It's Time To Grow A MEDICINAL Herb Garden | Home Apothecary 

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I’m a herbalist and grow hundred of herbs. They are so satisfying. I suggest getting any books by Rosemary Gladstar. Queen of herbs who originally started Traditional Medicinals.

This is amazing. Be careful, once you plant one, you’ll want all of them. I joke that my house is really a front for an apothecary. I no longer have a plant growing in my garden(s) that aren’t medicinal. Strangely, my most medicinally effective plants are considered kitchen herbs.

Shea ,you are the answer to.my prayers,I have a huge round circle in my back yard where there once was the family pool ,I'm in the process of turning it into a herb garden ,just like you !I have been researching this stuff since I was a child,and have raised my kids growing and rescuing all kinds of plants ,I have always grown q small vegtable garden .I'm 79 years old ,and will never give up my Love of growing things ,and cooking ,and studying natural medicines.I have 4 children ,11,grandchildren ,and 14 great-grandchildren, which all but one live near me and my sweetheart of 63 years.Yes I was 15 and he was 19 ,when we married in1958 ,in a small church just outside of Philadelphia,where our family lived for generations.We live in Rochester NY now ,qnd have for about 40 some years,this story could go on ,and on ,but when I tuned you in this morning ,I was so excited ,to see you were on the same challenge as me ,except you have younger bones ha !I have sand ,top soil ,and now need to dump some compost.But if I have to do it space by space ,or however ,I'll figure it out ,my family tells me mom ,why do you want to make more work for your self ,I smile and say ,it's never work ,it's a vision ,and my purpose.And time with the Lord.!Love you Shea !You have found the secret ,family and the love of God !

If you are interested, holy basil/tulsi combined with lemon balm fresh in a sun tea in summer is so wonderful! Enjoy the new journey ❤️

Raspberries are dual medicinal and fruit. Red raspberry leaf tea is good for tons of ills or just a nice mild tea. Echinacea is another dual-purpose--beauty and medicinal. Horseradish, yarrow, boking-14 comfrey, garlic, cayenne, lobelia, and licorice are all good, mild but strong, easy to grow, multi-purpose plants.

I love lemon balm, it is my favorite smell. I clip it and hang it in my car, closet, bathroom, anywhere.

We have stinging nettle growing wild all over our property, beautiful and abundant. I’m assuming that’s the plant they warned you about, it sure does take over! Medicinally, it’s one of my favorite herbs, but it is also such a treat in the kitchen. Nettle salt, nettle on pizza, nettle pesto, nettle bread…all so delicious. Thank you for the reminder to jump in and learn, I get so nervous when it comes to gardening, but I just need to go for it! 🌿

Hi Shaye, we grow Lemon Grass all over our little homestead. It can help relieve pain a swelling. After Mike and I have a hard working day in the garden I'll make lemon grass tea. It can also reduce fever. It's an antioxidant and also can reduce blood pressure. Great for cooking and it smells so wonderful when the wind blows. Blessings, Rochelle

Get the nettles out omg 😲 it will invade your herb bed and kill everything. Move it far away and let it invade possibly in the woods somewhere, that way you can still harvest it lemon balm is a close second. X

It's the mugwort! That grows everywhere whether you plant it or not, and is SO HARD to get rid of if you don't stay vigorously on top of it. I have had the mugwort on my hillside covered with black plastic for over a year and it's still coming up around the edges and random places in my driveway and yard. I think it must seed itself out so easily!

Yes! Herbs are my heart! I wanted to share that I learned about wood chips and how the wood attracts more pests than gravel. We have earwigs here in Wisconsin that love wood and plants! I’m sure it’s different in your zone but thought I’d share for others too. Thank you for all you share!

I am so jealous and so in awe of all of the different herbs, plants, trees and bushes that you maintain on your farmstead! It’s so inspiring how your family makes a living and life just living from your land. Thank you so much for sharing this video with all of us 😊

Please share on the podcast which herbal concoction you use when your family is sick. My mint grew into my oregano in one patch and the flavor of those herbs is really odd. Consider not letting all the herbs grow together. My 100 feet of oregano borders each veggie patch and helps keep rabbits out; I grab a big handful of fresh oregano daily in my salad and a handful of mint for my okra banana cacoa smoothie. 🌷

Nettle is the other one that spreads aggressively. And that one stings! But it's an amazing plant, very nutritive and a great tonic herb. Good luck with your new adventure!

