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Episode 153: Creating a Healing Garden
727 Plays26 days ago
Welcome back, Witches! 🌿 This week, we’re digging into the grounding and restorative world of Healing Gardens—spaces where plants and intention come together to support the body, mind, and spirit. We’ll talk about what exactly a healing garden is, what to consider when creating your own, and our top herb picks to plant in this sacred space. So get in, losers—grab your trowels, set your intentions, and let’s cultivate a little healing, one plant at a time. 🌱✨
We would be forever thankful if you left our podcast a 5-Star review. If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Supercast & Buy Me a Coffee links below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GetinWitches, on TikTok @weredoingwitchcraft, or email us at weredoingwitchcraft@gmail.com. You can support our show through our links below.
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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
References:
- The Almanac. https://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-calendar
- JeanetteZ (n.d.). How to Create a Healing Garden. Close to Nature. https://close-to-nature.org/how-to-create-a-healing-garden
- Heidi Villagas (n.d.). 20 Medicinal Herbs to Grow in Your Healing Garden. Healing Garden Homestead. https://healingharvesthomestead.com/home/2018/2/13/grow-a-medicinal-herb-garden-with-these-14-easy-to-grow-herbs-youll-love-having-all-of-these-herbs-available
- Raymond Patterson (n.d.). Creating your personal healing garden: a step-by-step guide. Great Garden Plants. https://greatgardenplans.com/how-to-create-a-healing-garden/
- Hubbard, Pameal. How to create a Healing Garden. (2023) Penn State Extension. https://extension.psu.edu/how-to-create-a-healing-garden
- Beyer, Rebecca. Wild Witchcraft. 2022. Simon Element, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster.
- Harrison, Karen. The Herbal Alchemist’s Handbook: A Complete Guide to Magickal Herbs and How to Use Them. 2020. Weiser Books, an Imprint of Red Wheel/Weiser LLC.
- Personal experience and practice as well.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Witchcraft Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult but feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In Loser, Where Doing Witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey.
00:00:11
Speaker
Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we've learned
Healing Garden Project
00:00:15
Speaker
about the craft. So get in witches, roll up your sleeves, and plan to get messy as we discuss how to create a healing garden.
00:00:46
Speaker
I feel like it's been 94 years. I don't know why. It feels like it's been so long since we recorded. it really This last week has literally been
Weather and Outdoor Stories
00:00:56
Speaker
the death of me. like The weather's getting nicer, so that's all that's a plus. Oh my god, I'm here for it.
00:01:03
Speaker
yeah I was supposed to do a bunch of stuff for Sincerely Herbs, and the weather was just too beautiful. i was like, joke's on all you guys, I'll do it tomorrow. yeah like I had a couple of messages like when are you dropping the new products and I was like about that they're on the website you just don't know what they look like yeah we took the dogs for a walk and it was beautiful it was like 65 degrees
00:01:37
Speaker
I'm like, i haven't seen 65 and sun since last summer. yeah Because it gets cold here pretty quickly. And then it's just gray. Gray and dreary for months and months and months.
00:01:51
Speaker
ah Some of my favorite weather, but it is so nice to finally see spring kind of peak out. And like yeah here it's been um like the last couple of days. I think next week it's going to be raining the whole week.
00:02:04
Speaker
But the last two days have been really nice because it's just nice and sunny and like open the windows and patio doors. And it's just nice to have.
00:02:17
Speaker
And last weekend, I remember like, cause it was nice last weekend too. So I just like grabbed my book and I was like, I don't care. I know I have a million and one things I have to be doing right now. And yeah like I am taking time for myself and sitting on my porch and reading. Yep.
00:02:30
Speaker
Because the last weekend, it was super nice here too. And we had Marilyn Sophia over. we had a little brunch. We had all the windows open. it was just beautiful.
00:02:42
Speaker
Yeah. And now I'm just waiting for rainy season cause we're coming into that oh yeah yep we'll be getting that soon and then it's gonna rain for months on end until like july and then it's gonna be hotter than satan's asshole yeah i like here i love that it doesn't like it gets hot right don't get me wrong it gets fucking hot But it doesn't get hot for long.
00:03:09
Speaker
Like I remember last last like spring and summer, we had a few days. One of them happened on a festival day and it was so annoying because we were wearing furs.
00:03:22
Speaker
We had our whole like Viking get up on and it poured, like literally poured on us and there was no cover. And we were walking from like, we were like halfway to the festival grounds. We had to park like far away.
00:03:36
Speaker
and we're halfway there. It just like opens up, starts torrential downpouring on us. And we're in like outfits with furs. We're soaked. The furs were so smelly and so heavy.
00:03:47
Speaker
and then like after that, because the sun came out and it was summer, it just got like 900 degrees and so fucking humid. It was miserable. Yeah. Miserable.
00:04:01
Speaker
and then we have like well April is like our rainy season, essentially. Like we'll get rain throughout the summer, but not like regularly. But like April, I feel like it just rains every other day.
00:04:14
Speaker
mists. It'll mist. It rains here a lot in the spring. Yeah. You guys have like a whole season of rain though. Oh yeah. It's, it is the rainy season. Like it will yeah just be pouring and yeah. And then as soon as it's done, it's literally humid as fuck.
