As a few of you may have guessed with my sudden hiatus, I’ve been a little ill recently and had to slow down a little to recover. While I was sick, I was presented with a real choice, do I practise what I preach and stick with herbal medicine or go with the universally acclaimed conventional methods?
First of all, happy new year and merry Christmas to all of you! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and didn’t over indulge in delicious goodies :) Now that 2010 is here, we’re finally at that point of the year when we can start filling up our windowsills with this year’s crops.
It’s that time of year again, everyone is seeking cures for the common cold and other ailments which affect the body during the fall and winter. Many people don’t realize they have cures and supplements for these conditions growing right outside in their gardens!
Once of the first herbs I planted for the summer months was coriander, the leaves are delicious in curry dishes and the seeds have a sweet-smelling oil. Once I’d put it in the ground, I assumed everything would be fine and I’d harvest it every now and again before cooking. Little did I know, the plant had different plans as I now have a thick stalked flowery plant in place of the soft, waxy leaves I had before.
With some things you’ll grow, it’ll be easy enough to grow from cuttings or planting the bulb in the ground (onions, garlic, etc) but at other times that will be a bit more difficult. That’s when growing from seeds is the best option. It’s often far cheaper and much more portable than a pre-existing plant from a nursery. You won’t need anything special to grow from scratch, just a container, water and some form of compost.