Cris
10 Best Healing Herbs
Why should every homesteader grow healing herbs? Well, when you are living a considerable distance form medical care it’s nice to be able to care for some injuries and ailments at home.
Dry skin, upset stomach, small scrapes, all these things are easily treated naturally with home grown herbs. No need to run to the pharmacy for chemicals in plastic bottles when you have the tools at hand. I love my little home apothecary and am constantly seeking to expand it through foraging and gardening.
You can mix up a salve, brew a tincture or drink a tea with these 10 best healing herbs. My favorite is using them to make organic soaps, cleaners, and shampoo/conditioner bars. I got into this to get away from plastic packaging, and I am never going back. The goal is to someday make enough to head to a farmers’ market, but that will come later.
What are the 10 Best Healing Herbs?
While there are definitely more than just ten herbs that are beneficial, I find these ten to be easy to grow and to have great health benefits as well.
Lavender
Lavender is definitely one of my favorites! It smells good, it looks good, attracts bees (then you can harvest lavender honey) makes a great addition to cleaners and soaps. Lavender is easy to add to salves for insect bites, chapped skin, muscle aches and has a calming effect on the person using it.
I find lavender easy to grow in pots and have seen it used as a hedge along a driveway. It’s pretty hardy through cold and hot dry summers growing best in USDA Hardiness zones 5 through 8. Most lavender you find used commercially is English Lavender, which is a perennial plant that will bloom year after year.
I did not get enough flowers from mine this last year to try making essential oil from it, but perhaps this season there will be more. When you harvest lavender, you only take about a third of the flowers at any one time. The flowers and leaves are typically added to teas and other dishes. The leaves of Lavender are used like rosemary and give a similar savory flavor.
Calendula
There are about 15-20 species of these flowers in the daisy family. Also known as the pot marigold, it’s not actually a marigold. Calendula officinalis has a history of medicinal uses from revealing fairies to benefiting the heart. Most common uses today of this flower are for lotions and salves to aid skin healing.
Calendula can sooth cramps, reduce swelling, and promote skin healing from burns, cuts, scrapes with its antiseptic properties. This one is on my list to extract oils from this season as well. You can literally use calendula oil in any skin care product from diaper rash cream to sunscreen to acne treatment.
Anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and antibacterial why wouldn’t you want something this good growing in your garden? They love sun but can tolerate shade. These plants do best in organically rich soil, and you won’t have any shortage of flowers, I harvested mine several times and they just kept giving off more flowers. It was super easy to save some seeds for this year’s crop too, so no need to order more for this annual plant. This plant will become perennial in Zones 9 to 11, but for the rest of us, we get to plant them each year.
Chamomile
I am picturing sleepy time tea with this one, but you can use it for more than just a sleep aid. The German or English varieties of chamomile are the main ones seen in cultivation today. This annual flowering plant Grows well in USDA zones 2 through 9 giving a sweet-smelling flower with white petals and yellow centers.
Chamomile supports relaxation and sleep as well as healthy blood sugar and soothing skin irritations. It can help calm a fussy baby that has an earache, teething pain, and colic. This flower also has anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and anti-parasitic properties that make it a multi-use healing herb.
To detract from its beneficial properties, you must understand the possible adverse effects with this and all other herbal remedies. Chamomile may worsen pollen allergies, may cause uterine contractions that could lead to miscarriage in pregnant women. This flower is not advised to be taken with aspirin or NSAID medications due to possible adverse interactions. This herb also should not be used by people with certain cancers of the reproductive system.
Mint
There are actually over 600 varieties of mint in the plant family Lamiaceae. Most are aromatic and the family includes basil, rosemary, oregano, and thyme as well. Most of these grow best in Zones 3 through 8 and will do well in pots or in the ground. Mint is a creeping spreader that sends shoots out underground, so I prefer to put it in a pot. All varieties of mint come back every year, even after being buried under heavy snow.
This herb has a variety of beneficial uses from adding to tea, cooking, healing salves for skin irritations. Made into a tea certain varieties of mint sooth and upset stomach and stimulate digestion. Added to summertime drinks like tea or lemonade gives a cooling effect on those warm summer afternoons.
Feel free to experiment with different varieties such as peppermint, spearmint, ginger mint, and chocolate mint. These all grow very easily and are a great addition to teas. I like to use them in herbal balms for insect repellent and to sooth mosquito bites. Mints can also act as natural pest repellents in your permaculture food forest.
Dandelion
The common lawn weed the dandelion is native to Europe and is considered an invasive species here in the US. We do have a few native varieties, but they are not what one typically pictures when they think of a dandelion. While most try to rid their yards of this, the leaves, and flowers both have many medicinal qualities. Dandelions are also one of the first sources of pollen sources for our bees.
Dandelion has wonderful diuretic effects that support liver and kidney health. the leaves are a great source of fiber that are also full of nutrients such as Vitamins A, C, K, E, and folate. Roots are roasted and made into tea to help manage blood sugar, and help lower blood pressure. Dandelion also contains many potent antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory benefits.