00:04:33
Speaker
Humid and hot. That's our summers when it rains here. It's like, oh like immediately hot and just like sticky. who so I will say though, like, but European summers and just, and in England, like even whenever it was like the heat of the summer, it didn't, it wasn't that bad.
00:04:49
Speaker
Like the only time that I was just like, Oh my God, I feel like I'm being baked alive. and Get me inside was going to like Capri. Like yeah that band was fucking black. I'm just like, death there is no escape.
00:05:04
Speaker
It's just everywhere is burning Yeah. But it's it's like, you I don't know. It's like, oh, but it's finally summer. So you're trying to enjoy it. Here, it's like, oh my God.
00:05:16
Speaker
It's just summer all the time. At least you have air conditioner there, though. You have to. You would literally die if you don't. Like, it's like, like, if you look on a weather app for Okinawa, Japan, and in the summertime, because this is, like, when we found out we were going to Okinawa, it was, like, spring, summer in England, and so I'm, like, comparing weather, and I'm like, oh, everyone says it's hot. It's not that bad. Like,
00:05:40
Speaker
Yeah. no No, it is so hot. Like, cause the weather app will say like 85, 90 degrees. The humidity is like a hundred, literally it will be a hundred percent.
00:05:52
Speaker
So it feels like 120 degrees outside. Like it is. And there is no breeze. It's just, it's so humid. It's like, and there there's literally nothing that I can think to compare it. It's so fucking hot. my gosh. It's so hot in the summer. It's,
00:06:11
Speaker
Would die. walk outside, literally everything fogs up. Everything fogs up. That's the worst. That used to happen when it would get super humid and Illinois. Like, you would walk outside and immediately if you're wearing glasses, you're like, I can't see. Yeah.
00:06:25
Speaker
It gets so bad to where like if you were to carry out just – because this is not refrigerated. I'm drinking a warm Coke right now. Listeners, you can you can and can't see this, but Coke Zero just tastes good anyway. does. Any way you slice it to me, I will drink it.
00:06:41
Speaker
Same. Except for in a bottle because gross um But if I were to bring this outside in the summer, even just room temperature soda would be sweating.
00:06:52
Speaker
Like it's so fucking hot. Our windows look like it's raining outside all the time in the summer because of how humid it is and the ACs on inside.
00:07:03
Speaker
But we're not talking about weather and humidity and crumbling concrete. We're not. I'm sure this has been very, very amazing, like just wonderfully in conversation. Yeah, you guys have just been loving it You're probably like, get with the program. I'm going to need some healing herbs after this for sure.
00:07:25
Speaker
are we talking about today? talking about how to create a healing garden. i love this one. I knew. Yeah, I'm just like, whenever I do my notes, I'm just like, I already know. It doesn't matter what I write research or anything. It's not going matter because this is Tiffany's. This is Tiffany's. I was trying so hard not.
00:07:48
Speaker
have like 20 page notes I was like let's let's research a few things that I don't know and let's just put a couple of my favorites and I'll I'll give some resources right yeah because I could have gone on and on and on so yeah I mean, it is a very interesting topic. Like like it definitely makes me want to, well, you know, we've been thinking about this for a while, you know, just really wanting to grow our own food and do our own things and like having a healing garden. i just think it's so precious. so
00:08:23
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
Benefits of Healing Gardens
00:08:25
Speaker
so I love it. yeah Yeah, let's get into some of the basics. So there are many reasons why you would want to create a healing garden. And probably the biggest reason if you're listening to this podcast is that creating a healing garden allows you the opportunity to take control of your own health and give And it gives you back some of that power that ah we ah see, especially in America, being stripped away from us. So we know that in our world right now, consumerism is at an all-time high. You can't get on the internet and not be just witness to the amount of consumerism that is out there.
00:09:05
Speaker
And everything is tied to money and especially in medicine. and You see this so much. So creating a healing space just for you can be a a way to reclaim that power.
00:09:16
Speaker
Yeah, and research has shown that when you spend some time connecting with nature, positive changes will start to happen within your body. Some examples are things like lowered blood pressure, decreased heart rate, lower levels of stress, and improvements in your mood, which I will attest to when I'm in my garden working with my plants, I'm happy.
00:09:37
Speaker
Yeah. Unless there's little pests, then of course I'm angry. Yeah. Yeah. And creating something from seeds, dirt, and water and giving back to nature, all of these things connect with magic and and energy manipulation. like Literally what you're doing by putting seeds in the ground and growing them, that is magic.
00:09:59
Speaker
That is putting that energy into the earth. And that is 100% what we do whenever we're practicing magic. And you know as you mentioned, it being a healing space for yourself, just working in your garden The um having a garden itself is a place of tranquility and beauty and natural environments can play a big role in reducing stress and anxiety.
00:10:26
Speaker
And we've discussed this previously in our grounding episodes, but studies show a reduction in cortisol if you spend time in a garden. And this helps to reduce feelings of stress, which is healing as well.
