Spring Herbs - What Are We Doing Now?

My friend Cory from Aquarian Bath suggested that it would be fun if people from all over would write about their current herbal activities. Other truly wonderful and inspiring posts are available here:
http://aquarianbath.blogspot.com/2010/04/spring-herbs-blog-party.html after the first of April, but I couldn't wait. The topic seemed pretty exciting to me. Let's face it - it has been a long winter, and neither bitter winds, nor sucking mud, nor chilling rains can stay me from the green stuff that is now carpeting the ground where only a few short weeks ago, snowdrifts lay.
At the moment, I am spending a little time now and then gathering teeny-tiny leaves that my sister and I will be using in a top-secret project. Ok... you dragged it out of me. We going to play with some resin.
Otherwise, the big fun right now is in finding what survived over the winter.
Some of the plants fight with surrounding plants for space each year. In fact we have a lot of that around here. I talk a lot about the mountain mint and the various other mints (that have been plowed - heh heh heh), but there are some other herbs that are sort of bullies. Chamomile is one that is really taking over, as well as the St. Johnswort. As you can see, the SJW is already greened up and starting to move 'em out!Both of those I have encouraged, so it will be my own fault when the day comes that they require "management". Thyme is another one, and that's sort of surprising. My luck with thyme up until now has been so-so, and right now it would seem that the thyme has taken several feet to itself. It's ok though... I like it.Some plants will produce for the first time this year, and I'm expecting the gooseberries and currants to be among them. Perhaps the figs will have time to ripen this year? Looking at the bayberries, it looks like they will also provide some wax this year.
Part of every day will find me outside, pulling away some fallen leaves from the autumn, digging out some overly enthusiastic mustard or cress, or even transplanting to a better place that I remember considering from last year.
Another task is cutting back the shrubs and bushes that are the foundation for the gardens.
This second year parsley is back, but it will bolt quickly. Some new plants will go in and be allowed to grow while we have this to use in the meantime. If they get out of hand, they will shade everything and my beloved weeds and herbs would just vanish. Beautiful little monarda leaves are just coming through the ground. This particular plant has bright candy pink flowers in summer. It is my favorite of the monardas, followed closely by the typical bright clear red variety.The cleavers is having no trouble holding its own on the side of the house. I've noticed quite a bit of cleavers out there this year. It looks very robust.There is one valerian that has volunteered underneath an evergreen bush of some sort, and *somebody* is going to have to move, there. This is the original plant...The chives have a few more weeks before they will bloom, but their succulent "leaves" wave bravely in the cool, windy weather. They are perfectly fine to eat now.I hesitate to mention this, but there is someone living under the front porch again. It is somebody small, and I think it is a chipmunk family, since they've been seen in the front garden. Oh please, if it has to be something living there, let it be a chipmunk rather than a groundhog or skunk - PLEASE!!!
Chickweed is incredibly lush at this time of year. It has been around pretty much all year (except July, August, and September), but this is when it is best.So that's what I'm doing with herbs right now. Daydreaming, rearranging, nudging, making room for, and a little petting and fawning. The anise hyssop is already fragrant and tasty, and the leaves are perfect for this time of year.... they somehow don't make you feel crazy if you pet them :-).

too much new

It has been an interesting week. I was not aware of how deeply ingrained some of my work habits are until late last week I noticed the old desktop laboring away over the simplest file save. Opening an email was a Herculean effort too. So before shutting down for the night, the backup was checked, and a few critical data files emailed to myself... and sure enough the next morning the computer was dead. Died peacefully while I slept. Sniff...
Back in November, my brother gifted me with a laptop. It has been a nice toy. Now it is pressed into service and I am quickly learning Win 7, which is only vaguely different. At the same time, I decided to cut the decade-plus addiction to AOL. As one of the remaining 2 0r 3 hundred remaining paid users, it was time for us to break up. I admit to feeling a little queasy about all of this.Oh - and I have a new camera too. The old one still works in case I can't stand anymore change, but learning is good. Just not so much at once and not so...under the gun! Fortunately the magazine was completed the day before the crash :-)
Heh - Blogger just posted this before I was finished.... life on the edge is tough.
This morning I walked in the woods. Let's see if some of the pictures can be posted here...
Walking down to the woods, there were daffodils blooming next to the pond. The deep blue sky and the reflection on the pond was perfect. Nearby a woodpecker was giving a tree what-for.
Looking up towards the sky, the trees are all bursting out with buds of various sizes, shapes, and colors - some flowers and some just leaves. Occasionally someone (ok - the sycamores) still has a few of last autumn's decor.
The star magnolias beside the pond are ready to go crazy.Along the creek a box turtle met a sad fate. It is rare to see them here at all, and even rarer to see the whole, undamaged shell. When we lived in VA, the dog loved turtle meat more than just about anything, and since they were so plentiful. she ate well. Here they are much less common.
It seems like gradually things will start to make sense to me. Resisting change is probably normal for most - and apparently I am part of "the most".
Oh well.

