Many enthusiasts enjoy several cups a day of their favorite herbal infusion which is a large portion of herb brewed for at least four hours and as long as ten. I recommend placing one cup of the dried herb into a quart canning jar and filling it with freshly boiled water. After the steeping, strain with a non-metallic method such as cheesecloth or bamboo. Herbal infusions can be made with the leaves and fruits which provide healing aspects of this comforting brew. Many of the favorite kitchen garden herbs contain minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals including the list herein.
What do you need to attend to in your life now? This list of herbs and associations can be your guide; one of the smartest ways to approach this methodology is to brew right before bedtime and you will awaken to a freshly infused herb. Some of the most popular herbs and fruits used to create infusions are as follows:
Be inspired by the industrious herbalist monks who steadfastly worked with these gifts from the earth to create blessed brews for health, comfort, and pleasure. Gardening is not a chore when you invite your fellow pagan pals for an outdoor party to sow seeds, do a little weeding, and plant herbs and flowers. Serve your guests a Goddess Green Chartreuse or another suitably herbal option, such as a Lavender Love Drop Mocktail, and enjoy each other’s good company and the generosity of Mother Earth!
You can also say these words together:
Great Goddess of our Green Earth, we thank you today with heart and hands.
We pledge to preserve your beautiful land, and call all to join in the healing of our planet,
Ancient One, we thank you for your generosity.
With heart and hands, gratitude to you. Blessed be!
Balm also goes by the equally lovely Latinate name Melissa. From Greco-Roman times, this relative of the mint family has been held to be a significant medicinal. You can grow lemon balm with ease from seed packets in almost any kind of soil, but it likes shade in the afternoon to prevent wilting. This is one of the happy plants that will “volunteer” to spread in your garden, and it can be used in your home to bring love to you and to heal after a breakup or divorce. It can also be employed as an aphrodisiac. Infusions and teas made from lemon balm make good on the offer the name implies as it can soothe the heart and any lingering upset, blue moods, or aches and pains from trauma, both physical and emotional. I suggest we all grow as much as possible and let some go to seed for those new plants that will pop up in unexpected places in your herb garden. An herbalist never complains about a plentitude of balm; anyone who makes much use of lemon balm in brews and cookery will enjoy an abundance of love.
V, W
Valerian: An accommodating disposition
Valerian, Greek: Rupture
Venus’ Car: Fly with me
Venus’ Looking Glass: Flattery
Venus Trap: Deceit
Verbena, Scarlet: Sensibility
Verbena, White: Pure and guileless
Vernal Grass: Poor, but happy
Veronica: Fidelity
Vervain: Enchantment
Vine: Intoxication
Violet, Blue: Faithfulness
Violet, Dame: Watchfulness
Violet, Sweet: Modesty
Violet, Yellow: Rural happiness
Virginia Creeper: Ever changing
Virgin’s Bower: Filial love
Volkmannia: May you be happy
Walnut: Intellect, stratagem
Wallflower: Fidelity in adversity
Water Lily: Purity of heart
Wax Plant: Susceptibility
Weigela: Accept a faithful heart
Wheat Stalk: Riches
Whin: Anger
White Lily: Purity and modesty
White Mullein: Good nature
White Oak: Independent
Whortleberry: Treason
Willow, Creeping: Love forsaken
Willow, Water: Freedom
Willow, Weeping: Mourning
Willow, Herb: Pretension
