Herb garden is a practical way to have all your herbs and herbs on hand just when you need them. In addition, the herb garden is an almost magical place with its scents, its mild colors and the buzz of pollinating insects.
Most of our traditional herb garden herbs originate from the Mediterranean and the Middle East. There the wild ones grow on dry and rocky ground and fill the air with the warm scent of spices.
In 529, the first Catholic monastery was founded by Saint Benedict in Monte Cassino, Italy. The monks in the monastery devoted themselves to writing ancient writings and translating texts from Arabic, and so they took care of the sick. To make it easier to access all the herbs they needed, they set up an herb garden in the convent. There they harvested herbs, prepared them for medicine and also gave plants to the sick who came to the monastery for help.
Monks brought the herbs to the Nordic countries
In the 8th century, Europe's first medical school opened in Salerno, Italy. As the number of doctors increased, the demand for medicinal plants increased. The large estates established herb farms where they grew herbs on a larger scale for sale and the monasteries opened the first real pharmacies. When missionary monks and nuns sought refuge in the north and established new monasteries, the herbs and orchards followed. In this way, we here in the Nordic countries gained access to a completely new set of medicinal herbs during the Middle Ages.
Other tastes before
Today we still use many of the herb garden spices in cooking, but our taste preferences have changed a bit. The most common herbs now are thyme, basil, oregano, parsley, dill, rosemary and coriander - herbs with a fairly mild taste that go well with vegetable dishes and fine meats. In the past, when we ate much more entrails and legumes, we seasoned them with stronger herbs such as marjoram, candle, sage and sagebrush.
I like to use marjoram and savory as a seasoning in a bean stew and live stick for herbal salt and soups.
The church broom kept the women awake
In the past, when there was a church service and many traveled far, far to get to church, the women brought with them a bunch of dried herbs with a strong scent that they sniffed at regular intervals to stay awake during the service. The bundle was called a church broom. The herbs in the broom could vary depending on what was available, but usually you had seven different varieties, where the number seven represents the Virgin Mary. Common herbs were hyssop, sage, mint, lemon balm, sage, lavender, monk sage, wormwood, thyme and rosemary.
Convenient with its own herb garden
Nature throughout the Nordic region is full of wild healing herbs, so there is no need for us even if we do not grow them ourselves. But what is so practical about having your own herb garden is that you can choose some herbs that you use a lot and have them close at home in the garden. That way, you do not have to go out and look every time you have a cough, menstrual cramps or leg cramps. And despite the fact that the herbs are unpretentious in terms of color and shape, they have a wonderful scent and attract many pollinators.
In the herb garden there is always an almost magical calm and it is a nice place for reflection and meditation.
In my herb garden always grows:
- Mower , Arnica montana, which is good for bruises and sprains and suits me because I live an active life with a lot of adventure sports.
- St. John's wort, Hypericum perforatum, which is good for muscle pain, muscle inflammation, stress and wound care.
- Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis, which is stimulating and helps me stay focused during long working days or car journeys. I put a small twig in the bra or put a twig on the car's dashboard.
- Lavender, Lavandula angustifolia, which I have in the linen closet and among the woolen clothes to keep them safe from hungry insects.
- Parsley, Petroselinum crispum, because I like running and the parsley's high content of iron, potassium and magnesium helps me when I get cramps in my legs after the run. In addition, parsley is enormously tasty and I would never be able to cook without it.
- Peppermint, Mentha X piperita, which I think is good in tea after meals.
- Stinging nettle , Levasticum officinale, which I like to use in food.
My best herb bags:
I make special herb bags for the bathroom, for the suitcases and to have in the car to keep me awake and sharp. Bags with dried herbs smell good and also help to e.g. keep insects out of the linen closet.
If you want to make your own herb bag, mix your dried herbs in a bowl and cut them finely. Then poke them in a bag and sew together. Lavender, toast and hyssop go well with the linen cupboard. The car is suitable for hyssop, peppermint, rosemary and marjoram and for the bathroom and suitcase - lavender.
Dry rather than freeze
Drying is the best way to save the herbs over the winter. If you freeze them, there are usually only sadly wet and tasteless rags left, but if you dry you get a lot of the active substances left.
It is easy to dry herbs. The important thing is to make sure that the room is dry and warm and has good air circulation. Some people bind the herbs in the bunches, but I never do that because those bunches risk hanging all summer, and then they become dusty and lose taste and aroma. If you instead spread the plants to dry, you have to move them in jars when they are dry to make room for new herbs. That way, they never stay in bed for too long.
You know that the herbs are dry when they can be crumbled between the fingers or if you put them against the lip and they do not feel cold. Then when they are dry, they should as soon as possible into an airtight jar, preferably in glass or sheet metal. Feel free to put the herbs as whole as possible in the jars and store them in a dark cupboard so they last longer. Dried herbs last about a year - then you have to pick new ones.
It is important to write a nice label so you know what you have in the jar. If you do not know, the content is largely useless.
