Herbs; for healing, for flavouring, for the senses

[MaC]

I'm sitting drinking a cup of Lady's Mantle tea. I've already had one of Meadowsweet this morning.
I've made potato salad to go with lunch and I added fresh Parsley, Chives and Mustard.
I picked Sage, Tansy, Oregano and Coltsfoot to hang and dry.

It occured to me that no one here or on BcUK really talks about using plants like this in their daily lives, yet to me it's as normal as breathing.
Is that why we don't talk about them? because we use them so commonly ?

I need new herb storage jars. I would love dark glass square ones with decent screw top lids, but I'll make do.
My herb drawers are filling up fast again, thankfully I can grow most of what I actually use. Some things, like Nutmeg, Cinnamon or Saffron I have to buy in.

I use resins too, from Myrrh to Colophony

Does anyone else use herbs daily ? for more than just seasoning food ?

M

 

[Saint-Just]

Seasoning food only here (a few teas but too little to mention). Probably much fewer than you, too. Garden only has bay, rosemary, thyme, chives and wild garlic in season.

 

[bushwacker]

The lime trees are in full flower at the moment, Ill pick some for tissane. I have my maris piper spuds cooking with garden mint and chicken parts marinading in thyme and lemon verbena and lime juice. I persecute garden mint,apple mint and spearmint by growing them in pots I also have lemon balm, french tarragon, marjoram, chives ramsons, hedge garlic, parsley, rosemary, lavender, herb robert and chillis. The marjoram/oregano seems bit pointless as there is a wild flower meadow 200 meters away that is full of it. and herb robert isn't eaten as it tastes like the gerainium it is

 

[E. By Gum]

Don't know what to do with lime flowers or meadow sweet and don't have lots of kit really to use. Shame really because they smell wonderful.

 

[E. By Gum]

I'm still on some of the tincture I stockpiled when "my" herbalist closed, I bought loads of stuff.

 

[noddy]

We've always got very healthy supplies of the regulars, Mary. Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, different Chives and Mints (incl. PennyRoyal), Tarragon. Lots of Chamomile and there's Lime trees all over the place.

Lots of people keep Rue round here so if I want some, I can always ask for a bit.

I met an older Slovakian lady in the park the other day. She was picking small, green immature pine cones. So, I chewed one a bit. Very lovely piney/appley smell and taste. She says she makes honey up with them. I will give it a go.

Funny you should mention resins in your post. I plonked orders of Frankincense and Myrrh in my Amazon cart last week. Just to see what the stuff is more than anything.

 

[MaC]

@Saint-Just That's a nice basic mix for food, all good stuff If it's kept tended it'll produce reliably too.

@bushwacker Nice range I too grow herbs in pots. I take cuttings and change them out annually or bi-annually.
I don't have lemon verbena, but the rest are all part of the yearly round Do you find the lemon verbena very different to the lemon balm ?

@E. By Gum
If you pick a small handful of herb and pour boiled water over it, let it mask like making loose tea, let it sit a few minutes more, then try it as a drink. It's not full of fake sugars, or flavourings, it's just leaves and flowers.
It might not be familiar enough to really be enjoyable at first, but it grows on you, and you find yourself mixing plants to create seasonal favourites.
Blackcurrant, raspberry, bramble and strawberry leaves can all be used as a base, so could any of the mints. Mints and a rose head of petals is a lovely tea, and it's good as a stomach soother too.

I've just pulled the biggest nettle I could find in the garden, I have a small clump kept for drying for tea, for fibres and dye, to take part in Woodygirl's challenge on BcUK. I'll strip the leaves and flowers though to dry for later on for tea, or stock.

Meadowsweet is a natural aspirin, but it's a gentle on the stomach and gut natural aspirin. It's anti-inflammatory without causing issues with damage to the gut.
I have had RA for over thirty years, and yes I ache, and yes I can no longer walk mile upon mile, but I'm not crippled, just old too soon kind of thing. One Doctor said it was because I gave my body something else to attack, he meant because I worked in the dirt, and I ate the weeds and wild stuff.
I don't know if he's right or not, but when I don't drink my teas, things get really miserable.

It's often a seasonal thing, I have red clover in bloom in the garden just now, and it makes a lovely tea too, so does the melissa/lemon balm.
Sometimes there's a need to add plants that need care in use though, like the cherry bark, or the rue, or the foxglove or hawthorn.

I

 

[MaC]

We've always got very healthy supplies of the regulars, Mary. Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, different Chives and Mints (incl. PennyRoyal), Tarragon. Lots of Chamomile and there's Lime trees all the place.

Lots of people keep Rue round here so if I want some, I can always ask for a bit.

I met an older Slovakian lady in the park the other day. She was picking small, green immature pine cones. So, chewed one a bit. Very lovely piney/appley smell and taste. She says she makes honey up with them. I will give it a go.

Funny you should mention resins in your post. I plonked orders of Frankincense and Myrrh in my Amazon cart last week. Just to see what the stuff is more than anything.

Lovely

Pine honey is really nice stuff, and really good for sore throats, and soothing on mouth ulcers too.