00:10:37
Speaker
It can also aid in physical health, so keeping you mobile as you age, but also while you're weeding and watering, all of those steps that it takes to keep up a garden can require a lot of physical exertion, so why not keep your mind and your body busy at the same time.
00:10:55
Speaker
And then also it helps in emotional healing. Spending time in a garden allows you to create a sense of purpose, which in turn builds your own resilience. And also helps you to be more mindful and allows you time to reflect and to heal. And I'm sorry if you guys can hear the rooster, but he is really on one.
00:11:14
Speaker
He has a little soap box that he stands on. It's supposed to be a little chicken house. And he just goes to town. So if you hear that, he has a lot to say right now. Yeah, he does. He is so passionate about healing gardens.
00:11:29
Speaker
So healing gardens have been used across many different cultures and as far back as herbalists have existed. Japanese Zen gardens are an example of this. And these are intended for relaxation, for meditation and contemplation.
00:11:44
Speaker
There's also, so ah i this was new to me. Well, I didn't know that this is what they were called. Like I knew what they were, but I didn't know that they were called monastic cloister gardens.
00:11:57
Speaker
And these were garden spaces that were enclosed by covered walkways within monasteries and convents. And they were used for both food and medicinal purposes. um And then many hospitals have healing gardens for patients, for their families, and even for the staff. And oddly enough, the Ronald McDonald House in Wisconsin is one of these health care facilities. They have this huge healing garden that they will take patients out in or have their families spend time in when they're there, like visiting. So I thought that was really cute.
00:12:28
Speaker
And then Monet was actually known to use his garden to aid in recovery from his debilitating depression. And then he would go on to paint these pieces that you know everyone loves.
00:12:41
Speaker
So according to Pamela Hubbard who is a master gardener at Penn State, she states that there's two types of healing gardens. The first is the restorative garden and this type of healing garden is the one that benefits you by just simply sitting or walking through it.
00:12:58
Speaker
This type is more for healing through spending time in nature so this would be kind of like those like hospital gardens. And then the second one that she notes is the enabling garden. And the enabling garden aids in healing through the physical work that you do with the garden.
00:13:12
Speaker
Obviously, as an herbalist, I'm here to say that while this information is great, and I absolutely love that an institution like Penn State is pushing the benefits of a healing garden, there's obviously also a third type of healing garden. And that's the kind where you grow herbs that have been proven to heal and aid the body through their medicinal properties, which I feel like when I was doing my research on this,
00:13:33
Speaker
I kept coming across like sources that were just talking about how like being in the garden can heal you or like, you know, like working in the garden makes you healthier. And everyone was leaving out the fact that like,
00:13:46
Speaker
herbs actually heal you. Right. I was like, listen, the room here, guys, like, can we also add that? Like, this is also important to the conversation.
00:13:57
Speaker
Well, because I was like, source after source, I was like, okay, this is really great information, but also can we talk about the actual healing properties of herbs? Right. Yeah. And how, like, growing them can, like, be your own apothecary or your own, like, medical cupboard, like, essentially, you know?
00:14:17
Speaker
Yeah, I agree.
00:14:21
Speaker
yeah i was finding these too and that just goes to prove like ties right back into what i was saying at the very beginning of the episode of how like oh Because of the influence of big pharma in just our everyday lives and every waking moment and how much money they get from universities, from different agencies, from everywhere in our environments right now, of course, they don't want to talk about that.
00:14:47
Speaker
I actually you know' and had this conversation with a friend yesterday or the day before. She had posted on her Instagram stories being like, do you drink? Because she's she's pregnant right now.
00:15:00
Speaker
And she had heard how raspberry leaf tea can aid in like labor. Yeah. yeah She'd asked her doctor about it and her doctor kind
Skepticism and Adaptation of Healing Gardens
00:15:09
Speaker
of gave her that look like don't believe everything you see on the internet.
00:15:13
Speaker
And so she had posted it to her stories being like, has anyone tried this? Did it actually work? And then said how her doctor kind of just like scoffed at it. And I was like, well, I've never studied red raspberry leaves for pregnancy, but it does help during your menstrual cycle.
00:15:30
Speaker
It nourishes your uterine like walls. So like if you drink it prior, during and after your menstrual cycle, like the weeks before and after during. It can help like red reduce period cramps and like nourish your uterine wall and do all of these things. So it would go to stand that if it's aiding in period cramps during menstrual cycles, it would probably aid in cramping during labor. There's just no studies on it.
00:15:57
Speaker
Big Pharma doesn't. those Those projects don't get funded because why would they? That cuts into their budget. Yeah, exactly. And even just for like period cramping and stuff, like can you imagine like, okay, if I were to drink red raspberry leaf tea, then maybe i wouldn't have to buy Midol or aspirin or heating pads, stuff like that. Like not heating pads, like the reusable kind, but the ones that like it's just like plastic and you just throw it away when you're done. Like yeah they don't want us to know these things. I mean, let's not even get started on that because let's talk about how Tylenol comes from
00:16:34
Speaker
white willow bark. You could literally make a white willow bark tincture instead of buying Tylenol, which is just a synthetic makeup of it. Like this will put me on a soapbox that I could talk about for hours.
