As I’ve often been asked what herbs would be good and easy to grow for a medicine garden I thought I’d do a little on that question today.  Here are some of my favorite herbs to grow.  Many of them are multitaskers, which is great if you don’t have much gardening space.  All of them are easy to grow and require little care once they’re established.  Be forewarned, however.  Once you start mucking about in the garden you may find it hard to leave there.  Medicine plants have such a wonderful energy and they’re so willing to help us.  They’re a pleasure to be around.

Here’s my short list of herbs and a little bit about each.  All are perennials and so don’t require re-sowing or replanting every year.  All are hardy and tough plants requiring little care.  In fact, if you give them too much compost or fertilizer, they won’t be as medicinally active.

• Lemon Balm (Melissa officinialis):  Aside from lemon balm’s nervine properties dicusse in an earlier article, it also a potent anti-viral (a specific against the herpes virus) and is a good febrifuge (fever-reducing herb).  Its gentleness and pleasant taste make it a good choice for children.  As stated earlier, it makes a great herbal honey (= instant tea) and herbal vinegar.  For fever reduction it’s best taken as a tea.  I dry it or preserve it in honey or vinegar.  You can grow it from seed or buy the plants.  Harvest it during flowering.  It does self-sow, so you will have new plants the next spring.
• Peppermint (Mentha x piperita):  Peppermint is cooling like lemon balm but it is also energizing.  It’s great iced on a hot summer afternoon.  Because it’s cooling, it does make a good febrifuge; one that’s especially good for “hot” fevers (the kind that makes you kick off the covers).  Peppermint is also carminative (good for the digestion), making it an excellent choice for upset tummies and nausea.  Served hot, it helps decongest a stuffy head (the menthol in the peppermint does it).  I preserve this in honey and dry it for teas.  Buy a plant; do not grow peppermint from seed.  Plants made from cuttings especially are more medicinally active.
• Sage (Salvia officinialis):  Yes, regular garden sage.  Sage is the primo sore throat herb.  I like it preserved in honey for sore throat.  I take it and give it to my kids by the spoonful for sore throat.  Sage also dries up bodily secretions (think mucus, perspiration).  Sage tea is the traditional remedy to dry up breast milk and shut down lactation so keep that in mind if you’re nursing and don’t drink it.  I’ve found a tablespoon of sage honey to be okay.   I dry some and preserve a lot in honey.  It grows well from seed.  Becasue it’s a culinary herb it’s easy to find as a potted plant.
• Catnip or catmint (Nepeta cataria): Catmint is a good herb for cooling fever and promoting sleep.  I find it works especially well if you’re the kind of person who can’t sleep well with a fever.  Catnip really helps here.  It’s a great herb to calm down overtired kids.  It also makes a really good pesto.  Simply substitute it for basil in your pesto recipe.  Catmint is a little bitter as a tea, so for the kids I give them plenty of honey with it or make a glycerite with it.  I’ve raised enough this year to make catmint honey with it.  Dry it, make a glycerite with it or preserve it in honey.  You can make an insect repellent of a tincture of catmint with 100 proof vodka.It grows well from seed or you can get a potted plant.  Kitties do love it, though!
• Hyssop (Hyssopus officinialis):  Hyssop is another great anti-viral.  It works by blocking the replication of the virus and bolsters the immune system.  Traditionally hyssop was used for colds and coughs.  It does make a good cough syrup.  Hyssop is a lovely plant to grow.  It’s bushy and may have either pink, white or purple flowers. I especially like preserving this in honey.  It’s great to give out by the spoonful.  I also dry it for tea.   I recommend buying a plant.  Hyssop’s a little hard to start from seed.
• Comfrey (Symphytum officinalis x Uplandica):  Often known as Russian Comfrey.  Comfrey is an excellent vulnerary herb, meaning that it’s great for bruises, burns, cuts, wounds, sprains, strains - even broken bones.  Now, it won’t set your broken bone, definitely have a doctor do that!  However, once your bone is set comfrey will help the fracture heal up quickly and strongly.  Comfrey heals burns and wouns without scarring.  Make sure the wound is very clean, though, or the comfrey may cause the skin to heal up over any infection in the wound.  Comfrey leaves  are also edible and make a super mineral rich vinegar.  Comfrey’s huge roots go deep into the subsoil to bring up minerals.  It’s leaves can even be used as a mineral-rich mulch in the veg garden or added to the compost pile.  I dry comfrey leaves but mainly infuse the leaves and the root in olive oil for salves.  The x Uplandica variety is not fertile and does not produce seeds and so, does not spread unless you dig it up.  If you do dig it up, a new comfrey plant will spring up from each little piece of root left in the dirt.  Because the comfrey is sterile you must purchase a plant.  The plants are lovely and dark green with bell-like multi-colored flowers. Pretty.
• White Yarrow (Achillea millefolium):  Yarrow used to be called “soldier’s wound wort”.  Yarrow has antimicrobial, anesthetic and styptic properties (it stops bleeding).  It’s great for skinned knees or kitchen knife slips.  Use the leaves fresh - macerate them either in your mouth or with a mortar and pestle - and apply to the wound.  The dried herb works well, too.  Simply sprinkle powdered dry herb on the wound.  I quickly stopped the bleeding from a bad slip of the kitchen knife this past winter.  Check out herbalist Matthew Wood’s The Book of Herbal Wisdomfor a great story about yarrow and a very bad chainsaw wound.  Yarrow is also a febrifuge that is especially good for “cold” fevers - the kind where you’re chilling and can’t get warm.  It is very bitter but does make a pretty good herbal honey.  I’ve read that it’s also good for regulating women’s menstrual cycles.   I dry yarrow, make herbal honey with it and tincture it in 100-proof vodka.  The tincture makes a fairly good insect repellent.  Yarrow can be grown from seed or purchased as a potted plant.  Make sure to get the white yarrow.  The ornamental colored yarrows do not make good medicine.  I have heard and read that they are either ineffective or poisonous. 

