Natural pain relief is as close as your garden

Busy schedules, over-indulging, and strenuous summer activities can lead to sore muscles, indigestion and headaches. When searching for pain relief, look no further than your own garden or your local farmer’s market. These five foods fresh from the garden – or pot – are packed with super painrelieving and anti-inflammatory power.

Mint

Infuse mint into your tea or ice water to refresh and rejuvenate, so you’re ready for more summer fun. Mint also helps relieve headaches and general aches and pain. Grow this vigorous perennial herb in a container so it won’t overtake your other plants. Then at the end of the season, root a few cuttings to start new plants to grow indoors. All you need is a sunny window, quality potting mix and regular watering.

Hot Peppers

Capsaicin, the spicy element in chili, jalapeno, habanero and cayenne peppers, is a great pain-fighting tool and is often used in topical creams to help treat backaches, arthritis and muscle pain. Hot peppers are ready to harvest when they are fully colored. Ask friends to share their harvest or purchase hot peppers at your local farmer’s market if your garden is lacking this plant. Be sure to purchase extra hot peppers to dry and enjoy year-round. Then add these tasty and painrelieving plants to your garden next summer. Plant them after the soil and air warm, at the same time you plant sweet peppers and tomatoes.

Cherries

Manage muscle pain and inflammation with sour cherries. They are loaded with disease fighting chemicals and antioxidants. Plus, they help fight inflammation and relieve pain. Purchase plenty of cherries to juice, dry and preserve so you can enjoy their health benefits all year long. And consider planting a sour cherry tree in your backyard. Montmorency is the most popular sour cherry tree, needing only 700 hours of air temperatures between 34 and 45 degrees to initiate flowering for fruit development. New hardier dwarf introductions from the University of Saskatchewan can be grown in colder regions including zone 2. Although it takes several years for cherry plants to start producing fruit, you’ll enjoy watching your tree grow into maturity and bear its first crop. Just make sure to cover the plants with netting so the birds don’t eat your harvest.

Ginger

Grow ginger in a pot outdoors or sunny window along side your other indoor plants.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Sage leaves are effective in easing sore throat pain.