There are many health benefits to be gained from adding herbs and spices to your diet. Some of the healthiest herbs and spices include ginger, turmeric, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Each of these herbs and spices has unique health properties that can help improve your overall health. Additionally, these herbs and spices are easy to grow in your home garden. Read on to find out more about why the herbs and spices are good to eat and how you can grow them yourself!
Ginger
Ginger is a very popular herb that has been used in cuisines throughout the world for generations. Ginger’s health benefits are vast and include treating nausea, motion sickness, migraine headaches, arthritis pain, and menstruation cramps. In addition to providing you with relief from those ailments, ginger also improves digestion by stimulating saliva enzymes produced in the mouth. Along with these many health benefits, ginger is also easy to grow, making it a perfect herb to have in your garden!
To grow ginger at home, make sure your soil is sandy and drains well because ginger does not like wet feet! The best time to harvest ginger is approximately 100 days after planting. If you want to grow more than one plant, make sure each plant has about five feet of space between it. Ginger is harvested most effectively when the stem is one to two inches thick, so wait until this point before harvesting your ginger roots.
Tumeric
Turmeric has been used medicinally throughout India for centuries. The health benefits of turmeric are vast, including the potential to decrease inflammation and pain associated with arthritis. In addition to being packed full of antioxidants that have anti-inflammatory properties, turmeric also helps keep depression at bay by producing serotonin in the brain. However, to grow turmeric at home, you must first decide whether your climate allows for year-round growth or if you will be growing it indoors during colder months.
If you live in a warmer climate where plants can stay outdoors year-round, plant your turmeric root about four inches deep and water well! Keep track of how much water your plant is getting because turmeric likes plenty of sun and moist soil but cannot handle too much water.
If you choose to grow your turmeric indoors during colder months, first start by soaking the turmeric root in a bowl of warm water for 24 hours. Once this period has passed, plant your turmeric root about 4 inches deep and keep it well-watered throughout growth. Harvesting turmeric is easy! Pull up the entire plant once it reaches between 1 and 2 feet tall. Then, peel away the skin from the roots and use as desired!