MY HERBS #1

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HOT TIPS FROM EUROPE ` ORGANIC AMERICA ` EAT WELL, GROW & HEAL AT HOME 

ARTICHOKES HOW MITIGATE 

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ALCOHOL 

Do ItYourself 

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ISSUE 01 

JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER 

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2 MY HERBS MAGAZINE

Dear readers, 

Welcome to My Herbs, the one and only magazine for your natural health 

and happiness. In this first issue, you will find great advice and tips from the 

wonderful world of herbs to help you make the most of the summer season. 

My Herbs is published quarterly and is available on shelves in 23 different 

countries. Because we reach an international audience, we prepared a simple 

unit conversion chart for the recipes in My Herbs. 

We hope you enjoy our introductory issue and thank you for your readership. 

Wishing you the best during these abundant summer months, 

Kelsey Quinn and the rest of the My Herbs editorial staff. 

SUBSCRIBE TO My Herbs AT 

MYHERBSMAG.COM 

UNIT CONVERSION CHART 

WEIGHT 

1 Pound lb. 454 Grams / 0.5 Kilograms 

1 Ounce oz. 28 Grams 

1 Dram (Pinch) dr. 2 Grams 

1 Grain gr. 65 Milligrams 

VOLUME 

1 Quart qt. 1000 Milliliters / 1 Liter 

1 Pint pt. 0.5 Liter / 2 Cups 

1 Cup 0.25 Liter 

1 Fluid ounce fl oz. 30 Milliliters / 0.33 Liter 

1 Tablespoon tblsp. 15 Milliliters 

1/2 Tablespoon 7.5 Milliliters 

1 Teaspoon tsp. 5 Mililliters 

1/2 Teaspoon 2.5 Milliliters 


3

C O N T E N T S 

8 Herbal Ecogarden 

A well-organized herbal garden is the 

dream of every gardener and herbalist. 

Choose the types of herbs you like best, 

and arrange the garden for maximum 

effect and co-existence. Also, learn 

which herbs to choose according to 

their qualities. 

15 Grapevines 

Fit into your swimsuit and cleanse your 

body! Grapevines are a perfect means 

for detoxifying the body, whether we 

are talking about the leaves or the fruit. 

Both have salutary effects on our figure. 

20 The Thyroid 

We are often affected by decreased or 

increased functioning of this gland, 

connected with autoimmunity inflammations. 

We discuss these two problems 

in a two-part article, advising you 

how to use natural remedies to return 

to the status of full health. Part one on 

diminished thyroid gland function is 

found here. 

28 Artichokes 

This tidbit of kings also has healing 

properties. 

32 Herbal Advice 

My Herbs advice on raw food. 

34 Summer Aromatherapy 

Essential oils can help with swelling, 

sunburn, bee stings and diarrhea. These 

recipes specific for summer will certainly 

be a great aid. 

38 Cannabis – Universal Medicine 

The first part of our new series about 

the most controversial herb of our 

time. 

42 Yarrow 

An herb for fever, digestive problems 

and women’s health issues. 


44 My Herbs Calendar 

July is a month connected especially 

with blood circulation. Learn how to 

improve your blood circulation and 

which herbs are suitable for its 

strengthening. 

46 Deng Shen 

Deng shen is an herb certainly worthy 

of note. One does not hear so much 

about it, and that’s a shame, for herbalists 

call it the “poor man’s ginseng.” It’s 

an easily available herb with strong, invigorating 

effects on the body. It fights 

fatigue, increases the libido and the resulting 

effects, helps with high blood 

pressure, and can bring the body back 

into shape after surgery. 

50 Oats 

Oats are high in roughage, and we 

would do well not to underestimate 

this grain. 

54 Vitamins A–Z 

We start with vitamin A. 

56 Proteins 

How do they work in our body and 

how many do we really need? Which 

are the best sources of proteins for us? 

60 The Darker Side of Sunblock 

We wear it to protect ourselves. But 

could what we use to protect ourselves 

actually contain chemicals that cause us 

harm? 

62 Raw Food Recipes 

In this issue, we invite you to a rawfoods 

feast. 

70 Botanical Chemistry 

The most often-found substances in 

commonly used garden and natural 

products. Learn which phytochemicals 

are found in tomatoes, grapes, green 

tea, walnuts, and other fruits and vegetables 

and how to make the most of 

them. 

72 Wild Plants 

Edible fruits, served up by nature. 