Very nice video. I could tell there was time put into perfecting it. Your a natural in front of the camera. If I didnt know any better I would have thought I was watching a PBS show. Very interesting content, it's good when we can take a step back and say we don't know something and we want to learn it. I've been interested in herb gardens for awhile now, so I look forward to this venture on your channel. The biggest thing for me is how to use what.... Be it in cooking or medicinally. Great video God bless you on your farming adventures.

Feverfew and lemon balm are definitely invasive here in Oregon! I learned that the hard way. What a beautiful herb garden!

You are going to want a bigger area for the horehound and marshmallow. They really spread quickly. Horehound spreads by seed so you can limit spreading by removing seeds. Marshmallow spreads by root and seed. Will get very tall the second and following years(5-6 feet).

The world of medicinal herbs and teas and tinctures is SO fascinating, diverse, complex and rewarding. I think I have fallen I love with herbs more than I have of flowers because they almost bridge the gap of vegetable and floral gardening. One herb that I've had a hard time finding in seed form is lemon verbena / lemon bee brush. The flavor and smell is unlike any other lemon-esque herb I've had and it keeps it's potent fragrance even when dried, similar to lavender. I absolutely love a lavender & lemon verbena tea or syrup! I started working for an herbal / cut flower farm this past spring but sadly I've discovered that the apothecary aspect is separated for apprenticeships only. I want so badly to learn more about this realm of gardening but it just isn't as popular in my area as I would hope. Your channel has been my guiding light to keep on my path to my dreams of taking gardening beyond a hobby and I love seeing the growth in every aspect of your homestead. It really shows that it's not always picture-perfect as the internet makes it all seem, and I love that.

Milkweed spreads by rhizomes and lemon balm might too because it’s in the mint family. I wishI had a separate garden just for medicinal herbs😍🌱💚 I grow everything together in one space💚

Marshmallow is a plant?!?! I had assumed it was a very manufactured concoction, but apparently less so than I thought. Also, Shaye, would you please consider making a video when you prepare these for medicinal, cleaning, or cooking uses months down the road? Thank you for sharing this video!

Tansy, Rue and wormwood are ideal to grow next to chickens. Wormwood actually is also great to deter whitefly from tomatoes and brassicas.

Hi Shaye, Tansy is very invasive. I planted it without researching 10 years ago and it took over my entire flower bed and smothered all other plants. Yearly I pull it out before flowering but it continues to spread. I recommend a pot....thanks for sharing

Yep! Lemon balm...if you don't surround it with a rhizome barrier, it'll be a spreading 1 foot thick mat! Delicious tea though!

This is a fantastic start. Beware it’s an addicting hobby 😅 Also a lot of the local “weeds” in your area are also very useful. Herbal Jedi here on RU-vid is a great source for local weeds that are medicinal.

The herbalist in me is dying with excitement at your new adventure!! I know everyone is saying Lemon Balm is invasive but it compares nothing to Mugwort!! My entire property (even road) is lined with the stuff. Do not let it go to seed 🙏🏽 you’ll find it all over your homestead 🥴 Good luck with it all and can’t wait to see what you create with all of these x

This makes me daydream about growing my own medicinal herbs one day and distilling my own essential oils!

I love the scent of the rosemary, the wife took some and ground it up fresh and rubbed it on a rotisserie chicken. we have a couple plants in containers at out place.

You will be both overwhelmed & over joyed with this new garden experience

Wonderful project; I'd love to see it when it fills out more and I'd love to get more information on how to use herbs.

Very exciting! I started an herbal knot in my garden and my rule of thumb is to add one or two completely new to me herbs each year. I have all the traditional cooking herbs, but adding new things is so much fun! I find I won’t use much of an herb if I have too many new ones to choose from, so I keep it simple for myself and then add one or two news ones Im interested in and see how it does. This year’s new herbs are feverfew and hyssop. Joe-pye weed grows wild and abundant in our area, so Im very interested in what you will do with it. I just look at it and hope it does not invade my gardens! 😂 Thanks for sharing your lovely gardens.