There, a short list of easily grown garden herbs that can serve you well.  If planted in the spring you could grow enough to harvest some of each of them by fall.   Next time I’ll talk about some herbs that require a little more skill or time to grow and process.

Stressed out?  Unable to sleep?  Let Lemon Balm Help You.

I’ve seen in print and heard from other people that St. John’s Wort has been recommended to them for sleeplessness.  I thought this was really whacky, as I know St. John’s Wort, Hypericum perforatum, and the one thing it’s not going to do is help you sleep!  Give you a good kick in the pants, maybe, or help you fight a nasty viral infection, certainly soothe your burns and cuts -  but lull you to sleep?  Ha!

For sleeplessness and to ease general stress, I recommend lemon balm or, as it was known in earlier times, simply balm.  In fact, “balm” is what it is listed under even in Maude Grieves’  A Modern Herbal, which was first published in 1931.  Lemon balm’s taxonomic name is Melissa officinalis.  “Melissa” relates to the Greek word for bee because bees love the balm.  The ”officinialis” part relates to the fact that lemon balm was an official medicine during medieval times ( the officinalis realtes to the “office” where they kept the medicine in monasteries).  Balm has been used for many ailments over time.  In fact, Paracelcus said that it was the only herb one would ever need. 

One thing lemon balm is good at it relaxing a person and in modern times lemon balm has won acclaim primarily as a nervine.  A nervine is a substance, in this case an herb, that calms and soothes the nervous system, making the person relax.  Nervines often help you sleep, too, due to that relaxing action.   In 1990 the German Commission E approved lemon balm for sleeplessness due to nervous tension.  It’s gentle enough for children as well.  The nervine action of lemon balm also helps in cases of depression, especially depression due to stress.  Here’s a quote from the 16th century herbalist Gerard regarding lemon balm: “Bawme makes the heart merry and joyfull, and strengthens the vitall spirits.”   Sounds pretty good - and tastes good, too!

A secondary action of lemon balm is its carminative and antispasmodic action.  Antispasmodic means it helps in cases of spasming muscles and carminative concerns the digestive tract.  Think stomach cramps (your stomach is a muscle) and you can see where lemon balm would help.  I’ve found it helpful in cases of skeletal muscles spasms due to tension and anxiety, and here, it’s clear to see lemon balm would help in that kind of situation.  It eases the tension in the nervous system, allowing the body to relax and relax the muscles as well.  And, I’m going to say it again, it tastes so yummy!

Lemon balm has cooling actions as well, just like other members of the mint family.  This makes it a good choice for low fevers due to viral infections (it has antiviral properties, too) or as an iced tea to cool you down on a hot summer day.

So, here we have a wonderful herb that tastes good and does many things for you easily.  I think lemon balm is overlooked because it’s common and easy to get; not at all fashionable, trendy or exotic.  It’s extremely easy to grow and looks and smells lovely in the garden.  Lemon balm likes full sun, like most mints and herbs.  It will spread via seeds.  That’s no problem, though, because then you’ll have more to plant somewhere else or share with your friends.  And, of course, it attracts bees, our great pollinating friends. 

So, the next time you can’t sleep or are stressed out, sit down with a nice cup of lemon balm tea.  Enjoy its lemony flavor and aroma, sweeten it with some local honey and relax.

Here are more ways to enjoy lemon balm:

Lemon Balm Honey or Lemon Balm Vinegar(see below for instructions).  Both are really tasty.  Lemon balm honey is an “instant” tea - pour boiling water over a spoonful of honey and herb and drink.  No steeping time.  I use the lemon balm honey to sweeten my lemon balm tea and get a double dose of lemon balm.  Lemon balm vinegar is great in a vinegarette.

Lemon Balm Cordial - from Adele Dawson’s Herbs, Partners in Life:  “A fine home-made liqueur can be made by taking two handfuls of crushed Melissa leaves, putting them in a glass jar or crock, pouring over them a fifth of vodka, three-quarters of a cup of honey, and a grated lemon peel.  Shake well and let stand for a week.  Strain, bottle, and test your character by waiting three weeks before using.” p. 153.  Using this basic recipe you can use just about any herb to make a cordial or aperitif.  Dandelion flowers even.  See Susun Weed’s Wise Woman Herbal Healing Wise for that recipe.  Cordials are excellent served with sparkling mineral water or plain seltzer and ice. 

