Summer Healing Herbs

From Garden to Home Remedy: 12 Medicinal Herbs to Grow this Summer

Posted by Jovial King

Whether it’s a garden box in your window, a large planter on your back porch, a guerrilla-style takeover of the grassy patches alongside your sidewalk, or a half-acre backyard garden, Vermont style, it’s time to start plotting out what herbs to throw in next to your tomato plants this summer.

Growing your own home remedies is fun, your kids will love it, your friends will be impressed and you can call yourself an herbalist!  Who can resist?  Rememberalways check with your physician before beginning a new regimen (especially if you're on medication).

Echinacea – Great for boosting the immune system and a beautiful garden flower!

The flowers and roots are harvested and dried for tea or steeped in alcohol to make a tincture.

Lemon Balm – The leaves can be harvested all summer.  A great antiviral, stress soother, and yummy in after-dinner teas to improve digestion.  Perfect for homemade sun tea.

Goldenseal – A powerful herb to have in the garden: a natural antibiotic and infection fighter.  Goldenseal is an endangered medicinal plant, and needs to be planted and propagated.

Nettles – Rich in vitamins and minerals, great for making tea and cooking with and a wild plant to have around.  Build a small box for your nettles so they don’t take over the yard.  Always wear gloves when harvesting the green leaves.

Peppermint – One of the best tummy tamers, effective for gas and nausea.  A favorite with the kids and harvestable all summer long. It makes a refreshing iced tea.

Chamomile –  Sweet and gentle, great for upset stomach and calming the nerves. One of the best herbs for children.

Red Clover – Rich in vitamins and minerals, great for the lymphatic system and   gently detoxifying.  I love to eat the flowers right off the stems – what a treat!

Elderberry – Plant an elderberry bush or two for the birds if not for yourself!   One of the best medicines to have in your apothecary, it’s a strong antiviral, rich in antioxidants and is excellent for keeping away colds and the flu.

Comfrey – A must have for making poultices for sprains and broken bones.  The leaves are also a good addition for a healthy compost pile and the bees are crazy for the little comfrey flowers.

Calendula – A queen healer of the herb garden and a beautiful summer flower that keeps on flowering into the fall.  It’s healing for the skin and a must have for homemade salves, oils and facial steams.

Burdock – A gentle tonic herb with lots of traditional uses. It’s very good for the skin and liver and can be enjoyed in stir-fries, soups and salads and well as tea and tincture.

Valerian – A perfect ally for those suffering from stress, tension and other nervous system disorders, and a gorgeous plant to have around with its long stems and delicate white flowers.  Another winner for the bees!

If you’re not ready to move to the country, start an herb farm, fight for the bees and plant endangered species, then pick one or two herbs that spark your interest and go from there.  I promise it will be fun!

Interesting infomation about Onions

The Healing ONION

In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people, there was a Doctor who visited many farmers to see if he could help them combatthe flu. Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it, and many had died. The doctor came upon one farmer, and to his household was very healthy. When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different, the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms. The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and place it under the microscope. She gave him one and when he found the flu virus in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy. The moral of the story is, buy some onions and place them in bowls around your home. If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office or under your desk or even on top somewhere. Try it and see what happens, what have you to lose? Just a few bucks on onions!!! Here is another interesting experience about onhions: This person contracted pneumonia, She came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion. Put one end on a fork, and then place the forked end into an empty jar...placing the jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be blackin the morning from the germs. Sure enough, it happened just like that...the onion was a mess, and she began to feel better. Also onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years ago. When ever you paint or use any chamicals that produce fumes always have cut onions in a blow of water. It will obsorb all the fumes. Onians have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

LEFTOVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS! In touring Mullins Food Products, makers of mayonnaise. Questions about food poisoning and mayonnaises came up. I learned: That all commercially-made mayo is completely safe. "It doesn't even have to be refrigerated. That the pH in mayonnaise is set at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment. That when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the officials look for is when the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where those onions came from (in the potato salad?). it's not the mayonnaise (as long as it's not homemade mayo) that spoils in the outdoors. It's probably the onions, and if not the onions, it's the POTATOES. Onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked onions. You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced onion. It's not even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it your refrigerator. It's already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit, that it can be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for onions you put on your hotdogs) If you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put it on your sandwich, you're asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist potato in a potato salad will attract and grow bacteria faster than any commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down. So, how's that for news? Please remember it is dangerous to cut onions and use it to cook the next day. It becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates toxic bacteria which may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess bile secretions and even food poisoning. Onions obsorb everything beware! Please pass this on.

Urban Atabex Healer's Training

At this amazing juncture of our lives, we are celebrating the fact that over a dozen sisters are creating the possibility of taking on being powerful healers. Sending them all lots of love: Stacey, Shoshana, Tania, Karen, Nathalie, Isolina, Melissa, Prita, Julie, Aniztla, Sally, Terry, Kathy & Kristy.