Any Herbalists on here?

[MoWin]

I have been researching a lot about food and growing it. I started reading about the benefits of herbs. So I plan to start a medicinal herb garden. Sure hope I am not getting in over my head. Let's see, new mini-orchard, new herb garden, new flower garden, major veggie garden and chicks. Yikes!!  You all might not hear much from me once spring gets here. LOL

Anyway, I ordered 3 new books from Amazon to learn about growing and using herbs. I ordered 'How to Benefit from Every Day Herbs', 'Kitchen Medicine', and 'Grandma's Herbal and Homemade Remedies'. I didn't write down the authors names, but can get them if any of you are interested in any of these books. I ordered regular paper books because I think they are easier to use when identifying plants and reading recipes than my Kindle.

Anyone have any special tips on raising herbs? I am thinking about making a fake ladder and planting a different herb between each rung. LOL I will use plain 2X4s to get started and see how it goes. I know they won't last long in soil, but Kevin says we should not use treated lumber. Anyone know anything about this? If these work, maybe I can replace the 2x4s with blocks or bricks. Just trying to think of the best ways to get started. 

Blessings,
Winona

[Cheryl]

I have an interest in this as well.  I had just posted on the daily thread asking you about these books, so I'm glad you listed the titles here! 

Do you know what all you want to try to grow? 

[MoWin]

Hi Cheryl,
I was just getting ready to tell you I had posted the titles in the garden section when I decided to check back here. LOL Now I will be the first to admit, I have no idea what I am doing where herbs are concerned but here is the list of what I am going to attempt to plant. 

cilantro- love this in salsa
parsley- great in juices and some dishes
dill- necessary for all the dill pickles I want to make 
cumin- gives things a Mexican flavor
oregano- great Italian cooking herb
thyme- another great cooking herb
chives- mild onion flavor
sage - great to cook with in poultry
stevia - a sweetener I use all the time
basil - great to cook with for Italian meals
calendula - pretty flowers and can be used to control some pests
chamomile -makes a relaxing tea
echinacea - I think this helps with infections
lavender -love the look and smell of this
yarrow - can't remember what I wanted this for, but ordered it
fenugreek -Dr. Oz says this is great to keep blood sugar in check
lemon balm - supposed to make a great lemon flavored drink

As I said, I am just learning, so I could be wrong on some of this, but I figured I'd learn as I go. None of these will hurt us. 

Blessings,
Winona

P.S. Cheryl, if you go to Amazon and type the titles of these books in, I think they will come up for you. I ordered all 3 books for a bit over $36 so got free shipping. They are supposed to be delivered by Saturday.  I you do need the authors' names, just let me know.

[greyhoundgirl]

Not sure I'm to the point of calling myself an herbalist, but I do use them some, both medicinally and in cooking.  One thing to keep in mind is that some of them will grow into a bush.  Sage and rosemary for instance.  So it's important to plant them in a space where they can grow large and undisturbed (other than pruning).  I'm not sure I understand how you plant between the ladder rungs?  I think our first few beds were actually treated lumber though untreated would be better.  We're finding concrete block to hold up better.  One thing that is kind of cool to do is to plant in the holes of the concrete blocks.  If you made a 4 x 4' square of them, you'd then have 20 small holes like that for plants that do well in small spaces:  maybe mint, parsley, cilantro, etc....  .  I am wanting to grow milk thistle and nettles myself this  year and already have the milk thistle seed...we use a lot of that for us and our dog, Ellie, is now on it as well.

[Cheryl]

Winona - Thank you!

I am growing or have grown in the past:

Lemon balm - love the way it smells!

Sage

Dill

Tansy -  (was told this will repel ants)

Oregano

Chives

Stevia

Lavender

Yarrow

Thyme

Basil

Mint

Catnip (one of my outside cats loved this so much he would roll around in it and eat it)

[MoWin]

Oh my goodness, I feel like such an idiot. The books on herbs that I mentioned that I bought, well, I bought them, but I bought them as ebooks for my pad.
These are the paper books I bought:
Your Backyard Herb Garden
Herbal Recipes
Medicinal Herbs

So sorry about that. I kept notes of what I bought or got free and just typed in the wrong list earlier. 

I got 'How to Benefit from Everyday Herbs' free. I have been reading it this evening on my pad and found it very interesting.

Blessings,
Winona