A Living Herbal Apothecary

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Whether you’re an experienced farmer or completely new to the world of gardening, medicinal herbs offer a unique growing experience. In this article, you’ll learn the steps you need to take to create a living herbal apothecary outside your door. If you have the land to cultivate and would like to grow your own herbs, start right here.

Herbs From the Ground Up:

Gardening begins with the soil; it’s the “ground of our being,” to borrow a phrase. If you take care of the soil, the soil, in turn, will nourish and feed the plants you grow for healing and health.

Soil Types:

An important first step in growing outdoors is to find what kind of soil you have. Take a handful of soil from a couple different places in your yard or on your land, make sure each one is somewhat moist, squeeze it gently in your fist, and…

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Our Beloved Oregon Grape

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Berberis aquifolium

Also, Known As:

Oregon Grape
Mountain Grape

Not many people are aware of the interesting fact that the state flower of Oregon blooms on this beautiful shrub. Known for its attractiveness and its rapid growth, the Oregon grape is used medicinally, as well as for ornamental landscaping in several homes across the country. The leaves of the Oregon grape resemble those of holly; they are dark green, spiny and shiny, in almost the same way as the holly leaves are dark green and shiny. The flowers of this shrub are small and yellowish green in color, and the berries of the Oregon grape are a shade of dark purple-blue, especially when they ripen. They grow in small clusters, and in this, they resemble clusters or bunches of grapes. The Oregon grape shrub can grow to almost 6 feet in height, but in general, it grows about 3 –…

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Chickweed {Stellaria media}

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Also, Known As:

Adder’s Mouth
Chickweed
Indian Chickweed
Satinflower
Scarweed
Starweed
Starwort
Stitchwort
Tongue Grass
White Bird’s-eye
Winterweed

The plant known as the chickweed is a very fragile appearing herb; as a plant, it is actually a very lusty annual plant characterized by the presence of matted to straight green stems growing in profusion over vast areas of land. The chickweed is an extraordinarily hardy herb, and the normal growing starts during the fall season, it is very capable of enduring harsh sleet and severe snowstorms during the winter months, and has been found to be growing even in the far northern areas of the continent, the plant is so hardy that it has been known to be resistant to the majority of weed killers used in agriculture. The production of seeds is usually over by the spring, even though the plant itself is known to begin blooming even when…

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Spring Herb: Cicely {Myrrhis odorata}

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Also, Known As:

Anise Fern
British Myrrh
Cicely
Cow Chervil
Garden Myrrh
Shepherd’s Needle
Smooth Cicely
Sweet Bracken
Sweet Chervil
Sweet Cicely
Sweet Myrrh

The plant called the sweet cicely is a hardy and robust herb. The cicely is an aromatic perennial herb indigenous to the mountainous areas of Europe and Asian Russia – growing originally only in these regions. The cicely when fully mature can reach 0.6 to 0.9 m or 2 to 3 feet in height. Sweet cicely is one of the first herbs that come up when spring arrives; the sweet cicely is a pretty plant and makes a beautiful backdrop to a perennial border in mountainous regions where it grows.

Sweet-Cicely In older times, people would usually grow this old cottage garden perennial at a site near the door to the kitchen. The site would be chosen so that the pretty divided fern-like leaves could be easily accessed…

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Elder (Sambucus Canadensis): Sacred Medicine, Magic, Mythology, and Uses of the Elder Tree

The Druid's Garden

Dana gathers elder as the sun rises on the summer solstice!

I remember when I first found the massive elderberry patch. It was a few summer solstices ago. There is an overlook deep in the state forest lands, where the roads are more goat path than vehicle worthy, and it takes about 45 minutes to go only a few miles. The overlook is facing east and you can see across multiple counties, for countless miles. Visiting the overlook earlier in the summer, I had said to my mother how much I’d love to witness the summer solstice sunrise from that spot. And so, at 4:30 am on the morning of the solstice we got up and were dismayed to find that it was overcast and drizzling. With hope in our hearts that it would clear, we made our way up the winding path, avoiding potholes and huge rocks, and eventually…

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Our ‘Go To’ Herb: Parsley

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Petroselinum crispum

Also, Known As:

