Personally I would suggest starting with the 'cooking' herbs. (Savory, thyme, dill, etcetera) They are usually easy plants to source as many grocery and plant/garden stores will carry seed packs. They are inexpensive and plentiful, they (mostly) grow easily as well... after all most of them are wildflowers and 'weeds'.
This makes them not only good practice, but also safe to use considering they are at a culinary level. Which also makes them very versatile as they can be used magically and to make tasty foods. (Perhaps also helping you keep your practice more easily incognito if you are concerned about such things).
Sage! Every house should have a sage plant. They are safe if your feline or canine friends should get into them. Lavender and Rosemary starters can often be purchased in the late spring and early summer also. If you are not worried about pets, mugwort is another good one.
I like to go to my local markets this time of year and see what starter plants they have.
I recommend thyme, rosemary, lavender, calendula, basil, parsley, dill, oregano, mint, winter and summer savoury, sage, and lemon balm. You can cook with all of these or use them for teas. However, remember that mint, lemon balm, and most oreganos are invasive in some places, and you cannot grow them in the same pot as the rest. Mint, in particular, will take over gardens if you place it in the ground directly. We use the lemon balm to treat minor anxiety. They are easy to grow, and most pests do not bother them. Pollinators like all these herbs repel other pests and keep your other plants safer. Most of them either self-seed or spread through underground runners. I propagate rosemary through store-bought sprigs for cooking as they root in the water easily. Winter and summer savoury are very popular in Slavic cuisine, but surprisingly, the rest of the world is unaware of these herbs. The only downside of growing these is that they are not winter-hardy in most zones. Any frost will kill them as it would kill basil. They taste similar to thyme but not exactly the same.
Actually, I really don’t understand herbalism, but I want to ask something. Every plant has a certain frequency/energy, right? When they surround a house, the people living there get the plant’s energy. But that’s when the plant is alive, with living cells. What happens to the energy when the plant is cooked and its cells die?
Especially if it’s cooked for a long time, like half an hour or too much processed food, Is it different if it’s only half-cooked? From a health perspective, cooking for a long time definitely reduces nutrients, but what about from the perspective of herbalism and magic?