Willow, French: Bravery, humanity
Wisteria: I cling to thee
Witch Hazel: A spell
Woodbine: Fraternal love
X, Y, Z
Xanthium: Rudeness, pertinacity
Xeranthemum: Cheerfulness under adversity
Yew: Sorrow
Zephyr Flower: Expectation
Zinnia: Thoughts of absent friends
P, Q, R
Palm: Victory
Pansy: Thoughts
Parsley: Festivity
Pasque Flower: You have no claims
Patience Dock: Patience
Passion Flower: Religious superstition
Pea, Everlasting: An appointed meeting, lasting pleasure
Pea, Sweet: Departure, lasting pleasures
Peach: Your qualities like your charms are unequalled
Peach Blossom: I am your captive
Quaking Grass: Agitation
Quamoclit: Busybody
Queen’s Rocket: You are the Queen of Coquettes; passion
Quince: Temptation
Ragged Robin: Wit
Ranunculus: You are radiant with charms
Ranunculus, Garden: You are rich in all relations
Ranunculus, Wild: Ingratitude
Raspberry: Remorse
Rye Grass, Darnel: Vice
Red Catchfly: Youthful love
Reed: Complaisance, music
Reed, Split: Indiscretion
Rhododendron, Rosebay: Danger, beware
Rhubarb: Advice
Rocket: Rivalry
S
Saffron: Beware of success
Saffron, Crocus: Mirth
Saffron, Meadow: My happiest days are past
Sage: Domestic virtue
Sage, Garden: Esteem
Sainfoin: Agitation
Saint John’s Wort: Animosity
Salvia, Blue: I think of you
Salvia, Red: Forever thine
Saxifrage, Mossy: Affection
Scabicus: Unfortunate love
Scarlet Lychnis: Sunbeaming eyes
Schinus: Religious enthusiasm
Scilla, Blue: Forgive and forget
Scilla, Sibirica: Pleasure without alloy
Scilla, White: Sweet innocence
Scotch Fir: Elevation
Sensitive Plant: Sensibility
Shamrock: Light-heartedness
Snakesfoot: Horror
Snowball: Bound
Snowdragon: Presumption
Snowdrop: Hope
Sorrel: Affection
Sorrel, Wild: Wit, ill-timed
Sorrel, Wood: Joy
Stephanotis: You can boast too much
Stock, Ten Week: Promptness
Stonecrop: Tranquility
Straw, Broken: Rupture of a contract
Straw, Whole: Union
Strawberry Blossom: Foresight
Strawberry Tree: Esteem, not love
Sumac, Venice: Splendor
Sunflower, Dwarf: Adoration
Sunflower, Tall: Haughtiness
T
Tamarisk: Crime
Tansy, Wild: I declare war against you
Teasel: Misanthropy
Tendrils of Climbing Plants: Ties
Thistle, Common: Austerity
Thistle, Scotch: Retaliation
Thornapple: Deceitful charms
Thorns, Branch of: Severity
Thrift: Sympathy
Throatwort: Neglected beauty
Thyme: Activity
Tiger Flower: For once may pride befriend me
Traveler’s Joy: Safety
Tree of Life: Old age
Trefoil: Revenge
Tremella: Resistance
Trillium Pictum: Modest beauty
Truffle: Surprise
Tulip, Red: Declaration of love
Tulip, Variegated: Beautiful eyes
Tulip, Yellow: Hopeless love
Turnip: Charity
Tussilago, Sweet-scented: Justice shall be done you
K, L
Kennedya: Mental beauty
King-Cups: Desire of riches
Laburnum: Forsaken, pensive beauty
Lady’s Slipper: Capricious beauty
Lagerstromia, Indian: Eloquence
Lantana: Rigor
Larch: Audacity, boldness
Larkspur: Lightness, levity
Larkspur, Pink: Fickleness
Larkspur, Purple: Haughtiness
Laurel: Glory
Laurel, Common, in flower: Perfidy
Laurel, Ground: Perseverance
Laurel, Mountain: Ambition
Laurestina: A token
Lavender: Distrust
Leaves, Dead: Melancholy
Lemon: Zest
Lemon Blossoms: Fidelity in love
Lent Lilly: Sweet disposition
Lettuce: Cold-heartedness
Lichen: Dejection, solitude
Lilac, Field: Humility
Lilac, Purple: First emotions of love
Lilac, White: Youthful innocence
Lily, Day: Coquetry
Lily, Yellow: Falsehood, gaiety
Lily of the Valley: Return of happiness
Linden or Lime Tree: Conjugal love
Lint: I feel my obligation
Liquorice, Wild: I declare against you
Live Oak: Liberty
Liverwort: Confidence
Lobelia: Malevolence
Locust Tree: Elegance
Locust Tree, Green: Affection beyond the grave
