Here are some notes I made for the Heavenly Herbs class I led at Brady’s Plant Ranch this past spring. Thought I’d share here too! Below I discuss Lavender, Peppermint, Chives, Calendula and Thyme. Now please note that there is SO MUCH more information about each of these plants available, but this is a fun starter post for many beginning gardeners and herbalists and maybe even some info that the seasoned herbalist/gardener will find interesting. At the end is a great list of resources for you to check out as well!

Lavender

(This is the genus species you’d want to use for herbal preparations. Lavandin is more for scent, like for potpourri or homemade dryer sheets.)

“Long considered a woman’s herb…for centuries it has been offered into the hands of women in labor, the scent gives them courage and energy to continue the birthing process.” Lavender awakens the spirit, brings “renewed vitality and hope.” “The steam of lavender uplifts the spirits of those in the sick room while clearing the air of infection.” (From the book Herbal Rituals by Judith Berger)

This method is as simple as bringing a glass or stainless-steel pot of water to a gentle boil, removing the pot from heat and adding in a handful of freshly picked lavender leaves and flowers from your garden, or using a tablespoon or three of dried flowers…stir gently and place on a hot pad in the room with you or your loved one. Refresh ever couple of hours or as needed. So many aromatic herbs can be used this way, it’s a very gentle and soothing practice to use when one feels under the weather.

Now Lavender is slow to grow from seed (I would start them in early February under lights if doing that) and I wouldn’t recommend direct seeding them, you’ll be waiting ages for them to germinate and they also grow a little on the slow side. Transplant into a spot that has full sun ~ as a plant originally from the slopes bordering the Mediterranean Sea, it likes well drained soil and to be quite warm. I was able to grow lavender outside in a part sun/shade situation, it really didn’t produce many flowers, but I loved it anyway just to gently rub the leaves and smell the invigorating fragrance! You can also grow Lavender in a pot if you don’t have garden space. You may be able to overwinter that potted Lavender indoors if you have a nice sunny window spot for it to live in front of. Otherwise, if planted outdoors, definitely mulch for the first few years to get established. It was challenging for me to overwinter Lavender in SE Alaska, but I’ve seen it happen.

Continually, make sure to leave mulch on for longer than you might think, like early May at least. I’ve seen plants with green leaves on them and looking wonderful, die after having been exposed to the fluctuation of a northern spring.

Use fresh or dried Lavender in a facial steam to open the pores, relax your nerves, help you sleep and also relieve chest congestion. Make lavender pillows for restful nights; great for squirmy kiddos or when your mind won’t stop turning.

To harvest: do this on a dry day (before the ‘heat’ of the day really gets going though), clip lavender stems, garble off the bottom 2 inches or so and remove any yellowing or dirty leaves. Bind dime to nickel sized bunches of stems together and hang to dry. Keep out of direct sun and in a dry, well ventilated place (not the bathroom). Check in a couple of weeks, you want the stems to break or snap easily, if they are still bendy or feel slightly damp, dry longer. Once dry, you can keep them whole or garble into smaller pieces and put into jars. Label and date, trust me, it’s always a good idea to label and date what you put up ~ and then use as needed. You can also hang Lavender bunches in closets to repel moths. Lavender foot baths are great for restoring calm in kids and adults alike!

Peppermint

Peppermint is considered a variable herb, it is warming to cooling and also drying. It’s helpful inside the body for stomach upset, hiccups, bad breath, colds and flu, high fevers, sinus congestion, gas, nausea, spasms, and headaches. Externally Peppermint can sooth inflamed and itchy skin (think bug bites!) or ease a sunburn. To help with a sunburn, brew up a very strong tea (steeped at least 20 minutes to an hour, considered an infusion) of Peppermint leaves and flowers (if they’re in bloom) and pour into a lukewarm bath. You can also infuse the leaves into witch hazel and use that for itchy bites and inflamed cuts.

Now FYI, all mints have square stems, but not all square stemmed plants are mint. Spearmint has similar qualities but in my experience isn’t as hardy. Mint likes moist roots best and will do well in the shade. If grown in full sun, keep well-watered and if you want more leaves than flowers, be sure to clip off flowering parts. This is a great pollinator plant and its light purple flowers are pretty as well, so it can be placed in the flower bed too. Now mint does like to spread and from what I’ve heard from around here it can become a nuisance if not tended. So maybe grow this in a pot if you’re the lazy gardener type J if you have a big enough plastic pot (more wide than tall as mint roots like to go horizontally versus down like a taproot), and the pot is out of direct exposure and mulched, I’ve had mint overwinter many years. Peppermint overwinters pretty easily in my experience and is therefore considered a perennial; I have always mulched mine, but have seen un-mulched mint overwinter as well once established.

