Many herbs grown in Kona have healing properties that can benefit from preservation processes. Making tinctures, salves and oils can help keep their properties active and useful for months. For those new to creating healing products from fresh garden herbs,
Many herbs grown in Kona have healing properties that can benefit from preservation processes. Making tinctures, salves and oils can help keep their properties active and useful for months. For those new to creating healing products from fresh garden herbs, oil infusing may be a good beginning technique.
The process itself is not difficult, but identifying your needs and the herbal combinations to fill them is best learned from experience. Books and online information abound, but the personal help offered in a class taught by an expert is invaluable.
For a truly healing product, it is important that you choose organic ingredients in their purest form. Freshly picked herbs infused into organic, virgin oils will produce the best results. Virgin oils are those that have not been overly processed or refined. Though infusions can be made from any edible oil, olive oil may be one of the best choices. It is monounsaturated and high in omega-9 fatty acids. It is also relatively stable at cool room temperatures. Local kukui or macadamia nut oils can be used but are more expensive and may not last as long. Other edible oils on the market may not be available organically or in as pure a form as olive oil.
Many local gardeners grow culinary herbs that also have healing properties. Some of the more popular species, including basil, comfrey, oregano and rosemary, are among those that can be used to make oil infusions. Each has very particular properties and can offer them to single or multiple herb formulas.
Oil infusions made from basil have a wonderful flavor, in addition to antiviral and antibacterial qualities. A member of the mint family, basil can improve appetite and soothe the stomach. The distinct odors of different basil varieties are often associated with mood enhancing. Using a basil infusion in an aroma lamp can also help you concentrate. Carefully inhale the scent of any herb that you are considering for an infusion to be sure that it is appealing and feels healing to you.
Your intuition should definitely be your guide in selecting herbs to use for healing as well as cooking. The different varieties of lavender, for instance, all have a similarly appealing fragrance and flavor and can be useful in your first aid kit as well as your kitchen. The aroma of the flowers and foliage of all varieties are known to relax the mind. Oils infused with lavender can promote restful sleep and help cleanse the skin. When combined with rosemary, lavender can also be used to relieve arthritis pain.
Rosemary, on its own or in combination with other herbs, can be a powerful healer as well as a culinary enhancement. In addition to its distinctive flavor, it also has wonderful antiseptic and antibacterial qualities. Whether in food or as an oil infusion, it can help detoxify the body. In oil infusions, rosemary helps stabilize the product and extend its usable life. A dab of rosemary-infused oil can improve concentration and memory. Cosmetically, small doses of rosemary-infused oils are often used to promote healthy hair and scalp. The many uses for rosemary almost necessitate its inclusion in a garden.
We may think of oregano, like basil, as a distinct flavor in Italian recipes. You might be surprised, however, to learn that it is ranked first among culinary herbs for its powerful antioxidant abilities. It is extremely potent and only small amounts are needed to flavor a dish or offer healing properties to an infusion. A little oregano goes a long way as a healer or a flavor enhancer.
Comfrey is one of the best-known and most often grown healing herbs. Cultivated for its attractive low growth habit, it is known to contain allantoin, a compound that has been shown to speed cell production. It is invaluable when applied to heal bruises, sprains and bone fractures. Infused in oil, it can treat most skin irritations and abrasions.
Sages, mints, mullein and lemongrass are some of the additional herbs that grow here and have healing as well as culinary uses. Gathering good information as well as exploring your personal taste will guide you in choosing herbs to grow and ways to use them. Try to avail yourself of every opportunity to learn more about growing your own fresh herbs for tastier meals and healthier lives.
Tropical
gardening helpline
Florence asks: Why can’t I find forsythia, lilac or peony plants locally?
Answer: Every spring, malihini newcomers come into local nurseries looking for plants that might be blooming in the gardens of their former homes. Forsythia, lilac and peony plants are among the best known and most loved heralds of spring in temperate climates. They will simply not do well here, however.
Though many wonderful fruiting and flowering plants do grow well here, climatic conditions in Hawaii do limit our plant palette. It might be more correct, however, to note the limitations on plant material in other places. A veritable plethora of plant material thrives in our tropical climate. Many species that grow here cannot be grown in other places.
A limited number of plants need a period of vernalization in order to thrive and produce flowers and fruit. These plants are native to areas where winters are cold and most trees drop their leaves to avoid freezing. They have adapted to their native environment and simply are unable to readapt to a different climate without a long period of selective propagation.
Though some temperate plants are tolerant of tropical conditions, and others have gone through the process of adapting over generations to tropical weather, a few are still not suitable to tropical climes … forsythia, lilac and peonies, for example.
Try growing roses or gardenias, heleconia or ilima as alternatives. They are equally lovely and rewarding to grow.
Email plant questions to konamg@ctahr.hawaii.edu for answers by certified master gardeners. Some questions will be chosen for inclusion in this column.
Diana Duff is a plant adviser, educator and consultant with an organic farm in Captain Cook.