76 For Women 

Alternative treatments 

for incontinence. 

78 For Men 

Take care of your large intestine. 

80 Hives Affect More People 

Every fifth person on this planet has 

suffered at least once from some type of 

hives. 

82 Diabetes 

One can defend oneself against it, and 

even fight it. We also add a list of natural 

sugars. 

84 Natural Repellents 

Not only against mosquitoes, but also 

against aphids and moths. 

88 Summer Heat Waves 

Overcome problems with overheating. 

90 Tea 

We reveal its secrets. 

MYHERBSMAG.COM 5

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Herbs in 

Environmentally 

Friendly 

Gardens 

Perennial plants, or simply perennials, are plants that can 

grow in the garden for a number of years. Some species 

from warmer regions are only able to survive the winter 

by being brought inside in October and kept there until 

after the last frost in late April or early May. 


9

LLet us leave out the wide variety of 

one-year and two-year wonders, 

like plants that bloom for a first or second 

year, shed seeds and die. They are 

good to grow in special flower beds, 

usually together with vegetables (common 

marigolds, French marigolds, 

snapdragons, Nigella arvensis). But I 

will take you into the realm of perennials, 

which, with minimum work, create 

an environmentally friendly herb garden. 

MAKING THE MOST 

OF PERENNIALS 

The most popular reason for creating 

perennial beds is merely for a pretty 

garden. Why not? In such a garden, 

pretty perennials do not have to be the 

Herbal garden 

only choice, for there may be edible 

and medicinal plants, or pollen rich 

ones, or even species for dyeing. 

As for aromatic herbs, they are usually 

clustered together, ideally in a sunny 

place near the entrance, in order to be 

easily reached from the kitchen. 

Ground-covering species of perennials 

are suited under fruit trees, as well as 

under the forest trees and bushes. They 

simply grow over the ground, needing 

no pruning, especially when you choose 

the right, ones and cover them with 

a protective layer of organic material 

during the first years. This is to win the 

battle over weeds and grass in order to 

create a lasting compact cover. 

Bunchy and trailing perennials can 

also line paths, pavements, patios or 

lawn edges. So you can sell the trimmer, 

as an ordinary lawn mower or scythe 

is able to cut up to the edge of the 

perennials, and there is no unwanted 

grass in less accessible edges. There are 

also very substantial and large perennials, 

which can be combined with 

shrubs, or used separately. 

And don’t forget water elements for 

perennials like to grow on the edge of 

water, whether in the shallows or the 

depths. They even help clean the water. 

In order to grow, they collect nutrients, 

thus starving algae to death. The main 

advantage of perennials is that they are 

easy to find a home for. If your garden 

is not big enough for trees, you can still 

have hundreds of species of perennials 

in a relatively small piece of land instead. 

PROPER HABITAT 

In all cases, there are two basic selection 

factors – putting the plant in a 

place where you have chosen to grow it 

(its area requirements) and your preferences 

about its appearance and function. 

It is not a good idea to buy a 

plant about which we know nothing, 

and put it in the first aesthetically pleasing 

place. With luck it may survive, 

but it will more likely suffer and die. In 

stores, one can find ornamental and relatively 

unusual species of plants grown 

in peat compost substrates certainly 

with the mind to lure customers back 

with their credit cards for replacements. 

If you are looking for durable, proven 

and honestly grown specimens, you 

first need to find out exactly what you 

want, and then look for specialized growers. 

Thanks to the Internet it 

shouldn’t be hard. 

With all plants, and this also applies to 


trees, we deal with them according to 

their preference for sun, shade or partly 

shady, drought, moisture or a mixture 

of both and what pH of soil is needed 

– if acidic, alkaline or neutral. Acidic 

species are commonly sold (astilboides, 

heathers, azaleas, rhododendrons, blueberries), 

but acidic soil in gardens is 

A melange of herbs 

pretty rare. This is due to increased 

sales of peat and acidifying fertilizers 

needed to grow them, with their effect 

disappearing in a few years because the 

soil is basically self-healing and returns 

to its natural neutral status. So again, 

this is just a question of making 

money. 

Do not use peat as, due to its extraction, 

it is destroying the remaining beautiful 

places left in the world and is 

transported over half the continent. If 

your garden does not have a coniferous 

wooded area which acidifies the soil beneath, 

acidic plant species should be 

avoided, as there are plenty of alternatives 

growing in ordinary garden soil, 

which most often read around pH 

6.5–7 (about neutral). 