an hour in the garden

At this time of the year it is fairly pointless to do too much in the garden. Right now with the windows open, it is a warm, sunny 76 degrees inside the house. Outside the sun is warm and there is a nice breeze. So how could I NOT poke around out there?
So now I have my first dirt of the year under my fingernails.
The thyme is ecstatic, throwing out new growth, and the (blasted) mountain mint is seeking to take over the path. That I can do something about right now. Chamomile has also attempted a hostile takeover in the area where the chives generally have control. The gooseberries have the tiniest of leaves popping out between the thorns, and the blueberries... well, since they were surrounded by several feet of snow, as that snow melted the bunnies munched them down. They'll bush out soon.
I plopped down in the middle of the one pathway, and set about some minor, pointless weeding. Eventually, it will get serious, but right now the weeds haven't gotten big enough to crowd each other or to be big enough to get a grip on. As I cleared a nice patch several feet around, I started to notice something that had me giggling as I sat watching - it was the first time witnessing this event...
The worms! They started coming out of the ground by the score, and appeared to be playing like dolphins! As little bits of weeds were pulled, instead of heading in the opposite direction they seemed to be drawn to the action! I think we might have been playing together.
There will probably be lots of frigid days ahead before we can finally get down to gardening, but for today... it felt great.

Herb Women Take a Day Off (well, sort of :-)

Thinking of a title for this entry, it occurs to me that since nature is everywhere and what we do is so nature-related, thankfully (!!!) there is never truly a day "off". Even past trips to NYC have involved checking out roof gardens, the flowers offered at the Bodegas, great restaurant offerings, and trade shows revolving around business.

But anyhow - yesterday was a day that was mostly computer-free.

We started out early, especially since Daylight Savings Time started the day before, on the 2 hour drive to Hagerstown for a Flower & Garden Show. We were going with our friend Sharon, who lives near there. Along the way, we were treated to the sight of a bald eagle watching the rain-swollen Susquehanna River just beside the turnpike.

Me (sure, everyone else looks normal), Sharon, Maryanne...

Arriving at Sharon's, we were treated to a breakfast smorgasbord of 3 different kinds of scones, cream, breakfast roll-ups, fruit, tea - and more. It was delicious. Eventually we wandered over to the show. Once there, we had a great time talking to Barb Steele of Alloway Creek Gardens who had a lovely booth filled with herb plants and perennials. There were some other interesting things there, but the most interesting thing of all was the HUGE number of vendors that had nothing to do with flowers or gardens, and the complete dearth of display gardens and FLOWERS! It was my first and last time visiting that show. More and more, I see organizers shooting themselves in the foot by bringing in multi-level marketers, unrelated vendors, and ignoring what people came to see. If they are having trouble bringing in appropriate vendors, perhaps finding a more reasonable ($$$) venue or scaling back would make sense? Don't drag me across state lines with promises of flowers, only to show me tractors, purses, and jewelry (MLM jewelry, to boot!).

But it was still a great time since the company was so enjoyable.

We headed back to Sharon's for a late lunch. I don't know how that woman does it! The table was once again laid with a vast array of delectable treats, and we stuffed ourselves.

Next out to the garden, where she has created beautiful nooks and spacious areas filled with imagination and a lot of hard work. The gardens are well marked, so we took a good amount of time to see what has started to come up, what survived... and wonder about some weeds.

Then, we went into her sales room. She is dismantling the in-house shop this week, so I got to be her last customer! I've been wanting one of her larger plates for a long time, so there was no better time to pick it out.

We drove home later in the light rain, and talked a bit (as we had throughout the day) about shows in general. Everything changes over time, and certainly the internet is part of it. I just hope that smart organizers see the trend and act instead of laying down and becoming less than mediocre.

It's so good to love what you do!

Over the course of the past week or so, I have reveled in the newly exposed dirt/grass/leaf litter. Not once, but twice I managed an impromptu slip 'n slide down the side yard on the way to investigate the garden, both times covering myself with mud, and laughing the whole time. Other days included things like writing articles, typing in back issues from the very early days for the next book, packing and shipping orders, and making soap. I even made it into the woods, and wandered around the yard for hours, peeking under leaves, clearing dried debris, replacing protective collars around precious medicinal shrubs, and just generally letting Mother Nature know how glad I was to smell spring's advance.
We make tons of soap here - usually at least a couple of days a week are spent on that. Maryanne's Lancaster County Soap (see link in sidebar) is a wholesale business that can really keep us hopping when we aren't working on the magazine or other projects. We make a terrific product, and it's what we always use. None of that store-bought stuff around here! At the same time, it is fun to try the hand-crafted soap of other artisans. Typically I participate in a swap or two each year that satisfies my urge, but for some reason the other day I found myself at the site of Sylett Soap and decided to try a few bars. They arrived the other day, and it is some gorgeous stuff! Creamy feeling, slick bubbles, smells great, hefty bars - really nice soap!
One bar of the lemon-y Saving Face is on my bathroom sink, while a second bar has been tucked away for my lemon-loving man. The kid claimed the Juniper Sage and the Crowded Shower immediately to take back to college, and the Spearmint Patchouli will soon take the place of a wickedly rich shampoo bar that I've been using as a body bar in my shower. There were a few samples included, one being a Dead Sea Mud bar. It wasn't on her site, but I do love mud bars! I will enjoy the sample.
It's funny. People think that soap is soap. In a way, that is true. However, each time I try someone else's soap I am reminded of how we each work so hard to put our individuality into our products and how they really are unique to the soapmaker. Maybe I notice it more because it is something I do, but that fact alone makes me proud of this art/craft/product that we soapmakers produce.