00:16:47
Speaker
yeah maybe this will be like a part one. um yeah Let's get back to it because we're not even like halfway through our night. now But it's okay. It's okay. I love this. I love going off topic about this stuff with you So Also, just a caveat here, when we're talking about healing gardens, you don't we don't necessarily mean, and we say this all the time, like work with what you have, right? doesn't have to be a full garden in your backyard.
00:17:12
Speaker
It can be something on a balcony ledge or even in a kitchen window. So use the space that you have. Obviously, it would be wonderful if we all had like these amazing rooms wonderful outdoor gardens in our backyard, but that's not always feasible for everyone. So just, you know what, take everything we say and apply it how it works best in your life.
00:17:33
Speaker
So when we're talking about starting a healing garden, one of the first things that you're going to want to do is to decide what kind of healing garden you want. What space are you working with?
00:17:45
Speaker
Given the location you live, what is a good time to start a garden? Doing that bit of research at the front is vital. And if you're interested in doing research on when is the best time to plant a garden,
00:17:55
Speaker
check out the Farmer's Almanac on the website. And so this is also like linked in our show notes and everything. But on the website, there's a feature where at least in the United States, you can search by zip code to see when is the perfect time to plant certain items.
00:18:10
Speaker
If you live overseas, you may have to do a bit more digging to understand when is the best time. But I recommend- You can just Google. Yeah. So yeah, just Google. had to do. I was like, Schwedelbach, the zip code, and like last frost date. And it was like April. like, cool. There you go. Yeah. So really anywhere you live.
00:18:28
Speaker
But you know, what I recommend as someone who is incredibly green at this, like I am such a noob is to pay attention to what is being circulated as well in your local garden shops, because they're not going to be putting things out that are clearly not going to grow in the season that it currently is in right now. So just pay attention to that, do your own research and that's how you get started.
00:18:52
Speaker
Something i think is important to do before you start any garden is to create a list of what you want to achieve with your garden. So for example, if your goal is eating healthy and wanting to cut down your grocery bill,
00:19:04
Speaker
then obviously your garden should reflect that by being full of fruits and vegetables, along with culinary herbs, which surprise, surprise, many of those will also appear in medicinal and tea gardens.
00:19:15
Speaker
If your goal is to be able to grow, dehydrate, and then use your yields to create your own tea or spice blends, then your garden should be made up of those types of herbs, plants like chamomile, peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm, tulsi, rose, etc.,
00:19:30
Speaker
But if you're someone interested in a garden that you can turn to when it comes to an illness, to skin issues or bruises or bug bites or scrapes, digestive symptoms, blood pressure, insomnia, like literally any ailment, you'll really need to pinpoint the particular things that you want to be able to address.
00:19:49
Speaker
do some thorough research and then decide what to include your garden that way. What you include is really going to depend on your available space, your climate or growing conditions that you're able to create.
00:20:01
Speaker
And then of course your capabilities. Some healing plants have very specific needs. So just remember to really do your research on that piece. There's like, I mean, if you've never grown any plant or like even had houseplants, you might not know that some plants want like super sandy soil. Some plants want really like wet soil that holds a lot of moisture. So you have to like really look into that when you're starting a garden because not all plants can be planted in the same type of soil, meaning you might need multiple different spaces. for those of you that are listening to this and you're wanting to create your own healing garden, but maybe you're limited on space, my suggestion is to really pinpoint what you want to be able to heal and then look for herbs that can be used in different areas.
00:20:46
Speaker
So for example, calendula can be used for skin ailments by using it to create washes and salves and it's antifungal, but it's also great for the digestive system and has been used to improve the mood as well.
00:20:59
Speaker
Catnip is a great herb to aid with sleep as well as to help alleviate the symptoms of headaches and migraines. And it's also a bonus plant to grow if you have kitties in the house. An herb like yarrow can be used for so many different things. If you've listened I don't even remember what episode it was that we covered yarrow on, but I talked about all the different things like this herb is ah all areas of the body, all types of things.
00:21:28
Speaker
So that's a great herb to put into your garden. because it is so multifaceted. So if you have like little space, that's an herb that could cover different areas.
00:21:38
Speaker
I also highly recommend researching each plant that you want to include to see how much shade versus sunlight it prefers, what soil type it grows best in, how to water it. I know it sounds silly, but some plants are very particular.
00:21:52
Speaker
Like for example, if you grow tomatoes, tomatoes don't like their leaves to be wet. Like, so it's, there's just like little things like this when you garden that if you're, if you're just starting and you've never grown a plant, you might not think of that.
00:22:05
Speaker
And then like, as you're growing it, you're like, why isn't this working? And if you Google it, it's like, please don't wet the leaves. So we're going to see how they like Germany. Cause I'm about to grow a bunch of tomatoes outside this year and it rains quite a bit. So we'll see how this goes. But You'll also want to look to see if it's an annual or a biannual. If it has certain plants like not to plant it with, some plants can affect each other's growth.
00:22:28
Speaker
And then going back to tomato, tomatoes and potatoes don't like each other. i don't know if it's because they rhyme or what, but growing them next to each other does not do well for them. And there's one like, hey, do they both just like hate each other and like not want to grow? Or is like one like take over? oh No. Okay.