This was absolutely encouraging. I am having to start my gardens completely from dirt. Everything is baby and new and can get a little discouraging when I see these big established gardens. Thank you for sharing these beginnings. I cant wait to see how it comes along 💗

Tansy is one that spreads, also I have oregano everywhere. But I just pull out what I don't want. Your garden will be awesome.

YES! Plant all the things, figure out what they're good for as you go along! I love the apothecary garden, it's going to be so lovely as those little babies grow

Lots of the new are culinary, too. 🙂I have good luck with lemon balm although one year when I thought it came back, my pot was actually full of catnip. Not sure how that happened. When I first was married and bought our house, I went full on with herbs, but working a full time job and having kiddos took all my time and the herbs suffered for it. I am now retired and starting the journey again. Hoping for a better outcome this time around.

Mugwort spreads below the surface and has thick invasive roots.

Your garden is already so beautiful, we need another long garden tour. Pleaseeee!! :-)

I love lemon balm and mint, I do just let them do their thing, but I don't have a designated herb area. I move herbs that pop up somewhere I don't want them to the outskirts of my property and try to let everything just grow naturally. I planted horseradish this year to be able to make fire cider. I do also love yarrow and red clover. We live in an area that still gets snow in May, I was shocked at the date of the video and how big everything was already and very jealous. Starting nettle, hyssop, chamomile and some others. I spread seed for Italian dandelion that didn't do anything, hopefully it will go crazy next year.

Good Morning from Georgia. I am pea green about your herb garden; and well done to you for putting in these wonderful medicinal herbs. One of my favorite books is by Rosemary Gladstar who's been an herbalist since before your time. Her book "Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs, a Beginner's Guide" is one to definitely get; it has pictures of the herbs with their uses and a section on how to prepare them in different ways. Please keep us updated. I always enjoy your videos, thank you for sharing your life and knowledge with us. Take care.

Looks great. & in a couple years it will look totally different! :) Mind if I share a couple of tips? 1) look up sizes of mature plants…some will get huge! Make sure you have walking space. 2) look up apple tree guilds…you can have useful plants for the kitchen, 1st aid & plants that will help your Apples 😊. Bonus tip, write a map of plants. I tried those same markers..with permanent marker! & they faded in less than a year!

Been gardening for ten years This year is the first time we are doing herbs for medical purposes

It's the lemon balm....it's part of the mint family and spread just like any other mint.

I have to say that I've been watching you a little while now and I have loved all your videos especially the bread ones but I usually don't say anything but this is my favorite one you are going on a journey of finding in discovering new herbs at for medicinal properties as well as being able to eat with them and I think it's a wonderful thing that you're doing that medically also I wanted to thank you for putting this video out and please continue to because we would like to learn about these to thank you so much God bless

Lemon balm is the other one that spreads. It's in the mint family.

So excited for you, enjoy the journey in your new found herb garden. I am sure to follow you on this wonderful experience.

I learned first hand last summer for the first time how much the bees go crazy for mint that is flowering. It was unbelievable how many different bees showed up on that plant all at once. I'm just letting it do whatever it wants this year. That swamp milkweed will show up everywhere once established, same with the Joe eye weed. But, they are such good native perennials!

Can’t wait to see this garden update. Thanks for sharing

Wow, homesteading looks so exciting, rewarding and also a lot of work. I’d love to live this way. Right now it’s not a possibility so I’m making the most of my urban backyard garden. I’ve really enjoyed watching everything grow and documenting the growth in my videos. I Love to film the bunnies and birds in action. I’m learning so much from you and other RU-vidrs. I hope we can learn more from each other! I wish you an abundant harvest! 🌼🌻🐝☀️🌸🌺

Such a wonderful adventure you're on there with some lovely herbs. Would love to hear about how it develops. There are a few herbs there that you have that will self seed numerously, even on no-dig such as clary sage. It is so beautiful when in flower, the bees love it and it has a very distinctive scent. I grew it on No-Dig a few years back using mushroom compost and I have to say it grew so healthily and tall. Lemon balm also beautiful makes such a good companion to chamomile and lavender in tea but will spread like mint as will tansy but again beautiful and the ladybirds love to flock to it as it can often get aphids but I think all those herbs are such a wonderful way to not only stock your pantry with herbal medicine but a fine way to attract benefits insects.