Spring Ideas from The Essential Herbal

Yesterday I sent an email reminder to some people who haven't renewed their subscriptions (imagine!), and included some fun spring-y things to make.
Got to thinking - that's blogworthy :-)
So here they are....

As we look forward to spring here on the hill, there are some great herbal ideas

Herb Garden Dip
We made this dip for a bus tour last year and did not write down the herbs as we snipped. Everyone wanted the recipe! The good news is, there isn't a real recipe.
Snip a combination of herbs to equal 2 Tablespoons.
They could be:
Chives
Parsley
Sage
Rosemary
Oregano
Tarragon
Thyme
Savory
Dill
(you get the idea!)
Chop well, and blend with
1 C mayo (or substitute yogurt if desired) and 1 C sour cream. Mix well and allow to sit in the
fridge for at least an hour. I really like to add about 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds to the mix, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carpet/Vacuum Freshener
Since the growing season is upon us, you can be a little less worried about running out of your fragrant dried herbs. At this time of the year, I love to sprinkle them onto the carpet before vacuuming. Try:
Lavender
Lemon Verbena
Rose Geraniumor
Mint
It freshens up the whole house!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apres Gardening Tub Tea
This blend can really help to rejuvenate and get rid of the itchies after a great day in the garden.

1 part dried mint (I like peppermint)
1 part dried eucalyptus
1 part dried rosemary
1 part dried tarragon
1 part dried comfrey leaf
1/2 part oatmeal
Blend together and put about 1/2 cup into a coffee filter. Tie
shut. Put the herb filled filter into a heat resistant
pitcher, and fill the pitcher with very hot water. Allow that
to steep while drawing a bath, and add it to the bath just
prior to stepping in.
If you prefer to use fresh herbs, just use it all for the bath or dry the leftovers appropriately.

If you've enjoyed these herbal ideas, consider a subscription to The Essential Herbal. The Mar/Apr issue is full of wonderful information, recipes, and crafts!
Click here to subscribe: http://www.essentialherbal.com/shop/?cat=2
download FREE ISSUE

A Bit of Herbal Mythology Part II

A Bit of Herbal Mythology Part II
Many myths have made their way through the years in association with a variety of herbs. Here is part two of our slight history lesson regarding the myths and legends and stories associated with the use of herbs.
Lavender: • Legend says that the pleasant smell of lavender comes from the baby Jesus. After washing his swaddling clothes, Mary hung them to dry on a lavender bush. This gave the plant the scent of Heaven.
• In the Middle Ages, it was believed that couples who place lavender flowers between their bed sheets would never fight.
Mint:
• According to myth, Hades had developed a lust for a nymph named Minthe. Hade's wife Persephone found out about Hades lust, and angrily transformed Minthe into a plant to be trampled on. Hades could not undo the spell, but he was able to ease it by giving Minthe a wonderfully sweet fragrance; one which would be released whenever her leaves were trampled on.
Oregano:
• The ancient Greeks believed that Aphrodite created oregano. They believed that if it grew around a grave, the deceased would have eternal happiness.
• In Germany, oregano was hung over doorways to protect against evil spells.
• In the Middle Ages, oregano symbolized happiness and love.
Rose:
• According to myth, the first roses did not have thorns. While Venus' son Cupid was smelling a rose, a bee came out and stung him on the lip. Venus then strung his bow with bees. She removed their stingers and placed them on the stems of the roses.
• Myth also says that all roses were originally white until Venus tore her foot on a briar and all the roses were dyed red with her blood.
• In Christian lore, the red color of roses comes from the blood of Christ.
Rosemary: • From the times of ancient Greece through the Middle Ages, it was believed that rosemary strengthened the brain and memory. When they needed to take exams, students braided rosemary into their hair in order to help their memory.
• The ancient Greeks burned rosemary in order to repel evil spirits and illness.
• In some parts of Europe, it was believed that if an unmarried woman placed rosemary under her pillow, her future husband would be revealed to her in her dream.
Sage:
• The Romans believed that sage was a sacred herb which gave immortality.
• Up until the 18th century, it was believed that sage increased fertility.
• It was also believed that sage strengthened the mind.
Thyme: • During the Middle Ages it was believed that the scent of thyme inspired bravery. Knights wore scarves with thyme leaves sewn on them during tournaments.
• In English lore, if a person collected thyme flowers from hillsides where fairies lived, and rubbed the flowers on their eyelids, they would be able to see the fairies.
So now we know. I hoped you enjoyed this two part series and if for no other reason - at least this will provide some fun discussions at your next party get together!
Elizabeth Krause is owner of http://www.simpleitaliancooking.com, a website featuring many family Italian recipes which incorporate some of the spices and herbs mentioned. Sign up for her weekly newsletter where she gives additional recipes and cooking tips perfect for easy lunches and dinners!