00:22:47
Speaker
No. good They just are like, oh, you planted me next to him? Well, now I'm not doing anything. Yeah. We're both going to die. We have a suicide pact. Yeah. And then just also as a little tip, and I've said this on the podcast before, I've um because this is one of my favorite plants to have in the garden. Chamomile can be planted with any plant and it's been referred to as the plant's physician as it improves the health of everything around it because it is so precious. so plant some chamomile in your garden. Yeah, my chamomile died.
00:23:21
Speaker
I wonder if I think it was kind of sickly when we got it. um But yes, I'm on the hunt for another one. It was starting to grow tall. I can't remember it because you I remember we talked about chamomile on the podcast on episode months ago. And we talked about the different types of chamomile. And mine was the one that like grows up like kind of tall.
00:23:39
Speaker
Yeah. and And it was starting to grow tall and I was so excited. then it started like like dying. And so I'm just like, no. And we tried to save it and it just, it never came back. And so I'm just like, well, fuck it. We're just going to have to try again because I want caramel.
00:23:54
Speaker
So try again. But anyway, so moving on to some of the most common, I guess, categories for some of these healing plants.
Herbs for Relaxation and Health
00:24:04
Speaker
For relaxation and stress relief, you want to look at lavender, chamomile, and lemon balm.
00:24:12
Speaker
For things like insomnia or just like general sleep problems, look at chamomile, hops, skullcap, valerian, milky oat tops, St. John's wort, and catnip.
00:24:25
Speaker
And for digestive and healing, I saw peppermint, ginger, and dandelion as the most common ones. i We are taught through Herbal Academy fennel, basil, ginger, turmeric, and licorice root.
00:24:40
Speaker
I hate licorice. Does licorice root taste like licorice? No, it's very it is very earthy. Okay, then I would probably like that. Like super earthy. I usually dilute it with peppermint um because the flavor is just earthy. Yeah.
00:24:58
Speaker
Nice. Yeah. For skin issues, the most common used herbs are calendula, yarrow, plantain, wild violets, and comfrey. Oh, wild violets.
00:25:10
Speaker
I love wild violets. um For spiritual and energetic cleansing, obviously we all know these if we're all witches, right? Rosemary, sage, mugwort.
00:25:22
Speaker
Funny story about mugwort. One time had ordered from somewhere and they put mugwort smoke bundle in my box as a gift.
00:25:34
Speaker
And I was like, oh, cute. And I used it to like cleanse the bathroom before i took a bath. And Anthony came in he was like, are you smoking weed in here?
00:25:44
Speaker
Yes. As I'm holding my little mugwort, I was like, yeah. No, I'm not that cool. Yeah. ah Yeah. So apparently mugwort kind of smells like weed when you burn it.
00:25:59
Speaker
so Good to know. Yeah. For your immune system, um elderberry and elderflower are amazing to have if you have the space for them because they are kind of a big bushy tree.
00:26:12
Speaker
Echinacea, garlic, and ginger. Yeah. And then if you're wanting to really, I guess, promote more of a healing landscape, and maybe this would go into the type of garden where it's like a healing walkthrough, reduce your stress type garden, and you're wanting to promote wildlife and help the pollinators out, then look echinacea, calendula, and bee balm as plants for that type of garden.
00:26:42
Speaker
And then if you want plants that are high in antioxidants, so these give you like an overall protection for our cells, our organs, and our tissue, um you'll want plants like rosemary, clove, thyme, sage, oregano, and saffron.
00:26:56
Speaker
And you've probably figured this out already, but as we were talking About all of these sections, there is a lot of crossover for some of these plants. So for those of you that have very limited space, look at the plants that can be used across different categories here because then you can get the most out of your garden if you don't have the space to plant everything.
00:27:22
Speaker
ah Moving on to our picks for a healing garden. For mine, i use calendula in my garden every year. These flowers have been used primarily for the skin and as an antifungal.
00:27:36
Speaker
Historically, though, the use of calendula in herbalism has stretched to stomach ailments, jaundice, And as washes for the skin to help with vaginal itching, which I didn't know that one. i was like, interesting. have not had an itchy vag, but I guess if I ever did.
00:27:51
Speaker
ah somebody came to me and they like, hi, I know you work with plants. and My vagages. I'd be like, here's some calendula.
00:28:01
Speaker
And then my preferred uses for calendula are to infuse an oil with these cute little flowers and use it in salves and lotions or to use it in teas. Calendula can also be eaten raw or baked into breads and cookies, which I've done cookies with it before and they were delicious.
00:28:17
Speaker
Again, back to yarrow. I haven't grown yarrow yet. I did buy seeds that just came in yesterday. So I'm excited to get them planted today so that they're like prepped and ready for the garden.
00:28:30
Speaker
But it's going to be a staple in my garden now because It's an all purpose herb. Yarrow can be used to heal wounds, to alleviate menstrual pain, for digestion, inflammation, and so much more. And like I said earlier, we did a deep dive on yarrow. Oh, and I put the episode in this one. That's where I was like, I have no fucking clue when I talked about it, but it's episode 140.
