What's in your (magical) herb cabinet?

Question

And which ones did you grow yourself? I'm asking because I've been contemplating starting a garden of my own, and wanted some opinions.

The climate I live in is hot (but not overly so, I have good shady spots.) It's fairly humid, and the soil has a good bit of clay. Think a toned down (and humid) version of Arizona.

Answer 1

A lot of the common culinary herbs which are also associated with magic don’t particularly like humidity but by experimenting with placing the plants in various locations you should do ok.

Mints are an obvious choice for shady areas. Pennyroyal and parsley. Try ginger. Simply buy a nice firm root at the grocery, slice it into pieces about an inch or so long and let dry overnight. I’d start the ginger in pots with a good potting soil.

For sunnier areas basil is probably the easiest herb to grow. Plant as you would marigolds. Rosemary might also be a good choice.

If you want to make smudges try sage, mugwart and lavender. None of them really like humidity but if you live in a warm climate you can start the plants in the fall and they have a chance to get established before summer’s humidity.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of finding that one location in the yard that they particularly like. I’ve had mugwart for years even though it’s not really at home in my climate.

Also easy to start, simply buy an elephant garlic bulb at the grocery store, divide and plant.

I mostly use herbs for cooking and as natural insect repellents and for the shear pleasure of the various fragrances. Growing fragrant herbs among vegetables and flowers works wonders in keeping insects away. I'm also very interested in the folk uses by various cultures.

Answer 2

There's nothing magical in there, and I have over a hundred. You buy them in the grocery like bread and milk. There are, of course, hundreds more that I don't keep there. A great many of them are highly poisonous. Some of them were the original sources of good medicines, but nobody other than a pharmacist should EVER try herbs to heal anybody of anything. That's because few people even know which part of an herb to use. There are herbs that part of the plant is healing, while another part of the VERY SAME PLANT can kill you if used EXACTLY the same way the healing part is used. Do YOU know that much about herbs? I didn't think so - bottom line - use only the herbs you buy off the spice shelf in your grocery and leave the others the h e l l alone!

Answer 3

I use sage and cedar for cleansing/ purifying, and I grow/harvest both of those. I grow oregano in a hanging pot next to my windowsill. I use thyme as a ground cover, and grow basil, parsley, mint, catnip, bedstraw, violets (jelly syrup, and crystalized dessert toppings with a glorious purple color), and wheat grass. Queen Anne's lace is naturalized (proven anti-implantation). Echinacea grows from wildflower mixes. Nasturtium is dlightful in hanging baskets. Tansy, artemesia (wormwood), dandelion, and sweet potato are also easy to grow in small spaces.

I don't use much in the magical sense, but I always keep tea tree oil and neem oil on hand for many naturopathic applications. Those I order by the bottle. I distill colors from flowers for bath salts and cooking.

Answer 4

I've a few. I have Valerian, Milk thistle seed, other healing herbs, Frankinsence, Myrrh, Rose Hips, oils, raspberry leaf and on and on.

You can get some of the more dangerous plant seeds on the Internet, including beladonna, foxglove and others. In my garden I have some of these as well as more typical plants.

Answer 5

(Embarrassed laugh) I have a few kitchen herbs at this point. We have been living in an apartment in the city and my cats keep eating the herbs out of my window boxes. I really want some lavendar and sage.

Answer 6

These days ours doubles as a spice rack, we really need more space so Raven's Voice can have a decent Herb cabinet.

Answer 7

I grow sage in my garden (I've yet to learn how to use sage in smudges), I grow pyrethrum daisies to make an ecologically safe insecticide, various kinds of lavender, camomile, parsley, various kinds of mint, garlic, ginger and a lemon tree and cumquats.

Answer 8

I'm going to start with some apples for a druid ritual

Answer 9

I use herbs only for cooking, not magic. I have grown parsley. oregno. sage, thyme, basil, bay, rosemary, and chives, and several kinds of mint.

Answer 10

Oxycotin.