Lemon Balm Ale.  Check out Stephen Harrod Buhner’s Sacred and Healing Beers for more on making this and other pleasant herbal beers.  It’s only recently that hops became the only herb used in beers and ales.  I’ve made it and it’s absolutely delicious, and, of course, very relaxing!

Lemon Balm Foot Bath.  Make a standard infusion (1 ounce of herb by weight to 4 cups of boiling water; let steep at least 4 hours; strain).  Warm up and pour into a suitable foot bath container.  I use a $2 plastic dishpan from Walmart.  Add enough warm/hot water to cover your feet nicely.  Sea salt/mineral salts/epsom salts are optional.  Immerse feet, sit back  and relax.  Nice.

Lemon Balm Syrup.  Make a standard infusion (see above or the posting on infusions).  Strain and put into a pot on the stove.  Reduce volume slowly by half.  No boiling or simmering here, just let it steam and evaporate.  You’ll have between 2 and 1 1/2 cups of liquid left.  Add between 3/4 and 1 cup of honey to hot infusion.  Stir well and put into a glass jar or bottle.  Keep this in the fridge.  It’ll last about 3 months, if it’s not all used up first!  This syrup is great to take as is by the spoonful for stress or use in tea  to sweeten (especially nice in black tea or added to a glass of oatstraw infusion) or to add to mineral or seltzer water.

Lemon Balm Jelly.  Seriously.  I made a batch of this last year.  It was great on scones.  The basic recipe is lots of fresh lemon balm (I mean lots of it, about 4 - 6 ounces).  Put it all in a pot with 4 cups of water to make a strong infusion.  Then follow the recipe on Pomona’s Pectin for jelly (not jam).  Sweeten as you wish.  Last year I used sucanat.  This year I’ll probably use organic sugar so the lemon balm flavor is stronger.  Sucanat has a rather strong flavor.

First, though, we’ll go over what herbs make excellent herbal infusions.  Nutritive herbs are those plants which you could eat as food and in as much quantity as you’d like.  These are the herbs you can eat (or drink the infusion of) every day, all year long.  They’re high in nutritional value, and have medicinal qualities that are best utilized over the long term.  Nutritive herbs include (but not limited to):  red clover, oatstraw, nettle, comfrey leaf, rose hips, blue violet leaf. 

I’ll briefly go over oatstraw and nettle,both are nutritional powerhouses.  Oatstraw is extremely high in magnesium, chromium and protein; high in calcium, niacin, Vitamin A; and has good quantities of riboflavin, thiamine, B6 and choline.  Niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, B-6 and choline are all vitamins found in the B-complex which are extremely important for brain function, including mood regulation.  Traditional uses of oatstraw include relief of “hysteria” (i.e. woman having nervous tension/depression), balancing the menstrual cycle (old physician speak for PMS and/or menstrual irregularities).  Modern uses also include prevention of osteoporosis (the balance of calcium and magnesium in oatstraw enables the body to utilize the calcium.  Without enough magnesium, the body can’t use calcium).  Oatstraw can be made into an infusion with part lemon balm (up to 1/2 oz of lemon balm to 1/2  oz of oatstraw).  Lemon balm made into an infusion is very strongly flavored.  You can also use the oatstraw infusion as a base to make lemon balm tea (tea = 1 tsp herb steeped in 1 cup of water for 10 - 15 minutes).   Lemon balm is a tranquilizer and anti-depressant herb that also hase anti-viral and antibacterial actions.   I find oatstraw good hot with honey or cold.  It also works great as the liquid part of a smoothie.  It’s especially tasty with peaches.

Nettle is also full of nutrients.  It is very high in calcium, magnesium, chromium and zinc; high in potassium, protein, riboflavin, selenium, thiamine, Vitamin A, Vitamin K and Vitamin C.  Nettle also has good amounts of niacin and iron.  As you can see, nettle is full of  B-vitamins as well.  Nettle, too, has an excellent amount of both calcium and magnesium giving the body what it need to be able to absorb  and utilize calcium.  Nettle’s traditional use has been as a ”blood purifier” meaning that it increases the efficiency of both kidneys and liver function.   Nettle is also a great help to women who experience menstrual cramps.  Nettle has a very strong flavor.  I generally chug nettle infusion really cold although it’s good added to soup broth or heated up with miso for a quick miso soup.

Here’s how to make the infusions

What you need:

• 1 ounce of herb
• 1-quart Mason jar (or any heat proof container that will hold 1 quart)
• metal lid for Mason jar (plastic lids made for Mason jars don’t work well in this application)
• something to boil 1 quart of water in
• 1 quart of water
• chopstick or knife
• scale to weigh herb
• large-mouth funnel (optional, but keeps the mess down)

Equipment for making the infusion

How to Proceed:

1. Bring your water to a boil. 
2. While the water is coming to a boil, weigh out 1 ounce of herb into the Mason jar.  You may need to use the funnel here.
3. Pour boiling water over the herb until the water reaches about 1 inch from the top of the jar.
4. Stir with chopstick to release any trapped air.
5. Fill Mason jar the rest of the way.
6. Cap tightly with lid.
7. Let steep for at least 4 hours or overnight.

