March 10, 2008 – Growing the medicinal plants featured in our video report is relatively straightforward, but it does require some basic precautions.
Here is some good advice offered to us by herbalists Diane Mackay and Yves Gagnon, Gardens of the Grand-Portage, located in Saint-Didace, in the Lanaudière region1.
Choose your seeds or seeds
You can “start” your plants yourself from the seed, or buy young plants grown in a greenhouse, by contacting a herbalist gardener. It is best to opt for organic seeds or plants.
The choice of the place
Generally, medicinal plants need a good sunny location.
Annuals (basil, parsley, etc.) can accompany plants in the vegetable patch, since their strong fragrance blurs the pest detection system and reduces infestations.
However, we will set aside perennials (lemon balm, yarrow, St. John’s wort and echinacea, for example).
Prepare the land
Before planting the seeds or young plants in the spring, prepare the soil that will welcome them by weeding it, then lightly fertilizing it.
In order for the plants to reach a good content of active ingredients, the soil should not be enriched too much. This is why only one to two centimeters (1 to 2 cm) of ripe compost should be spread over the surface to be cultivated, which will then be mixed with the surface soil using a claw.
It is also necessary to aerate the soil by avoiding compacting it, so as not to suffocate the microorganisms on which the plants feed.
Five medicinal perennials
- Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis): this perennial requires a sunny and semi-shaded location, with a contribution of 2 cm of compost. Water regularly. It requires winter protection. Recommended cultivar: Citronella (more lemony) or botanical species.
- Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): this perennial is grown in full sun, in slightly acidic soil, with a contribution of 1 cm of compost. Recommended cultivar: native species.
- St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum): this perennial is found at the edge of country lanes, but it is preferable to obtain the cultivar from an herbalist. Requires little maintenance. Beware of interactions with certain drugs, and the photosensitivity it can cause.
- Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea): perennial plant that we install in full sun in a soil rich in humus (2 cm of compost per year) and well drained. These are the roots that are used when the plant is three years old. You have to cut the flowers during the summer. Recommended cultivars: Echinacea purpurea Where Echinacea angustifolia. Note: no flowering the first year.
- Nettle (Urtica dioica): this perennial is difficult to seed. It is preferable to get a plant, which we will place in a separate section (nettle is very invasive) in a semi-sunny place. It requires a good supply of compost (2 cm per year).
For more specific advice, please refer to the Herbalist Guild at the following address: www.guildedesherboristes.org . |
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
1. To find out more about the Jardins du Grand-Portage: http://www.intermonde.net/colloidales/ [consulté le 10 mars 2008].