SELECTION BY QUALITY 

Every plant is beautiful in its own 

way, so I would prefer not to discuss 

beauty and colour of the flowers or leaves. 

The elephant is no less beautiful 

than the tiger just because it has fewer 

stripes. Some of us prefer elephants, 

and others prefer tigers. To each their 

Mint 

own. Up until now, the underestimated 

qualities of perennials include being 

edible, as well as other important functions 

they play in the garden ecosystem. 

In terms of being edible, we are acquainted 

mainly with medicinal herbs 

for teas and the occasional leaf accompanying 

a salad, or as garnish. We can 

go much further though – there are perennials 

with edible flowers (daylilies, 

hosta or plantain lily, mallow), edible 

roots or bulbs (Jerusalem artichokes, 

water-parsnip, horseradish, hardy onions 

and garlic, groundnut, woundwort 

bulbs), with leaves of spinach (comfrey, 

nettle, sanguisorba, knotweed), with leaves 

for seasoning salads (cicely, chivegarlic, 

wild garlic, sanguisorba, garden 

sorrel), with edible shoots (asparagus, 

buck’s beard, bamboo) or with edible 

fruits and seeds (strawberry, gooseberry, 

mallow). 

From edible perennials we could 

make year-round sustainability just by 

knowing all the varieties and knowhow. 

The plants may be preserved also 

during the winter. In the stomach remains 

of one of our ancient ancestors 

who had drowned in the swamps, scientists 

confirm they had found over 

thirty different herbs which served as 

breakfast on that fateful day. You know 

how healthy he could have been? If he 

had only watched where he was stepping! 


11

Our current food industry is relatively 

lifeless. More edible perennials would 

certainly liven up our plate. Creative 

people take a particular interest in perennials 

for providing various materials 

and active substances, along with pharmaceuticals, 

dyes, fragrances, oils, fertilizers, 

animal feed or biomass. High 

growing species also provide a visual 

barrier and protection, such as shelter 

for animals, and hollow stems – which 

in winter house environmentally beneficial 

insects. They also provide seeds 

for feeding birds. Any surplus material 

may be used for compost or mulch. 

GUILD – FUNCTIONAL 

COMMUNITY 

In permaculture the word guild is 

used for a community body of plants 

mutually dedicated to supporting each 

other – perennials and wood plants. 

This community of plants not only 

helps individually, but comprehensively 

assists the garden as a whole. 

As an example, let us look at the plant 

surroundings of a fruit tree. Plants in 

this community build profitable relationships 

in many ways: they attract beneficial 

insects for pollination and 

natural pest control, improve soil fertility, 

reduce root spreading competition, 

retain moisture, balance the amount of 

mould and cooperate with underground 

fungi. 

Thanks to substances from the so-called 

mycorrhizal fungi, the plants are 

able to treat their own ailments, thus 

receiving more water and nutrients. 

This results in better growth and production. 

These symbiotic fungi can 

also inoculate the plants from special 

ingredients in the soil. The result of 

this guild, connected both under and 

above ground with its vast and largely 

unknown number of relationships, is a 

healthier tree and ecological balance. 

This removes a lot of work from the 

gardener’s shoulders, thus maintaining 

a sustainable, ecological cycle. 

By combining more plant communities 

together, we gain greater stability and 

benefits than those provided by each 

plant alone. 

The quantity of plants depends on 

the size of the tree and the entire group 

– obviously the larger tree, the smaller 

the community and vice-versa. Every 

garden has different conditions, and 

planting around and under a tree depends 

on its size, density of the tree top 

and climatic conditions. 

All gardeners have to figure out for 

themselves what their guild needs. 

There is no exact manual, just some 

guidelines and ideas that can help us 

achieve the desired results as soon as 

possible and in the best form. We can 

experiment, for it is harmless; perennials 

which are planted badly can be 

easily replanted, but it is important to 

keep an eye on everything. In order to 

catch as much sun as possible, we sow 

low from the south side and build the 

terraced garden higher towards the 

north. This also applies to planting in 

forests with edible species and small 

patches in the middle of the lawn. 

Plants for a Working 

GUILD 

Plants for mulching – covering the 

soil surface with a carpeting layer or 

large leaves, holding moisture and keeping 

weeds at bay (hosta, geranium, 

waldsteinia – aka barren strawberries). 

Plants releasing nitrogen in soil – 

working together with root bacteria, 

feeding the surrounding perennials and 

wooden plants (lupines, peas, clover). 


