One of the best ways to begin healing yourself is by raising herbs and vegetables in your garden.

Natural healing remedies can be easily made through herbs and vegetables you can raise yourself. These are three of my favorites – easy and delicious.

Cocktail No. 1 – I had this one this morning! 

Swiss chard

Parsley

Apples

Take a handful of Swiss chard, a handful of parsley out of your garden and run it through your juicer, followed by two apples.

I feel a tremendous satisfaction waking up in the morning, walking out into my front yard and cutting my own vegetables. You don’t find food any fresher than that – and you in terms of chi, you can’t get any better than that – eating high energy foods from your own garden.

Someone told me that Swiss chard is hard to grow, but as my Swiss chard keeps growing taller and more flush practically by the day, I have not found that to be the case!

Swiss chard contains phytonutrients called betalains, the same yellowish-purple pigments found in beets that are shown to provide anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and detoxification support.

Swiss chard has been found to contain at least 13 different polyphenol antioxidants and has special benefits for keeping our blood sugar under control. It’s high in vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, manganese, potassium and iron.

Parsley is also high in vitamin K, vitamin A and vitamin C as well as folate and iron. The volatile oils in parsley have been shown to inhibit formation of cancer tumors. As a great source of folic acid, one of the B vitamins, parsley inhibits high homocysteine levels that are associated with heart attack and stroke. Parsley is great for your kidneys, a pair of organs that receive very little attention or respect! 

The polyphenols in apples function as antioxidants, which help to unclog our arteries. The pectin in apples helps to lower LDL cholesterol. I always keep a bag of apples in my refrigerator to use with juicing. As they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Cocktail No. 2 – Mint Tea

15 leaves of fresh mint

2 cups of hot water

Stevia to taste

Put fresh mint from your garden in a teapot. Boil water and allow the tea to brew. Sweeten with stevia, a healthy herbal sweetener. 

Mint leaves are high in vitamin A, manganese and vitamin C. It is known to soothe the gastrointestinal system. The essential oils in mint are known to kill off bad bacteria, including Helicobacter pylori, which causes stomach ulcers, Salmonella enteritidis, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Stevia is an herbal sweetener that won’t cause cancer, disrupt your brain chemistry or raise your blood sugar.

I have had mint growing in my garden for some time. It smells good even in the garden!

Cocktail No. 3 – Virgin Mary

8 ounces of tomato juice

Juice of half a lemon

Juice of one garlic clove

Dash of Celtic sea salt

Stalk of celery for garnish

In a glass, pour 8 ounces of tomato juice. Squeeze in half a lemon. Take a garlic press and juice a clove of garlic from your garden. Season with Celtic sea salt and garnish with a stalk of celery. 

 I recently went to the grocery, bought a lot of organic garlic, and put the cloves in between the lettuce, spinach and celery growing in my garden as well as around the rose bushes to keep away pests that have been eating the leaves. Garlic is as good for your garden soil as it is for you! 

Garlic may improve your iron metabolism. Early research suggests that garlic may regulate the number of fat cells your body generates, which means that long term it will help you keep your weight under control.

Garlic is high in manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, selenium, calcium, tryptophan, phosphorous, vitamin B1 and copper.

Garlic boosts your immune system, lowers your cholesterol, strengthens your response to common allergies, thins your blood like aspirin does, reduces the incidence of the common cold, lowers your triglycerides, lowers your blood pressure, reduces your chance of heart attacks – and, what else? Makes you better looking? No, just kidding, but it will do almost everything important for your health except wash your floors and take out the garbage.

The pectin in lemons is great for your liver and lemon juice also has antibiotic and antioxidant effects.

My new garden section includes celery, which I am watering regularly. Celery is fantastic for flushing the kidneys and lowering blood pressure.