Skullcap – Mint – Sage – Mugwort – Rosemary – Basil – Roses – Chamomile – Thyme – Parsley – Making Your Own Blend
Making the most of the garden you have at home is a priority to us, and we feel like it would be for most people who put down time and energy to care for theirs. Below are some of the most common and best herbs you could smoke instead of marijuania.
They are all legal and perfectly fine to smoke, they even offer their own smell and flavor depending on the variety. The best part is that they don’t contain nicotine which makes them addictive. They are also non-hallucinogenic which might be one of the reasons they haven’t gained as much popularity just yet.
These varieties are able to be mixed with each other to produce some really smooth and flavorful cigarettes. They are also able to be found online for the most part. But if you are growing your own, then it’s as simple as harvesting and carefully drying them before rolling up a joint of herbs to smoke.
Skullcap
Skullcap might not be the most common plant to have in the garden at home, but it is a great variety to use for smoking. It’s easy to care for and also easy to start harvesting from.
Smoking Qualities
When smoked it will have a slight calming and anxiety reducing effect to it. The flavor might be a bit bland so mixing this one with other herbs is a great way to get the most from it. Expect a medium smoke that won’t leave you with a bad breath or a smelly room.
How To Grow Skullcap
Best way of propagating this plant is indoors during the spring by planting the seeds in rows. Outdoors in the garden you will quickly learn that it’s a perennial that can spread pretty fast. Try and find a slightly shady area for the plant to grow in but also ensure that the soil is rich in nutrients and well draining too.
Mint
Mint is a pretty new herb to start smoking. It doesn’t really have the same history as a lot of other ones. Menthol cigarettes are something that have been developed in recent decades and seem to be sticking around.
Smoking Qualities
When you are lighting up a menthol cigarette filled with mint you can expect to have a very refreshing taste and aroma with it. It will last you some time as mint is pretty slow burning. Depending on the variety of mint you are using you can have flavors all from pepper to chocolate even. The options are really endless with this one.
How To Grow Mint
Mint is a really easy plant to start growing at home since it’s very little work maintaining or caring for the plant. The mint family is known to be pretty hardy and can withstand periods without a lot of water. Try and find a partially shaded area to grow the mint. Fertilize the soil rather frequently to keep the growth nice and steady. Growing it in a pot will make it very easy for you to move it around as well.
Mint Varieties
Some of our favorites in the mint family are the spearmint and chocolate mint. But if you are looking for something a bit more peppery then peppermint is the perfect option. Something a bit less harsh then you could try out watermint.
Sage
Sage is perhaps the plant that has the most history sourdonig its use for smoking. It’s pretty well known that in South and North America this plant was widely used to burn and smoke for spiritual rituals and ceremonies. The strong aroma that came from the plant is most likely why it saw such a great use.
Smoking Qualities
The aroma and flavor of smoking sage can be rather strong. This is also the family where there are some psychoactive plants used for smoking. Salvia divinorum being the variety which was used for getting high. It is however very hard to find that variety these days though.
How To Grow Sage
Growing sage is pretty easy. The family of sage is well known to be able to grow in some of the more harsh and difficult environments. The plant can handle periods without water very well. Growing the plant from a seed you should try and find a very sunny and well draining area. Make sure you are watering the plant regularly however to ensure its growing the right way.
Sage Varieties
There are quite a few sage varieties out there like we mentioned, around 900 to be exact. The most common one being white sage. The psychoactive variety however is called salvia divinorum, and there seems to be only one of them in the family.
Mugwort
Mugwort might be one of the oldest herbs that were used for smoking. The plant is known to have been used to active and provide vivid dreams to the user. While awake the plant was also able to give off a slight psychoactive effect too.
Smoking Qualities
It’s a very light aroma that comes forth when you smoke mugwort. It’s really the opposite to smoking mint or sage for example. But the flavor is pretty sweet with the mugwort, which might be one of the draws to smoking this plant.
How To Grow Mugwort
Growing mugwort is really no hard task. The plant is a perennial that will quickly take hold of wherever it is cultivated. Just make sure the area is rather rich in sunlight and has a well draining soil. It’s possible to grow it from a seed, but to skip some steps it’s way easier to just buy a potted plant instead. Cutting and harvesting the stems during the fall is a great way of halting any aggressive spread the plant might otherwise have.
Rosemary
Rosemary is one of the most widely used culinary herbs we have, but it is also a great option for smoking. It doesn’t have the same history for smoking as some of the other herbs we have discussed. It was for long cultivated in the Mediterranean, where it is still very popular.
Smoking Qualities
Smoking rosemary will provide you with a pretty intense citrusy aroma. The herb is very rich in natural oils that get activated or more noticeable when ignited. To have the best possible flavor you should only use the leaves, as the stem can bring a slight bitter flavor otherwise.
How To Grow Rosemary
Growing rosemary might be something a lot of people want to get into. It’s really not that difficult as the plant can handle really difficult climates. Growing it indoors you just need to find a very sunny window where it can enjoy a relatively dry soil too. This will produce a very fragrant plant. Harvesting the leaves during the fall and then drying will help you keep a storage to later on be smoked.