Have you tried Elemi resin ? it's light, lovely, pine and lemoney sort of. Really nice.

 

[bushwacker]

Meadow sweet flowers smell alright but the plant generally smells like TCP not sure i'd want to drink it. The flowers make the best flavoured ice cream according to a chef I once taught foraging to

 

[noddy]

Sage flowers taste good

We have a terrifyingly large Lemon Verbena which is goign to have a talking to soon

For a spell, I went to Eindhoven pretty often. There was a tea there called Verveine. Lovley it was. But, when you look that up in the UK shops, you get Verbena. It isn't the same stuff and I never did find out what was being used

Colleagues grow all sorts of plants for dyeing in their gardens. I might plant some indigo next year.

 

[MaC]

Meadow sweet flowers smell alright but the plant generally smells like TCP not sure i'd want to drink it. The flowers make the best flavoured ice cream according to a chef I once taught foraging to

The roots taste of germoline, the flowers don't. The leaves and stems do a little though.
I use the flourish for tea, and the roots very occasionally....thing is, if you know where it grows then even in Winter when there's nothing showing, you can find the roots.
A tincture and then ointment made from the roots makes a really good topical analgesic for aching joints. It's a good healer for some people who have skin conditions like psoriasis, or exzema, too....but it's very much an 'individual' thing that. It is excellent at stopping the pain of toothache and helping reduce the inflammation of an abcess.

 

[MaC]

Sage flowers taste good

We have a terrifyingly large Lemon Verbena which is goign to have a talking to soon

For a spell, I went to Eindhoven pretty often. There was a tea there called Verveine. Lovley it was. But, when you look that up in the UK shops, you get Verbena. It isn't the same stuff and I never did find out what was being used

Colleagues grow all sorts of plants for dyeing in their gardens. I might plant some indigo next year.

I can't grow indigo here, or madder. Soil is too cold, often too wet, and we don't get Sun long enough for them to thrive. Liquorice doesn't do well here either.

Verveine is Vervain, and though part of the same family as Lemon Verbena, it's a different plant entirely.
Hilgegard has a page on the vervain which I like

Vervain (Verbena): a forgotten medicinal herb - Healthy Hildegard

Vervain (verbena officinalis) is a flowering plant with numerous medicinal uses. We explore the rich history of this ancient healing plant, how it works, and how you can use vervain tea to heal a variety of ailments or to improve your overall health.

www.healthyhildegard.com

 

[bushwacker]

I forgot to mention nasturtiums used in the occasional salad and wood sorrel which is another lemony one
and Im growing some lemon grass to see if I can. I guess I like lemons

 

[MaC]

I like lemons too I wish I could get a lemon tree to survive more than two foot high. Just not enough warmth or sunshine I think.

Lemongrass is one of those funny ones for me. Sometimes it's lovely, and other's it's awful.
My Dad liked eating nasturtium leaves, but I just can't get past the smell. The seeds are fine pickled like capers though.
Wood sorrel I do like, but mind only eat a few of them. It's not that good for your stomach or kidneys. A little as flavour in salads or sandwiches is tasty though.

 

[noddy]

I forgot to mention nasturtiums

Love 'em.

No matter where I have lived, slugs eat up all the Sorrel.

 

[noddy]

Thanks ever so much for that re-direction about Vervain, M. I found some on Amazon, but at $20 for 100g plus $9 shipping, I think the hunt for a supply will continue for a little while longer

 

[MaC]

That's a ridiculous price for such a common European plant. I think it's worth trying to grow if you like it.

 

[noddy]

Yes ... just been looking at madder and indigo seeds. It is going on the list.

 

[Nice65]

Linden (Lime) is in heavy bloom on many of my walks. I’m not a big user of herbs at the moment, but that’s due to circumstances. I regularly bring pick a handful of Meadowsweet stems, I can imagine their soft, creamy scent making a superb ice cream.

 

[Saint-Just]

Sage flowers taste good

We have a terrifyingly large Lemon Verbena which is goign to have a talking to soon

For a spell, I went to Eindhoven pretty often. There was a tea there called Verveine. Lovley it was. But, when you look that up in the UK shops, you get Verbena. It isn't the same stuff and I never did find out what was being used

Colleagues grow all sorts of plants for dyeing in their gardens. I might plant some indigo next year.

Verveine is Verbena officinalis
Lemon Verbena is Aloysia citrodora.
Completely different, same family (Verbenaceae) but different genus.

 

[noddy]

I think this needs to be explained in easy words to the likes of Holland and Barrett

 

[noddy]

Had my head stuck in cupboards all day painting them. I hate doing kitchens.

Is there a mediaeval herbal remedy for a paint headache ...

 

[E. By Gum]

Had my head stuck in cupboards all day painting them. I hate doing kitchens.

Is there a mediaeval herbal remedy for a paint headache ...

Cut your head off

 

[MaC]

Basically you've poisoned your brain.

Seriously, go for a walk in fresh air. Run if you can.
Flush everything out.

 

[noddy]

Cut your head off

Got to be worth a try.

Found some affordable Verveine on ye internete ... won't arrive til tomorrow though. Lazy buggers.