TweetIn days gone by, larger houses usually had a “stillroom” and some households even employed a dedicated “stillroom maid”. The stillroom was the place that was used for storing, drying, distilling and generally preparing herbs to make into all the everyday remedies, lotions and unguents. While most houses these days aren’t built with a special room for this activity, most of us can certainly get busy in the kitchen to take advantage of the medicinal properties of many common herbs.

Aloe Vera: The gel from this succulent plant is perfect for treating burns. It also makes a good moisturiser for chapped hands.

Allheal: Not such a common herb (try a garden centre – its Latin name is Prunella vulgaris), but as the name suggests, it was used for all sorts of medical reasons, the most common being to dress cuts and wounds, and to soothe sore throats.

Basil: Crushing the leaves on your skin helps repel insects… if you can bear to use basil for any reason other than cooking.  When eaten, basil aids digestion.

Chamomile: Traditionally used as a soothing tea, chamomile can also relieve the symptoms of pregnancy-related nausea, haemorrhoids and hay fever.

Cloves: This acts as a painkiller and as an antiseptic. It is ideal for all mouth related infections, including gumboil and toothache. It also helps with sore throats and for teething babies. Clove oil was in every dentist’s toolkit until Novocaine became widespread.

Comfrey: A compress or a tea of comfrey helps in healing wounds and in reducing bruising. Comfrey stimulates tissue growth thanks to the allantoin in its leaves, and the old country name for comfrey was knitbone.

Dandelion: An excellent diuretic for relieving fluid retention.  The white sap can be dabbed on warts to help treat them. The leaves are full of vitamins A and C, and taste good in a salad.  The roots can also be used as a mild laxative.

Fennel: Make a tea from this herb to help soothe indigestion and treat colic in babies. Some users also report that fennel tea quells hunger pangs and can be used as a slimming aid.

Feverfew: Research has proven that a tea of feverfew helps relieve the symptoms of migranes.

Garlic: It would be easier to list what garlic isn’t good for.  It reduces cholesterol, it is packed with antioxidants, it has antiseptic properties when applied topically and it is considered one of the top Super Foods. Eating it raw is the best way to get the full benefit of garlic, as some of the principles are destroyed by heating.

Lavender: Soothing and antibacterial. The leaves and flowers can be used to make tea or “lavender water” for soothing cuts and stings. Crushing the leaves on the skin helps repel annoying insects. Lavender is one of the most popular essential oils because of its stress-relieving and antiseptic properties.

Liquorice: Even in the form of the popular sweet, liquorice is a first-class laxative (never give children too many liquorice sweets). Liquorice tea also helps soothe sore throats, and it can be mixed with bitter herbal remedies, as it has a strong taste that covers the bitterness.

Marigold: This refers to the English marigold of the genus Calendula rather than the French marigold of the Tagetes genus (which is great for keeping pests out of your garden but isn’t so good for medicinal purposes). Make a tea from the flowers to use as an eyewash for conjunctivitis (when it’s cooled and strained, of course). A handcream made from the tea is very good for chapped skin and soothing grazes.

Raspberry leaves: A tea from raspberry leaves can help ease menstrual cramps. It is also said to assist in the birthing process, and women who drink a lot of raspberry tea in the last few weeks of pregnancy can have a slightly easier labour. For everyone else, raspberry tea helps with diarrhoea.

St John’s Wort: This herb is well known as a herbal alternative to anti-depressant medications.

Yarrow: Used as an antiseptic wash for wounds and as a tea for treating fever. This was supposed to be the wonder herb used by the Greek hero Achilles to treat war wounds on him and his companions during the Trojan War.

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