Medicinal Plants of Jamaica With AA Home Gardening

🌿 Discover Jamaican Medicinal Plants You Can Grow Anywhere

From cayenne pepper and Scotch bonnet to thyme, scallion, ginger, turmeric, and lemongrass—Jamaican herbs are more than flavor, they’re medicine. In this interview with Ann-Marie from AA Home Gardening, we talk about traditional Jamaican herbs, how to grow them in containers (even in cooler climates), and the powerful ways they’re used for both food and healing.

A Conversation with AA Home Gardening

► Time Stamps

• 0:00 Introduction

• 2:20 Tips for Beginners

• 4:30 Finding Jamaican Ingredients in Stores

• 5:49 Peppers: Cayenne & Scotch Bonnet

• 8:10 Thyme & Scallion

• 11:00 Cuban Oregano & Mexican Mint

• 12:50 Ginger

• 17:05 Garlic

• 18:05 Growing Tropical Plants in Containers

• 22:18 Lemongrass

• 24:25 Turmeric

Introduction

Her Healthy Home: Good afternoon everyone, and welcome. I am here with AA Home Gardening and we're going to be talking about traditional medicinal plants of Jamaica. If you haven't heard about her channel, I'm going to give her a little time to talk about her channel—how it came about, her inspiration, and what we can find there.

Guest (AA Home Gardening): Thank you so much for the invitation. I'm Ann-Marie from AA Home Gardening, and my inspiration to start YouTube actually came from my eldest son. I’ve always loved gardening, but I don’t like social media. He was the one who encouraged me to start YouTube to share that love of gardening with others.

As a Jamaican in the UK, I try to grow tropical Jamaican crops—yam, sugar cane, and all the herbs—so that I can go straight from my garden to my kitchen. That’s how this channel was born.

Growing in the UK

Her Healthy Home: What growing zone are you in now?

Guest: Equivalent to the US, it’s 8B.

Her Healthy Home: What plants do well there, and which ones don’t?

Guest: Traditional brassicas like cabbages and kale grow well. But summer in the UK isn’t guaranteed. Some years we get enough warmth for sweet corn, potatoes, or even sweet potatoes. Other years, not at all. That’s why I often use a greenhouse or polytunnel. Anything in the brassica family does super well, but tropical plants take more effort.

Tips for Beginners

Her Healthy Home: What tips would you give beginner gardeners who want to grow tropical plants?

Guest: Start with just one plant—the one you love most. For me, it was sugar cane. Tropical plants need containers so you can move them indoors for winter. Be patient and expect some failures.

The first time I grew sugar cane, it died in winter. I had to research and learned to switch from plastic pots to terracotta, which holds heat better. I also learned guinep takes weeks to germinate in the UK compared to days in Jamaica. Patience is the key.

Finding Jamaican Ingredients

Her Healthy Home: Do you have a hard time finding Jamaican ingredients in the UK?

Guest: It depends on where you are. In London, you’ll find Caribbean stores and supermarkets that carry the produce. Further north, it’s harder. Sometimes there’s only a single shelf of “ethnic” food, and it might be empty midweek. That’s why I prefer to grow my own when possible.

Peppers: Cayenne & Scotch Bonnet

Guest: This is a traditional cayenne pepper. It’s smaller than what most people see. In Jamaica, though, scotch bonnet pepper is the star. It’s in everything—rice and peas, red peas soup, curry goat, jerk chicken. Jamaicans love heat, and pepper is part of our food identity.

I grow cayenne more often because it has extra health benefits. It helps the digestive system, supports pain relief, and seasons food beautifully. You can boil the whole pepper in soup to release its flavor without too much heat from the seeds.

Scotch bonnet hits with immediate heat. Cayenne creeps up on you. Both are essential in their own way.

Thyme & Scallion

Guest: Scallion (spring onion) and thyme go hand in hand in Jamaican cooking. When I moved to the UK, I couldn’t find scallion because I only knew it as “escallion.” It’s used for frying fish, making rice and peas, and almost every dish. You cut the root, wash it, crush it, and let it brown in oil for flavor before adding your main ingredients.

Thyme is both seasoning and medicine. It can ease headaches, support digestion, and even relieve constipation when brewed as tea.

Cuban Oregano & Mexican Mint

Guest: Cuban oregano, also called broadleaf mint, has thick, cactus-like leaves with a strong aroma. Traditionally, we add it to soups and stews, but it makes an excellent tea as well. My boys love it.

Mexican mint is another variety, also used for headaches. It’s an ingredient in sauces and has a very pleasant flavor.

Ginger

Guest: Everyone loves ginger. It’s a must-have in the kitchen. Fresh ginger tea helps with nausea, colds, and flu. It’s also key for flavor—like salt, it makes everything better.

To grow ginger, let a store-bought root sprout, then plant it. While waiting for the rhizome to develop, you can still use the greens for teas. Be mindful that much of the ginger sold in stores has little aroma, so growing your own is better.

Garlic

Guest: Garlic is a natural immune booster. You can drink garlic tea with honey, or combine it with turmeric and ginger for a powerful tonic.

In Jamaica, we trick garlic into sprouting by storing it in the fridge, then planting it in the garden. Despite the hot climate, we still grow it because it’s so essential.

Growing in Containers

Her Healthy Home: Why do you grow so many plants in containers?

Guest: For tropical plants, I don’t have a choice. I have to move them indoors during winter. It’s not ideal—containers limit space, and indoor environments can be too humid or dry—but it’s necessary for plants like sugar cane, yam, dasheen, and coco.

I also use polytunnels or even black bin liners to protect against late frosts. For seasonal plants, smaller containers work. For perennials like sugar cane, I use 15-gallon pots.

Lemongrass

Guest: Lemongrass looks like sugar cane and smells refreshing. It flavors stir-fries and makes a delicious tea. It’s also a natural mosquito repellent—perfect for planting around the home. Medicinally, it helps with pain, swelling, and blood pressure regulation.

Turmeric

Guest: Turmeric is like ginger but with broader leaves. In Jamaica, we use the fresh root rather than powdered spice. It’s excellent for inflammation, digestive health, and adding color to foods like patties and stews.

Fresh turmeric is always stronger than the powdered version. I grow my own so I can harvest as needed.

Closing

Her Healthy Home: Thank you so much for sharing your expertise and showing us how to use these plants the right way—from grinding seasonings to brewing teas.

Guest (AA Home Gardening): It’s been a joy. I hope more people see that these herbs are not just for flavor, but for medicine and tradition.