00:28:53
Speaker
So make sure that you go back and listen if you haven't already. This is going to be my first year growing yarrow. And honestly, like I'm super excited for it. I use dried yarrow right now to infuse oils, create salves, tinctures, and I use it in tea. 10 out of 10 recommend looking into it for those of you with limited space.
00:29:12
Speaker
like because it can be used for so many things. The next one that i always include in my garden is thyme. This is one of my favorite herbs to grow. It's super resilient. And like, this is how resilient this little plant was.
00:29:25
Speaker
I had this cute little thyme bush in a pot and we had a tornado like 10 minutes from our house last year or the year before.
00:29:36
Speaker
Not last year because I was here. So like two years before that, we had these ridiculous ass winds. It fucked up our entire backyard. it ripped like the gutters off of our house, like all this crazy shit.
00:29:47
Speaker
And I go outside and I was super sad because my like all of my planters were like thrown across the yard. And I look out and sitting in the center of the yard outside of its pot, only half its soil is this little thyme plant. And I was like, um because I love him so much.
00:30:04
Speaker
Then I was like, I'm just going to put him back in and we'll see what happens. So we got some like fresh soil, replanted this bitch and it still lived. It lived. It got ripped from its soil, thrown across the yard like feet Like several feet was just sitting there all happy.
00:30:20
Speaker
So super resilient. 10 out of 10. If you have a hard time growing things, you can grow time. Plus they smell amazing. They come back every single year. This herb has been important in folk medicine since its discovery, and it's been used across many cultures from Greece, Iran, North America, and everywhere in between.
00:30:40
Speaker
It was used on birthing beds in Europe, drank as a tea during menses, during the birth itself, and the passing of the afterbirth. It has ties to the Fae and it's said that they especially love thyme.
00:30:54
Speaker
It's been used as a funerary herb, as a divinatory herb, and as most people know and use it as a culinary herb. Medicinally, it's great for coughs or other respiratory ailments to help calm the nerves, to help with inflammation.
00:31:09
Speaker
And so much more. I love adding thyme to my tea um as well as lemon thyme because not only does lemon thyme smell amazing, but it does give a little citrus flavor, which I love.
00:31:20
Speaker
but I always keep one of each in my garden. So a regular thyme and a lemon thyme because both smell amazing, both taste amazing, and they have so many like medicinal properties to them.
00:31:32
Speaker
And then the last I'm going to talk about is garlic. This delicious little miracle bulb is so good for you and your immune system. It's part of my go-to cold and flu bombs whenever we get sick.
00:31:44
Speaker
It's super easy to grow. What I like to do when I buy a bulb of garlic in the grocery store, I'll take the enter cloves, the ones that are like really, really tiny and small. Peel off the papery skin and place them root side down in a shallow dish of water.
00:31:59
Speaker
What you need to do here though is like you're going to have to change your water out every single day to prevent bacteria from creating mold. Within a couple of days the tops will sprout out like a green little shoot and the roots will start to grow.
00:32:12
Speaker
And once the shoots are at least five inches long then you can plant your clove leaving the shoots exposed above ground. Let it be for several months so it can form into a bulb, but in the meantime, you can trim the shoots and use them in the kitchen.
00:32:25
Speaker
It also has a garlic flavor, so you can like add it to butter or pastas just for a little extra flavor. Garlic is also a great companion plant, which is what I use it for, like why I started to grow it at home for tomatoes because its scent deters horned worms.
00:32:43
Speaker
So for anyone that is starting a garden, what you should do if you plan to grow tomatoes to prevent pests, plant them with marigolds, garlic, calendula, and basil all around them.
00:32:58
Speaker
So in every, like if you put them in a pot, get a pot big enough that you can, and it doesn't have to be huge because none of these plants take up a lot of space, but a pot big enough that you can plant like one of each around it.
00:33:09
Speaker
And that's going to prevent horned worms. And it's also going to attract predator pollinators like wasps, ladybugs, those types of things that'll help keep the pest from eating your tomatoes.
00:33:20
Speaker
And then you'll have bruschetta like all year round. Straight up. You know, it's amazing. We're doing many different types of tomatoes this season and I'm so excited for it.
00:33:33
Speaker
Yeah, I am excited for you. I cannot wait to see how they turn out. But one thing I will say about garlic...
Personal Herbal Remedies
00:33:39
Speaker
Um, when I, okay. So with both of my kids, I noticed this going be a little TMI story, but it's not that TMI. So you don't get with it with both of my kids. Once I had them and my milk came in with both of them, I got mastitis with Emily. I didn't know what to do.
00:33:53
Speaker
I thought I was dying. I had like 104 degree fever and it was terrible. And I was in so much pain and I had to go to the doctor. i had to get a shot in my ass cheek, not in my asshole, but in my ass cheek.
00:34:06
Speaker
And that helped, but it was like, it was so painful. And I knew like, so with the second one, i was like, I could feel it coming on. And i was like, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. I do not want to go to the emergency room or urgent care for this.
00:34:19
Speaker
So I knew that garlic was like antibacterial and mastitis is an infection in your milk duck. And so I chopped up garlic cloves into, I think I chopped up like maybe five of them. I don't know because I was like, I am for sure not going to the fucking ER r today. And so I chopped them up into pill size form and I swallowed those bitches with a bunch of water. And let me tell you, went away, completely gone.