Possible effects of dandelion are anticancer and may aid in weight loss. Also supports digestion and treats constipation while possible helping boost the immune system. Dandelion goes great with your skin care products for sunburn, aging and acne. With low toxicity, dandelion is considered safe for everyone, so feel free to take advantage of its medicinal and nutritious qualities.
Ginger
Unlike the majority of this list, it is the root of this plant that is used rather than the leaves and flowers. Ginger is a common kitchen spice that is either used fresh or dried and ground. Added to tea, cookies, candies, made into beer, added to Asian styled soups, ginger is truly versatile in its uses. Ginger is naturally low carbohydrate and low in calories, but packs in the flavor!
Being a tropical plant with most commercial cultivation coming from India, this plant will not grow outdoors below USDA hardiness zone 8. If your winter temps fall below 32 degrees, this should be kept in a container for cultivation. Out of the 1500 species of ginger, there are a couple that will tolerate cooler climates, but not many.
The main medicinal element in ginger is 6- gingerol, which has anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, antioxidant, neuro-protective and gastro-protective properties. The gastrointestinal effects of this herb can be used to treat nausea, especially morning sickness. It may also aid weight loss in other individuals.
Ginger has been shown to lower blood sugars and improve heart disease risk factors like malondialdehyde (MDA), and by lowering cholesterol levels. Ginger can help fight infections, protect against Alzheimer’s disease, and reduce menstrual pain. No wonder this powerful root sometimes touted as a miracle cure.
Lemon Balm
Also known as balm mint, this is a member of the mint family. Lemon balm is used to relieve stress, relieve anxiety, ease insomnia treat nausea and treat cold sores. This herb has been in use for over 2000 years and was called the elixir of life as it was believed it could restore health and vitality. Lemon balm is often used in alternative medicines as a sleep and digestion aid.
This herb grows best in hardiness zones 4-9, but like mint, it will spread if not contained in a pot. This is not necessarily a bad thing because bees love it! Plant it near other crops to ensure good pollination every year.
Add this lemon scented herb to iced tea in the summer, or warm teas in the winter, or toss onto a fresh salad. Considered safe for short term use, caution should be taken as some people develop headache, indigestion, dizziness, and painful urination with prolonged use. Lemon balm may interfere with some blood thinners, thyroid, glaucoma, and chemotherapy medications.
Mullein
This is yet another invasive weed introduced to the states from Europe. These biennial/perennial plants grow up to 3 meters tall with fuzzy leaves and a long inflorescence. Able to bloom even in dry conditions, flowers are used in teas or as ointments for respiratory issues, skin ailments and to support digestion. Leaves are used to make a compress for wounds, burns, hemorrhoids, frost bite and cellulitis.
Mullein flowers are used to treat whooping cough, TB, bronchitis, pneumonia, and other flu like conditions. This is due to its expectorant properties, which means it breaks up mucous in the lungs, so coughs are more effective. Oil obtained from the leaves is effective in treating ear infections.
The best zones to grow this in are 3 through 9, and it will likely self-seed for the next season. This one will also survive well through a harsh winter. While easily propagates from seed, this tall plant benefits from wind protection it can get from growing near a wall or tree. Both leaves and flowers can be used fresh or dried and stored for later use.
St. John’s Wort
This little yellow flower grows best in zones 5 through 9 preferring filtered sun. Common along the edges of tree cover, it will grow back year after year. Yet another invasive weed brought to us from Europe. The possible benefits include treatment of depression and other mental health disorders. Oil obtained from the flowers does make a great burn salve and it soothes bee stings as well.
While this herb has great supposed benefits, it is also one of the scarier ones for drug interactions. It should not be taken with certain anti-psychotics, cancer medications, HIV drugs, and heart medications. Some of these interactions can be life threatening, so be sure to seek medical advice before taking this herb. Use care in planting as this herb is poisonous to grazing livestock.
Yarrow
This flowering plant is native to warm areas and it has been introduced around the world. Flowers grow in clusters of 15 to 40 on stems up to three feet tall. This plant is an important nest material for migratory birds and an important food source for many moths and butterflies.
Leaves have a grassy or anise like flavor when brewed into tea. It was even used to make beer before hops were used. Yarrow is used to treat skin ailments such as cuts, rashes, and scrapes. Yarrow is used to treat earache, throat infections and to reduce fever. It is also possible that this herb can treat hemorrhoids, alleviate hay fever, and regulate blood sugar.
Yarrow is known to cause severe allergic skin reactions and can increase your ability to get sunburned when it comes into contact with skin. This plant does have anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety properties. Early studies suggest that it has properties that could benefit those afflicted with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and epilepsy.
Using Herbal Remedies
In today’s world, we have many different options for treating common ailments. Most of these actually came from long ago when we relied on herbal medicines for everything. A lot of our medications are originally from medicinal plants around the world. It just seems natural to go back to the old way and back to nature when we can learn the individual benefits of each plant.
Some problems do arise when you rely completely on alternative medicines. It takes a really savvy and confidant person to just go out and chew on some leaves to relieve a headache. Do take extreme precaution in self-assessing and self-medicating with herbal remedies. If possible, seek medical advice before using home grown herbs to treat your illnesses to avoid possible harmful interactions.
For More Great Info
If you liked this article, check out these others for more information: