Migraines are easier to avoid than to treat after the fact. Until I understood what my triggers are I had them many times a year. My triggers are missing breakfast, pork (I can eat a bit of bacon), red wine (DH's home brew is OK), undue stress (learn to let go or meditate), lack of caffeine in the am, dehydration, certain smells such as diesel fumes and perfumes (I can use essential oils). I like coffee so always have a couple of cups in the am. I have also found that green tea works but I like coffee better. I'm sure other's triggers will be different but if they can be identified and avoided it certainly is easier than trying to live with migraines. I found a simple solution which works almost all the time. At the first sign of a headache, which for me is an aura, sip a glass of water with 1/2 teaspoon soda bicarb added. Repeat if ineffective. Avoided hours of pain for me once I discovered this. I seldom get an aura altho will get one when I can't avoid diesel or heavy perfume on someone else.

I knew this would be a prickly one. When the topic of "what is an herb" has come up in the past, there has never been an agreement on what it is with regards to this forum. Some say "herbs" are only culinary herbs. Others have a more broader definition. I personally fall into the wider definition category. For the forum definition I see us only having 2 options - a very restrictive definition (e.g. culinary herbs) or broader and more expansive definition. Perhaps it might help to see how the Herb Society of America defines an herb. A couple more specific comments..... 1. We can not use a "botanical" definition of "herb." Botanically speaking, an herb is a non-woody plant. So no discussions about sage, rosemary, thyme, roses, or any other woody plant. To my knowledge there is no other "botanical perspective" of what an herb is. 2. Sorry, Daisy. Just forgot the "cosmetic" herbs. And I too find much value in Hippocrates' philosophy of food as medicine. I practice it often. 3. Overlap....yes. There is overlap between Herbs and other forums. That is the nature of gardening forums. A rose, for example, could be talked about here or a variety of other forums including the rose forums, perennial, cottage gardens, edible, native plants (some), cutting garden and many others. It doesn't mean it is wrong or shouldn't be talked about in any of those. But a person wanting to know more specific details about growing roses or specific rose varieties may wish to visit one of the rose specific forums for the best information. There are experts on those topics there. But general rose discussions or specific discussions about which varieties produce the best hips for tea or even how to harvest those hips would be very well placed here. I have some other general FAQ's in process but I'm looking to get one done before really starting another. One of those is about the difference between the Herbs and Herbalism forums. If it clarifies anything now, I'll share where that one is headed. The difference in the forums is in their focus. We focus on growing herbs of all sorts with some usage information in addition. The Herbalism forum is about medicinal herbs, specifically the usage of them, how to prepare them for use (tinctures, etc.), medical studies about their usage and efficacy, and educational resources to learn more about them and their usage. If cutting to the chase....it's growing versus using plus our area of subject matter is wider. 4. Oak? Herb. Willow? Herb. Trees as well? Sure enough, but that doesn't stop them from being herbs and topics for discussion here. The book Native American Ethnobotany by Moerman lists over 40 distinct oak species that were used by the Native Americans for all manner of uses from food to toys to basketry to medicine and more. Willow also has 40 or so listings with many varied uses. Will most people come here for info on oaks or willows? No. They'll probably head over to the Trees forum - it's a good forum too. But if they are looking for good varieties to grow for a particular herbal use or maybe questions about how to encourage willow to produce more branches for harvesting bark from, we're the forum for that and we should not discourage that discussion. FataMorgana

First off, lemon verbena won't survive zone 6 winters, so planting it in a pot is a good idea in case you want to bring it inside to overwinter. Thyme, as with sage, seems to survive anything and its growth habit depends on the type you bought. Do you have the cultivar name? Oregano generally survives my zone 6 winters, but seems to decline with old age. Mine needs replacing every 3 years or so. Also, its growth habit depends on the cultivar, but I would say in general it isn't too invasive to grow with pole beans, but you might not want to plant it with bush beans for two reasons: it probably wouldn't get the sun it needs and it might make it difficult to harvest the bush beans and also might overcompete with the beans a bit. I have grown herbs just about everywhere in my gardens but I seem to be happiest with them in 12 inch pots on my porches and deck. They are handier to harvest and you'll use them more and tend to take better care of them. That and bringing them in to overwinter, which can be done in an unheated garage for the most part. Don't give your herbs too rich a soil, deprive them a little of water and attention and they will do fine. There's some more people on this forum who'll be along in a little with more 'sage' advice for you, I'm sure. Marcy

Hey Songbird, I found a great resource online a few years ago for seed starting. Some seeds need darkness to sprout (like when they're buried in the ground) and some need light (like they're laying on top of the ground). Some need warmth and some need coolness. So I found several websites that had copied a document Thompson and Morgan used to print, with a long table of plant species and what their light and temp requirements are. One version of it is at the link below. Also, I started sprouting my seeds by putting them between two moist paper towels and sealing them in a ziploc bag. Sometimes they sprout overnight this way! But of course, some take longer. If they need warmth, I pile several ziplocs on top of a heating pad (usually set on low, but put a thermometer on it to make sure it doesn't get too hot!). If they need dark, I put them in a drawer. You have to watch them every day, because if they sprout fast and you don't plant them right away, their little roots can start to penetrate the paper towels and will break when you pull them out (that doesn't necessarily kill them -- depends on how much broke off). Actually, I have a long post on this at my personal garden blog. It has photos, too. Here is a link that might be useful: Seed sprouting lists