A Bit of Herbal Mythology - Part I

A Bit of Herbal Mythology - Part I
All through the ages, herbs have been used for many different things. Not only have they been incorporated into cooking, but also used for decoration and medicinal purposes as well. Their healing properties as well as being tasty, fragrant, and attractive, resulted in people throughout the ages believing the plants possessed magical qualities and attributed some interesting myths to them:

Bay Leaf:
• According to myth, the beautiful Daphne was changed into a bay as she escaped the clutches of Apollo. Thus, Apollo made a crown out of bay leaves and branches and wore it in her honor.
• In the 17th century it was believed that bay leaves repelled witchcraft. Pots of bay were placed in front of doorways in order to ward off evil spells and curses.
• It was also believed that bay would prevent one's house from being struck by lightning.
Chamomile:
• The Anglo-Saxons believed chamomile was one of the sacred herbs given to the earth by the god Woden.
• In Victorian times, chamomile symbolized patience in adversity.
• Chamomile is believed by some to possess the power to attract money; therefore gamblers may be found soaking their hands in a chamomile infusion in order to increase their chances of winning.
Cinnamon:
• The Romans believed cinnamon to be sacred, and the emperor Nero burned bunches of it as a sacrifice at his wife's funeral.
• In the Middle Ages, cinnamon represented wealth and power. At large banquets, hosts served cinnamon in order to impress the guests.
Cloves:
• When the fragrant clove forests were discovered in Indonesia, it was said that they must always be planted around water in order to flourish.
• For over 4,000 years, people chewed whole cloves in order to refresh their breath (ok, this has some merit so technically it isn't a myth).
• It was also said in ancient China if anyone wanted to speak to the emperor, they were required to have a clove in their mouth.
Dill:
• Dill represented wealth to the ancient Greeks.
• During the Middle Ages, dill was believed to possess magical powers and could destroy evil spells.
• A drink made from dill leaves was the remedy for anyone who believed a witch had cast a spell on them.
• People also wore charms made from dill leaves to protect themselves from any evil spells.
Fennel:
• During the Middle Ages, fennel was hung above doorways and on rafters in order to ward off the devil.
• Fennel seeds were also placed inside keyholes in order to prevent ghosts from entering a house.
• In 470 BC the Greeks defeated the Persians at Marathon. They fought on a field of fennel, and this led to the belief that fennel inspired courage and strength.
• Greek and Roman soldiers chewed fennel seeds before entering battle.

Fortunately as the years have gone by, these myths and legends have been replaced with the more realistic culinary benefits of herbs. For example, bay leaf is often used in Italian sauces or stews. Chamomile is used in many teas helping to relax the muscles which is why it is often consumed prior to going to bed. Dill is used to season fish, and fennel is used to aid digestion.
This concludes part one of two for Herbal Mythology.

This post was contributed by Elizabeth Krause publisher of cooking website, SimpleItalianCooking.com. To visit her website, click
here and make sure to subscribe to her weekly newsletter featuring Italian recipes for easy and quick lunches or dinners.

Outside - in no particular order

I finally got into the woods today, and it was good. The birds were everywhere, singing their songs, and the creek was high and hurrying along.
I loved the look of this tree, clinging to the bank while hanging out over the water. It has been growing that way for several years by the look of it.

This long fallen tree hosted somebody over the winter.

And most certainly this is the entrance to a gnome home... In a few short weeks, this bank will be filled with the wildflowers that draw me out again and again, with their yellows, blues, pinks, whites, and magenta. Hard to believe right now. This path runs along the creek, and you can see how the deer have traveled this way many times. Along the way I saw many places where they chose to cross the water to the hill on the other side which leads to a field. Outside the shop, daffodils poke up their leaves next to a sage plant. I'm not sure who this was. A raccoon? Squirrel?

The buds of the star magnolia look very promising indeed.

A view of the sodden ground leading into the woods. You can hear the ground seeping water everywhere. I hear a single bullfrog call - just once. I couldn't stand anywhere for long, as the ground sucked on my boots.

Finally, this growth inside the shell of a hollow tree trunk reminded me of a profile of old man winter, begrudgingly giving up his space to the spring. Give it up, pal.

Ah... such sweet dreams of spring are upon us now. It's almost over, this dark, dreary spell. I could smell it.