   

   Weigh herb

   

   Pour water into jar

   

   Stir to release air bubbles

   

   Cap

    

Straining the Infusion

What you’ll need:

• Jar of infusion
• Large-mouth funnel
• Strainer or potato ricer
• Tea towel, muslin, cheesecloth, etc.
• Another container

Equipment for straining

How to Proceed:

1. Take lid of your finished infusion (you may need a bottle opener, since the lid will vacuum down).
2. Line your strainer or potato ricer.
3. Put wide-mouth funnel into empty jar and put strainer on top of funnel.
4. Pour liquid into strainer to catch the herby bits.  You may need a spoon to get the herb out. 
5. Press the remaining liquid out of the herb.  If you’re using a regular strainer you can gather up the corners of the cloth and squeeze out the liquid or press with the back of a spoon.
6. Once you’ve all the liquid into the new jar, cap it & store it in the fridge.  It’ll keep for about 36 - 48 hours.  If it smells “sour”, it’s done.  Don’t drink it, use it to water your plants or put it in the compost or dump it in the yard.
7. Compost the herb.

Remove the lid

Pour

Squeeze

I wrote this article for my 2008 herbal honeys class.  Here I’ve added some recipes.  Honey is an excellent food and medicine all by itself.  It heals wounds and burns.  The conventional medical community has even started using it for treatment of burns.

Unlike vinegar, which mainly extract the minerals of the infused herb, honey also extracts the medicinal properties of the herb as well as much of the flavor. The honey essentially dehydrates the herb material.  You’ll notice that the herb becomes crispy in the honey.  The dehydative action is also how honey contains and kills bacteria.  It dehydrates the bacteria, and in the case of aerobic bacteria, honey cuts off the air, too.

Honey itself is a potent medicinal. Its uses as a wound dressing go back to prehistoric times. We have written records of the ancient Egyptians using honey for dressing wounds. Most recently science and the medical community have verified honey’s antibacterial and antiseptic properties. Honey acts in several different ways to kill and contain bacterial. It draws water out of bacterial cells through osmosis, is acidic enough to kill certain types of bacteria and also contains hydrogen peroxide. Doctors have started using honey to treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections and severe burns with honey.

Honey is also a nutritious food. In Healing With Whole Foods the author states “All types of honey, both raw and heated, work naturally to harmonize the liver, neutralize toxins, and relieve pain.” p. 191. Aside from containing glucose, fructose, and other carbohydrates, honey also has several antioxidants, Vitamin C, B Vitamins and trace minerals. Honey may even contain naturally-occurring probiotics. It’s an excellent preservative, too – edible honey has even been found in the tombs of pharaohs!

Many people feel that honey is best unheated and unfiltered. I’m personally a proponent of local honey.

How to Make an Herbal Honey

• Chopstick
• Jar (any size) & lid
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Labels & pen
• Honey, preferably local (must be runny)
• Fresh herb of your choice

Making an herbal honey is easy. Cut enough fresh herb to fill your jar. Chop fairly fine and put it into your jar. Fill jar with honey, poking and stirring with the chopstick to get all the air bubbles out. Cap your jar and label it with the herb and date made and date that it will be ready. Let sit for 6 weeks and then your honey is ready to eat!  The infused honey can be strained or you can eat the herb, too. It’s fine if it crystallizes also.

Ways to Use Your Herbal Honey

• Eat it by the spoonful (medicinal purposes or just because it tastes good!)
• Spread it on toast with or without the herb
• Use as a sweetener in an herbal syrup
• Sweeten your tea or use it as an instant tea:  one tablespoonful to a cup of hot water 

Other Honey Recipes

Nan’s Cough Syrup

• 1 Onion
• Honey

Chop onion, put on a plate, cover with honey & stir. Cover with another plate. Leave out for at least for hours or overnight. Take the juice that results. Dose is 1 tsp for an adult.  And, seriously, this is what my grandma used, along with the addition of bourbon whiskey, of course!

Another Cough Syrup Recipe from herbalist Heather Nic An Fleicher

• 1/3 cup Garlic honey
• 2/3 cup Lemon balm vinegar

Mix together & use at a rate of 1 TBS per cup of hot water for cold & cough relief (adult doseage).  Very warming.

 Lemon-Honey Cold Relief

• Juice of ½ lemon
• Honey to taste (plain or herbal honey)
• Hot water

Options:

• Pinch of sea salt
• Lemon balm or echinacea tincture
• Hot rosehip tea as the base instead of hot water

Juice the lemon into a mug (12 ounce mug works best). Add honey to taste. I add a lot; I like this sweet! Add the optional ingredients and fill with hot or boiling water.

This is really great if you feel like you’re getting a cold or already have one. It’s very hydrating as well as comforting and gives you a shot of Vitamin C (from the lemon) and all those good things from the honey. It’s best taken just before bed. If you use an herbal honey, I’d recommend lemon balm honey for its antiviral properties as well as flavor or ginger for its warming properties.