Plants dynamically accumulating nutrients 

– for example, long roots deliver 

vital minerals from the depths, and 

leaves supply minerals to us and the 

land (comfrey, horseradish, dandelion). 

Plants attracting and repelling insects 

– a confusion of fragrance is created, 

pests oriented by smell don’t 

multiply on any part of the plant as 

they flit around in confusion and are 

thus, eaten by predators (sage, lavender, 

catnip). 

Edible plants – fit in all categories 

dealt with here – with a variety of 

edible parts both above and below 

ground. Hundreds of edible 

perennials exist, but be 

warned: do not eat what 

you do not exactly 

know! 

You can grow different herbs in one pot 


13

Plants with multiple purposes – the 

more purposes a plant has (whilst suiting 

the chosen habitat), the more beneficial 

it is for the guild. 

HERB SPIRAL 

The herb spiral or simple mound in 

permaculture gardens is a very common 

phenomenon. It was invented for 

one simple reason – herbs need to be at 

our fingertips, preferably at the entrance 

to the home or on the terrace. 

The closer they are, the more we will 

use them. 

However, there is a plethora of herb 

species with different habitat requirements. 

The spiral or simple earth 

mound nevertheless meets these requirements 

on a relatively small piece of 

land. 

The top is dry, sunny, permeable to 

moisture and perfect for our hydrophilic 

and Mediterranean species (thyme, 

lavender, oregano, yarrow). 

The middle and lower area down to 

the foot is more fertile and hosts most 

of the other herbs (lemon balm, sage, 

skullcap, hyssop, wormwood, coneflower, 

common agrimony aka sticklewort). 

The northern, eastern and 

western heels of the mound are in the 

shade and host other edible species 

(costmary, cicely, mint). 

Whether you prefer to plant herbs in 

buried containers or somewhere else, 

they will grow strongly. And in the case 

of our environment encompassing medicinal 

plants growing in water or moisture, 

we can bury an old tin tub right 

in the bank, seal it well, fill with water 

and put gravel on the bottom. 

We can also grow herbs sunk into 

pots filled with gravel, ideally edible 

aquatic plants (sweet flag aka calamus, 

broadleaf arrowhead, broadleaf cattail, 

caltrop, buckbean, watercress or butomus). 

Great Basil 

We need to know at what depth the 

various herbs like to grow. 

It is also possible to grow in an old 

tub. First, put a wooden board in the 

tub at an angle, in order for small 

members of the animal kingdom to 

climb out in case they fall inside. Various 

technical planting details of growing 

in tubes can be found on the 

Internet. 

FINAL WORD 

We live surrounded by many new 

things, such as technical appliances and 

equipment, yet this world is much poorer 

than it once was. Civilization has 

given us a lot of both useful and useless 

technocratic gifts, and endless space on 

the web, but has subsequently robbed 

us of nature. 

And it is nature which keeps the 

human body and soul in prime condition. 

Dig up a little piece of turf, 

empty a bag of bought compost into 

the hole, plant between 5–10 different 

varieties of (not so run of the mill) 

edible perennials, and water them a few 

times. This is manageable for anyone, 

and the benefits are remarkable. 

Between the plants, mulch cut grass, 

leaves, or straw (bark is not really suitable 

for herbs), and you will save further 

watering and weeding. The next 

year, you may realise that last season’s 

afternoon was the most valuable investment 

of time you had made. 


Yarrow Face Tonic 

The production of a skin tonic is very simple; 

all one needs is water, yarrow, glycerine and (optionally) 

panthenol. First, all the containers and 

stirrers must be disinfected with a high alcoholbased 

disinfectant. To start the process, make 

a strong tea from 3 teaspoons of dried yarrow and 

120 ml (half a cup) of mineral or distilled water. 

After the tea cools down, filter it, and – with the 

remaining 92 ml (one-third cup) of prepared tea 

– add 5 ml (1 teaspoon) of glycerol and 3 ml (half 

a teaspoon) of panthenol (you can also add 10 

drops of yarrow essential oil). For a cleansing 

tonic, then add 2 ml (half a teaspoon) of soap 

base instead of the tea content. This tonic is suitable 

for problematic or oily skin. When stored in 

the refrigerator it doesn’t need any preservatives. 

Try 

Suitable for 

problematic 

or oily skin. 

See page 42 

MYHERBSMAG.COM 15

Common 

Grape Vine 

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