Anise Hyssop and Chamomile
I started my herb garden with over 50 medicinal herbs from seed. I tried most of them and have settled on the ones that do something for me.
Anise Hyssop. Great in tea or tincture. This is my general feel a cold coming on tea or just need to relax. Mixes great with chamomile, lemon balm (only a dash or you'll overpower it), catmint (again just a pinch) and skullcap. You can also add a pinch or three to other teas for the flavoring. I've heard you can use it in cooking, it has a nice licorice like flavor and smell. I would think the tincture would be better for flavoring in cooking, much stronger, like an extract. The tincture I do for when the cold is set in. I'll dilute my required dosage with water and honey and slug it back, following with many sips of tea to help it down.
A word on tinctures, this is from personal experience and not meant to be the end all of knowledge or to use as a bible! Each year is different, each crop is different and each person is different. What works for me, and the dosage, might not work for you. One year ¼ oz of one tincture will be equal to 1 full oz from a past year or vice versa. I would recommend first starting with a few drops of any new herb tincture, mainly to make sure you are not allergic! Up the dosage to maybe a dropper full to verify your body likes it, then go and find out what your dosage is; two drops, one dropper full, ¼ oz, ½ oz… Depending on the toxicity of the herb in question I go up to one ounce at a time. Also make sure you label everything as you are making them, what it is, date harvested, date tinctured, % alcohol…
Back to Anise Hysop. I started from seed and had a good crop the first year. I leave some to re-seed but it seems to grow from the roots each year, my plot is 6 years old this year. It grows about 3' tall with bluish purple flower heads that last a long time in the garden. Would make a great dried flower, keeps its color and stink. It has not spread wildly, easy to keep in its place. Actually I do not believe it has wanted to spread at all. Mine is next to the bee balm so hard to say which attracts all the bees but they like it. My 3' x 3' plot gives me two quart jars of flowers and 2 to 3 jars of leaves at harvest time. Here in NC, I can get 2 flower/leaf harvests if I cut them back before they go to seed. My needs require just the one harvest.
That's about it on that one, highly recommended for teas regardless of for medicinal or not. Easy to grow and tasty.
Chamomile. I believe I bought the Roman chamomile, smaller bushes and smaller flowers but more medicinal qualities. It is low growing, maybe a foot tall and spreads a foot or so. I started from seed and it took a while for them to germinate, be patient. A nice relaxing tea and great to add a pinch of catmint, anise hyssop or really anything else to for a change. In the winter I like to hang my nose into the cup as it steeps, inhaling slowly while I get as close to the fire as possible. Reminds me of the sunny summer days harvesting. I do not have a harvesting rake so a bit time consuming to harvest. My 2' x 3' plot is harvested every day, picking each flower individually. I get from ¼ cup to 1 cup a day while it flowers. Enough to usually get 3 quart jars of dried flowers. I did have one year when only three or four plants flowered and still got a jar.
Speaking of drying. I went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of plastic trays, with lots of slots in them. Like draining trays or something. Size will depend on what your needs are. Mine are about 8" by 12" x 2" tall, enough to fill with a days harvest for each thing harvested. I have a bunch of no-seeum material (those in the NE will know what they are) and lined the insides of the containers with it. It is like a fine nylon mosquito netting. I used a hot glue gun and stretched and cut to fit the inside as I went. Nice and tight to the plastic and even smaller things do not fall out while drying. I can stack them at 90 degree angles to several high and still get great circulation. I never tried a dehydrator so can't compare the difference between slow drying and fast.
I have a tincture of chamomile but really have not used it, I think the tea does a perfect job. And I love the taste too.
I forgot to mention care! We have red clay soil and rocky. I tilled the piss out of the herb garden area and mixed in a foot or so of composted leaves and six inches of manure composted. ( I can highly recommend BCS tillers) I laid out the garden itself and put a couple inches of triple shredded hardwood mulch on the pathways. For the Hyssop, the first year I watered the seeds and babied them along until harvest. Well, I babied the whole herb garden the first year actually, watering most likely more than needed. Since, I have never watered the garden and everything does well. I've moved some things around to where they are happier but that is about all the care it gets, aside from weeding that is.
Alright, back to projects. I'll try and add a few more as I have time.
