The Essential Herbal Magazine is a magazine by, for, and about herbie people and the things they love – herbs! You can subscribe at essentialherbal.com In the meantime, enjoy our blog!
The recipe for my usual green soups depends on what is on hand, so it's unusual for me to write down the recipe - but it was that good.
Cutting without stinging - stick the colander under the leaves you intend to cut.
All the stinging hairs/needles are on the backs of leaves, and the stems.
Some of the ingredients are pre-packaged. I use potato flakes and broth because there are almost never real potatoes in the house, and there is never enough broth for the amount of soup we eat in the spring. You can make them from scratch, though.
The dairy can be subbed too.
Here we go...
1 T butter 2 T minced onion 1 stalk celery chopped 1 quart fresh nettle leaves 1 small potato, chopped (had here because Easter :-) ) 1 hard boiled egg, chopped 1/4 C 1/2 and 1/2 1/2 C corn 2 slices bacon, cooked til crisp 1 quart chicken (or veg) broth 1/2 C instant mashed potatoes
Instructions: Process the rinsed nettles with about 2 cups of the broth until you get a green slush. Melt butter in pan. Sweat onion and celery in the butter. Add the processed nettle to the pan. Add chopped egg and potato, and the rest of the broth. Add corn and whisk in instant potatoes Add 1/2 and 1/2 and bacon (bits)
Heat thoroughly. Serve with crackers. There won't be any left, but just in case, it can be refrigerated.
AND Just in case you have lots of nettles available, you may want to try this...
Although most of the spring herb festivals are still not
happening this year, it looks like the greenhouses and stores will be
open.Last year we were able to order
plants and pick them up without looking at the other plants, smelling the
varieties, or getting carried away.I
will be making up for that this year.
For those looking to start out with a little control (hahahaha, whatever), I
thought it might be helpful to share what plants have been or become the most
important over the years.Yours may vary,
but this is a bare bones list.Add as
you like!They are always in my
gardens.In many cases, even if
something is supposed to be perennial or expected to reseed, I purchase extras
if last year’s look puny, because having too much is not a problem.
Culinary List: Parsley – biennial, so plant some every year so there is always some to use. Thyme – should be perennial, but often requires replacement. Basil – I like to get Genovese, Lettuce Leaf, and Purple Ruffles for different
dishes.Never too much! Sage – So delicious with fall dishes and once it’s in the garden, it can find
its way into lots of meals. Rosemary – adds so much to chicken and beef roasts and stews.Very tender perennial here.
Cilantro – although not for everyone, the coriander is also good.I LOVE it.So fresh! Chives – provides a relatively mild onion-y flavor in dips, salads, side
dishes, and potatoes. Oregano – be careful where you plant this aggressive, delicious pizza herb. Dill – I didn’t know how much I loved this flavor until there was plenty of it
to play with in the kitchen. Fennel – we love it sliced into salads.Delicious with orange segments, oil, and a touch of balsamic. Options – marjoram, tarragon,
horseradish, garlic Wild seasonings – sassafras, sumac,
mints, onions and garlic
Medicinal List: Calendula – no matter how much we plant, it’s never enough. Chamomile – considered perennial or reliable reseeders, they often wander
off.Great tea herb! Rose – we’ve never had enough of this, either. There are so many reasons to
grow roses. Holy Basil – easy to grow and it might be our #1 herb right now.Emotional equalizer. Valerian – The roots are usually sought, but we use the blossoms.They are perennial, but rodents do love the roots.
Peppermint – excellent cup of flavor and cheer.Choose Spearmint for stomach issues. Lavender – gentle, relaxing, and offers so much to us from fragrance to sleep.I’ve learned that they aren’t as perennial as we’d hope.I try to plant one or two every year, just in
case. Lemon Balm – delicious, so fragrant, relaxing, and easy to grow. Echinacea – reliable perennial that reseeds.We use the whole plant, only pulling up the roots on the plants that stray out of the
garden. California poppy – this has just joined the garden in the last decade, since
sleep isn’t as easy as it oncewas.Reseeds easily, but occasionally
needs to be replaced.
Other options:Elder, Saint John’s wort, Catnip, Feverfew,
Horehound… don’t get me started.
AND... Jenel Schaffer from Sheep Hill Herbs interviewed me on several things - including favorite herbs.
The other day I was trimming the yews underneath the front windows, and although I rarely have a problem with seasonal allergies, they gave me an issue!
A shower to wash off the pollen and some Snuffles tea set me right, but not everyone is so easily soothed.
(excerpt from 3/27/21 "Just the Essentials" free newsletter - sign up on our website)
Lancaster County is known for the allergens in the air.We live on a tree farm surrounded by corn,
wheat, and soybean fields, so we watched our kids suffer from spring until the
first frost.Maryanne’s son would try
to go out and help his Dad with the Christmas trees, but tiny scratches from
the needles would leave huge welts and hives.My daughter Molly didn’t experience that, thank goodness, and loved working with
the trees after they’d gone into dormancy.
