Many medicinal herbs are easy to grow, and most of them can be used in both cooking and home remedies. Use herbs in teas and herbal infusions, in homemade herbal oils and salves, in herbal baths, and in home health&beauty treatments. Calendula Calendula (Calendula officinalis) is a traditional skin healing herb: it was already used […]
10 Herbs & Vegetables Perfect for Growing in a Shaded Garden
While many people consider the ideal garden location a flat area with 8 hours of sunlight per day minimum what we’ve discovered is that by planting the right plants you can grow some of your own food in a less than ideal location.
How to Make an Herbal Infusion
An herbal infusion is much like herbal tea, but infusions are usually stronger. You can drink herbal infusions to relieve specific health complaints or to boost general health and wellbeing. Infusions are often used when taking medicinal herbs for a long period of time (several months). What Are Herbal Infusions? When making an herbal infusion, […]
Healing Herbs to Grow in Your Garden
Grow these healing herbs in your herb garden, and you will have a natural first aid kit always at hand. Whether your herb garden is in the backyard or on a window sill, the following medicinal herbs are always good to have at home. Mint Mint (Mentha – several varieties including Mentha piperita, peppermint) is […]
How to Use Herbs in a Bath
Herbs are a great substitute or addition to essential oils in baths. Herbs have been used in baths for thousands of years for health and for beauty – to relieve aches and pains, to improve sleep, to boost circulation, to fight colds, to energize or to relax. Use fresh or dry herbs: a teaspoonful of […]
Cats and Catnip – How to Grow and Use Catnip for Your Cat
Catnip is an easily grown herb that is perfectly safe for your cat. Many cats love catnip. The herb can be dried and provided for your cat’s entertainment.
Drying Sweet Basil in a Home Dehydrator
It was time to begin harvesting our sweet basil crop – this year I picked up a cheap dehydrator (not the brand I want for long-term use but it will work for now) to make preserving herbs a lot easier. Harvest basil in the morning when essential oils are the most concentrated in the leaves. […]
My Natural Remedies Travel Kit
I travel a lot and I try to travel light. This means keeping cosmetics, remedies and other bottles and jars to a minimum, but there are a few things I don’t ever want to travel without. My natural remedies travel emergency kit contains most of the following items. A Simple Natural Travel Remedies Kit: […]
Growing Rosemary in Your Kitchen Herb Garden
This woody perennial has evergreen, needle-type leaves that produces dainty, blue blossoms repeatedly year-round. It’s useful in the kitchen, plus fragrant and good-looking in the garden.
The Three Doshas in Ayurveda: Vata, Pitta and Kapha
The West has begun to discover the benefits of Ayurvedic medicine, one of the oldest medical systems in the world and the traditional system of medicine still in use in India. With the increasing number of Ayurvedic practitioners in the West and the ever-expanding range of Ayurvedic books in English, it is easy to apply […]
Ayurveda: What Is It and How Does It Work?
Ayurveda, India’s traditional system of medicine, is one of the oldest medical systems in the world. The Sanskrit word Ayurveda means “the science of life” and comes from the words ayur (life) and veda (knowledge or science). Ayurvedic texts may have been written a few thousand years ago but as with other Indian traditions (such […]
A Visit to a Lavender Museum in France
There are few herbs that have as many uses as lavender. Lavender is used in herbal medicine, in aromatherapy, in perfumes, in cosmetics and even in cooking. Although lavender grows around the world, French lavender is often believed to be of especially high quality. Not so long ago I had an opportunity to visit a […]
