Self reliance and sustainable gardening can only really be complete if you grow your own herbal first aid kit and its surprisingly easy as many of these plants are not only easy to grow, they're even a little weedy. Since Ancient Greece healers have identified plants that look like aspects of the illnesses they needed to treat, a concept called "the doctrine of signatures," which I've always assumed meant that God or whoever had "signed" the plant with identifying marks to lead the healer to it in a time of need. My favourite example of this is Pulmonaria, commonly called "Lungwort," because the spots on the leaves supposedly indicate an ability to cure ailments of the lungs. I think it was Paraclesus who most famously said that God would never create an illness or disease without giving us the cure at hand. The challenge is attending carefully enough to identify the clues.

In recent months of studying at a course I'm taking in Vancouver, I've discovered whole new, deeper levels of looking at plants for "signatures" which include their habits of growth and root systems, as well as what is apparent from their leaves. The plants here are for the most part good for external applications and teas but those interested in the healing properties of plants will find that even the most poisonous of plants are useful if one knows how to use them. I love books on herbs, both old and new. Some good places to start your own study are the Martyn and Rix compendium of herbs, the bi-monthly magazine The Herb Companion and, for local herbs used by First Nations healers, Plants of Coastal British Columbia by Pojar and MacKinnon, with ethno-botanical information collected in no other single place that I know of.

Healing plants can be used in several ways. Herbal teas are the method we're most familiar with, although most people don't think of drinking them as ingesting something of medicinal value. Poultices are the next easiest method - simply heating up the plant's leaves and applying it externally to bruises, scrapes, rashes, etc.. One can also make massage oils by heating oil and the medicinal part of the plant (simply leave it in the sun on a hot day) until the plant's qualities have infused through the oil. Use good olive, almond or some other nice oil to begin with. If you'd like a thicker, creamier oil heat it on the stove and add a tablespoon of cocoa butter and 1/4 ounce of beeswax for every cup of oil. These will keep in the fridge for several months and lends itself well to aromatherapy practises and treatments for chronic ailments. Tinctures are herbal extracts, usually taken by drops. Bach flower remedies and other related remedies are based on the idea that the spirit of the plant is infused into an inert liquid (these can also be made of non-herbal materials). The liquid is set beside the plant and the plant is asked to infuse it with its energy. While there are flower remedies for first aid treatment these are usually used to treat ailments of the spirit and mind. Homeopathic remedies are similar. Whole plants or parts of plants are used to make a mother tincture that is then succussed and potentised repeatedly until the liquid used no longer has any trace of the plant matter but is full of the energy of the plant.

Is it all sounding a little far fetched? Medicinal herbs have a long tradition of healing in every culture on earth and in many places are still turned to as the first course of treatment. Here are some plants with practical, everyday applications which you will find handy to have in your garden for first-aid uses.

Chamomile makes a good front of the border plant or a groundcover in a dry area. The flowers can be used fresh or dried to make a tea when insomnia is a problem. If you don't have insomnia right now, try to use a variety of other teas for everyday drinking so that when you need to sleep the chamomile will be effective.

Arnica is useful for bruises and after over-exertion. Use the whole plant, washed roots, leaves and flowers to make a tea or make a tincture by mixing them with alchohol. Apply to the affected area. Don't use it on open wounds as it is poisonous. Arnica is also available as a homeopathic remedy and is very useful for people and animals who have suffered some mental or physical shock.

Don't take Artemesia internally but do grow some of the herbal scented forms of 'Lad's Love' in the garden to use as closet and drawer fresheners. They will keep spiders and bugs out of your cupboards and you won't have to think of turning to chemical pesticides.

Alchemilla mollis, the Alchemist's plant, is a beautiful thing under old roses or in the perennial border. If you've been scratched up blackberrying or have some other sort of rash you can make a poultice of their leaves for nearly instantaneous relief. Gather the leaves, put them between two peices of cotton (tea towels is what I use) and heat gently with an iron. Apply the warm leaves to the infected part.

Rosemary has been something of a trial for me to overwinter up here on the bluff so I find myself buying plants each year. A small sprig added to the bath when you're feeling over-taxed is very refreshing and can enable you to go on to do whatever is next on the list.

Lavender oil is a good all-purpose healer in first aid situations. For shock, give it a sniff. For bruises, rub it on. Make your own lavender oil by solar heating a mixture of good oil and lavender buds or blossoms. I find this much more refreshing and easy to deal with than the essential oil of lavender usually available in herbal shops and it lasts several months.

Calendula flowers can be made into a tea then strained and cooled down to apply to wounds. It will encourage healing and keep the wound from becoming inflamed. Calendula is also available as a cream and is very useful for sunburns, scrapes, cuts, etc. To make your own cream infuse oil with calendula blossoms then add double the beeswax and cocoa butter suggested above.

Stachys byzantina, Lamb's Ears, used to be called Wound-wort by the Roman soldiers who brought it to all the countries they conquered. While it was found then to be particularly good for wounds made by spears, it's uses today are, hopefully, less urgent. The wooly leaves make a good band-aid when you've cut yourself in the garden, sopping up blood and encouraging clotting. Pick them fresh and press them on the affected part until bleeding stops. Here on the coast you don't need to worry about drying the leaves as they are nearly evergreen.

Sempervivum, or Hens and chicks, has a variety of uses ranging from healing wounds to keeping lightning from striking your roof. For the former, break off a good sized leaf and apply the jelly inside to burns, cuts or scrapes. Its action is very like that of Aloe vera. For the latter, establish a colony of Sempervivum on your roof and hope for the best.