Gardening can be very overwhelming, so I understand the need to have to the easiest herbs to grow, especially when your goal is self-sufficiency!
Most of us start out our gardening and/or homestead journey thinking we will grow as much as possible or ALL of our foods (and yes, it can be done if you like what grows in your area with your natural resources available)
A lot of us also want to grow our own medicinal herbs for that added self-sufficient ability to be able to treat ourselves for health support and our family (and livestock) naturally and less expensively. Supporting the whole body with herbs instead of just treating the symptom was a major significant change for my health.
However, once the livestock arrives and the veggie gardens start going, it seems the last thing you have time for is growing medicinal herbs. At least, that’s how it was for me.
I accidentally stumbled on a way to have the medicinal herb gardens and the other stuff too though!
The Start Of a neglected Medicinal Herb Garden
The first year on our new land, I planted quite a few some medicinal herbs! But once my big Tennessee vegetable garden production kicked in and milking the new goats every day started, I completely ignored my herb gardens. There just wasn’t enough time!
On top of that, I didn’t have any compost for them. I just stuck them in totally unimproved dirt! All my compost had been quickly eaten up by the hungry vegetables!
It was the survival of the fittest! And despite all the internet tales of how easy medicinal herbs are to grow, a lot died! So that was more money I tossed out the window because plants aren’t cheap, as many of you know. And medicinal herb seeds can be tricky to germinate sometimes.
However, some herbs not only survived! They thrived!!!
The only exception was blocking Russian comfrey. I did start comfrey with compost and I did add a bit of compost as a side dressing when it was cut back. Sometimes! Still, a highly effortless herb to grow. I go into GREAT detail about Comfrey in my new ebook available here: Comfrey: The Most Useful Plant in the Garden
Easiest Herbs to Grow Book!
That’s what the Effortless Herbs Book is about. The herbs that thrived on my unimproved ground. Totally neglected, never had an ounce of compost or extra water. They just grew and spread!
Over these 10 years of homestead gardening all our own veggies and grain corn, raising and experimenting with livestock that could work and preserving all I could. Starting a fruit orchard and small vineyard, training donkeys and horses. I devoted NO time to my medicinal herb gardens. Yet, so many remain for our use and benefit.
They even survived donkeys, sheep and goats getting in and completely wiping them out! Especially after the years I tried different sheep breeds, which wiped everything out AND uprooted everything. I was sure most of them would never return. Most sheep will uproot grass and plants they like, but I didn’t expect them to uproot herbs!
I have used these herbs that thrived for our herbal support, our livestock health, used them in my natural skin care line and my natural donkey and goat products.
All those uses, yet no effort to grow them. I only had to harvest what I needed.
Why Have A Medicinal Garden on your Homestead
I also used some of these herbs that survived and thrived my neglect as culinary herbs. Bonus! Not all culinary herbs I planted survived the neglected herb garden, but what has survived adds flavor to our food at no cost of time or effort to me! Nice blessing!
One of my dreams for my Tennessee Garden and homestead was that I could grow the herbs we use the most of. Good herbs can be expensive. And sometimes the dried herbs I ordered were less than the top of the line. There is no way to tell how old they are or what conditions they were grown in.
The best, most potent herbs are the ones I’ve harvested from my effortless herb gardens.
Learning to make my herbal support tinctures over the years has been incredibly rewarding! I’ve taken several courses online, but there is a lot of free information online too.
Some of my favorite learning resources:
Not only is having a medicinal herb garden rewarding, but it also saved us a lot of money!
I don’t know about you, but I didn’t start a garden and homestead to spend more money than I was spending in the city!
Why some thrived and others died?
Besides the obvious, I neglected them for 10 years and let my livestock devastate them! Some herbs are just hardier than others!
But some herbs are possibly just hardier here in this climate. I’m in southeast TN. Humid long summers. Shorter, fairly mild but wet winters and recently lots of strong winds have hit the area.
My book is primarily about 6 herbs that survived and thrive in extreme conditions and neglect. Keep in mind I am in Zone 7, so the results I have got over this 10 year period may differ from yours.
What to expect in the Book
I go over each herb that thrived here in the Effortless Medicinal Herb gardens, its unique properties and what it’s good for.
I go over how it’s benefited my family, my livestock or my natural care products business! Some herbs in the gardens have benefited all three!
You will find recipes and formulas for how I’ve used the herbs too!
Specially written for my fellow busy and sometimes overwhelmed homesteaders! Hope you’ll grab a copy and get some of these amazing herbs started in your garden! Read for Free in Kindle!