Historic Travellers Rest Herb Garden

Historic Travellers Rest Herb Garden. . The herb garden both as pharmacy and kitchen cupboard was an ancient tradition brought to the colonies from Europe. The discovery and settlement of the New World brought an unknown and interesting assortment of herbs to Europe. In turn, "Old World" herbs were brought to America creating tremendous diversity in the American herb garden. In the early days of the United States, in an atmosphere of exploration and discovery, many Americana followed Thomas Jefferson's lead and experimented with exotic plants from foreign lands while also cultivating native species. Frontiersmen and settlers gained knowledge of local varieties from Native Americans continually furthering the understanding of herb lore. The historic herb garden at Travellers Rest seeks to represent what would have been grown and used here in the period before Judge Overton's death in 1833. The garden was a reflection of early America, the Young Republic, in it existed the wild and the cultivated, the native alongside the foreign, old world and new world, science combined with folklore. Use the guide below to discover more about the historic herb garden. , Medicinal herbs refer to any herb used in the treatment or prevention of a disease, symptom, or illness. Before modern medicine, the herb garden was your pharmacy. Recently, herbal remedies once thought of only as "old wives tales" have proven effective in treating certain illnesses. , Culinary herbs are used in the preparation of food. Sometimes they are used as a spice or spice substitute or as a flavoring. In addition, some herbs are eaten as a food or the leaves are made into a tea. Often times the use of an herb as medicine and as food are combined. For example, mint aids in digestion and helps soothe stomach ailments so it was often added to food or chewed at the end of a meal which is where we get the tradition of an after-dinner mint. , Bee-friendly herbs attract bees and other pollinators like butterflies and birds. Pollinators help over 80% of the world's flowering plants grow, thrive and reproduce. In historic times, bees were especially important since most homes maintained at least one bee hive for honey production. Today bees are endangered by pollution and loss of habitat. You can help bees and other pollinators by planting some historic bee-friendly herbs in your own garden or backyard. , Herbs contain oils known as "essential oils". These oils are usually stored in the leaves or flowers. The oils can be distilled from the plant and used to create fragrances. In nature, these oils are meant to either attract pollinators or to repel harmful insects. Not all essential oils are pleasing to the human sense of smell, but many like lavender have been used for thousands of years as perfume. , Before the invention of chemical dyes, people relied on plants to give color to cloth, paints and paper. While nature is full of beautiful colors, not every plant is used in creating natural dyes. Some plants were used for their color properties and others used to "set" the dyes. Almost any color could be created from natural dyes, but eventually synthetic dyes became more widely used because they didn't fade as quickly and required less labor to produce. , Household herbs were used in a variety of ways around the house for cleaning, disinfecting and pest control. Strewing herbs were scattered on the floors of dwellings or public places for fragrance, disinfecting and to repel insects. Dried herbs could be placed in sachets and kept in linen closets and chests to freshen clothing or bed linens and keep pests away.