Peppermint can be used fresh or dried. Dry as explained in the Lavender section. This is one plant that I can never seem to have enough of! It lends a wonderful flavor to tea blends and is so helpful for so many constitutions.

A blend of Elder flowers, Yarrow and Peppermint is a traditional western herbal formula for supporting the body during a fever. The goal is to open the pores of the body, allowing the heat to escape, thus allowing the fever to complete its task of dispelling toxins. Adding mint to herbal face steams helps lung congestion as well.

Mints are easily propagated by division or cuttings. A fun garden activity to do with kids is to root mint cuttings. Simply cut healthy stems when they’re about 6-10” or so (before flowering), strip the bottom few leaves off and place in a clear glass of water. Change out water every few days (if you forget it’ll still work unless the water evaporates of course) and within two to three weeks you should start to see bright white roots coming out of the stem that’s in water!

Chives

One of the easiest and bountiful perennial herbs to grow. Chives are one of the very first plants to arrive on the spring scene. That’s when you know winter is almost over J “Chives stimulate circulation and can lower blood pressure. They contain vitamins A & C and are a powerful antioxidant. (Antioxidant herbs help protect your cells from damage.). Free radicle damage increases with exposure to stress, pesticides and environmental toxins. Eat more chives to mop up those free radicles!” (From Kami McBride’s The Herbal Kitchen). Try sautéing some fresh dandelion greens in butter until wilted and then add chopped chives and top a cheese filled omelet. Start nourishing yourself in the springtime with those wild greens and garden herbs!

Plant Chives where you’d like them to stay. They don’t like to be moved a whole bunch of times. They will grow bigger and more prolific over the years. I’ve known chive plants that have lived 22 years now. If in an exposed location, you may wish to mulch for the winter for the first year or two. Once established they’re super hardy. Try to keep up on keeping the grass out. That is probably the worst detriment to a Chive plant.

Avoid cooking Chives as it reduces their nutritional value. Chives, Parsley and Basil have been herbs that I’ve learned to dry using only the dehydrator method, rather than the one described earlier. I’ve found those herbs to yellow quickly and that’s when you know they’re not so good any longer. You want dried herbs to retain much of their original color. Now in this environment of SE Idaho, I’m not so sure that applies… However, Thyme, Sage, Lavender, Rosemary, Oregano and Calendula are easily dried in bunches or in a single layer on a breathable surface. Chives and Lavender can be frozen for storage as well.

If you want to continue harvesting fresh chives, give your plant a heavy-handed haircut when the flower stems start coming in strong. You can get one to two more re-growths when this is done. Or, if you’d like to feed the bees, get some color in your garden, you can let the attractive purple blooms flower away and then make a gorgeous infused vinegar with them. You can use apple cider vinegar for this for the added nutrients and enzymes that that contains, however, using white distilled vinegar allows for a stunning magenta hued infusion.

Recipe: Fill a glass jar with fresh chive blossoms, pour vinegar to the top. Cover (use a plastic lid or parchment paper between the metal and vinegar) and shake daily. Strain through cheesecloth in 1-3 weeks. This one infused for 2 weeks. Use in salad dressings, as a splash of flavor on sautéed veggies or use a dash in soups or stews.

Calendula

Such a cheerful, easy to grow and very useful plant. Also called pot marigold, but is not of the same genus of your common garden variety Marigolds. You can start Calendula through direct seeding in early spring (seeds will withstand a frost or two; you could seed them when you would Spinach or maybe even Peas) or plant as a transplant after hardening off. Blooms mid-summer and on until the frosts really arrive (as long as you’ve kept up with the deadheading). Karen tells me that one year she planted Calendula in a flower box and the next year after had more Calendula babies than she knew what to do with! So, word to the wise, if you don’t want to have a bunch of baby Calendulas, keep up with cutting the spent blooms. These seeds are one of the easiest to save ~ a fun one with kids as they look like small fossils and are easy to grasp by little fingers.

Sprinkled petals on salad adds a colorful flair, on eggs, sandwiches too. You can put dried petals into soups and stews. My personal favorite use of Calendula is to infuse the whole petals into oil to make an incredibly gentle yet very healing salve. Calendula is a first-rate skin healer. “The vulnerary (which means it soothes and heals inflamed and injured tissues) effects of Calendula sooth and repair acute and chronic skin problems, alleviating acne, swelling, cold sores, tissue trauma, slow healing cuts, bruises, abrasions, sprains, psoriasis, eczema, hemorrhoids and bug bites.” Wowzers!! “For a reviving foot bath, mix lavender and calendula together, soak your feet, and release the strain and stress from your body.” (from The Herbal Kitchen by Kami McBride)

Calendula infused oil can be used in beeswax lotion bars for skin softening and cracked hand relief!