The Double Reverse Kismet

For all of our subscribers who are still waiting to recieve their copy of the Mar/Apr issue of The Essential Herbal, I need to express my frustration.
The magazine actually went into the mail stream a day early - on Feb. 9th. Our self-imposed deadline is the 10th of the month prior to issue date, so it has plenty of time to meander around the country. For over 8 years, that's worked pretty well, with one or two people writing because their copy went missing. No biggie, we can replace that.
This time was different. Here it is the 5th of March, and the middle of the country is still waiting. Both coasts and much of the upper and lower parts of the country have reported in that they've arrived, but not the middle.
That's bad.
Really bad.
In a couple of days we'll determine just how much of the country we need to re-send to. They are continuing to arrive, with Arkansas and upper Florida checking in yesterday.
But here's the thing....
We were so proud of ourselves for getting it out on time. During the month of January, we were in the hospital and then hospice every day while a member of our family died. We worked in small left-over increments of time to get everything done, and we did it.
He had designed the cover before this last bout of illness struck, and the finished magazines were delivered to us on the day he died. He didn't get to see it.
It is probably self-indulgent for me to write about this, but after the struggle of finishing it, prepping it, and getting it to the post office on time, it is no small disappointment to have a sack or two or three go missing.
The USPS is the only option out there.
Would we make more money if we went to an e-zine format? Oh, about 10 times more. No costs - pure profit. But that isn't what we do, and our subscribers have let us know it isn't what they want.
So we'll keep slogging along. Post office, you really let us down this time :-(.

March on(e)

One of the benefits of blogging for 5 years is the ability to go back and see what was really going on at this time for each of those years. I've always been prone to journaling, but in this case, many times there have been photographs and weather related rambles. Yes, it IS true that other years were greener and warmer. It wasn't just my imagination or longing. Last year was snow-covered too, though.

It's sort of funny to me. My grandmother always kept diaries. She would list who she saw or talked to, often what she ate, but always some commentary on the weather.
As a youngster, that struck me as such bland fodder. I mean, what about love? Where was the gossip? How did she FEEL about things?

Now I get it.
Having spent most of February "holed up", reading and writing, and thinking, I can understand that the weather is part of everything we do. Living more-or-less in the country, our activities are ruled by the ability to actually get out of the doorway and how well our vehicle navigates whatever the heavens send forth. Our moods, our communications, our movements and the very air we breathe depends on what happens outside the house. I'm not sure I ever truly understood that before.

Today is almost seasonal. There is some snow melt going on, and amidst the still present drifts and piles, I was able to bend closer and see that someday soon Spring will get here. The chickweed is nestled under the evergreens.Spring is putting on her dancing shoes right now and pressing her colorful clothes. Baby blue-eyes and red dead nettles struggle forth, blooming in spite of everything.
I could not be more ready.

Oh Spring? Bring it on!

We've spent the last few days whipping up our spring offerings. Normally, we'd wait a few more weeks, but the wholesale customers with my sister's soap company have been shopping up a storm! It seems like we've been making soap constantly, but the shelves don't show it. They are available for retail sale on The Essential Herbal website, too.
Since yesterday, we made a gorgeous batch of Happy Wanderer soap, made with jewelweed and plantain, and a little lavender and tea tree essential oil. In the summer, we gathered lots of extra jewelweed and plantain, and processed it so that it would be ready in the early spring.
We made rows of bottles of Git Spritz and several dozen Git Sticks. The Hiker's Releaf Spray is all ready to go, too.
In between, we made a batch of Ocean Salt Spa Bars, some Granny's Lye Soap, Apple Snap, Gardener's (with cornmeal, comfrey and tea tree oil), Apricot Freesia, Honey 'n Oats, Grapefruit Lily, Rosemary, Ginger, Lilac, and 4 half batches of test fragrances - all of which we love!
We still have some things to catch up on. Boo-Boo Balm is low, as are the Amber lotion bars and the Arnica Rub sticks. Oh and lip balms. And the Oats 'n Flowers facials... But a few days of determined work, and we'll be up to snuff.

AND we've started some earnest work on the next book from TEH - By the Hearth. By the Hearth will be a compilation of the Fall and Winter issues from the first five year, and be a companion to Under the Sun, which covers Spring and Summer from the same time period. There are a few other projects waiting to unfold, but for now just packing and shipping the orders as they come in is filling in all the gaps.

It feels great to get back in the groove :-)

She's got the snow-covered herbie blues...

There is barely a wisp of color outside. The occasional streak of red as a cardinal perches forlornly on the nearby fir tree is shocking in contrast to the varying shades of gray. Last year at this time I was peeking under leaves and walking along the creek, thrilled with the occasional patch of green from chickweed or garlic mustard, thinking ahead to the jewel-toned woodland wildflowers that would be like a siren call into the woods in another month or so.
All of that is so deeply covered with snow that the only hint of spring I've seen lately was when I dug a path to the fuel tank, and found some grass under the drifts.

This is frustrating.

Some of the gathering baskets are hanging by the backdoor, ready to go.

My fingers are itching to touch dirt. My heart is aching to see a sign of the spring to come. The seed and plant catalogs that I've gone over with a fine-toothed comb are feeling a bit like mockery, and even the current issue of The Essential Herbal is brimming with early spring hopefulness.

So today, I decided to go for a little nature walk here inside the house.

It is a rare day outside when I don't find something that needs to come back into the house.

I thought I'd share it with you, just in case you're feeling it too.

