FARM to TUB

GROW HEALING HERBS FOR HANDMADE BATH ESSENTIALS.

- JODI HELMER

When the first bathtub was installed in an American home in 1842, it was reserved for brief plunges in cold water to relieve illnesses ranging from congestion to cholera. The idea of relaxing in a hot tub was not just uncommon, it was discouraged.

Bathing to cleanse the body didn't become popular until the 20th century. Now, bath products are a booming industry. You can buy products at supermarkets, specialty retailers, and craft and farmers markets, or you can make your own using healing herbs and pretty flowers growing in your garden.

"The idea of growing things [to use in all-natural bath products] is about more than making great products that are nontoxic," says Kris Bordessa, author of Attainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self-Reliant Living. "It's a fun thing to do to say you started growing these flowers and incorporated them into products."

Bordessa suggests using flowers that haven't been treated with synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, and forage in areas that haven't been sprayed or exposed to exhaust fumes on roadways.

If you want to grow the ingredients to use in bath and body products, add the following eight plants to your garden.

CALENDULA

The brightly colored flowers and long bloom times make calendula (Calendula officinalis) a popular garden annual. Different varieties of calendula, also known as pot marigold, produce single and double daisylike flowers in a range of hues from light yellow to deep orange.

Cultivated around the world for medicinal use, calendula is anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial. It's used to calm an upset stomach, alleviate heartburn and acid reflux, ease a sore throat and combat respiratory infections.