Garlic Honey - ready in 24 hours

• Small jar
• Unpeeled garlic cloves
• Honey

Stuff your jar with the unpeeled garlic cloves & then add the honey to cover. Put a lid on the jar & put the jar on a plate. It will ooze somewhat. This is ready in 24 hours. It’s yummy by itself but is also good for colds, flus, coughs, etc.

References

• Edwards, Gail Faith. Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs. Ash Tree Publishing, 2000
• Weed, Susun. Healing Wise. Ash Tree Publishing, 1989
• Weed, Susun. Be Your Own Herbal Expert part 8, 2006 at www.susunweed.com
• Pitchford, Paul. Healing With Whole Foods.
• Wilson, Ananda. Herbal Honey article from March 2006 Weed Wanderings E-Newsletter
• Honey   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey
• Downey, Charles. Sweet Solution; 2000;   http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/14/1668_50175.htm

This is modified from the article I hand out with my herbal vinegars class.  Vinegar leaches the minerals from the herb or weed.  Weeds are high in minerals as bringing up minerals from the subsoil is their action in nature.  Ever see how far down a root on a dandelion or burdock goes?  Really far!  Since herbs are basically weeds and they are full of minerals, too.  So, especially if you’re into Nourishing Traditions/Weston A. Price type of diet, herbal vinegars are for YOU!

Good health depends upon getting enough minerals in our diets. These days it is more difficult to get enough minerals by consuming foods - even organic foods. Our agricultural soils have become depleted. Herbal vinegars can help us get the minerals we need for good health. Herbs, many of them commonly though of as weeds, have deep roots and bring minerals up from the subsoil. Putting these weeds into an acid menstruum such as vinegar leaches the minerals and vitamins from the plant material making them very bio-available. Apple cider vinegar also acts as a vehicle for the medicinal components of the plant (alkaloids), often making the vinegar medicinal as well as nutritious.  ACV in and of itself is a nutritious food and acts as a digestive tonic.  Herbal vinegars charge your body with minerals giving you extra energy (or, maybe, the energy you should have!). And, let’s not forget that herbal vinegars are darn tasty, too!

• Any size jar with plastic lid (this is important)
• Chopstick/butter knife
• Kitchen knife for chopping
• Herb of your choice, amount depending on the size of your jar
• Vinegar: apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar (NOT white vinegar!) Pasteurized is best here, but unpasteurized will work fine. It just won’t last as long. 

Gather the herb of your choice, enough to fill your jar nicely full when chopped but not overly stuffed. Fill the jar with vinegar & poke with chopstick to release any air bubbles. Add more vinegar if you need to.. Cap with a plastic cap or layer several pieces of plastic wrap/wax paper between jar & metal lid. Label with herb, type of vinegar, & date made. Let it sit for 6 weeks away from direct light (indirect light is okay). Strain out plant material & enjoy!

 Using Your Vinegar 

Use your vinegar in salad dressings, marinades, condiment - anywhere you’d usually use vinegar.  I especially like it with kale or any green. You can also make a mineral energy charge drink.  Take 1 TBS herb vinegar and 1 TBS molasses or honey in 8 oz of water.

Here are some excellent herbs for vinegars:

• White pine needle - makes a “balsamic” vinegar
• Mugwort leaf
• Lavender leaf/flower - also use as facial toner or deodorant
• Comfrey leaf - high in calcium, chromium, manganese, niacin, potassium, riboflavin, selenium, silicon, Vitamin A & C
• Red Raspberry leaves - high in calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, niacin, selenium, Vitamin C & A
• Dandelion root & leaves - high in iron, manganese, phosphorus, Vitamin A
• Burdock root - high in chromium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, thiamine, silicon, zinc, Vitamin A
• Lamb’s Quarters - high in calcium, manganese, Vitamin A & C
• Nettle leaf - high in calcium, chromium, magnesium, cobalt, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin, selenium, silicon, thiamine, zinc, Vitamin A & Vitamin C
• Yellow Dock/Curly Dock root - high in calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, riboflavin, selenium, thiamine, Vitamin A & C
• Catnip - high in chromium, manganese, potassium, selenium
• Peppermint - high in calcium, iron, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin, thiamine, Vitamin A
• Thyme leaf - high in calcium, chromium, cobalt, iron, magnesium, riboflavin, selenium, silicon, thiamine, sodium,
• Sage leaf - high in calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, thiamine, zinc, Vitamin A
• Rosemary leaf/flower
• Hyssop herb
• Chickweed herb - high in calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, silicon, Vitamin A, zinc
• Violet leaf/flower - high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C
• Red Clover Blossom - high in calcium, chromium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine, Vitamin C
• Yarrow leaf/flower - high in calcium, chromium, potassium, riboflavin, selenium, thiamine, Vitamin C

FRUITS - some fruits make excellent vinegars, too.