When drying Calendula for medicine, be sure and keep the green sepal portion on, the bottom part of the bloom. If using more for the culinary purposes, you can remove the sepal and use the petals only. The sepals are a little bitter, but you’d want that if making a digestive tea or bitters formula. They’re easily dried in a single layer in baskets or drying racks; use the flower only. I have come across a reference dissuading use during pregnancy, however that is not an oft quoted fact. Use personal discretion, but a few calendula sprinkles on a salad is certainly not going to cause an issue. Medicinal internal doses however, may want to be avoided; external use is fine.

Thyme

The name Thyme comes from a Greek word meaning “to fumigate”. It’s also derived from the Greek word “thumus” which means Courage. Used as a house blessing herb and as an emblem of chivalry and bravery in old times. I love this quote: “When one consciously uses an herb for the purpose of enhancing a particular emotional quality or physical strength, the herb becomes one’s ally. As you drink, the plant transforms you: its powers become part of your cellular make-up.” (Judith Berger, Herbal Rituals)

Thyme is aromatic and antiseptic, used to purify the air and chase insects from the house. Maybe helpful for those box elder bugs?!

There are many varieties of Thyme including Creeping, Lemon and Wooly (which I just realized was medicinal by writing up this handout!) which all have similar medicinal benefits to the English (or Common) Thyme that I’ll be discussing here.

Thyme plants like sun and well-drained soil best but can be grown in more dappled shade and damper conditions as well. They won’t grow quite as large or have as many flowers if grown more shaded. This is a great herb for growing in a pot for the gardener with a small space. Thyme and culinary Sage thrive well together in the garden; Sage is taller, so plant behind the Thyme.

If you suffer from migraine headaches, try mixing Rosemary and Thyme together and inhaling the released aromatics. They can also be infused into an oil for further benefit.

Energetically Thyme is heating and drying. It increases circulation and is helpful for moving through the symptoms of a cold or flu. Thyme is excellent for digestion which can also explain its usefulness for when you’re feeling sluggish or ill…move the food, move stagnation!

This excerpt is from The Modern Herbal Dispensatory by Thomas Easley and Steven Horne: “Thyme is a very powerful remedy for infections of all kinds, especially in the lungs and digestive tract. It is indicated for spasmodic conditions of the respiratory and urinary tracts with infectious symptoms. It is a good antifungal and can be used to treat gut dysbiosis. The combination of fenugreek and thyme is excellent for clearing sinus congestion. Applied topically it helps with insect bites, stings, and minor pain.” Now large medicinal sized doses of Thyme should be avoided in pregnancy, culinary use and standard dosages are fine.

From Kami McBride: “The warming and drying nature of thyme comes to our rescue for moist, mucus-laden burdens that settle in the sinus and lungs. Thyme liquefies and clears congestion. Use it when you have lots of snot and a rattling cough. Swish a thyme tea gargle for sore throats and gum inflammation, take thyme honey to expel mucus, and cook with thyme oil to support respiratory health in general.” Now if you have a dry cough, Thyme would be contraindicated for that condition. You would want a moistening herb such as Marshmallow in that case.

Here are the steps to make your own Thyme infused honey. Harvest on a dry day (water and honey will make a ferment, not what we’re going for here). Remove the leaves from the woody stems, the non-woody part can be incorporated. Chop, tear or scissor up the leaves/herbaceous stems and flowers if you have any, and place into a glass jar until almost full. Pour the honey slowly over the Thyme, poking at the air bubbles with a chopstick, popsicle stick or butter knife. Fill to the near top. Cap, label and store. With infusions like this and any tinctures that I make, I like to put the date created as well as the ideal ‘strain’ date. This helps keep you to task! In this case, 6 weeks makes for a wonderful Thyme honey remedy. You can strain the (warmed) honey to get out the leaves ~ can be helpful for kiddos ~ or leave them in. Add to tea, eat by the spoonful, add to salad dressings, so many options!

So, with that I want to make mention that everything I’ve shared here has been for informational purposes only. It comes from personal experience, wisdom from trusted sources, decades of research and intuitive experimenting. I am a strong believer in self-responsibility and the ability of our bodies to heal using natural remedies, good proper nutrition as well as spiritual modalities. However, using herbal medicine the same way as allopathic medicine uses pharmaceuticals isn’t always what works. There are many factors (like the energetics of an herb and the constitution of a person) that go into healing an issue. Herbal medicine can help to fill those nutritional and spiritual holes that we sometimes face and make it easier to work on the root causes.

From long ago ~ my first home that wasn’t a tent in Alaska.