Basil
Smoking basil is also one of those new things that are trying to get a hold but can’t quite do it. Basil is a very common culinary herb that a lot of people are growing at home in their kitchen, but it mostly sees its use in culinary endeavors.
Smoking Qualities
Basil has a slight sweet flavor to it once being smoked. It doesn’t have the same intses perfume it has when raw. As for smoking the plant, a slot of people are reporting they feel more calm and less anxious when smoking basil.
How To Grow Basil
Basil might be one of the easiest herbs to grow at home. It requires water about 2 – 3 times a week during the summer if you are keeping it indoors. Find a sunny window and place the plant there. You will quickly see that once you start picking some of the leaves, it won’t take long until new ones grow out again. Dry the leaves before smoking them to have a more intense and pleasant flavor.
Roses
Smoking roses has actually been done for many centuries. It’s an old tradition to smoke to cleanse rooms from bad spirits. Not a very common practice anymore perhaps, but there is something to take away from this.
Smoking Qualities
Once you ignite roses they will give off a pretty aromatic and intense aroma. It will quickly fill the room. Most people smoking roses are doing so to feel more relaxed and easy minded. But it’s also great to smoke before going to bed as it will make you more sleepy too.
How To Grow Roses
It’s honestly not that common to grow roses at home. The time consumption of growing them and keeping them is pretty high. Instead of growing from a seed then the best idea would be to buy a potted plant and then transplanting it. Find a relatively sunny and well drainage area for the rose plant. This will produce aromatic and beautiful rose flowers.
Chamomile
Chamomile might actually be one of the most common herbs to smoke. It’s long been used for making tea and gives you a relaxing and calming feeling. The flavor is often described like this as sweet and almost fruity.
Smoking Qualities
Once smoked instead the chamomile will instead start showing off more aromatic notes. A closet variety by the name of pineapple weed gives you a hint of the fruitiness that you can experience when smoking chamomile. For the best flavor when smoking you should try and restrain yourself to only the small flower buds. This is where the flavor is located.
How To Grow Chamomile
Chamomile is a pretty easy perennial plant to keep at home on a balcony or in a garden. The plant will need a partially shaded area and soil that is well draining. You won’t have to worry that much about watering the plant all the time. It’s a very hardy variety that seems to have an even more intense flavor when left to dry a little bit.
Thyme
Thyme is a very common culinary herb that might be a great option to start smoking. The plant offers very pleasant aromas when used in cooking. But does something shift when you instead try and smoke the plant.
Smoking Qualities
Smoking thyme will give a pretty intense aroma that surrounds you. There are a lot of natural oils in the thyme that get activated when heated and especially when ignited. If you manage to only pick and use the thyme leaves then you will also get a more pronounced sweetness when smoked.
How To Grow Thyme
Thyme is a very easy to grow herb at home. It will often grow better if left to its own devices. The plant doesn’t need a lot of pruning and uplifting. Instead just ensure the plant gets about 6 hours light each day and the soil isn’t drying out too much for too long. Watering about once a week is often enough, even during the summer. Harvest as you go and dry the sprigs before rolling joints with them.
Parsley
Parsley is one of those herbs that so many people love, but its use seems to be limited to just cooking. Well we are here to change that. The herb actually changes quite a bit when dried instead and used for smoking.
Smoking Qualities
Parsley doesn’t have the same savory flavor one dried instead. The herb sort of changes to a more sweeter profile. This then shows when smoking the herb too. The reason we often say that dried leaves are the best to smoke is that you get rid of the bitterness fresh leaves have. The length of the cigarettes will also be longer.
How To Grow Parsley
Growing parsley is really easy. Just like with basil, the more you start taking from the plant the more leaves you will see starting to grow out. Try and find a very sunny, well draining spot to grow your parsley. Fertilizing the soil every now and again will help boost the strength of the plant, but also the amount you can harvest.
Making Your Own Herbal Smoking Blends
If you wish to make your own herbal cigarettes then you need to get your hands on some dried leaves. If you are growing any of the plants above here then you can harvest sprigs from them.
Separate the leaves and then slowly dry them either outside or in the oven. This will help maintain the flavor and aroma of them. Lightly crush them to make it easier to roll them into a joint. This is where the magic happens as you can make your own favorite mixes, sage and oregano for example or basil and lavender.
General Guidelines
- Mullein is the best possible base for making herbal blends. The plant offers a mild taste and should make up about 50 % of the mixture.
- This is when you add body to your blend. Mugwort is a pretty heavy herb that offers body and whight to the cigarette.
- The last 10 – 15 % of the blend should be the flavoring, like sage or lavender for example.
- If you feel the blend is too harsh then you can add some water to the mixture to dull it slightly.
Sage is one of the best herbs to use for flavoring as it has a lot of strength and aroma to it. Here you can experiment a little bit with different varieties, either black sage, white sage or even pineapple sage.
Additional Information
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