Advice on herbalism and foraging in these pages and throughout our website is from a kitchen herbalist’s perspective and isn’t intended to replace medical diagnosis and recommendations. It is provided to enhance and encourage your own efforts to provide for your family and maybe add a little different perspective to your studies. Everything here is from my own personal study and experiences of using herbs and making remedies for my family and friends. This website is as much a diary of my own progress and learning as it is anything else, so, as I study to become qualified, I may change things a little here and there to reflect my growing knowledge and skills. There are reference pages on the website for all of the sources of information I have used in preparing this site in an organised manner.
If you are sick in any way for more than a couple of days, don’t hesitate to see a doctor.
The border between kitchen and wild herbs is a blurry one. Some people like to include wild herbs in their gardens and in many cases, kitchen and garden herbs have escaped and made good in the wild.
There are thousands of herbs and other plants out there but we try to keep these pages to what we actually grow and use at Ligaya Garden. There are others we use, but generally forage for (we’ve only got so much space) you can find them on these pages – Wild herbs and Other useful plants. You may be aware of other herbs that are out there or are recommended in books and that’s great but please remember that our focus is purely local. We have a lot of information on remedy making too.
Because all the plants listed here are common plants, easily found in gardens and garden centres, I haven’t bogged the text down with detailed descriptions. The detailed photos and description do the job without adding to the confusion. All of the photographs are from plants in or near Ligaya Garden, so I may change some as better photo opportunities present themselves. We’re always learning about our botanic community, taking new pics and meeting folks who know a lot more than we do, so keep checking your favourite plants on these pages. There’s always more to come! I’ve started adding the date of the latest update to the herb entries on this page as I do them. That’ll make it easier for you to see where the new information is.
I’m doing a huge overhaul on all of the herbs on this site. In the past, I’ve taken a symptomatic, almost first aid approach to listing the herbs and their uses on this website. That’s where I started my herbal journey and is the point where most folks step on to the trail. But now, it’s time to upo the game and build into the herbal entries their energetics and patterns of use. Proper use of herbs looks at interactions between the nature of the plant and the person that is suffering. It looks at complementary actions and interactions with other herbs and medicines, so is a bit more complex that just saying ‘this herb is good for…’ because, sometimes it might not be the perfect match. The uses listed here are those that have commonly been used by lay folk for a long time and are those that I’ve found work or those that trusted, experienced colleagues in different arenas of herbalism and healing have shared with me. Because of that, herbs here aren’t listed being ‘good for’ but rather ‘can be used for’.
Persea americana
Borago officinalis
Bougainvillea spectabilis
I am a self taught herbalist and forager, I currently have no formal qualifications in this field, just experience, observation and and private research skills.
These pages are more to inspire you to take up your own research and exploration and not are not intended to be
prescriptive – so I’ve got to include the caveat ”In the case of illness, see a licensed healer”.
Stellaria media
Symphytum officinalis
If you’re finding this information useful, share it with your community
Zea mays
Tanacetum officinalis
Psidium guajava
Lonicera species
Humulus lupulus
Mangifera indica
Petroselinum crispum
Trachelospermum jasminoides
Viola odorata
Artemisia species
Other herb pages on Ligaya Garden
We cover a lot of ground on many herb related topics here on our website. There are whole pages devoted to different topics as well as frequent posts. Some of the links are –
