Off The Grid: 9 Heal-Anything Herbs You Should Be Growing Right Now

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9 Heal-Anything Herbs You Should Be Growing Right Now

An herb garden is easy to grow and maintain and should be a part of every homestead. Herbs don’t require a lot of space, but if you have significant property you can plant them in the wild in large beds.

We’re going to explore some basic herbs that provide multiple benefits. All of them can be used for cooking to add flavor and beneficial nutrients to a variety of recipes. We’ll explore some additional benefits, including the ability of many herbs to repel insects. Most importantly, we’ll look at the medicinal value of these herbs for treating conditions ranging from colds and flu to high-blood pressure and diabetes.

Herbs, like all other plants, are either perennial or annual. Perennials are the best to grow because they will return and spread year after year. Some spread significantly, but regular harvesting makes their growth easy to manage. The same is true of some annuals. An herb like chamomile spreads quite a bit from season to season, so robust harvesting is a good idea if you want to keep them contained.

That’s one of the reasons why you might want to consider some wild patches of herbs on some acreage removed from the house. Some homesteads boast acres of perennials like spearmint and oregano due to their prodigious spreading.

However, you may want to take the time to harvest the seeds of some annuals. This is particularly true of herbs like basil and rosemary. They don’t reseed that well and without some harvested seeds for the next season, you’ll have to depend on seeds which you buy.

Herbs grow together very well and you can easily companion plant numerous varieties in the same, shared space. You could also plant herbs in pots and simply bring them indoors during the winter and harvest them year-round.

We’re going to cover a short list of herbs in alphabetical order and identify some of their characteristics, uses and beneficial properties. We’ll also cover a couple of plants that don’t strictly fall into the “herb” category but their value makes them worth growing. All of these herbs and plants should grow in any zone in North America.

What you should plant:

1. Aloe
Aloe is not an herb. It’s a member of the cactus family. The liquid in its succulent leaves has been used for centuries as an ointment to treat burns, rashes, insect bites and other skin conditions. It is used as an ingredient in many creams, lotions and ointments, and the pure extract can be easily squeezed from the end of a cut leaf. It contains vitamins C and E and also Zinc. It’s also anti-inflammatory and antibacterial. It’s a perennial plant and will continue to grow larger year after year.

2. Basil
herbs feature — herb garden
An herb garden doesn’t require a lot of space. Image source: Steve Nubie.
Basil is known mostly for its culinary uses, but some people are surprised to learn that it’s also a potent insect repellent. The crushed leaves when rubbed on the skin will not only leave you smelling fresh and fragrant, but they keep the mosquitoes away as well. Curiously, it is also a good treatment for insect bites and stings.

Crushed leaves when applied to the bite draw the poison out and offer some relief. A paste of crushed basil leaves and aloe make a potent topical treatment for stings from bees, wasps and hornets. It’s an annual plant and its delicate leaves will quickly brown at the slightest hint of frost so you may want to plant a few in pots so you can take them indoors in fall…..more here

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