All monasteries grew their own medicines. Excavations at Soutra on the Scottish borders have shown a wide variety of herbs - including opium poppies (which probably weren't grown on the site, preferring a warmer climate than the cold, wet borders). Soutra was an Augustinian foundation, and it treated all sorts of people and conditions. Merton's infirmary was large, and might have looked after more than the canons, but in any case, it would have needed a well-stocked infirmary garden. This was could have been in the infirmary cloister garth, with additional space elsewhere.
There's a detailed plan of the Abbey of St Gall from over 1000 years ago, and it shows both the physic garden and the vegetable garden. The monks grew sage, watercress, rue, cumin, iris, lovage, pennyroyal, fennel, climbing beans, pepperwort (cress), costmary, Greek hay (fenugreek), rosemary, mint, lily and rose. In the vegetable plot, they had onion, garlic, leek, shallots, celery, parsley, coriander, chervil, dill, lettuce, poppy, pepperwort, radish, parsnip, cabbage, chard and fennel - and more besides.
Excavations at Merton found all the grains one would expect - wheat, rye, barley, oat. In addition, archaeologists found hazel and walnuts, grapes, plums, apples, raspberries, blackberries, legumes of various sorts, and junipers. As for herbs, there were lots - from the ubiquitous stinging nettle (traditionally used for rheumatism) to the poisonous henbane (like opium, an anaesthetic/ pain-killer). One monastic garden had a special enclosed bed for its poisonous herbs, which was kept locked!
Archaeologists also found lots of black mustard seeds. Black mustard was used as an anti-inflammatory - a cure for back-ache, foot-ache, and lots more. Mint also grew abundantly - in fact, it was grown so much in the area that one of the best varieties of mint is called Mitcham Black Mint (Mentha X piperita).
Lots of herbs/ wild flowers have medicinal names, like woundwort, also found at Merton.
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