London Pride: Frivolity
Lote Tree: Concord
Lotus: Eloquence
Lotus Flower: Estranged love
Lotus Leaf: Recantation
Love-in-a-Mist: Perplexity
Love-Lies-Bleeding: Hopeless, not heartless
Lucerne: Life
Lupin: Voraciousness
M, N, O
Madder: Calumny
Magnolia: Love of nature
Magnolia, Laurel-leaved: Dignity
Magnolia, Swamp: Perseverance
Mallow: Mildness
Mallow, Marsh: Beneficence
Mallow, Syrian: Consumed by love
Mallow, Venetian: Delicate beauty
Manchineel Tree: Falsehood
Mandrake: Horror
Maple: Reserve
Marigold: Grief, despair
Marigold, African: Vulgar minds
Marigold, French: Jealousy
Marigold, Prophetic: Prediction
Marjoram: Blushes
Marvel of Peru: Timidity
Meadow Lychnis: Wit
Meadow Saffron: My best days are past
Meadowsweet: Uselessness
Mercury: Goodness
Mesembryanthemum: Idleness
Mezereon: Desire to please
Michaelmas Daisy: Afterthought
Mignonette: Your qualities surpass your charms
Milfoil: War
Milkvetch: Your presence softens my pains
Milkwort: Hermitage
Mimosa, Sensitive Plant: Sensitiveness
Mint: Virtue
Mistletoe: I surmount difficulties
Narcissus: Egotism
Narcissus, Double: Female ambition
Nasturtium: Patriotism
Nemophila: I forgive you
Nettle, Common Stinging: You are cruel
Nettle, Burning: Slander
Night-blooming Cereus: Transient beauty
Night Convolvulus: Night
Nightshade: Falsehood
Oak Leaves: Bravery
Oak Tree: Hospitality
Oats: The witching soul of music
Oleander: Beware
Olive: Peace
Orange Blossoms: Bridal festivities, your purity equals your loveliness
Orange Flowers: Chastity
Orange Tree: Generosity
Orchid: A belle
Osier: Frankness
Osmunda: Dreams
Ox Eye: Patience
Several flower dictionaries were written and published in the Victorian era in an effort to preserve the lore handed down through the ages on the meaning of flowers and the properties associated with them. This is known as “floriography,” and many a hedgewitch contributed to this body of wisdom for flower magic and herbal healing. Should you wish to favor a friend, family member, or even a new flame with a bouquet, this floral index will guide your choices.
F, G
Fennel: Worthy of all praise
Fern, Flowering: Fascination
Fern: Sincerity
Ficoides, Ice Plant: Your looks freeze me
Fig: Argument
Fig, Marigold: Idleness
Fig Tree: Prolific
Flax: Fate, domestic industry, I feel your kindness
Flax-leaved Golden Locks: Tardiness
Fleur-de-lis: Flame
Fleur-de-Luce: Confidence in heaven
Flower-of-an-Hour: Delicate beauty
Fly Orchis: Error
Fly Trap: Deceit
Fools Parsley: Silliness
Forget-Me-Not: True love
Foxglove: Insincerity
Foxtail Grass: Sporting
French Honeysuckle: Rustic beauty
French Marigold: Jealousy
Frog Ophrys: Disgust
Fritillary, Checquered: Persecution
Fullers Teasel: Misanthropy, importunity
Fumitory: Spleen
Fuschia, Scarlet: Taste
Furze or Gorse: Enduring affection
Garden Anemone: Forsaken
Garden Chervil: Sincerity
Garden Marigold: Uneasiness
Garden Ranunculus: You are rich in attractions
Garden Sage: Esteem
Garland of Roses: Reward of virtue
Gentian: You are unjust
Germander Speedwell: Facility
Geranium, Dark: Melancholy
Geranium, Ivy: Bridal favor
Geranium, Nutmeg: An expected meeting
Geranium, Oak-leaved: True friendship
Geranium, Pencil-leaved: Ingenuity
Geranium, Rose or Pink: Preference
Geranium, Scarlet: Comforting
Geranium, Silver-leaved: Recall
Geranium, Wild: Steadfast piety
Gillyflower: Lasting beauty
Gladiolus: Strength of character
Glory Flower: Glorious beauty
Gloxinia: A proud spirit
Goats Rue: Reason
H, I, J
Hand Flower Tree: Warming
Harebell: Submission, grief
Hawkweed: Quick-sightedness
Hawthorne: Hope
Hazel: Reconciliation
Heartsease or Pansy: You occupy my thoughts
Heath: Solitude