Can someone tell me how she got the herb plants growing so thick and bushy instead of sparse and spread out?? Ty ♥️♥️

You should also grow true peppermint! It’s wonderful! This is what’s actually used for proper peppermint tea, not common mint. Also spearmint is lovely as well. Your garden’s looking great! Well done

I'm so excited to watch this garden grow over the next few years!

Love this. I am just starting on my journey to medicinal and culinary herbs. It was great to see your beginning as well!

I’m also growing my beginner herb garden this year. Going at it slow and in pots mostly. I can attest that Lemon Balm spreads by rhizomes. I thought I had it contained by a concrete pathway but it popped up on the other side through thick mulch. Can’t wait to learn how to overcome on my own and maybe even with you, haha!

I love making Thyme-Honey. It helped me and my family with upper respiratory infections and coughs. And the taste is lovely. I add it to tea. So yummy and healthy!

Check out "Amy Fewell - The Fewell Homestead" she does a lot with herbs and it makes me feel way less overwhelmed! Wonderful start!

Roses are medicinal as well! A really great channel with lots of info is danus irish herb garden!

i had lemon balm and it was very invasive, but loved it👍🏼

Beautiful! I am on my second year with sorrel and it's so hearty!

Very best to you and your garden. I have been reveling in mine for over 20 years. What a satisfying pleasure!

Love it!!! Looks great! Your voice with the back drop of your sweet garden is so soothing. Best of luck!

Lemon Balm is very invasive like mint is. I planted some once in a butterfly garden only to find it showing up in my veg, rose, and peony gardens too. It smells amazing, but know you will be finding it everywhere.

Would love to see an update on this garden! 💗💗💗

You should absolutely heed the invasive warnings…I inherited a yard that had mint planted and it was a nightmare. It’s all fun and games until it’s taken over everything!

Lovely!! It's beautiful, Shaye!! Love your homestead and your ability to take care of it. Your channel is so refreshing!

A perfect green witches garden! Be careful with mugwort, but I know you will look up the dosaging. This will be fun to watch grow. Smart to have a medicinal garden! Lemongrass breaks fevers and of course makes the best tea.tulsi basil helps sleep, blood pressure. But I didn't hear you say yarrow, this stops bleeding, if you ground to powder and place some inside a bloody nose it staunces the blood. There are so many! So fun!

Yes yes yes! This is what my garden dreams are made of! I grew a few medicinal herbs this summer even though I had no idea what to do with them! Haha. I ended up using them for herbal teas and dried a ton as well. I'm excited to plant more variety next year and learn other ways to use them other than for tea!

Enjoyed this! I so look forward to learning along with you (hoping you'll continue sharing about this experience!). :)

There is nothing like fresh herbs for cooking and medicine. When I first get a scratchy throat, runny nose, cough, I make a pot of thyme tea, drink it all day, at the most for two days and the cold disappears completely!! It’s the cure for the common cold. Love your laid back style and recipes. God bless you on your new journey, looking forward to learning with you.

Lemon Balm is your spreader...it can go nuts once established but it's such a great herb to dry for tea, so I welcome it in my garden 🥰

I made dandelion and and some other tincture’s….this week my husband was ill with a bad cold and my echinacea tincture from last year really helped him….Mullein is another plant that is good for different problems.I’m hoping my camomile grows well this year….

We're doing the same this year. We've had Mexican oregano, sage, flat leaf parsley, chamomile, rosemary and such here for a long time, some basil occasionally, last year added lemon balm (love the tincture) but this year, I've expanded the herbs to hyssop, marshmallow, borage, toothache plant, feverfew (bachelor's buttons), calendula, etc. I want to make more tinctures and extracts and tea mixes. Some did not come up well, but some are doing pretty well, not sure about our echinacea yet. It's struggling some. I have seed for a lot more bought from Mountain Rose Herbs, but no room for them this year. Maybe by next season, I'll have more beds prepared and be able to expand.

I’m just starting to dabble in medicinal herbs as well. I planted calendula and lemon balm this year!