"Good-to-have-in-a-house-pharmacy" herbs
Wormwood is very bitter and therefore good for digestion, but it tastes really bad. If you can stand the taste, wormwood tea is good for constipation, gas in the stomach and difficulty digesting fat and carbohydrates. The herb is also antispasmodic on smooth muscles and can relieve cramps in the bile ducts. Remember not to overdose on wormwood, as it contains thujon which is a bit toxic and hallucinogenic (thujon was the active ingredient in Absinthe). But because wormwood tastes as bitter as it does, there is no greater risk of taking in too much.
Stinging nettle is tastier, it is also antispasmodic and good for gas in the stomach. In the past, cow dung was given to the cows when they had colic. It is very good in herbal salt, and as a seasoning in soups and stews, the taste is reminiscent of celery, but is richer. A magical savior in times of need, I think, when the food happens to be completely tasteless. Keep in mind that dried live stick is very expensive, a knife wipe is enough to season an entire soup, if you take too much, it can completely take over the taste.
Tea on stinging nettle is good against coughs, and according to folklore, the stinging bush in the herb garden drives away rats, bedbugs and vipers.
Lemon balm was called in old Swedish "joy of the heart", and it is the one you sing about in the Gotland song "Uti vår hage". The good lemon scent comes from the essential oil which is soothing for anxiety, migraines and nervous palpitations. The herb also contains bitter substance that stimulates the appetite and helps with poor digestion. Lemon balm is weather-distributing and relieves stomach cramps. It used to be said that lemon balm also helps with heart problems, it may have to do with the plant's calming properties.
Pre-applied is good for bile problems, such as when you have difficulty digesting fat or have gallstones. It is hardly used at all as a medicine nowadays but is mainly useful as a brandy spice. During the Middle Ages, prey was considered a universal medicine that helped against everything from stomach aches and snake bites to baldness. It is also said to have been used in exorcism. A little dried prey in the linen cupboard gives fragrant linen and keeps insects away. The scent is spicy and citrusy.
Peppermint contains bitter substances, but they are masked behind the menthol taste, so it is a really good digestive herb. A cup of mint tea after a meal is usually appreciated by most people. In the Middle East, they use really sharp mint varieties and serve the mint tea with a lot of sugar. Good as iced tea on a hot day.
Candle, both summer and winter candle, supports digestion and counteracts gas formation. It is also a traditionally used spice in bean and cabbage dishes, which is gas-forming. Summer savory is annual and has a better taste than the perennial winter savory.
In Latin, candle is called Satureja which comes from the word satyr. The satyrs were Greek fertility beings who devoted all day to sex and were usually depicted with huge genitals. Therefore, the candle was not allowed in the monastery's herb gardens. It was thought that the plant would be too much of a test for the monks who lived in celibacy.
Marjoram is good for digestion and therefore common in hard-to-digest dishes such as pea soup and sausages. It is also antiseptic and good for washing wounds. I like to have it in herbal salt to get a healthier taste of the salt.
Hyssop is good for flatulence and poor appetite, and also helps with coughs. Hyssop is one of the herbs in the traditional church broom.
Thyme is good against coughs and fungi, both athlete's foot and genital fungus.
Cardiac arrest is a good complement to regular heart medicine. It is sedative, lowers blood pressure and is a mild remedy for nervous palpitations.
Salvia is good for pork, beans and cheese (it is included in the pasta dish cinque formaggi, for example). The name comes from the Latin ointment, which means to cure. During the Middle Ages, sage was attributed all sorts of amazing properties. At the medical school in Salerno, people wondered why people have to die at all as long as sage grows in the herb garden.
Salvia is antiseptic and good as an insecticide, but it is mostly drunk as a tea. Salviate inhibits saliva, sweat and milk secretion and is good for weaning babies. The tea stimulates bile flow. Keep in mind that sage contains thujone, which is dangerous in large quantities, but during normal use, ie a few cups a day if necessary, the plant is not dangerous at all.
Rosemary sharpens concentration, a twig in the car, pocket or bra is good when you need to stay sharp. Like tea or oil, it stimulates circulation. Rosemary tea is a good tea for those who have low blood pressure or those who have difficulty getting started in the morning and do not want to drink coffee.
Medical turnaround helps with insomnia, stress and nervous anxiety. It is the root you use, for tea or tincture.
Chamomile is a very useful medicinal herb. It is soothing, soothing and wound healing. Chamomile tea is good for gastritis and stomach ulcers, as the herb both heals and soothes. You can wash wounds with chamomile tea, bathe eczema and rashes and make wet-warm wraps for pain.
St. John's wort can be used both internally and externally. Internally, like tea or tincture, it is soothing and helps with mild depression and stress. Externally, you can use St. John's wort oil for muscle pain, muscle inflammation, burns and dry and fragile mucous membranes. St. John's wort tincture is good for wound care, it tightens wounds and stops blood.
Arnica , or mower man, is phenomenal for sprains, sprains, muscle strains and aches, bruises and varicose veins. It is a meadow plant that is starting to become unusual because it thrives on hay meadows and we do not beat the meadows in the same way anymore as we did before. For that reason, I think it's a cultural deed to grow arnica in her herb garden. The herb is used externally as an oil or tincture.
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