Inside the front door is a table where little things get dropped. Nuts, feathers, stones, and whatever is in my pockets. Off to the side is a barely visible brass "lucky" frog statue, sitting on Chinese coins. I help him along sometimes with gemstones, feathers, and loose change. I think some dusting is in order.The corner cabinet in the living room is another repository for found natural objects. There is a big cylindrical jar filled with shells and sea glass, a gourd stuffed with lunaria, dried daffodils, and feathers, and some twisted vine that caught my eye one day - among other things.This little curio cabinet is a little harder to see, because the back of it is mirrored. It is filled with sprigs of dried flowers, seed pods, a really beautiful egg-shaped beeswax candle, gemstones, and at the very bottom there is a very old set of metal beads that I found walking along some railroad tracks one day. Where I used to work, the tracks ran along the building, which were very close to what was once the town dump site. My favorite lunchhour activity - especially in the spring when the thawing seemed to rearrange the earth - was to walk along and find old bottles and various other oddities from a long time ago.This basket contains roses that arrived for my birthday. They were beautiful, but their arrival coincided with what was to become our 22 day sojourn of hospitals and hospice, ending with our brother John's passing. Somewhere in there, I snipped them off and put them in the basket to dry so that I could enjoy them later. A little packet of blue squill bulbs that I *should* have planted in the fall got in there somehow, too.Several years ago I visited my friend Sharon Magee's house, and was awed by her collection of old herbal remedy containers. It gave me a new eye for when I visit flea markets and such, and now I love my own tiny collection. It's exciting to find the old packages, and read the labels - things have really changed!
Eventually today, after getting through piles of left-for-later emails and business stuff, I think I'll strain off the fruited brandies and vodkas that were started in the full days of summer, and turn them into cordials. That will help.

The Essential Herbal - Mar/Apr '10

The next issue is in the mail, and it is filled with wonderful stuff! So many great ideas to help us all start thinking ahead to the sunny, windblown days of spring! Recipes, instructions and tons of cool information for herbies to revel in!

Table of Contents March/April 2010

Field Notes from the Editor
Herbal Hand Lotion, Karen Hood
Complete instructions and recipes to make Calendula or Lavender Hand Lotion for use at home. Perfect for this dry time of year!
Historic Herbal: Hildegard’s Healing Stones, Kathleen Setzer
Crystal Elixirs and their history are explained. Some gems and their purposes are discussed, and you’ll never think of those rings you’re wearing the same way.
Spring Cleaning Naturally, Kristena Haslam Roder
Kristena shares some simple ways to clean the house without the harsh detergents and chemicals that we’ve come to know.
Down on the Farm: Hello Spring! Michele Brown & Pat Stewart
Pat and Michele are bringing some new ideas for marketing their farm and plants, explaining Herbal CSA’s and drop shipping, new ventures for them in 2010.
Herbs for Stronger Bones, Cindy Jones
Learn which herbs and essential oils can help you keep strong bones.
The Global Herbal: Oceana Part 2, Marita Orr
Off we go to New Zealand, to learn some of the traditional healing of the Maori people.
Green Drinks, Betsy May
Yummy, nutritious beverages that you can whip up at home, filled with good, greens and anti-oxidants to take you through the day.
Herbs of the Zodiac: ARIES, Susanna Reppert
This series was originally written by Bertha Reppert, and Susanna will be sending a taste of each. Zesty Aries Mustard and several herbs for this fire sign are included in this installment.
Don’t Forget the Lemon Verbena, Paul Whitmer
Using and growing lemon verbena – one of our favorite herbs.
Nettle: Nature’s Spring Tonic, Mary Hammond
The how and why of making a Stinging Nettle Infusion, the perfect intro to spring for our bodies!
Reflections of an Herb Gardener, Jackie Johnson
A humorous and oh-so-true collection of garden wisdom, written as only someone who has truly experienced it could tell it.
Shaker Gardening, Patricia Myers
“If you would have a lovely garden, you should have a lovely life” Shaker saying…
Pat tells us about the gardening practices in Shaker gardens.
Spring Cleaning your Body with Wild Edibles, Stephany Hoffelt
Harvesting and nutrition information on several delicious weeds, along with ideas on how to prepare and eat them.
Chickweed, Teresa Harrison
Recipes for Chickweed Pesto and Chickweed Honey Cream
SouthRidge Treasures, Everlasting Flowers, Mary Ellen WilcoxGrow some everlastings this summer! Mary Ellen discusses how to grow and dry these beauties.
Starting from Scratch with Seeds, Kathy Musser
Comprehensive discussion of how to grow plants from seed, and how to avoid some of the pitfalls.
Of Lanterns and Lunaria, Rita Richardson
A walk down memory lane of childhood.

Maryanne and I dedicate this issue to our brother John Snyder, who created the cover illustration as his final creative work.

Banana Nut Bread

The bananas on the counter took a turn for the worse a couple of days ago, along with a golden delicious apple that had taken on a rather wrinkled appearance, so while the boys were plowing and shoveling out front yesterday, I thought I'd make them a treat.

I mashed up two of the bananas, and processed the apple with a handful of walnuts and a few slices of crystallized ginger, then loosely followed the recipe for Banana Nut Bread from the Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book.