The Lost Book of Herbal Recipes is also a great book to own, .Nicole Apelian

Can't wait to see more garden videos!!!! As a 3rd year gardener, your garden videos truly inspire me and dare me to try something new 🥰

Very nice you are wonderful love your work.🤠keep loving herbs

How exciting!! I love growing herbs and let some of them have there way and if they grow where I don't want them I just add to the compost. Comfrey, Nettles, Lemon Balm and Chinese Mugwort are super hardy and can make there way in places you may not want them, but I grow them knowing this because all 4 of them are very important in my apothecary and I consider them friends and am delighted when they re-emerge each spring. Happy Gardening! Nettles has runners and I dug them up and re-potted in cloth pots mainly because they were close to a neighbor or else I would of let it grow where they wanted to. Nettles is a food as well as medicinal.

The smell of fresh mint if fabulous. I’m looking forward to watch you on this particular journey. Good luck with your medicinal garden.

I’m so fascinated with herbalism and medicinals, I feel you!

My medicinal herb garden is in pots I have been planting trying to get as much as I can planted

Hyssop spreads like crazy by rhizome but is a great herb. Tansy also can be invasive but I love it! It grew all around our old property and we never saw one flea on our many animals. One of my favorites!

Love your herb garden Shaye! So much to learn. Can't wait to see how this area of your garden develops. In my limited experience, lemon balm is a very invasive herb. It takes over and even if you pull them out, they keep coming. Smell amazing and have great uses though.

Hi Shaye Great garden video , I didn’t have an idea on how many herbs they were , that’s a nice area for your new herb garden .. can’t wait to see it all come together It’s always nice to learn new garden pointers from you.. and you always inspire me to learn more and more . Thanks for this one 🌿🪴🌱🍃

Does rice wine vinegar work well for other herbs other than thyme? I would like to make chive flower vinegar to use in salad dressing, potato salad ,other uses you may know?

I see three invasive plants, mugwort, lemon balm and nettle. You have a few I'd love to try as well! Thank you for the inspiration to try more.

Wonderful!! Thank you for sharing

Shaye lemon balm is a member of the mint family and is considered invasive. It will even grow from a leaf!

I'm excited to learn with you!!

How fun! There are several I’m not familiar with…going to consult my favorite herbal reference book :) I would recommend being careful with some of these herbs. Like thyme and mint, feverfew, mugwort, and lemon balm will spread quickly and vigorously. Some by root system and some easily self sown/spread on the wind. Tansy is considered a noxious weed in my state (Colorado) and you aren’t supposed to plant it here. It spreads easily and is toxic to livestock, so be careful it doesn’t get in your pasture. I hope your nettle does so well for you! Here in arid Colorado, I can only get it to grow in the shade near our irrigation ditch.

After all the events in recent years, my trust in the healthcare industry has tanked, so I am learning about herbs as well. Mullein is an EXCELLENT herb for respiratory issues. It worked so well with my kids when they had coughs this past winter when the over-the-counter stuff didn’t at all, even the homeopathic meds. Also, I’m going to grow yarrow. It’s supposed to be good for reducing fevers among other things. I love learning about this kind of stuff!

I learned the hard way to plant mint in a container. No matter how you do it, it's going to spread. it will also leave the container if planted in one. I can hardly open my shed door some days!! lol

Kudos on your herb garden! Scullcap...I'm wondering what kind you planted. Chinese Skullcap Scutellaria baicalensis is the main species used in China. It is good against viruses. American skullcap Scutellaria lateriflora works more with the nervous system. Its good you started with those you are familiar with and then work towards learning others. It takes time but is well worth it.

Beautiful! It seems as big as my vegetable garden but i'll do with the space we have. Thabk you for the beauty and inspiration for what can be done

So excited to learn herbs with you!! 🙂

Love all the herbs. Lemon Balm is one that grows as fast as mint.

This looks stunning! Skullcap might be one of my favorite herbs thus far! And yes the whole world of medicinal herbs is so expansive!

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Be careful with wormwood, other plants don’t like growing near it, and can deter good pollinators. Wormwood should be planted at the edge of a garden to try and avoid this. :)

You should try valerian and catnip, they combine nicely for a pain /stress relief tincture.

Just read The Unsettling of America last summer!