Beneficial Garden Herbs

For Mother's Day, I spent the day in the garden. I'm a warm weather person. It's not until the weather reaches at least to 70 degrees, that you will find me working in the garden. Other times of the year, you will certainly see me outside soaking up Vitamin D, enjoying nature, but with a coat on. Gardening to me is best done in grubby clothes where I don't feel smothered in layers.

I threw on my work jeans covered in stains from years of dirt and paint and a simple red tee. I threw my hair back into a pony tail and wasn't sure where I would go first. I decided to plant some of the herbs I purchased last night with my daughter from a local nursery. Into the raised bed went Calendula, Rosemary, Dill, and Chamomile. The Lemon Verbena went into the ground this year near the day lilies and Feverfew as it got so tall two years ago, I learned my lesson.

Each year I go with a blend of cooking and medicinal herbs. This year's loot seemed more on the cooking side, but even those great herbs can help medicinally. "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance, pray you love, remember," says Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Aside from memory, Rosemary is good for migraines, joint support and muscle aches, as well as digestion. In the Middle Ages, Rosemary was used to ward off negativity. A herbalist once told me to put rosemary in the worst possible soil and ignore it. All of my efforts to nurture it year after year was lost. Once I "forgot" about it, it thrived.

Dill is a favorite with potato salads and pickling cucumbers. This fluffy herb can help protect against free radicals, can help prevent the growth of bacteria, and is a good source of calcium and fiber.

Lemon Verbena, amazing in salads and in iced teas, helps with anxiety, stress, and relax muscles. With cooling properties, it can also be useful with fevers, diarrhea, and indigestion.

Another amazing herb for tea drinking and salad making is Lemon Balm, also known as Sweet Melissa. This is an aggressive herb and can quickly take over a spot. One small plant has been divided more times than I can recall. Grab some leaves and start to distress. This is also another winner for digestion issues.

Another favorite cooking herb in my garden that I adore is Basil. This flavorful herb makes its way onto my plate in a variety of ways, my favorite being a caprese salad with slices of tomatoes, hunks of mozzarella cheese, and drizzled with olive oil and vinegar. What I love to know as I am eating it is how it has anti-bacterial properties. It is also an anti-inflammatory which can be helpful with multiple issues in the body including rheumatoid arthritis, joint inflammation, back issues, and more. It has also been used for stabilizing blood sugars and help asthmatics with breathing. Plus, it's an antioxidant and we all love our anti-aging serums. It's nice to get it in this tasty leaf.

I'm up to twenty-three herbs and plants, both wild that I keep, ones that come back each year, and those annuals I purchased this year. Having a natural pharmacy in my yard is something that I treasure.