• Raspberry: Make raspberry shrub, an old drink. Make your vinegar & strain out fruit. Measure liquid. Add honey or sugar at the rate one half amount the amount of liquid (i.e. for 2 cups of vinegar add 1 cup sweetener) & heat until the sweetener melts into the vinegar. Keeps for 2 years with out refrigeration. To make the drink: take 1/4 cup of shrub & mix with 2 cups of sparkling water. YUM!
• Elderberry, blackberry - great for salad dressings

 ABOUT THE NUTRIENTS

As you can see from the above listing, most herbs are high in many minerals people are often deficient in today and in amounts that work synergistically together.

• Herbs high in calcium are often also high in magnesium. These two minerals work together for bone health.  Calcium alone doesn’t do it.
• Vitamin C is needed in your body so you can absorb iron. Most herbs listed above if high in iron are also high in Vitamin C. Note that of the herbs listed above, high chromium is listed for eight of these herbs.
• Chromium is needed in your body for efficient metabolism. A deficiency in chromium has been implicated in type 2 diabetes. It’s used in the production of insulin and if you’re even slightly deficient in chromium your blood sugar will be elevated. Many people eat chromium depleting refined foods - white sugar, white flour – while having no source of chromium in their diets. Most people today are deficient in chromium.
• Selenium is also a nutrient many people don’t get enough of. Selenium is an antioxidant, preventing the conversion of free radicals into carcinogens; acting much like Vitamin E does. It may also protect against cardiovascular disease and strengthen the immune system.

For further reading:

• Healing Wiseby Susun Weed
• Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs by Gail Faith Edwards
• Nutritional Herbology by Mark Pedersen

This herb - Is it food?  Is it medicine?  There seems to be some confusion with herbs; are they food or medicine?  Yes, I say!  What?  They’re both.  Here are some excellent examples, though I could go on & on…

The Elder (Sambucus nigra).  Think elderberries, mainly.  They’re tasty.  I used to eat them as kid, right off the bush.  You can use them like blueberries - make jam, jelly from the juice, add to pancakes, put then in ice cream (on ice cream as a sauce), put them in a smoothie, freeze them, make a cordial out of them etc.  Elderberries are also a potent medicine.  They contain compounds that help block viruses from entering cell walls by strengthening the walls.  Extract of elderberry (including syrup) also help reduce the duration of viral flu.   So, how would you rather take elderberry?  As a nasty commercial extract in grain alcohol or as jelly on a scone or a syrup over ice cream?  Elderberry pancakes?  Me?  At our house we eat up the jelly as fast as we can acquire it.  I haven’t found enough elder bushes to make my own jelly yet though I did plant four bushes last year.  We will use an extract (0ne that I make), but honestly, I’d rather have mine in pancakes. 

Nettles (Urtica diocia).  I like nettle as an all over tonic.  It’s great to build energy and  keep your skin,  hair healthy.  It’s full of magnesium from chlorophyll, the “green blood” of plants so it helps keep your bones healthy.  Good for building the blood,too as it contains iron and vitamin K (this helps with blood clotting - helpful during pregnancy to keep bleeding to a minimum during birth & for long/heavy periods).  So it’s pretty potent medicine.  You don’t take it as medicine, though, in those tiny little doses.  You must eat it or drink it as an infusion (1 ounce of dried herb in 4 cups of boiling water & let steep at 4 hours - overnight).  We go out in the spring, gloves on, and cut the little nettles as they come up.  They’re a lovely dark green and full of minerals.  Rinse them well to get the dirt off; put them in a pot with water (or chicken broth) to barely cover them.  Cook them for 10 - 20 minutes to deactivate the stingers.  Use like spinach or eat them on their own; sneak them into soups, casseroles, etc.  Susun Weed gives an excellent recipe for nettles with cheese & rice in her book Healing Wise.  It’s one of our spring favorites.  We eat the fresh nettles for several weeks.  The rest of the year I drink dried nettle infusion.

Just about any cooking herb or spice can be used as medicine- sage, thyme, parsley, cinnamon, turmeric, rosemary, ginger, cayenne, garlic.  Sage dries up secretions & eases sore throats.  Thyme acts as a decongestant when used as a steam or drank as a tea during a cold.  Turmeric reduces the inflammation response the body produces during a virus.  Cinnamon may help regulate blood sugar.  Rosemary is great for hair retention.  Ginger can ease a tummy ache and help bring on a period that’s delayed due to stress.  Cayenne can increase peripheral circulation (to the hands & feet) and is antimicrobial.  Garlic is antimicrobial and helps keep the heart healthy.  Some of these herbs need to be taken in larger doses for their therapeutic effect.  Others work in “normal” amounts that you’d eat with your food.  Ever have cabbage cooked with caraway seeds?  The caraway helps digestion & keeps the flatulence to a minimum.  Many traditional dishes from hot climates contain lots of spices (think Indian food or Thai).  Many of these spices contain powerful antimicrobials, killing bacterial contamination.  My guess is both on the food and in the gut. 

So, eat your medicine & stay healthy.

