Medicinal Plants at home for kids

A well ventilated home is a basic necessity for decent living. It is of utmost importance to maintain a spic and span home. A garden is a refreshment place in every home where you can grow flowers, vegetables and grass. As we live in a fast world, taking care of only daily needs is an arduous task for us, we are least bothered about the healthy living. I would like to suggest a few medicinal plants which we must have in our homes.Let us look down to learning about some medicinal plants and the value of eating medicinal herbs.

Basil plant:
Basil leaf is nothing but Thulasi grown in a pot or on land. Basil is an herbal plant, the leaves and its water are used in perumal temple to give it to devotees. There are different types of Basil, such as Ramer, Krishna, Vana and Karpoor Basils. The variety is differentiated based on the smell, seed, shade and thickness of the leaf. There are some amazing benefits to consuming this herb. It helps kids sick with cold and cough, helps fight diabetes and improves digestion.

Country Borage Plant:
This plant is popularly known as Karpuravalli, most commonly found in every home garden. This leaf has a lot of medicinal value with a pungent taste. It is an herb used with less amount of water. Inhale the vapour of boiling karpuravalli leaves to remove chest congestion. You can also apply the juice on the chest to get relief. The paste of the leaf can be externally applied for scorpion and centipede bites.
Dish out of Karpulavalli:
Karpuravalli leaves – 10
Dosa batter – 5 cups
Make a thick paste with karpuravalli leaves and add it with dosa batter. The batter becomes light green. Coconut chutney goes well with this dosa. This variety dosai is perfect for chest colds to get relief.

Beetle Leaf:
The beetle leaf is one of the ancient herbs. It is a creeper which spreads all over the garden quickly through partial sunlight. Another best herbal relief for cold and chest congestion is mentioned below:
A small amount of the following items:
Basil leaf – handful
Karpuravalli – handful
Beetle leaf – 2
Wash the leaves put them in the mixie with a little water and strain them to get juice. Consumption of ¼ tumbler for 3 days on an empty stomach treats cold and strengthens digestive system.

Indian Pennyworth:
The Indian pennywort commonly known as Brahmi or Vallarai keerai is a powerful medicinal herb which is easily grown in our homes. The amazing benefits which we get from consuming this herb are:
It improves the memory of the children
Boosts our immune system
A fiber- rich vegetable that treats constipation and indigestion commonly faced issues for children.
It is a vegetable that contains anti- ageing prevents reducing the appearance of wrinkles.
Lowering the risk of heart, lungs and muscle cramps

Dishes commonly made out of vallarai keerai are:
Vallarai keerai soup
Valarai keerai chutney for idly and dosa
Valarai keerai dosa made out of normal dosa batter
Vallai keerai powder used for white rice
Plant the small herb in your garden and enjoy the benefits.

Mint, coriander and fenugreek plant:
Some of the common herbs are mint, coriander and fenugreek used in Indian cuisine. Preservation of such herbs for a week is not easy as it is tender and gets easily rotten. The most preferable material used to preserve these herbs are always silver containers.

Dishes made out of herbs sometimes annoy the kids. Natural preferences are only to junk food like noodles, pasta and pizza, as the advertisements are very catchy. Intake of herbal medicines is good at the same time, avoid overconsumption as it causes ulcers. Set a kitchen garden in your backyard for medicinal and non-medicinal plants which provides herbal medicines and food anytime. As parents, spending 15 minutes’ time in the garden gives so much value to your children.

About the author : Lakshmi Sakthi Alagappan lives in Thanjavur in Tamilnadu, India. She is an administrative officer at Blossom Public School. She is an administrative officer at Blossom Public School. She likes reading books, listening to music, and surfing.