RESOURCES…

There are so many wonderful resources and rabbit holes to dive into on how to create, use and grow your own plant medicine and use the heavenly herbs we’ve been provided. Here are some to get you started:

Book Sources:

Aviva Jill Romm, Natural Healthy Babies and Children: A Commonsense Guide to Herbal Remedies, Nutrition and Health, Storey Books, 2003

Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, Museum of New Mexico Press, 2003

Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West, Red Crane Books, INC., 1993

Deb Soule, The Roots of Healing, Carol Publishing Group, 1995

Thomas Easley & Steven Horne, The Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine-Making Guide, North Atlantic Books, 2016

Beverley Gray, The Boreal Herbal: Wild Food and Medicine Plants of the North, Aroma Borealis Press, 2011

Maia Toll, The Illustrated Herbiary: Guidance and Rituals from 36 Bewitching Botanicals, Storey Publishing, 2018

Rosemary Gladstar, Family Herbal: A Guide to Living Life with Energy, Health, and Vitality, Storey Publishing, 2001

Christopher Hobbs & Kathi Keville,. Women’s Herbs Women’s Health, The Books Publishing Co., 1998, 2007

Rosalee De La Foret, Alchemy of Herbs: Transform everyday Ingredients into foods and remedies that heal, Hay House, 2017 ~ Also: Wild Remedies: How to forage healing foods and craft your own herbal medicine; with Emily Han 2020

James Green, The Herbal Medicine-Makers’ Handbook: A Home Manual, Crossing Press, 2002

Jeff & Melanie Carpenter, The Organic Medicinal Herb Famer: The Ultimate Guide to Producing High-Quality Herbs on a Market Scale, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2015.

David Hoffman, The Complete Illustrated Holistic Herbal: A safe and practical guide to making and using Herbal Remedies, 1996

Janice Schofield, Discovering Wild Plants: Alaska, Western Canada, The Northwest, Alaska Northwest Books, 1989

Judith Berger, Herbal Rituals, self-published, 1998

Kami McBride, The Herbal Kitchen, Conari Press, 2019

Good Websites/Herbalists to check out:

Rosalee de la Foret of Washington ~ www.herbalremediesadvice.org ~ Rosalee provides so much useful and helpful herbal information through her online writings and her books, The Alchemy of Herbs & Wild Remedies. Highly recommend her work.

Jim McDonald of Michigan ~ www.herbcraft.org Funny, knowledgeable, lots of plant lore and love on his site.

Learning Herbs / Herb Mentor https://learningherbs.com/herbmentor/ is a subscription based online resource which Rosalee contributes a lot to. There are so many herbal articles, recipes, forums and videos you can watch if subscribed.

Amber Magnolia Hill of Mythic Medicine https://mythicmedicine.love/ does a fantastic podcast where she interviews healers, herbalists, water workers and other humans practicing natural healing methods.

Robert Dale Rogers, https://selfhealdistributing.com/ author of The Fungal Pharmacy, Mushroom Essences, Herbal Allies & so many others. Robert is a renowned herbalist and medicinal mushroom expert. His work on plants and mushrooms is massive, entertaining and incredibly informative. Highly recommend his work, I’ve learned a lot from him.

The Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) https://www.westonaprice.org/ is a great source for accurate information on nutrition and health, always aiming to provide the scientific validation of traditional foodways.

Kami McBride https://kamimcbride.com/ is down to Earth, passionate about plants and very knowledgeable! I’ve recently discovered Kami’s work (in the past few years) and am completely enamored. Her Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils online course is an absolute gem and The Herbal Kitchen book a goldmine. Check out her online courses, she’s a wonderful teacher.

Beverley Grey, https://borealherbal.com/ author of The Boreal Herbal (possibly the best northern plant guide ever) and owner of Aroma Borealis. I have had the great opportunity to join many of Beverley’s Yukon workshops from 2005-2019, she’s a fantastic herbalist and one of my greatest teachers.

And yours truly, Emily Grace Willis, https://archaicjoy.com/ where I’m building on the experience gained gardening and creating herbal medicine in Alaska and continuing my passion of learning about plants, and sharing their wisdom in the lands of Idaho.

Seed Companies that have lots of Medicinal herb seeds (& plants!):

Strictly Medicinal Seeds https://strictlymedicinalseeds.com/ (fantastic selection, I’ve had good luck with them)

Richters Herbs https://www.richters.com/ (out of Canada, but I’ve used them for a long time without shipping issues, seeds only)

These are companies with veggies, herbs & flowers that I’ve personally used and have been happy with:

Seed Savers Exchange https://www.seedsavers.org/department/herb-seeds

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds https://www.rareseeds.com/

High Mowing Seeds https://www.highmowingseeds.com/

Peaceful Valley https://www.groworganic.com/collections/herb-seeds