00:34:47
Speaker
If you want to make it more um enjoyable, chop your garlic cloves up into – like dice them up into small little pieces, put them in a jar, and cover it with honey.
00:34:58
Speaker
And then you can eat that on toast. And then you get the benefits of the honey too. yeah Yeah. See, I didn't know that at the time. Yeah. But you know what? It sure worked. Yeah.
00:35:09
Speaker
Garlic is amazing. we Our cold and flu bombs are – We essentially make a tea out of garlic, ginger, cayenne pepper, honey, and lemon. And all of those ingredients together help like boost your immune system, like get everything moving to get it out of your body.
00:35:28
Speaker
You sweat when you sleep. like We drink it before bed. And then like you wake up and you're all sweaty and gross. Like you have night sweats. But like it sweats it all out. You wake up. You already feel better.
00:35:39
Speaker
It's so good for your immune system. It's so good for like any yet like if you have any infection. And just really like your circulation. The combination is like anti-inflammatory. I love it.
00:35:50
Speaker
Garlic is like 10 out of 10. It's super easy to grow. Anyone can grow garlic. It's like very cost effective, especially if you're already buying like bulbs of garlic from the store. Like I said, just use those little tiny ones that are a pain in the ass to peel and cut up anyways.
00:36:05
Speaker
Yeah. So. Yeah. ah Huge believer in garlic because yep it works. my top picks for Healing Garden... ah My first one would be dandelion.
00:36:18
Speaker
love dandelion. Yes. Probably the easiest thing that you can grow. They're resilient. They thrive in full sun to partial shade and can pretty much grow anywhere.
00:36:31
Speaker
It's also the flower of like the month of the military child because they say like military children are super resilient. They can grow anywhere. like and That's how dandelions are. They will grow out of fucking concrete and shit. like They would grow anywhere. Literally a crack in a cement they'll be like, I live here.
00:36:48
Speaker
yeah this is And I thrive. Welcome to my house. oh If you're wanting to plant them though, it's best to plant them in a raised bed or a container if you're worried about them spreading because they will take over your entire yard.
00:37:05
Speaker
they are great love it. yeah Take over the whole yard. The whole yard. Yeah. They're great companions to other plants like lavender, chamomile, and calendula. They're good for pollinators.
00:37:18
Speaker
Tiffany has mentioned this on the podcast before, but every part of the dandelion is edible from the flower and leaves to the roots. The leaves can be used in teas and salads or soups to support both the liver and digestion.
00:37:31
Speaker
The leaves are also high in vitamins A, C, and k and the miner and minerals like potassium and calcium. The roots can be roasted and brewed as a tea to support your liver. And the flowers can be infused into an oil to make salves and lotions for dry skin and for sore muscles.
00:37:50
Speaker
The next one is lavender. And we've talked about this amazing herb many times on the podcast. Lavender is by far my favorite herb and I use it on a daily basis. I even have it tattooed on me.
00:38:02
Speaker
That's how much I love it. ah Lavender is so versatile. It has so many calming and therapeutic properties to it as well. So for lavender, it thrives in full sun. So about six to eight hours per day, and they're ideally planted in raised beds or borders.
00:38:20
Speaker
or containers where you can control the soil drainage because lavender does prefer a well-drained and sandy or rocky soil. It can be used topically for burns and bites.
00:38:31
Speaker
It can be dried and placed into sachets to help you sleep. It can be used in teas and baking. And that's not even getting into the magical properties of lavender itself. It smells amazing. And even just the smell of it growing wild on a summer day with your windows open is like my idea of heaven. Like it is amazing.
00:38:50
Speaker
There are also different types of lavender and depending on the type of lavender you choose it could have differing health benefits. So for instance English lavender is best for medicinal uses teas and oils.
00:39:01
Speaker
French lavender is best for those little sachets that you put beside your bed and Spanish lavender I didn't see medicinal use for but it's really pretty with a butterfly shaped petal.
00:39:12
Speaker
um And I actually saw this growing recently in a planter and Avery was like, is that lavender? And was like, I don't know because the leaves were different. It's different. Yeah. and then I looked it up and I was like, oh my God, it is. So they're very beautiful. um Look at your child knowing.
00:39:29
Speaker
I know. She just knows. And ah lastly, peppermint. Peppermint is amazing for its digestive relief. And this is a great herb to keep on hand for any sort of stomach ailments and aches.
00:39:42
Speaker
It can relieve nausea and soothe bloating as well. And it can be applied topically if mixed into an oil for headaches and muscle pain. And it can also clear sinuses and freshen your breath. And then also, I remember reading this just from like research on like literal peppermint gum.
00:39:58
Speaker
But it can help, like, not just boost your mood, but give you a little bit of energy as well. Because I guess just the peppermint essence. It's like – It's energy is – I forget that the actual term, but it's, like, invigorating. Like, it – Yeah.