Did you know that you have tons of cold remedies in your spice cabinet?  You do if you have any of these common kitchen herbs/spices:  garlic (fresh or powder), ginger (dried or fresh), thyme, sage, turmeric, cinnamon.  These herbs and spices along with onions, lemons, apple cider vinegar, honey and some other commonly found herbs like chamomile, catnip (aka catmint), linden and peppermint can really help you out during cold & flu season.  Even regular old black tea can come in real handy.  The following is adapted from a presentation I did for my local LLL chapter last year.   It has more of a focus on children and doesn’t go into herbs that you wouldn’t have in your pantry.  In later posts I’ll discuss chamomile, mints, linden and elderflower as well as herbal immunity boosters.

Please remember, though, each medicine has its place and if you or your child isn’t getting better definitely see a regular MD!

Cold fighters from your kitchen pantry

It used to be that I was always unprepared for cold season and then had to run out to Whole Foods for remedies.  Now that I’ve acquired a greater knowledge of herbs I can deal with colds & the flu more easily and often with things in my pantry.  Many herbs/spices work best as preventatives.  Eating them in your food on a regular basis works the best in my opinion.  The next step is to use these remedies when you first feel a cold coming on.  My experience with herbal remedies is that once you have an established cold herbal remedies may lessen the severity and duration of a cold/flu.  Here are some easy cold remedies to try.

Garlic
Garlic has antibiotic and antimicrobial properties and has an affinity for the lungs.  According to herbalist Stephen Buhner’s book Herbal Antibiotics, raw garlic kills 100% of bacteria it comes in contact with.  Pretty potent!!  Most people have it around and its preparation is easy.  It works especially well if taken regularly - one to two small cloves a day.  Eat more if you start feeling run down.  Garlic is only effective when eaten raw.  Some people get tummy upset from eating raw garlic.  Studies show that encapsulated garlic powder works as well as fresh garlic and doesn’t cause the tummy upset.  You can also chop up fresh garlic cloves and make a paste with them and olive oil.  This paste can be applied to the soles of the feet and covered with plastic wrap.  Put non-slip socks over your feet.  I haven’t personally tried this one as I really, really like to eat garlic.  Supposedly you’ll be able to smell the garlic on your breath within an hour or so.  If you try it, let me know if you get garlic breath!

• Garlic “toast” - This is an easy and pretty tasty way to take garlic.  Press with a garlic press or mince (chop very finely) 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves.  Let sit for 5 – 10 minutes.  This step is important as contact with the air activates the antibiotic compounds in the garlic.  Eat as-is on toast or mix with honey and eat on toast.  You can also toast crusty bread and rub a fresh garlic clove on the bread.  Yum!
• Garlic on Scrambled Eggs -  Make scrambled eggs and top with raw pressed or minced garlic.  Salsa optional.  A yummy standard in my house.
• Garlic honey - This takes 24 hours to make.  Stuff a glass jar with unpeeled cloves of garlic.  I use an 8-ounce jelly jar.  Cover the jar completely with a good quality honey -one that is raw & undiluted.  I used pourable honey for this.  Let this sit for 12 – 24 hours before use.  It lasts about a year.  A dose is 1 spoonful.
• Pesto - add extra fresh pressed or minced garlic to pesto sauce or use garlic to top your regular spaghetti sauce.  Mix it in to reduce the sharpness.

Thyme
Thyme has antibiotic as well as decongestant properties.  If you look on a bottle of Listerine one of the active ingredients is thymol, one of the volatile oils in thyme.  Thyme is primarily a respiratory system remedy (coughs, congestion, runny nose) and also is helpful for sore throats.  Here are some ways to use thyme.

• Decongestant steam for adults - Take 2TBS – ¼ c thyme and place in a bowl.  Pour water that is just off the boil into the bowl, about 2 cups or so.  Hang head over the bowl & cover with a towel.  Steam for 5 minutes or so.   Don’t use a steam if you have asthma!
• Thyme infusion -  Use 1 TBS dried thyme per cup of boiling water.  You can make this by the cup or make a tea pot full.  Steep the herb for 10 - 20 minutes. Drink warm. If you make a pot of tea, strain out the herb and keep the infusion in the fridge, to warm up when needed.  See kids dosage chart at the end of this article.  An adult dose is ½ - 1 cup 3x per day.  This tea tastes pretty good.
• Thyme honey -   This takes 6 weeks to make and you need fresh thyme.  Place fresh chopped thyme (supermarket thyme is fine) in a glass jar & cover with honey.  Let it sit for 6 weeks.  You can take this by the spoonful like the garlic honey or mix with warm/hot water for a tea.  It’s also very good to use to sweeten thyme infusion.

Onions
Onions, like garlic, have very potent antibacterial properties, especially when raw. 

• Onion honey - Finely chop 1 onion, peel and all.  Pour honey over to cover.  Let sit 12 hours or so, until the onion juices out.  A dose is 1 spoonful.  My grandmother used this for a cough syrup (with whiskey added!)

Lemons
Lemons have tons of vitamin C, something you need when you’re getting sick.  Lemons are very alkalizing to the body, and so promote healing & make the body a bad place for nasty organisms.  Lemons are especially good for sore throats and runny noses as well as being an allover body tonic.  Hot lemon tea is one of my favorites when I’m feeling a cold coming on.