We tried for years to find natural solutions to their
allergies.We could sometimes find
comfort for the symptoms, but the allergies weren’t going anywhere.They moved to the west coast and for the
first time in their lives the warm sun didn’t come with runny noses and weepy
eyes.
I’m wondering if wearing masks helped people, having seen
people mow lawns wearing masks in years past.It would be nice to find that now that we all have masks, we could head
off some of the pollen allergies!
Of all the things I tried for Molly, local bee pollen was
the most effective for her.Everyone is
different, but that was the best for her.We always have lots of nettles in the spring, along with other wild
greens, but didn’t notice much difference in the allergies.Some people find that nettles (tea, tincture,
or as a side dish) help.
It is officially Spring. We've missed an entire year of festivals, gatherings, and friends. It just might be almost over. My fingers and toes are all crossed.
It's almost unimaginable that it was over a year ago that most of us agreed to lock down for 2 weeks in order to help get this virus under control. 2 weeks stretched to 6, and then there was no end in sight. We've all peered into this long tunnel, searching for a pinpoint of light at the end. My book - Medicinal Herbs for Emotional Healing came out last March.
The signings and presentations I'd planned didn't happen, but the launch went okay, especially because the topic was so relevant.
Several times during this year, I've patted myself on the back for thinking ahead and having what I needed on hand, for staying in, and doing my part. It would be easy to go off on a self-congratulatory tangent, but the truth is that I was lucky. I already work from home and lead a frugal life. We stay to ourselves pretty much up here on the hill, so there was very little that changed except we only ventured into town once a week - with added anxiety.
We spent 6 months working on new-to-us techniques in eco-dyeing, and I found the art form I've searched for my whole life. I am in LOVE.
Mostly we do silk scarves, but that process results in some interesting cotton prints, too!
A few months before things got serious, we'd announced that printing and mailing costs were such that we could not continue to create a printed magazine, and would only be doing so for one more year. Since 2002, we were determined to print as long as it was feasible. We thought that would go on forever, but that was not to be... We DO have another 10 years to compile into a book, though. We're saving our pennies for that mammoth project.
Our website started providing a fun and easy option for emails, so those who've signed up while visiting the site now receive "Just the Essentials" - a short newsletter every 2 weeks that contains a little of this or that, introduces new products, and occasionally includes an exclusive discount.
Let's just say that keeping up with all of this makes me very happy to have 16 years of blogs and 20 years of magazines in my bag of tricks!
I can't tell you how many times I've stopped and considered how fortunate we have been to be able to make that decision and switch a few issues early. We have one more issue in our first all digital year, and we are so grateful for the smooth transition. We lost a few subscribers, and that was expected. So many of our readers chose us because we were a print magazine, so it was a great surprise to find that the vast majority of our readers stuck around. We've had some that dropped the magazine, but came back! Most of our advertisers stuck around too - so we've got a lot to be grateful for, and we're determined to continue earning that loyalty.
In the meantime, we're still struggling a little bit getting used to the schedule, now that we added the "Extra!" that arrives in the months that magazines don't come out (thanks for the brilliant idea, Susanna). Double the deadlines (for us - not the contributors), double the fun.
We get to play around with different ideas. Sometimes we include a video link. Couldn't do that before!
Our advertisers are included in the Extra as well as the regular magazine at no additional charge, so we feel we can give them a better value.
Sometimes we receive content that really fits much better during an in-between month, and the Extra is perfect for that, too.
It's more work, but we are really enjoying it. Originally we promised that it could be just a recipe or a puzzle, but so far it's been a mini magazine.
With the weather improving and things loosening up, we're hoping to do more with our youtube channel now that I've realized time will not make me younger, thinner, or cuter. No time like the present!
We've got lots of ideas, but if there's something you'd like us to present in a 5 or 10 minute video, let us know. Obviously, that's not enough time for major projects, but we can do a lot in a few minutes.
Another thing that has been an unforeseen challenge was trying to figure out how to present the magazines on the website. For the past few years we'd been having a lot of fun creating a seasonal tableau for each issue to photograph and display on the home page.
We're getting there. Little by little we figure it out.
We have been having a lot of fun this year, quietly writing and pondering here on the hill. There are a few things I'm looking forward to, friends I've really missed and hugs to be given.
Here's hoping you've gotten your subscription so that you don't miss out on anything! We know how scarce extra money is and try to make sure we're more than worth it.
There have been many times during the last 20 years when working a couple of months ahead had the power to give hope and that has certainly been the case for the last month or so. Between the weather, the pandemic, and some goofy joint issues that had both of us in physical therapy, it was good to just be in the future. The sun will shine, the seeds will sprout, and Spring will arrive. It always does.
This issue is full of warm, enlivening, interesting information, projects, and recipes. We know you'll enjoy it. Subscribe HERE.
Check out the cover and table of contents:
Cover,
Susan Holliday
Field
Notes from the Editor, Tina
Sams
20 years ago in April, TEH germinated. It seems like yesterday. It seems like a few lifetimes ago.
A
Garden of Afro-Mediterranean Beauty, Carolina
Gonzalez Beautifying herbs from the Canary
Islands
