One of my favorites – Juliette de Bairacli Levy, died on May 28, 2009. I just discovered this morning. Her DVD, Juliette of the Herbs is my favorite DVD.
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I had a question from a reader (thanks, Diane!) about what book I would recommend for anyone just beginning to learn about using herbs. Over the years I have amassed quite a nice collection of books on herbs and herbal medicine. Some were purchased new, some used; some were gifts.
These books provide me with a wealth of information about growing and harvesting herbs, as well as making simple medicines and homemade gifts from herbs. I refer to all of them frequently. This large stack does not include my gardening, recipe and health books, in which some herbal information would be repeated. Hmmm, a book recommendation. My favorite, favorite “beginner” book, hands-down, from my favorite herbalist (I would love to meet her in person) is Rosemary Gladstar’s Family Herbal: A Guide to Living Life with Energy, Health, and Vitality
My garden salad yesterday. I must admit that all the lettuce did not come from my garden. There are pests creatures in my garden eating more of the lettuce than I am. I am in the process of finding creative, organic ways to catch the culprits. In the meantime, the bronze fennel, mustard greens, arugula, garlic chives and calendula did come from my garden.
If you are really serious about learning about herbs, there may be herbalists local to you who offer plant walks, herb classes or even apprenticeships. I was lucky enough to do a brief apprenticeship under an amazing local herbalist a couple of years ago. I hope to go back to that at some point in the future. Have a lovely Wednesay. Marqueta, I’ll quit wishing everyone a Happy Winds-day. Your state seems to take it to heart! Lynn Over the weekend I gardened. To the point of exhaustion. I was so tired I left all my seeds outside in the pretty McCoy planter I keep them in. It rained. At least the seeds are presoaked, but they now must ALL be planted. I’ve been planting all morning. Corn. Okra. Squash. Ornamental flowers. Basil. Rosemary. And the list goes on. And I’m not done yet. I was hoping to better plan how these seeds were placed, but rained-on seeds lead to hasty planting. You know what was really fun? The squash, okra, and corn packets were so wet that the paper tore and the seeds were all mixed together in the bottom of the container. Guess what I did? If you said, Lynn, did you plant them all together in one big bed??, right answer!! We’ll just have to see how that bed turns out!
On the bright side, it feels so good today to be in touch with the plants. Last night I went to a local co-op grocery store and just took in the scents and sights. I looked at many herbal products. I restocked my medicine pantry with some things I was out of — eucalyptus oil, lavender essential oil, grapeseed oil (wonderful for massage), and pain heal salve and some wonderfully scented aromatherapy spray both made by Herb-Planet. (Frances, it smells heavenly!) Right now I am about to take a walk to gather honeysuckle to make a cold infusion. I’ll also make a warm infusion with other herbs for sipping on this afternoon while we read Hamlet. (We should finish up tomorrow!) A big salad from the garden will be lunch.
Little Basil (our newest bunny) accompanied me into the garden today while I worked. I can hardly get enough of springtime birds, flowers and earth. Don’t you just love this time of year? Lynn Today is a work day for me, but I got up early this morning and went out for a quick shopping trip, stopping by the farmer’s market before coming home.
I bought two German Johnson heirloom tomato plants and two cherry tomato plants. I also got a little pot of marjoram and a little cardinal (or hummingbird) vine.
A tiny little spider sits on a dandelion stem.
A tiny little green bug lands on my jumper.
This wild grape has never produced, though every year it looks like it will. This plant is a volunteer and I believe it’s a situation of either a female plant needing a male or vice versa. I don’t know enough about grapes to know which situation it is, but we keep thinking we’ll figure it out, and in the meantime we let this pretty plant grow.
Pretty spider in a web that sparkles in the morning sun.
The lavender thinks about blooming.
My Van Houtte spirea is huge and covered in white blooms this year.
I wander outside of the garden’s border to admire broadleaf plantain, Plantago major, one of my favorite herbs. It’s a native of Europe and was called white man’s footprint by Native Americans because the white man seemed to leave it behind everywhere he’d been. It’s been used as a nice, antibacterial dressing for wounds in the field. It has mucilaginous properties. I like to use the leaves in my infusions to help with bronchitis, cough, or just any kind of sinus or nasal congestion. The seeds have a laxative effects and it is a relative of the type of plantain that provides the psyllium in store-bought laxative preparations. Just check out the ingredient label next time you buy something like Metamucil. Have a beautiful Saturday. I’m off to type, cup of Bengal Spice tea in hand. The pump in the goldfish pond is running so that I can look out my office window and see flowing water and a bit of the garden. Lynn Dandelion leaves, lemon balm, violets, nettles, red clover, and a touch of lavender.