• Lemon tea -  Squeeze 1 lemon into a mug.  Add 1 TBS honey.  Fill mug with hot/boiling water.  Drink while hot then go to bed.   Variations: 1) If you feel a cold or the flu coming on, take a hot bath, get into a warm bed, drink this tea & go to sleep. 2) For a sore throat, add honey and lemon. This preciptates the tannins out of the tea - it changes color & the tannins end up in the bottom of the cup!

Ginger
Ginger is very warming and helps to reduce cold fevers (fevers that give you the chills).  Ginger also helps the action of other herbs along; it amplifies them.

• Lemon/Ginger tea - To make lemon/ginger tea, per pint of hot water, squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon then add about 1 inch of grated ginger.  Let steep 5 – 10 minutes.  Sweeten with honey and drink hot.  A cinnamon stick can also be added.  Plain ginger tea is also great for tummy trouble.
• Ginger Honey -   Take fresh ginger, peel it, slice it.  Put a layer of ginger slices in a glass jar and enough honey to cover; put in another layer of ginger, then more honey - continue until the jar is not quite full.  The honey will thin out as the ginger juices mix with the honey.  It’s ready in a few days.   Mix with warm water for a warming and circulation promoting tea.  It’s also helpful for an upset tummy, especially if you’ve eaten too much.  Very tastey in black tea, too, for a warming winter time drink.

Sage
Sage is a great herb that is useful for sore throats, coughs with lots of mucus, and hoarseness.  Sage may even work against the bacteria that cause strep throat.  Sage dries up secretions, so don’t use if you are nursing!  Traditionally, 2 cups of sage tea per day for 7 days was the way to dry up women’s breast milk. 

• Sage infusion - Take 1 TBS dried herb per cup of water and prepare as in the thyme infusion.  If you’re worried about drinking the tea for a sore throat, you can gargle with it then spit it out.
• Sage honey -   Stuff a glass jar full of fresh sage leaves (supermarket sages leaves are fine) and pour honey over to cover.  Let sit 6 weeks & take by the spoonful or make tea as instructed for thyme honey. 

 
Diarrhea remedies

A good remedy for diarrhea that you may already have on hand is black tea.  Black tea is very tannic and so helps tone the digestive tract, calming it down and stopping the diarrhea.  It’s not my favorite remedy for kids, though, due to the caffiene content.   It will work in a pinch, though.

One of my favorite diarrhea remedies is one of Rosemary Gladstar’s formulations:  blackberry root and slippery elm tea. For this I use a tea made from equal parts blackberry root and slippery elm.  Blackberry root is astringent and helps stop the diarrhea while the slippery elm bark coats & soothes the GI tract.  You can buy both of these herbs in powder form.  You do need to make a tea from them, though.  Don’t encapsulate them.

Upset tummy remedies

Ginger tea

Peppermint or spearmint tea

Hops tea (especially if it’s from eating too much)

Dosing chart for teas

3x daily for a mild condition or every ½ - 1 hour for acute cases

Adults ½ - 1 cup

7-11 yrs          2 TBS

4-7 yrs            2 tsp

under 2          ½ - 1 tsp

If your child hates the taste of a tea you can try the following.  Remeber that the skin is a very absorptive organ, especially the feet with all their sweat glands, so a warm bath with herbs in it can be an excellent delivery system.  Try a hand full of lavender buds for crankiness, too!

1. Soak thin cotton socks in the remedy & put on feet.  Cover with warm woolen socks.  Keep on a few hours or until your kid pulls them off!
2. Warm bath with the herbs in a cotton satchel/cheesecloth bag.
3. Make a foot soak with the tea.  Make a strong tea and put in a dishtub or plastic bucket with warm water.  Let your child soak his or her feet in that.

Sources

Rosemary Gladstar – Herbal Remedies for Children’s Health

Susun Weed Class notes

Maude Grieves – A Modern Herbal

Stephen Harrod Buhner - Herbal Antibiotics

Herbal books of interest

Rosemary Gladstar – Family Herbal

Websites

www.learningherbs.com  - free ecourse on using herbs for family health

 A Warm Winter Welcome To You!  I’m Herbalist Deb Fate-Mental and I run Black Toad Herbals here in Mendon, Mass.  I grow my own medicinal and culinary herbs in the gardens around my house.  Come visit with me and learn a little about herbs and making herbal medicines.  You’ll get to know all my green friends from the weedy St. John’s Wort to the old culinary standby Thyme as well as some plants you normally wouldn’t recognize as healing herbs.  Did you know all those pesky dandelions people try to poison out of their lawns are really potent medicinals our ancestors brought over from Europe?  Indeed, they were one of the first European plants brought here, that’s how important they were! 

I’ll try to have new posts at least every month over the winter so check back often.   Growing season starts in March, so we’ll see how well I do after that! 

Blessings, Deb

Disclaimer: all information expressed herein are my personal opinions or based upon tradtional herbal lore.  I am not a medical professional and information contained in this blog is not to be construed as medical advice.