Helenium: Tears
Heliotrope: Devotion
Hellebore: Scandal, calumny
Hemlock: You will be my death
Hemp: Fate
Henbane: Imperfection
Hepatica: Confidence
Hibiscus: Delicate beauty
Holly: Foresight
Holly Herb: Enchantment
Hollyhock: Fecundity
Honesty: Honesty, sincerity
Honey Flower: Love sweet and secret
Honeysuckle: Bonds of love, sweetness of disposition
Honeysuckle, Coral: The color of my fate
Honeysuckle, French: Rustic beauty
Hop: Injustice
Hornbeam: Ornament
Hortensia: You are cold
Houseleek: Vivacity, domestic economy
Houstonia: Content
Hoya: Sculpture
Humble Plant: Despotism
Hyacinth: Sport, game, play
Hyacinth, Blue: Constancy
Hyacinth, Purple: Sorrow
Hyacinth, White: Unobtrusiveness, loveliness
Hydrangea: A boaster, heartlessness
Hyssop: Cleanliness
Iceland Moss: Health
Ice Plant: Your looks freeze me
Imperial Montaque: Power
Indian Cress: Warlike trophy
Indian Pink, Double: Always lovely
Indian Plum: Privation
Iris: Message
Iris, German: Flame
Ivy: Friendship, fidelity
Ivy, Sprig of with tendrils: Assiduous to please
Jacobs Ladder: Come down
Japan Rose: Beauty is your only attraction
Jasmine, Cape: Transport of joy
Jasmine, Carolina: Separation
Jasmine, Indian: Attachment
Jasmine, Spanish: Sensuality
Jasmine, Yellow: Grace and elegance
Jasmine, White: Amiability
Jonquil: I desire a return of affection
Judas Tree: Unbelief, betrayal
Justicia: The perfection of female loveliness
Several flower dictionaries were written and published in the Victorian era in an effort to preserve the lore handed down through the ages on the meaning of flowers and the properties associated with them. This is known as “floriography,” and many a hedgewitch contributed to this body of wisdom for flower magic and herbal healing. Should you wish to favor a friend, family member, or even a new flame with a bouquet, this floral index will guide your choices.
A
Abatina: Fickleness
Acacia: Chaste love
Acacia, Pink: Elegance
Acacia, Yellow: Secret love
Acanthus: The fine arts, artifice
Achillea Millefolia: War
Aconite, Crowfoot: Lustre
Aconite, Wolfsbane: Misanthropy
Adonis: Sorrowful remembrance
African Marigold: Vulgar minds
Agnus Castus: Coldness
Agrimony: Thankfulness, gratitude
Almond: Stupidity, indiscretion
Almond, Flowering: Hope
Almond, Laurel: Perfidy
Allspice: Compassion
Aloe: Grief, affection
Althea Frutex: Persuasion
Alyssum, Sweet: Worth beyond beauty
Amaranth: Immortality, unfading love
Amaranth, Cockscomb: Foppery, affectation
Amaranth, Globe: Unchangeable
Amaryllis: Pride
Ambrosia: Love returned
American Elm: Patriotism
American Linden: Matrimony
B
Bachelor’s Buttons: Single blessedness
Balm: Sympathy
Balm, Gentle: Pleasantry
Balm of Gilead: Cure, relief
Balsam: Impatience
Balsam, Red: Touch me not, impatient resolve
Barberry: Sourness, sharpness, ill temper
Basil: Hatred
Bay Leaf: I change but in death
Bay Tree: Glory
Bay Wreath: Reward of merit
Bearded Crepis: Protection
Beech Tree: Prosperity
Bee Orchis: Industry
Bee Ophrys: Error
Begonia: Dark thoughts
Belladonna: Silence
Bell Flower, White: I declare against you
Betony: Surprise
Bilberry: Treachery
Bindweed, Great: Insinuation
Bindweed, Small: Humility
Birch: Meekness
Birdsfoot Trefoil: Revenge
Bitterweed, Nightshade: Truth
Black Poplar: Courage
C
Cabbage: Profit
Cacalia: Adulation
Calceolaria: Keep this for my sake
Calla Aethiopica: Magnificent beauty
Calycanthus: Benevolence
Camellia Japonica, White: Unpretending excellence
Chamomile: Energy in adversity
Campanula: Gratitude
Canariensis: Self-esteem
Canary Grass: Perseverance
Candytuft: Indifference
Canterbury Bell: Acknowledgement
Cardamine: Paternal error
Cardinal Flower: Distinction