After the bananas, apple, ginger, and walnuts were mixed up, I added:

a generous tablespoon of cinnamon

2 eggs

2/3 cup of sugar

1 tablespoon of soft butter

2 tablespoons of milk

Mixed that all up well,

Then:

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups flour (if I had some quick oats, I may have replaced a cup of flour with that)

It all went into a greased loaf pan, and baked at 350 degrees for about an hour. It could have used a few more minutes, because the center was a little too moist. It was delicious. A great way to use up some of the fruit that was taunting me.

And just because it is so amazing, here's another view of the backyard - with sun added, making it appear less ominous.

Note the railing just in front of the trees in the center of the picture. That is a split-rail fence, nearly 4 feet high.

Sometimes, I'm just a warning for others.

Yesterday started out as another peaceful, snowbound day. We were well in to 3 feet of pristine snow, with more falling, and winds picking up that would whip it into drifts taller than I am. Provisions were holding up well, power on... a good day to get things done, or read a book, or whatever crossed my mind.
Unfortunately, what crossed my mind was a warning that our local tv station has been talking about for a week now. Newer houses are often built with J-shaped furnace exhaust pipes going out the wall behind the unit. They talked about how snow can block the pipes, shutting down the furnaces - or worse, causing a build up of carbon monoxide. I'd checked it before yesterday's storm, but the howling winds and immense snowfall had me concerned. There is no window or door on that side of the house that would allow me to look.

Eventually, I remembered that the downstairs door to the daylight basement was only 8 or 10 feet from the pipe. It's a door I've rarely used, and for the past 2 years was the door to my brother's apartment - so again, I haven't used it in a great while. This was great! It would take only a minute to check it, and then go about my day with my mind set at ease.

I slipped on a tshirt and jeans, reconsidered and grabbed some socks before sliding on some loafers, and threw on a jacket. Yanking the shovel from the drift on the front porch, I was soon to be free from the nagging worry.

Out I went, pulling the door shut behind me, into the roaring wind and biting white-out. Digging along, within minutes I could see that the pipe was a good foot above the snow. Eureka!

As I grabbed the doorknob with my bare hand, I realized with deep horror that the door had locked behind me. Ok. Maybe I left the front door open when I got the shovel. So off to the front of the house. This was no easy feat. The piles from where the snow was plowed from last week's storm had created drifts that were over

my head! The only way up to the door was way out around the snow drifts, shoveling as I went. Alas, that door was locked too.

From my house to my sister's house is only about 2 city blocks. It is downhill. It was my only real choice, other than breaking a window - which in retrospect doesn't seem like such a bad idea. The roadway was too dangerous, only as wide as a snowplow, with 6 foot sheer sides and maniac snowmobilers careening around on them. Across the fields seemed like a better choice.

I abandoned the shovel on the porch and set out. Nothing had been touched since the last storm, so there was at least three feet of snow, and lots of blowing, drifting snow. It was up to my waist. Each step took considerable arm waving while I pulled my legs up as high as I could to lessen the drag of the snow. Less than halfway down, I was falling and hyperventilating from fear and effort. Each time I fell, it was harder to get up with nothing to grab, my feet far ahead of my center of gravity. Nobody knew where I was, and I was keenly aware of the fact that stopping to rest could easily result in death. Occasionally, a tree acted as a lever to propel me forward, but the space between the Christmas trees was even deeper, holding the snow that had fallen from the branches.

The three or five minute walk that I take many times a week turned into a half hour of sheer terror. Slogging through snow that is deeper than the height of your legs is really hard work.
I got to the shop, which is approximately 50 yards from the house, and couldn't have been more grateful to turn the doorknob, throwing myself into the warm, dry workshop.

From the shop, I called my sister's cell phone and sobbed into the phone that I was there. Her husband trudged out and I followed his steps back to the house.

It took hours for my knees to stop shaking, and to stop coughing from the workout my lungs had gotten. Just around nightfall, they got their driveway plowed and I got to come home.

So here's the warning, folks...

Even if you are just stepping outside for a moment, take your keys. Wear a hat and gloves. Be prepared for anything, because in this kind of weather, the smallest mistake can turn deadly. Although a cell phone wouldn't have helped too much (except it would have alerted someone as to my location), slip that into your pocket too.

Stay safe.

Snowbound

Nothing says, "pause and reflect" like 20 or more inches of fresh snow. Every door of the house is blocked by snow, and I'm in no rush to change that.
January slipped past us going 100 mph. The last day that was normal was the 10th - and then we took off on a bizarre roller-coaster of a family crisis. How very appropriate that Mother Nature would supply me with this opportunity to stop, recharge, and search for a new normal.

There have been a few times when huge snowfalls have blessed me in this same way.

Once, there was a painful holiday season when snow took away any decisions, leaving me and Molly to sip cocoa and watch old movies together.

Enough snow takes away our feelings of "should".

This is definitely such a snowfall.

The magazines were wafer-sealed yesterday, awaiting address labels that I'll get to on Monday for an early morning Tuesday mailing.

