Jamaican herbs have been part of my wellness journey for years, but my relationship with them changed when I started growing my own. My backyard is small, so my garden does not look like a traditional one. I grow in containers, use a small table, and make use of vertical space whenever I can. Some…
I have learned that the oregano herb is one of the easiest and most rewarding plants to grow, especially if you enjoy herbal teas and container gardening. I did not choose this plant. My cousin brought it home one day while I was away for a couple of weeks, and when I came back, there…
I am visiting my brother and sister this week. We are spending time together, the way family does, slow and easy, no rush. And as I walked through my brother’s yard, I stopped. Growing right along his wire fencing, climbing and spreading the way it does without any help from anyone, was cerasee. Some people…
It is such a wonderful feeling to experience something so deeply intentional as walking into your container garden, your backyard, to your windowsill or your balcony, choosing a leaf, and knowing exactly what it is going to do for your body. That is what my container garden gives me every single day. It is not…
A small cutting of the Leaf of Life, that’s all it took to get started. I snipped a piece from a neighbor’s yard yesterday. No grand plan, no fancy setup, no special tools. Just a simple, deliberate step toward something I have been meaning to do for a while now: grow what I consume and…
Not every herb belongs at the same hour. Some plants are made for morning, they sharpen you, move things, wake the body up. Others belong to the slower parts of the day. Soursop Leaf tea has always been the second kind for me. I have been drinking Soursop Leaf tea for a while now, and…
As someone who reaches for a warm cup of herbal tea almost daily, soursop leaf tea has become one of my most trusted companions. The rich, earthy flavor and the sense of calm it brings have made it a staple in my wellness routine here in Jamaica. But drinking something regularly comes with responsibility. The…
Spanish needle (Bidens pilosa) is probably growing somewhere near you right now, quietly offering its medicine while most people walk right past it. (Today I planted some in a container in my backyard…yay!! For someone who had no real interest in gardening, can you believe that I now have 10 plants in my backyard container…