A bit of boiling hot water, steep, and enjoy a cup on this cool day. It’s the first infusion of the year from fresh herbs from the yard. Lynn It’s pretty here today! A bit windy. Sunny. Fallish.
It’s a good afternoon to cut some seed pods for drying for winter arrangements. The garlic chives have really amazing blooms for this.
Three bunches are hanging up to dry now. I’m sure you’ll see them again later.
But wait there’s more stuff outside! I love the scarlet sage and it is getting so beautiful. This fiery red really stands out in the garden.
Clara Curtis Mums. Again. Bear with me. I love them. I can see myself in a Scooby Doo van with these painted all over the sides. Can you see me there?
This little spider almost landed on top of my head. He flew out across the path on this strand of web and made his safe landing on the leaf just before I passed through. I don’t know which of us is more relieved.
Yes, I’d say this rose is bright.
And this rosebud is pretty.
Since Oreo was all under my feet, I figured she wanted her picture taken but she wouldn’t look at the camera. I had to pull her in really close and say, Oreo, look at the camera and you’ll get to be on my blog.
She might be thinking about my blog. But she might not. The latter would be more likely. Don’t you think? Lynn There’s a calm in my heart today. I’m not going anywhere, intent (and content) on staying home and just being. I am harvesting sage today.
The sage stands bright and stately in the sunshine. There is an old saying, going all the way back to when Romans ruled the world: “Why should a man die when he has sage in his garden?” I know I’d be sad come winter if I had not harvested my sage.
It is plenteous. It is gentle and kind herb among herbs. It’s good for women. I put it in my infusions. I use it in meat dishes. Sometimes I just walk by and touch the leaves and get lost in the wonderful fragrance.
I don’t take all the sage in my harvesting, but leave some for the creatures who enjoy it as much as I do. It is this bright green spider’s home.
Close by, there are other insects enjoying the garden. I love them all, except for the mosquitoes. There’s something very good about learning to dwell contently at home. It’s sometimes a hard lesson for young mothers. (It was for me.) It’s sometimes a struggle when cooking wasn’t started early enough in the day and something quick must be purchased. It’s sometimes a struggle when the heart is not settled and “getting away” seems more appealing than taking care of household chores. ~It is of great advantage to understand how to turn common occurrences of everyday life into treasured works of love. ~
Contentment. Closing the garden gate with a basket full of sage.
The process begins of cutting the leaves off, checking them for bugs, and placing them on baking trays to go into a 140-degree oven to dry for a couple of hours or so, or until they crumble in my hands.
Then the dried and hand-ground sage will go into spice jars for use throughout the next year.
Lynn I know better. I mean, I really do. I love studying plants and their uses and their dangers, and I am constantly aware of all of the above, but a strange set of circumstances set me up to get a pretty bad reaction from one of my favorite plants: rue, or Ruta graveolens.
This is a lesion close to my elbow. Note the blisters. I have whelps like this over both my upper arms. I probaby have six large areas on my left arm and three or four long areas on the right.
Rue is beautiful. It’s the tall plant with yellow blooms. I have a bunch of it in both my front and back yards. It attracts all kinds of butterflies and bees and wasps. I am well informed that it can cause “burns” on the skin of sensitive individuals. But who knew a set of unusual circumstances would lead to all my blisters and skin damage?
So there you have it. Many of our modern medicines come from plants. There is youth and age and life and death all to be found in plants. I’m not a chemist or a doctor, but let me share with you the names of some of the compounds found in rue: furanocoumarins 5-methoxypsoralen and 8-methoxypsoralen and graveoline, a quinolone alkaloid. These substances have been studied for cancer treatment. Perhaps because they interfere with mitosis? My only concern is permanent skin cell damage. Let’s hope not. Now, I’m wondering what to put on the lesions. More research. I’ve read that if the reaction is severe, topical steroids can be used, but I don’t think I need (or want) that. My best bet is probably to take my vitamins, keep the areas clean and continue to be careful to stay out of the direct sun. The lesson? Don’t deviate from your rule to always wear sleeves in the garden. I normally do, but it was SO hot. Happy Gardening, Still… Lynn nag. verb 1) To annoy by continual scolding, faultfinding, complaining, urging, etc. 2) To keep troubling or worrying constantly. You know, there’s nothing a husband hates to come home to more than a nagging wife. I really think that’s true. If a man works hard all day, puts all his pay into household and, especially if the wife stays home, supports the family, why should he have to listen to an evening of we never do anything or why can’t we be like them or there’s hardly money for anything or I’m sick of cooking every night…?