Carnation, Red: Alas for my poor heart
Carnation, Striped: Refusal
Carnation, Yellow: Disdain
Catsus: Warmth
Catchfly: Snare
Catchfly, Red: Youthful love
Catchfly, White: Betrayal
Cedar: Strength
Cedar of Lebanon: Incorruptible
Cedar Leaf: I live for thee
Celandine: Joys to come
Centuary: Felicity
Cerebus, Creeping: Modest genius
Champignon: Suspicion
Crown, Imperial: Majesty, powerful
D, E
Daffodil: Regard
Daffodil, Great Yellow: Chivalry
Dahlia, Single: Good taste
Dahlia: Instability
Daisy, Double: Participation
Daisy, Garden: I share your sentiment
Daisy, One-Eyed: A token
Daisy, Particolored: Beauty
Daisy, Red: Unconscious
Daisy, White: Innocent
Daisy, Wild: I will think of it
Dandelion: Oracle
Daphne Odora: Painting the lily
Darnel: Vice
Dead Leaves: Sadness
Dew Plant: A serenade
Diosma: Uselessness
Dittany of Crete: Birth
Dittany, White: Passion
Dock: Patience
Dodder of Thyme: Baseness
Dogsbane: Deceit, falsehood
Dogwood: Durability
Dragon Plant: Snare
Dragonwort: Horror
Dried Flax: Utility
Ebony Tree: Blackness
Eglantine or Sweet Briar: Poetry, I wound to heal
Elder: Zealousness
Elm: Dignity
Enchanter’s Nightshade: Fascination, witchcraft
Endive: Frugality
Eschscholtzia: Sweetness
Eupatorium: Delay
“Evergreen: Poverty
Evergreen, Thorn: Solace in adversity
Everlasting Pea: Lasting pleasure, an appointed meeting
If you have children, get them involved so they will learn a love of gardening early.
Find a nursery you like and ask which is the best book for your zone and climate to read and understand what to plant where, so you’ll have the best chance for success.
Always grow vegetables and fruits that you and your family love to eat.
Your kitchen garden should be a sunny, open spot that is easy for you to see and tend.
If possible, have an herb garden that is separate and easy to access for daily use when warm.
Check your soil type and use containers or raised beds if your soil is too poor or damp and swampy. Of course, a compost pile can fix your soil soon enough.
Preparation is everything, even with soil. Remove rocks and weeds; loosen the soil so it “breathes.”
Develop your garden’s soil by mixing in compost. Once the plants are established, serve them compost tea!
Patience is a virtue. Don’t sow too early—wait until the soil is warmed up.
Here are the vegetables anyone can grow, from beginners to pros with their own greenhouses:
Lettuce, peas, onions, beets, potatoes, beans, and radishes.
Lettuce leaves for your salads are the easiest edible crop to grow. A few varieties will be ready to harvest in weeks! Choose a seed mix that will give you a variety of leaves for different tastes, colors, and textures. For best results, sow in stages so you don’t get loads all at once. Sow a couple of lanes every few weeks throughout the summer to ensure a continuous supply.
Once you are a pro with lettuce, grow spinach and rocket (a.k.a. arugula) for your salad bowl.
Peas are a trouble-free crop that can handle cooler weather, so you can skip the step of starting the seedlings indoors. Simply sow the seeds in the ground from March onwards and watch them thrive. The plants will need support—put in stakes or chicken wire attached to posts and occasionally wind the stems around the supports as they grow. Harvest your fresh peas from June to August—the more you pick; the more will grow.
Onions are problem free and easy to propagate. After your seedlings sprout, thin seedlings to an inch apart, and then thin again in four weeks to six inches apart. Onions are a staple for cooking, so you and your family will be grateful once you have established an onion patch in your kitchen garden.
