We planted so many herbs in the garden this year. Many are new to us and I’ve enjoyed watching them grow and getting to know them. (Above is a bee on one of the oregano plants that are flowering.)

Would you like a tour? Walk with me and I’ll show you a few of the herbs we have growing.

 ::Skullcap::

Here is some skullcap growing along the greenhouse. This year is our first year growing it, it’s a new herb to us. I’ve read about skullcap before, but I could use a refresher. Do any of you use skullcap?

 ::Lemon Verbena::

This is our first year growing it. We’ve been putting it in our sun teas. It smells divine. Now I can’t imagine the garden without this wonderful plant. When my mom came to visit, she told me my grandma always had lemon verbena growing in her yard and when she said that it made me realize how much the smell reminds me of her.

 ::Chamomile::

We’ve grown this sweet little herb in the garden before, but this year we are appreciating it more than ever. We harvest it nearly every day. We dry some and add some fresh to our sun teas. I love how the petals go straight down when you see the tiny flowers first thing in the morning (like in the first picture), and then how they open up as the sun comes out. The dried flowers we will use for tea in winter.

 ::Calendula::

 A constant addition to our garden year after year. We love the brightly colored flowers throughout the garden. Bracken loves to help me harvest them and we usually harvest them every day. We dry the flowers on screens and use them in our Magical Healing Salve, our Peppermint Lip Balm, and our Tinted Lip Balm.

 ::Mint and Spearmint::

Ahhh.. {deep inhale}.. so refreshing. We have so many varieties of these this year. Some of them still have the markers next to them, so we can tell what varieties they are. (Others Bracken grabbed the markers and added them to his secret stash somewhere.) We’ve been adding mint and spearmint fresh to sun teas and drying it for teas throughout the winter too. Bracken heads over to the spearmint regularly and grabs leaves to eat.

::Ecchinacea::

We’ve grown ecchinacea in our garden before, but it didn’t do well this year. It hardly grew and never flowered. Oh well, we’ll try it again next year (and put it in a sunnier spot.)

 ::St.John’s Wort::

The patch out front has been so prolific this year. It’s been there since I moved in, but this is the first year I’ve harvested the flowers regularly. Before, I didn’t really know what they were good for. Now we dry the flowers for our Magical Healing Salve. We have two varieties growing here, one with tiny flowers and one with larger flowers. I love the way my hands smell after I pick the flowers. And if ever there was sunshine in the form of a flower, these would be it.

 ::Mugwort::
Our first year growing this and we’ve never used it before. Perhaps we’ll make some sleeping pillows and stuff them with dried mugwort? I hear it’s good for dreams…

 ::Wormwood::

 We planted this a few years back when we had goats. It was a wonderful natural way to keep our goats worm-free and happy. Now it still comes back year after year. Jeff harvests it and dries it, but we haven’t used it, just harvested it because it was there.

 ::Fennel::

We let our fennel go to seed this year. This spider made a nice web home among the flowering tops. Chewing on the seeds freshens the breath. And in teas, it’s good for digestion. Plus it’s yummy and tastes like licorice.

 ::Borage::

Borage pops up on it’s own in the garden year after year. We like to have it around because the bees just love it. I’ve used the tiny blue flowers to garnish meals before and make them look beautiful, but other than that we haven’t used borage for anything.

 ::Catnip::

Ah, catnip. What a welcome friend in the garden. A friend gave us some starts one year. Then we started some seeds this year and also planted some more starts. We like to add it to our teas. It calms us and is such a wonderful herb. Then we discovered how wonderful it was for teething! We made catnip tea for Bracken when he was teething and it worked wonders! We put it in his sippy cup and he drank it up like crazy.
We’re letting all our catnip go to seed right now. 

 ::Yarrow::

We’ve always had yarrow growing in the garden, but this year we planted more than ever before. It’s so beautiful and it’s also a welcome addition to our Magical Healing Salve. 

 ::Chives::

We’ve been storing away dried chives to enjoy in soups throughout the winter. And of course they are delicious fresh on meals too. I love the purple flowers when they go to seed. We’re collecting lots of chive seeds this year.

 ::Valerian::

 This is our first year having valerian in our garden. I’ve never used valerian before, but Jeff has used the tincture in his tea to help him sleep (with amazing results.) Jeff has many stories about valerian throughout his life. He says it’s magical and that it’s grounding effects were a life saver at times.

 ::Sage::

We do love sage. It’s one of Jeff’s favorite herbs to season our meals with. We plant more every year and now it can be found all throughout the garden. Besides the culinary sage, we grew a variety called ‘Montana Mountain Sage’ (I think that’s what it was called?) for smudging bundles.

 ::Oregano::

We planted a new variety this year called Spicy Oregano. It’s good. (And yes, it has a nice kick to it.) Oregano is another favorite around here. We eat a lot of it sprinkled on our meals.

 ::Parsley::

It’s going to seed right now, doesn’t it look beautiful? Parsley is so full of green goodness.
Another mealtime favorite.

::Motherwort::

Another new-to-us herb. I don’t know that much about it. So much to learn!

 ::Stevia::

And now we enter the greenhouse to see the warmth-loving stevia. For those of you who don’t know, stevia is a delightfully sweet herb. Stevia and honey are the only two sweeteners we use in our home. We dry stevia and add it to our teas to sweeten them up. Mmm mmm.

::Viatnamese Cilantro::
This is a new variety of cilantro we tried this year, also enjoying the warmth of the greenhouse. We plant lots of cilantro every year (we LOVE cilantro), but it always bolts so quickly, ya know? We got the viatnamese cilantro because it doesn’t bolt so soon. We like it, but “regular” cilantro is still my favorite.

::Rosemary::
Now back outside. We planted two rosemary plants in the ground this year. One had been in the greenhouse for a year or so, to give it a good start. The other one we got this spring, a common variety that grows well in this area. I’ve seen giant rosemary bushes around Eugene. That’s  what we would like to have here. We use a lot of rosemary in the kitchen.

::Plantain::
Along the walkways, you’ll find plantain growing wild. It’s another wonderful ingredient in our Magical Healing Salve. We save seeds every year. 

::Self Heal::

Also grows wild all over the place. I love it’s sweet little purple flowers. We dry it for our Magical Healing Salve and save the seeds.

Other herbs in the garden:

Thyme

Mullein

Horehound

Shiso

Dandelion

We have some seeds (Parsley, Plantain, and Chives) currently for sale in the shop and will be adding more soon. Right now my favorite herbal book is Rosemary Gladstar’s Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health: 175 Teas, Tonics, Oils, Salves, Tinctures, and Other Natural Remedies for the Entire Family. It has so many wonderful recipes in it. I love learning about herbs.

Do you have any favorite herbs you use regularly?
Which herbs do you enjoy growing? 
Any insights to share about the herbs I have yet to learn about?
Do you have any favorite herbal books you’d recommend?