garden with no human care and provides free first aid. To use, simply chew and apply plantain leaves to affected areas. You can also dry leaves to use for winter. One well-established plantain patch can help an entire neighborhood.
Begin with three or four herbs that fit the most common health needs of your family. As with all perennial healers, patience is required, as first year harvests will be light. However, mature plants will produce medicine for decades. Quality plants or seeds will create an excellent natural pharmacy for your family that becomes stronger and more valuable each year.