I must admit, I’ve been guilty of all the above and it got me nowhere. Unless you’re planning to end your union, what good does it do to nag? Also, men are so visual, I’ve never gotten poor results from putting on something at least presentable and “fun” — just for hubby. Want to talk to your husband, or have him talk to you? I tell my husband to have a seat and let me see his feet and then I give him a foot massage. He sometimes reciprocates, but I don’t mind massaging his feet because I am actually studying (on my own) to learn reflexology. It benefits all of my family, and maybe someday even my friends. Some day perhaps I can learn in a more professional setting. As my teacher, I use Reflexology: The Timeless Art of Self Healing Anyway, husbands appreciate things like that and they may even chat a bit while sitting there.
I’m not ready to share any recipes yet, but last night I made myself an herbal broth to put over rice. It was good, but not good enough. Once I get it just right, I’ll share the recipe. This had dandelion greens, dulse (a sea vegetable), garlic chives…
and some spring onions…
and some other things, and the rice I made had some rosemary in it. I love my biggest, oldest rosemary plant, by the way.
I’ve been working on a bit of menu planning. I think I should start putting my best meals on index cards with the ingredients required on the backs and then use them to grocery shop. So much I want to do!!
I’m gearing up to share some doll house adventures, too. I haven’t forgotten, really. As Pooh says, Happy Winds-day. Lynn While I was out getting plants for my infusion today, I enjoyed stopping by the rosemary and just drinking in the scent. Some days I ‘m drawn to this herb, some days that herb. One day soon I plan to make a hearty loaf of bread with plenty of rosemary and garlic in it. Sometimes I put just a little rosemary in my infusions, but you have to be careful with rosemary due to the volatile oils in the leaves.
I never think about rosemary without thinking also of Juliette de Bairacli Levy. She’s sometimes called the grandmother of herbal medicine in this country. I finally took the time to order a DVD about her that’s been on my wish list for some time — Juliette of the Herbs. I have seen the DVD before and Juliette talks about rosemary in it. It’s been awhile since I watched it, so I’m excited about having it arrive so I can watch it again.
My infusion today had only dandelion (picking some above), apple mint, a touch of rosemary, nettles, and sage. I drank each cup sweetened with some honey.
Only God could make something so beautiful. As I walk through the yard, gathering herbs, I think about the benefits of plants and where they came from. There is so much information I want to soak up and yet it only comes by experience, hard concentration and a little at the time. It’s not something you can rush.
There’s a life force in plants that is so good for us. I don’t worship plants or herbal medicine. Far from it. I think the plants are here as part of creation for us to use carefully and with thanksgiving. Plants are so full of vitality and life, why would they not be able to impart the same things to us?
Rosemary Gladstar mentioned in her book, Rosemary Gladstar’s Family Herbal: A Guide to Living Life with Energy, Health, and Vitality Hope you have a nice Sunday, Lynn |
Approaching-50 mother of four. Thrifter. Content with lots of clothes bought for very little money. Loves retro. (That could be styles from the 40s and 50s. And sometimes stuff even older than that. And sometimes stuff from all time, all mixed up together!) Bluffs about decluttering but secretly loves STUFF. Goes through stages. Has standing and staring spells before rearranging the entire home. Just because. Tune in each day to see what new outfit comes home from G.W. Boutique next. (That's Goodwill, by the way.) Oh, and she owns a spoiled beagle named Annie. And this blog.   <div align="center"><a href="http://www.amothersjournal.com" title="A Mother's Journal ~ A Bit of Birdsong"><img src="http://www.innatelygray.com/images/abitofbirdsong_120_200.jpg" alt="A Mother's Journal ~ A Bit of Birdsong" style="border:none;" /></a></div>    
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.
 
I would
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. I have given a copy of this book as a gift before, I love it so much. I can’t imagine anyone who loves herbs being disappointed by this book.
, if you’re interested.
for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
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