Start Your Herbal Garden With These Medicinal Herbs and Creeper Plants
Planning to
start your own herbal garden? Then here are few herbal plants/creepers/shrubs
you need to consider.
For many
like me, space is also a big constraint. Terrace or balcony is the only solace to
keep all the plant pots and care for the tiny plants.
Choosing
what to plant can be a big challenge too.
Personally,
it is always better to opt for plants that has medicinal values, the ones that
help in our daily routine, and also need very little care and can dwell on
their own.
Keeping
Indian traditions and Ayurvedic values in mind, I have zeroed upon the below
wonder plants to start off with.
Tulsi
Indian home’s
front yard is adorned with Tulsi - the Holy Basil. For those who have moved to
the apartment style of living, Tulsi plant finds place in the balcony.
Tulsi is an
excellent air purifier. It is a perfect herbal medicine for several common
infections. There are many who never miss to add couple of basil leaves into
their morning tea. It boosts immunity and fights almost all seasonal diseases.
Crushed Tulsi leaves are best to treat skin irritations and infections.
Indians have
pure devotion towards Tulsi plant and is considered holy. The belief goes that Goddess
Lakshmi resides in this divine plant.
So, Tulsi is
the first thing for all to begin with.
Brahmi
Brahmi is an indigenous herb that has special property of boosting memory and brain power.
Including brahmi leaves and its extracts in our daily diet has been highly
recommended for ages and the effects have been proven. It is considered as an
excellent brain tonic in Ayurveda, the traditional medicine system in India.
Growing
brahmi at home does not take much energy. It is a creeper that spreads on its own
over damp marshy land. Once spread densely, you can carefully cut its leaves
along with a short length of its stem for your daily dosage of use. This herb
is used in fresh salads, juice, or in some of locally made recipes.
Amrutha Balli
Amrutha
Balli, the name itself translates as the elixir of life. Its common name in
India is giloy.
A short stem
cutting spreads across a vast area provided it gets proper support to climb. Every
part of this creeper plant has high medicinal values. This is a solution for
all body ailments.
Many have
reaped several benefits by introducing Amrutha Balli regularly in their diet.
To use, add crushed leaves and stem to boiling water and reduce quantity to half. Strain and consume the potion on empty stomach. You may also combine Amrutha balli leaves and other medicinal value ingredients to prepare a concoction (usually called as Kashaya or Kaada in local Indian languages).
Here is one such Kashaya recipe.
Watch video here.
Here is how
you can grow Amrutha Balli from a stem cutting.
Sambara Balli
Sambara
Balli is a plant that stays on and on even without much care. It will survive
even when it has not been watered for a straight fortnight. Though it will look
dry and pale, the plant thrives back with just sprinklings of water.
This is the
first herb a newborn gets introduced to. The leaves are believed to keep the
body warm and thus fights common cold, cough, fever.
Extracting juice
from it leaves is simple. Warm a couple of well sized leaves on a hand pan. When
the leaves softens and changes it color, squeeze and collect the juice. This is
then mixed with equal parts of honey and consumed as a remedy for cold and cough.
All the above mentioned herbs and creepers are grown with a stem cut from the well grown (mother) plant.
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