Basil

Today (friday Oct. 22) we went to Roseau (the capital of Dominica) to visit with Catherine who is the local herbal store owner. She showed us all of the different types of herbals and what they are used for. In her little shop she has a bunch of products such as bath salts, mud masks, cocoa butter, herbs, teas, etc. that she sells to the public. She also puts some of the herbs in a brown cardboard box to dry them out. While we were there she told us a bunch of different stories about some of the herbs that she feels really work for her and also help with certain illnesses. One herb in particular that I thought was very interesting was basil. In Dominica they use basil to help with fullness and flatulence. It is also used as a diuretic and helps with ear aches, colds, and joint pains. One of the things that I found interesting while learning about all of these herbs is that many of them are used for lots of different indications. We all have a book on the plants of southeast Dominica and this one in particular was not in the book which I found to be interesting. There are different herbs that are grown in different parts of the country and the ones that we all saw today seem to be different than the ones we have in our books. I just couldn't believe how something that seems so simple like basil can be used to help with all of those different things. Catherine seems to really strongly believe in using all of these herbs and it was so amazing to see how they are all used and how many people actually use them.