Sowing Medicinal Herbs

Last year, I got really into medicinal herbs and also into the challenge of starting perennial herbs from seed. Most of these perennial herbs are more easily propagated by cuttings or plant/root division, but starting from seed allows you a greater variety of plants to choose from and also more control from an earlier stage in the plants life. So basically, I bought about 40 different herb seed packets from Johnny’s and began working on growing them in San Marcos.

I started many of the plants in the La Cambalacha herb gardens from seed in wooden flats. Another group of more obscure herbs needed to be stratified, which means pre-chilled, before germinating. These herbs, I placed in two airtight plastic bags and stored them in the fridge for several months. I kind of forgot about them until Colleen noticed them this past week when cleaning the fridge. Thus, I decided to sow them in a wooden flat and see if my fridge stratification was successful.



Wooden flats are the best and most cost and labor effective seed-starting tray. These flats can be made with scrap wood and once made, last for many years. Compared to plastic trays, they have longer life and are often cheaper. Recycled materials such as egg cartons are good, but again, only last one season and often are limited in space for plant roots to expand. Basically make the flat about 4-6 inches tall, 12-18 inches wide, and 25-30 inches long. When choosing a size, keep in mind flats will be a lot heavier with moist soil in them. The bottom of the flat should have many holes for drainage and the best design is to just use a number of 2-5 inch wide, ½-2 inch thick pieces of scrap wood spaced about 1 inch apart.

The soil mix used to sow these seeds is one part topsoil, one part screened compost, one part course white sand. The sand is good for seed flats, as it allows good drainage and good water retention.



The following herbs were sowed (Sowed from the ‘A’ marking): Angelica, Echinacea, Joe Pie Weed, Skullcap, St Johnswort, and Pleurisy root. All of these seeds are very small and also require a bit of light to germinate. Thus, I merely made small divots 1/8 inch deep in the soil, about 1 inch apart, and placed 1 seed in each space. I planted in short rows, 2 to 4 rows of each plant.

To keep tract of what is where, I marked an ‘A’ on the flat and use my knife to mark off number sections corresponding to each plant species, which is also numbered. These sorts of seeds can often take several weeks to germinate, so it is a slow process, which enables more things to go wrong in the meantime. It will be interesting to see what actually comes up and does well in this area.



I also direct seeded a few of the seeds into the garden bed pictured here behind come flower cuttings.

Herb Gardens at La Cambalacha

Here are just a few pictures of the herbs gardens that we have built while I have been working at La Cambalacha.



This is our nursery. There I basically 3ft of topsoil below these plants and it is mulched heavily, about 6 inches below the ground, with newspaper and leaves. This helps the soil to stay very moist, even during the 6-month dry season. We used this to store out cuttings, propagations, and other special plants until the rains came, when we could then plant them out into their new homes in the formal garden beds. Now the nursery is relatively sparse, as we have been transplanting many species to their new homes since the beginning of the rainy season.



This is the first herb bed that I made at La Cambalacha. Species in this bed include Thyme, Rosemary, Pennyroyal (the lovely groundcover all throughout), 3 types of basil, Tropical Oregano, Mint Marigold, several types of mint and spearmint, Earl Grey, Cilantro, Lemon-scented Germanium, Feverfew, and wild thistle.



This is a more recent one that has just been planted in the last two weeks. Plants here include Lavender, Lemon Grass, Onions, Orseuss, Sage, Comfrey, and several other herbs.



This is a Noni Tree surrounded by Aloe Vera that was planted about 2 months ago. Noni is a ridiculously magical fruit that also smells like old cheese, dirty feet, and vinegar all rolled into one. From Sally Fallon in Noursihing Traditions, “Juice of the Tahitian Noni fruit is revered by the Polynesians for its curative powers, possibly due to the presence of an alkaloid precursor called Proxeronine, which contributes to the effectiveness of proteins on the cellular level. Noni juice has been used successfully to treat diabetes, injuries and pain, digestive disorders, depression and many other aliments. It should be taken on an empty stomach.”

Basil

Basil is an incredibly familiar culinary herb that also has a number of medicinal properties. Medicinally, it is mainly used as a tea for colds and flu or for upset stomachs and/or vomiting.

Like many garden herbs, basil prefers light, well-drained soil and partial to full sun. Basil is a great companion plant throughout the garden, growing well with tomatoes and generally repels flies and mosquitoes.


The type of basil pictured here is local to the highland regions of Guatemala. It is actually so well adapted that it grows almost like a weed, often shady out other plants in its area. This plant is almost one year old and was start from a cutting about ¼” thick and 4” tall. Look at it now, enormous.

To encourage bushy growth and longer life (Basil survives for several years or more in sub-tropical areas where there is not harsh winter), it is good to cut the tips of the plant and especially all of the flowers off on a regular basis. We use the basil flowers for tons of things in the kitchen and the chore of cutting back the plant also serves as a harvest as well. With the leftover basil, one can make pesto or dry out the herb for later use.

This is me and Maynor cutting off the flowers from the giant basil plant.