Potatoes and beets are a high return for your labor. To me, the best way to grow both is the world’s laziest way to garden; I remember reading about it when I was ten in a book by Thalassa Crusoe, a pioneering organic gardener. I was fascinated that you could grow root vegetables without even needing to turn any soil. You can grow potatoes, yams, and so on under straw! Simply cut up mature potatoes that have “eyes” or the fleshy tubers sprouting out of the flesh of the potato, making sure each piece has an eye. This will give a new potato. After you “plant” or place the seed potatoes chunks on the ground, put loose straw over the pieces and between all the rows at least four to six inches deep. When the seed pieces start growing, your potato sprouts will emerge through the straw cover. How easy was that? Crusoe also said you could do the same under wet, shredded newspaper, but straw is more organic.
Radishes have enjoyed a new popularity thanks to Korean and Japanese cuisine. They add a fun pop of spicy, tangy flavor to soups, stews, tempura, salads, and all on their own. They can grow equally well in the ground in spring or in a pot. Radishes like a lot of sun and well-drained soil. They are also a crop you can grow in several crops per season. If you keep the soil moist, you’ll have big beautiful radishes to brighten any dish.
Green beans are the opposite of the low-maintenance beets and potatoes as they will need staking or poles for support. However, an easier path to a great crop of green beans can be to grow them in a five-gallon container. After they have gotten four or five feet long, place a pole or stake carefully in the pot and allow the bean vines to wind around. Soon you’ll have a pot of beans even grandma might recognize as a favorite vegetable for any occasion.
The very act of growing your own herbs will be healing, and, as you continue to practice herbalism, you will learn more and more of what works in your recipes and which herbs, teas, and plant-based potions and infusions cause you and your loved ones to flourish.
Another useful herb is mint, which comes from the Latin menthe, which literally means thought. Mint is so easily grown that a little bunch in the backyard can go on to become a scentful, attractive groundcover. It is also called the flower of eternal refreshment. Woven into a wreath, it bestows brilliance, artistic inspiration, and prophetic ability. As a tea, it accomplishes miracles of calming the stomach and the mind at the same time.
There are two sides to every coin, and that is so true here. Cancerians have a legendary love of history; so much so that they can start living there. Resist the pull of the past with Sweet Honeysuckle essence.
Home, prosperity, and security loving Taureans prefer safe harbor and no surprises. This routinized life can lead to getting into a bit of a rut and sameness. Freshen up your day-to-day with Chestnut Bud.
You will experience years of enjoyment from tending your garden, as Voltaire taught us in his masterpiece, Candide. You can share that pleasure with your friends and those you love by giving gifts from your garden. Your good intentions will be returned many times over. I keep a stock of small muslin drawstring bags for creating amulets. If you are a crafty person, you can make the bags, too, sewing them by hand before stuffing the dried herbs inside.
Amulets should be kept on your person at all times, either in a pocket, in your purse or book bag, or on a string around your neck.
Organic pesticide-free posies are tasty additions to salads, cake décor, and even savories such as fried squash blossoms. Florals add a stunning beauty to any dish. Grab your basket and add a bouquet to your culinary creations: impatiens, marigold, gladiola, daylily, cornflower, daisy, carnation, and viola. My favorites are peppery, fresh-flavored nasturtiums, which are so easy to grow, have a lovely aroma, and their yellow, red, and orange-bright blooms are the color of happiness.
This sweet tasting herb is excellent in savory dishes. Basil truly grows like a weed, and you should cultivate it right on the kitchen windowsill so you can snip basil leaves to add to your Thai or Italian-inspired dishes. Give your basil plants plenty of sun and lots of water and you will reap a mighty bounty to share with the neighbors. Old wives and hedge witches claim basil protects while it brings prosperity and happiness to any gardener’s home. Basil helps steady the mind, brings happiness, love, peace, and money, and even protects against insanity. (What more can you want?) The benefits of this plant are as plentiful as the plant itself; it can be used for manifesting and attracting love and on the highest vibrational level for abetting psychic abilities, even astral projection.
We have all heard that the Chinese praise garlic for health benefits. It is a powerful antimicrobial, often employed to combat colds, ease sinus congestion, and stave off digestive problems that accompany traveling. It has even been shown that regular use can help gently lower blood pressure. One to two fresh cloves daily are the dose.
How many times did your mom tell you to drink your (usually unsweetened) cranberry juice? Turns out she was right on both counts as straight cranberry juice is very good for bladder health and benefits men’s prostates; two half cups a day, mom’s orders!
