Helpful Hints                              

1. Plant mints in barrels to control spreading.

2. Harvest mid-morning or early evening after or before dew is on the plants, but NOT

during the heat of mid day.

3. Mulch with straw or cut alfalfa to keep mud from splashing up on leaves.

4. Under fertilize for best tea flavor. Enrich soil with compost!

5. Let Dry in a dark and dry place with plenty of ventilation! Hang in paper bags, use or make a drying rack with screens on a wooden clothes dryer. Or use dehydrator.

6. ALWAYS label your cut plants. They may look different when dry.

7. When blending teas, use licorice root, stevia, hibiscus flowers, rose hips, cinnamon,

ginger, orange peel, or lemon peel for added flavor or sweetness.

8. BREWING-Keep flowers and leaves as whole as possible. Crush at last mintue to release flavor. Boil water, turn off heat, add herbs, cover and let steep 10-20 minutes.

(I let mine steep overnight for stronger tea) Strain. Keeps in refrigerator for 2-3 days. Add honey or lemon to taste. Sun Tea - Fill large jar with water, add herbs, cover and place in the sun for several hours. Strain and refrig.

Organic Fertilizers

Good Compost is the best form of natural fertilizer without over doing it. It adds the organic vital life force of the plant kingdom necessary for the garden soil. Earthworms are necessary for healthy soil.

Add some of the following items, to help build up the soil and feed the plants, mix them in with your compost and spread. Use some from each category (bold items are the strongest). Remember not to feed your tea herbs too much or they will grow like crazy, but have less flavor!

Nitrogen - Add Manure (poultry, cow, or sheep, not horse), Cottonseed meal, Blood meal or dried blood, fish emulsion, soybean meal, seaweed, or grass clippings.

Phosphorus - Add Manure, Dried blood or bloodmeal, Fish emulsion, rock phosphate (NOT super phosphate), bone meal, cottonseed meal, greensand, or wood ashes (NOT coal ashes).

Potassium - Seaweed, Kelp, Rock phosphate, wood ashes, manure,fish emulsion, greensand, soybean meal.

Seed and Plant Sources

Tinmouth Channel Farm                                                            Meadowsweet Herb Farm

RR1 Box 428B                                                                              729 Mt. Holly Rd.

Tinmouth, Vermont 05773                                                             N.Shrewsbury, Vt. 05738

802-446-2812                                                                               802-492-3565

Maple Spring Herb Farm                                                           Edna's Garden

RR 1 Box 1770                                                                              Main Street

Fayston, Vt. 05660                                                                        Peru, Vt. 05152

802-496-3462                                                                               802-824-6484

The Cooks Garden                                                                   Companion Plants* (hard to find varieties!)

P.O. Box 535                                                                               7247 North Coolville Ridge Rd.

Londonderry, Vt. 05148                                                               Athens, Ohio 45701

802-824-3400                                                                             614-592-4643

Seeds of Change                                                                       Fedco Seeds

P.O. Box 15700                                                                          P.O. Box 520

Santa Fe, N.M. 87506-5700                                                      Waterville, ME 04903

                                                        Also check out:

The Herb Growing & Marketing Network
http://www.herbnet.com  and  www.herbworld.com
PO Box 245, Silver Spring, PA 17575
717-393-3295; FAX: 717-393-9261

 

Growing Healing Herbs for Many Uses

Ears - Mullein flowers steeped in olive oil.

Eyes -Eyebright, Chamomile, Calendula, or Goldenseal as an eye wash (make a tea)

Soap -Soapwort or Yucca roots, soak and chop roots.

Itching -Yellow Dock leaves, Celandine, Chamomile

Antiseptics -Garlic, Witch hazel, Oak Bark (inner), Plantain, Smooth Sumac, Dogwood bark, Indigo broom, Goldenseal.

Astringents -Uva Ursi, Eucalyptus, Yarrow, Oak Bark, Wild Geranium, Dogwood bark.

Sores - Comfrey leaves, plantain, Calendula, Flax seeds & oil.

Burns - Aloe, St. Johnswort, Comfrey, Irish Moss, Flax.

Stings/Bites - Honeysuckle, Rue, Chamomile, Jewel weed, Aloe,Vinegar.

Poison Ivy - Jewel weed, Sweet fern, Mugwort.

Wounds - Yarrow, Pearly Everlasting, Witch Hazel, Horse mint, Bee Balm, Solomons Seal, Plantain, Cattails.

Bleeding - Oak Bark, Yarrow, Shepards Purse, Puff balls, Cobwebs.

Expectorants - Honey, Horehound, Mullein, Coltsfoot, Elecampane, Sunflower seed, Skunk Cabbage roots, Lobelia.

Coughs - Irish Moss, Flax seed, Wild Cherry Bark, Coltsfoot, Elecampane, Royal fern, White Pine, Smooth Sumac.

Colds & Fever - Garlic! Yarrow, Goldenseal, Goldenrod, Blessed Thistle, Hyssops, Horehound, Elder flowers, Sage.

Bronchial Asthma - Garlic or Onion Syrup, Common Daisy, Wild Yam, Sundew, Lobelia, Coltsfoot, Red Clover, Elecampane.

Nasal Catarrh - Borage, Blessed Thistle, Goldenseal, Sage, Thyme.

Digestion - Sweet flag, Angelica, Blessed Thistle, Cayenne, Hops, Elecampane, Mints, Ginseng, Rosemary, Dandelion or Burdock roots.

Diarrhea - Shepards Purse, St. Johnswort, White Oak Bark, Blueberries, Oatmeal, Grape Juice.

Laxatives - Stewed Rhubarb, Aloe juice, Burning bush (wahoo), Cascara sagrada, senna leaves, flax seed oil, magnolia, dandelion, bunch berry, white ash, walnuts, horehound.

Tonics - Yarrow, Red Clover, Nettles, Dandelion, Sweet Flag, Wormwood, Barberry, Chicory, Sweet Fern, Horehound, Chamomile, Mints, Nasturtiums, Heal-All, Tansy.

Rheumatism - Black Cohosh, Feverfew, Boneset, Magnolia, Pokeweed, Elder Berry Juice.

Relaxing - Chamomile, Valerian, Hops, Horsemint, Skullcap, Bugleweed.

Diuretics - Yarrow, Dandelion leaves, Dog-bane, Uva Ursi, Chicory, Juniper, Iris, Sarsparilla, Wintergreen.

Urinary Tract - Horsetail, Uva Ursi, Pipsissewa, Gravel Root, Juniper.

Female Disorders - Yarrow, Chaste Tree Berries, Wild Yam, Barberry, Black Cohosh.

Male Disorders - Saw Palmetto Berries, Sarsparilla, Ginseng.

Insect repellants - Sage, Tansy, Pennyroyal, Rue, Wormwood, Eucalyptus.