00:40:13
Speaker
It's just, like – It's wonderful. The boost of it. I don't know. Yeah. It's just like, oh my God, this is amazing. Yeah. Peppermint thrives in partial to full sun, at least four to six hours per day. And it prefers a well-drained soil with a lot of organic matter. Peppermint also grows aggressively and is best and is best in a container or designated area because like dandelion, it will spread. And it pairs very well with chamomile and basil or rosemary.
00:40:42
Speaker
I know I brought up catnip earlier too. Catnip, plants like catnip, lemon balm. There's one other and my it just like left my brain. But they are all part of the mint family. And the way you tell that is their stalks are square.
00:40:57
Speaker
So like and a regular plant's stalks or stems are rounded. But mint family plant stalks are square. And every single one of those bitches will take over any space you put them in.
00:41:09
Speaker
I, I put them each in their own little container, like if I use different variations of them. They each have their own pot because they will even try to take over each other.
00:41:20
Speaker
And sometimes even when you do that, you'll find peppermint growing in the cracks of your patio or sidewalk or in another random spot in your yard. It just figures out a way to get there wherever it wants to be and it grows.
00:41:34
Speaker
So definitely make sure that it's in its own space unless you just don't care if you have peppermint growing everywhere, which I don't know why you would. It smells amazing. Yeah, it's beautiful.
00:41:45
Speaker
And then just something that I thought would be nice to include would be some recommended reading.
Recommended Readings
00:41:52
Speaker
So these are all books that i own and that I've read and that I use.
00:41:59
Speaker
Most of them I use online. any plant episode that we do or just like in my own personal like herbalism shit at home. So the first one is Wild Witchcraft by Rebecca Beyer. I've referenced this book about a million and one times on the podcast.
00:42:15
Speaker
Not only does it have the prettiest cover that I've ever seen, but it is packed full of information on folk herbalism, garden magic, and using your garden and foraging for spells, rituals, and remedies.
00:42:27
Speaker
It's hands down my favorite witchy garden book. And it helps that it's just like actually super pretty. The next one is the Herbal Alchemist Handbook. That one is actually sitting next to me on my desk right now because I was using it yesterday.
00:42:40
Speaker
It's a complete guide to magical herbs and how to use them by Karen Harrison. I often use this book as a reference in our Magical Properties of Plants episodes.
00:42:52
Speaker
It's centered on herbs and their planetary signatures and creation, composition, and blending alchemical herbal formulas, and how to combine planetary and elemental influences of herbs in your workings.
00:43:06
Speaker
It also has almost 100-page herbal materia magica in the appendix. My only complaint is that it doesn't include the herbs, energies, and properties like a regular Materia Medica does.
00:43:18
Speaker
Those are just quick Google searches when researching, which you should be cross-referencing and not pulling from a single source anyways. So it is what it is. The next one, which is also sitting over here on my desk, the Earthwise Herbal ah Repertory.
00:43:34
Speaker
The Definitive Practitioner's Guide by Matthew Wood. What I like about this one is that you can literally look up the ailment and then get the herbs that work for that specific thing. The section of the book that does this is broken up into parts of the body and each part of the body is divided by parts of that part. So for example, if you go to the section that's mouth, gums, and teeth,
00:43:59
Speaker
It's further divided into areas like mouth and gums, lips, salivary glands, the palate, etc. And if there are notable ailments for that area, it will list to those as well along with the herbs that can be used for each.
00:44:15
Speaker
It's an amazing starting point when you have an exact ailment. If you are someone that works with baneful herbs in your practice, I highly suggest the Poison Path Herbal by Kobe Michael.
00:44:28
Speaker
It covers baneful herbs, obviously, medicinal nightshades, and ritual entheogens. personally don't work with baneful herbs medicinally, but I bought this just for educational purposes, and I found it to be highly informational and super interesting as well.
00:44:44
Speaker
I have referenced it on the podcast before um in some of our plant episodes, so If baneful herbs are something that you're interested in working with or you already work with them, 10 out of 10 recommend that book.
00:44:56
Speaker
It has a ton of information. and I will also always be an advocate for the farmers and the witches' almanacs. My grandparents used the farmers' almanac for um their gardening and seasonal information.
00:45:10
Speaker
There's a reason that it's been printing every year since 1818. It's full of information. and It's pretty dang accurate too. And their website has like... over the years just gotten better and better and more useful you can track moon cycles on it it like literally anything that you can get in the the farmer's almanac you can get it online i am somebody that likes a physical copy of things so i buy them every year they're they're not that expensive so but 10 out 10 recommend farmer's almanac and then the witch's almanac is great too because it ties in like the sabbats and stuff so but those are my top resources that i would recommend
00:45:50
Speaker
Yay done!
00:45:58
Speaker
That's a wrap on this episode of Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. We hope you had as much fun as we did. If you loved this episode, we'd be eternally grateful if you left us a five-star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:46:10
Speaker
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00:46:26
Speaker
promo codes for merch and so much more. Just check the show notes for the link or search Get In Loser We're Doing Witchcraft on Supercast. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Get In Witches or email us at we'redoingwitchcraft at jmail.com.
00:46:40
Speaker
Join us next week as we discuss ways to develop your psychic abilities. Until next time, stay magical, stay curious, and as always, blessed be witches.