Common Parsley
Curly Parsley
Flat-leaved Parsley
Parsley

Parsley (botanical name Petroselinum crispum) belongs to the family Apiaceae and is among the most well-known herbs that are extensively used for garnishing of over 2,000 years, but it is hardly ever consumed. In addition, the leaves, fruits and the root of this herb have also been employed in traditional medicine for several centuries. Botanists have described the leaves of this herb as pinnate decompound, which denotes that they are divided and have an appearance slightly akin to feathers. As it is able to easily identify parsley by any individual who has eaten this herb anytime in any restaurant, however, there are a number of essentials regarding parsley. For instance, parsley is a biennial herb that is cultivated extensively. This herb produces small yellow flowers in clusters. The fruits of this herb, which are generally known as seeds…

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Cleavers – A Common Little Known Herb

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Galium aparine

Also, Known As:

Catchweed
Cleavers
Goose Grass

Cleavers, botanical name Galium aparine, is a herb-like annual plant that is found growing in damp or verdant locales as well as besides the banks or rivers and along the fences in eastern United States, Canada as well as the Pacific coast. Belonging to the plant family Rubiaceae, cleavers has a thin taproot that gives rise to a frail, rectangular, prostrate or climbing thorny stem that grows up to a length of anything between two feet to six feet. This herbaceous annual plant produces coarse leaves whose shape varies from oblong to the head of a lance to nearly straight or linear. The leaves of cleavers appear in whorls of about six to eight encircling the stem. Cleavers bears diminutive flowers having white or greenish-white hues during the period between May and September. Cleavers gives off a potent smell similar to…

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Plant Profile: Pennyroyal

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Mentha pulegium

Also, Known As:

Pennyroyal

Pennyroyal (botanical name Mentha pulegium) belongs to the mint species and is a member of the Lamiaceae family. Although this herb is native to Europe and the western regions of Asia, pennyroyal has now been naturalized in North and South America. Several species and a wide variety of pennyroyal, such as apple mint, pineapple mint, orange mint, are found across the globe. This variety of plant flourishes well in proper sunlit areas and partial shade. This variety of plant requires moist, deep and sandy soils for robust development. In addition, pennyroyal plants also need fertile soil and regular watering. Unless the roots of this variety of plants are not restricted by underground fencing, they breed rapidly.

Pennyroyal, which belongs to the Lamiaceae family, is an aromatic perennial plant that develops from bulbs or tubers. The stems of this plant are found in an assortment of…

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Springtime Herbs To Have On Hand

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Traditionally, the days around the Vernal Equinox (mid to late March) and the month(s) after it was seen as a time of intense, rushing energy: days get longer and the sunlight more intense, the first signs of green growth emerge, and wildlife stirs again. Herbalists still consider this a time when the more inward, ‘congealing’ energies of Winter begin to transition into the more outward, ‘expansive’ energies of Summer—and when a little attention paid to the process can improve vitality, strengthen digestion and immunity, and keep us in tune with the changing seasons.

There are specific herbal allies that have gained a deserved reputation for aiding in this transition, and each has its own peculiar “virtues” and affinities. All, however, rely somewhat on two basic strategies: either enhancing digestive and eliminative function or bolstering the power of the body’s immune and hormonal systems. Some do both! And generally, it was (and still is) considered a good idea to start with…

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Plant Profile: Alkanet {Anchusa officinalis}

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Also, Known As:

Alkanet
Bugloss
Common Alkanet

The plant known commonly as alkanet is a biennial herb familiar to all herbalists. The herb is characterized by coarse and hairy stems as well as leaves that arise out of a cluster of basal leaves. The plant is about 1- 3 feet tall when fully developed. The plant is also characterized by possessing lower leaves that are stalked; these can grow up to eight inches in length. Leaves in the upper part of the plant are narrow, they can be oblong or lance-like in shape, these upper leaves can reach about six inches in length with a width an inch. Alkanet bears very dainty and purplish blue flowers, these flowers bloom from late May up to October, the flowers are tubular in shape, they can be about one-fourth of an inch across and are replaced by a minute and nut-like fruits of…

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