Just asking: How many have extended their "supplies" to include Medicinal Plants?

[Pearl]

I have kept a Medicinal plant garden every where I've lived and am redoing mine now, This got me wondering how many of you have included Medicinal plant seeds in your Long Term Plans, or have got such a garden already, as it can take several years for the plants and roots to get established enough to be able to harvest them.

I've read many Threads referring to them but I did not notice any specific mention of anyone actually cultivating them.

I have 3 book shelves of information on growing, preparing and using the plants that are hardy to my growing zone. I've even notice several of the better sights have added seeds or rizomes or roots of these plants to their available "Seed Kits/Vaults". So, have any of you made this move or started collecting information, or foraging these plants in your area?

P.S.:
Have to say it seems really strange to pay for dandelion seeds.

[kappydell]

It has always been part of my preps to learn the wild medicinal plants in my area (and plant some others that I like in the ditches). Usually I can find all that I use growing wild, but I do plead guilty to seeding extra motherwort, st. John's wort, various mints, and yarrow when they did not grow enough in my immediate area for harvest. Why wild plants? they are hardier, and less likely to be rooted up by interlopers because they would not be recognized as medicinal. Add in a few 'landscape plants' that just 'happen' to be medicinal (valerian, for one) and i am happy indeed.

[Pearl]

Does Oregon Grape grow in Wisconsin? It is a great antibiotic.

You can also use Thyme, Marjorum & Sage in a hot broth for an immune builder (you can also use Poultry seasoning since it is high in these ingredients) . Along with green broth they help fend off seasonal maladies as well as rebuild your system after an illness.
You can also save the "green" water from your canning or cooking and drink that for a Real boost, tons of vitamin C, and A and a few essential minerals as well.

I see you listed several anti depressants mother wort and St. John's wort, Have you thought of using a tea of Lavender w/ Chamomile and perhaps a touch of lemon balm? A little less strong than the others and with fewer side effects to watch for.

[kappydell]

i use all my broths in either soup, sipping broths or sauces (what a world of difference in the taste!) and enjoy the poultry seasoning blends as well. for some reason i don't like lavender's smell but have enjoyed lemon balm after an older woman recommended it for menopausal crabbiness....it tastes good, too! I try to stick to remedies that either grow willd in my area or those easily grown and preferably perennial. Im going to have to seed nettles though, I cant find any growing wild (!) I haven't seen any oregon grape near me, but it is not a true woodland where i am now, id have to look more northerly. Love chamomile - use it for me, and it also calms down the cats during stressful times (I add a bit of the tea to their food). For antibacterials, I have used mullein-blossom infused oil for ear infections - works nicely and is very common in my area. Has to be the wild yellow, the commercial kind in other colors does not work as well.

[momma.bear]

I definitely have a medicinal side to my herb garden. But is handy that most cooking herbs do double duty!
Momma Bear

[seraphima]

One really useful herb I grow is comfrey. Leaves and roots make good teas for broken bones, and a good compress if you are not in a cast. I make a salve from comfrey leaves, dried or fresh, calendula flower petals (also easy to grow here), olive oil and a little beeswax, which has the property of immediately stopping leg or foot cramps.

[dilli]

My farmacy started with cooking herbs and gradually expanded over time to include a wider variety of easy to grow medicinals. Two years ago I took the next step of including the more difficult , long term growers ...we currently grow upward of 70 varieties of herbs ... what a test of my patience or lack of.. it is very difficult to look at an empty pot for a couple years waiting and waiting and waiting.. learning local growing wild medicinals is fun as well as a learning experience.. if one was well learned, there would be little need to grow many herbs of any sort in an actual garden setting..