There is nothing better than freshly picked herbs from your garden added to your meal.
Not only do they enhance the flavour of your meal, it is very rewarding picking them out of your vegie garden / pot and grabbing only what you need (have you ever thrown out the wilting remains of the bunch of herbs you “paid for” last week) and not having to run down the street and pull out the credit card. Actually, if I had to do that, I wouldn’t bother and the meal would suffer for it! And… so would the experience of preparing food for the people I care about (and myself!).
But herbs offer a whole lot more then just flavour (although that would have been enough for me). There are over 40,000 plant species used in traditional medicine today! From anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory to relief from sunburn. Have you ever seen an English tourist (before Covid) white as a ghost, lying half naked on Airlie Beach foreshore and been tempted to put a pot of Aloe Vera beside them, knowing that they are really going to appreciate it at about 6pm that night!
NOTE: To treat sunburn, spread a layer of pure gel extracted from the inside of an aloe vera leaf over sun burnt skin.
Herbs you can grow in your garden in the Whitsundays for medicinal purposes include:
Dill – Great for abdominal discomfort (I eat this every morning as I water)
Eucalyptus – For infections
Ginger – If you are a boatie you already know this one! – “nausea”
Rosemary – Memory (I need to eat more of this) & circulation
MUST GROW HERBS IN THE WHITSUNDAYS:
Basil, Chillies, Chives, Coriander, Parsley, Ginger, Lemon Grass, Turmeric and Mint just to name a few.
Indigenous Australians use Myrtles for healing and wellbeing. Plant a Lemon Myrtle today!
If you have the space, then planting herbs in the garden is a great option but be mindful, in the Whitsundays we have hot, wet & humid conditions in the summer, so plant in raised beds for drainage and we have frost free conditions in the dry season, so read your seed packet and know what to plant in which months in the tropics and water regularly in the dry season (which is now – even if it is a little wetter then usual).
If you don’t have the space or don’t have a garden at all! Then herbs are a fantastic pot option either on a veranda or a windowsill. Plants indoors are not subjected to the same bugs and natural climate changes as plants in a garden BUT they also don’t have than advantage of a deep soil reservoir (nutrients/water). They are totally dependent on you.
What does that mean? Three things: Water / Food / Light
Water regularly and feed often (liquid fertilise with Seasol), and make sure they get enough light by a windowsill. Herbs give back 10 fold. They give you flavour, good health and a daily ritual that is good for everyone’s wellbeing.
Gardens heal. Coriander anyone?
