Herbal landscape

I was amazed when I started to make a list of all the herbs we are growing here. I use many of them for my herbal business, making dried teas, tinctures, infused oils, salves, balms & soaps with them. Many herbs are expensive or even difficult to source in the local stores (or by mail order), so it's been useful to be able to produce many of these here on site. I know the quality is top notch when I harvest them at their peak, know they have been dried or preserved properly, and know they are organically grown. Best of all, they are always at my fingertips, whether I need to run out to the herb garden for chives, parsley and dill to add to the evening's salad, make an herbal tea of fresh sage for a sore throat, or infuse calendula for making fresh baby oil for Maya. Every home should have at least a tiny herb patch, even a few containers on the back deck, with basic herbs on hand.

Here is part of my list of what we are growing and some ways I use the herbs:

Teas
bergamot, red clover, feverfew, red raspberry leaf, nettle, sage, peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, lemon balm, mullein, chamomile, sweetgrass, rosehips, coltsfoot, anise hyssop, stevia, valerian, hops

Tinctures
black walnut, echinacea, dandelion, nettle, yarrow, thyme, red raspberry leaf, lemon balm

Salves, Balms, Oils, Soaps
calendula, sage, yarrow, rosemary, ints, orris root, cayenne, arnica, witch hazel, evening primrose, st johns wort, chickweed, marshmallow, comfrey, aloe vera

Culinary
thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley, cilantro, dill, winter & summer savory, lavender, pesto basil, purple basil, lemon basil, thai basil, caraway, fennel

Edible flowers
borage, calendula, nasturtium, violet, evening primrose, wildrose, yarrow, dandelion, squash blossoms, lavender

Wild flowers
asters, bee balm, milkweed, butterfly weed, lobelia, red trillium, bloodroot, wild ginger, many others, sweet flag, blue cohosh, black cohosh (many have been purchased from local native plant nurseries) and also many cut flowers (annuals) which we use for bouquests in the B&B guest rooms