Piles of laundry from the aforementioned January are folded and put away.

Larders were well stocked before the storm, and as long as the cat doesn't go on an eating binge, we're all set.

I dug out a tablecloth that my mother and I started embroidering in the late 70's, and started work on it again. It may get done in this new decade (and millenium!).

Light reading - The Darwin Awards in paperback. Heh.

Maybe some writing.

Maybe some naps.

The thick soft blanket of snow has tucked me in. I am grateful.

Bathing with Herbs

Bathing with Herbs
Jan/Feb '08 issue, The Essential Herbal
Now that the hectic holiday season is past, we have time to pamper ourselves a bit. Time to read those books we haven't had time for, try some new recipes, and maybe even enjoy some luxurious herbal baths. Many times baths are a nice change from showers, but are still just a quick "wash-up". However, they can be a relaxing, therapeutic experience! In times past the herbal bath was held in great regard, and in many cultures the bath was so important that social institutions were built around it. Herbs used in these baths were chosen depending on the benefits derived from them.
In Rome the bath waters were scented, but also disinfected, by tossing lavender into them. Catherine the Great had scouts traveling about in Europe and the Far East searching for herbs that would be beneficial skin tonics in her baths.
Adding herbs to the bath can be done in a couple of ways. Simply prepare a strong infusion of the herbs of your choosing. Strain and add about 4 cups to the bath water. You can also place a handful of herbs into a muslin bag with a long drawstring. Tie the string to the water tap and let the water flow through the bag as you fill the tub. Let the bag steep in the water and do its job as you relax and enjoy. To get some extra benefits from the herbs, scrub a bit with the bag.
As an added option when preparing your bath bags, mix an equal amount of oatmeal (not the quick kind) with the herbs. This will soften the water and soothe the skin.. Milk is also soothing to the skin. Mix some powdered milk with your herbs when making up the bags. Chamomile or calendula added to the milk will make skin especially soft.
Other ways to enjoy the addition of herbs to the bath are using an herb vinegar, herbal oil, or bath salts. Herb vinegar is excellent for softening the skin and it helps get rid of dry flaky, itchy skin. Bath salts soften the water and can be therapeutic when made with bicarbonate of soda, which neutralizes the acids of the skin. Essential oils added to a carrier oil make a fragrant and relaxing bath. Some ideas for bath blends:Herbs for relaxationChamomile, calendula, comfrey, lavenderStimulating herbal bathsRosemary, peppermint, sweet marjoram, parsleySoothing bath herbsCalendula, comfrey, catnip, rose, yarrow Try some of the following recipes, or experiment and see what you like the most. You will feel like you are visiting a healing spa!

Soothing Citrus Bath Blend
1-1/2 cups chamomile
1-1/4 cups comfrey
3/4 cups jasmine flowers
1-1/4 cups lemon balm
1-1/4 cups orange peel
Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container. Use a handful in a bath bag for each bath.Calming,

Warming Bath Blend
1 cup rosemary
1 cup lavender
1/2 cup thyme
1/2 cup lavender
1/2 cup rose geranium
Cover 1/2 cup of the mixture with 1 cup boiling water. Steep 20 minutes. Drain liquid into bath water. Tie herbs into a thin washcloth to use as an herbal scrub. This mixture will make 8 baths.

Herbal Vinegar Bath Recipe
Add 2 handfuls of your choice of herbs (individual or a combination) to 5 cups vinegar. Bring to a boil and let stand overnight. Strain and bottle. Add 1 capful to the bath. Refrigerate and use as desired.

Bath Oil with Essential Oils
4 parts Turkey Red Oil Note: Turkey Read Oil is a processed castor oil that will mix into the water rather than floating on top.
1 part essential oil (a single fragrance or a mixture) Add to the warm bath water to soften the skin as you bathe.
Mary Ellen WilcoxSouthRidge Treasures-Herbs

Nervines

Another guest column today. This came from David Brill of The Rosemary House:

Education and information has always been one of the cornerstones of our busy business since day one in March of 1968. Originally, founder and mom, Bertha Reppert did all of the classes and workshops but as we matured and our customers herbal knowledge grew it became time to bring in additional herbal experts. So now our schedule of events includes herbal enthusiasts from The Rosemary House staff and we enjoy bringing in guest speakers from around the country. In 2007, our herbalist was the famed Rosemary Gladstar, author of The Family Herbal, we were thrilled to be able to get her “down off her Mountain” in Vermont to come to Mechanicsburg for a day long lecture on medicinal herbs. She presented two intensives, one on Chasing Away the Blues, Stress and Anxiety. Where she spoke on herbs for the nervous system.. Rosemary also provided an in depth handout on this subject and she cheerfully agreed to share a part of it with The Essential Herbal Readers.

The Nervous System is our link to our environment. It has three basic functions: to receive, to interpret, and to respond. Within the limited paradigm of modern western science this involves only our physical being and the physical world in which we live. We have our five basic senses to experience our external environment and countless internal sensory neurons to monitor our internal environment. Then there are the some 12 billion cells that constitute our brain, the central computer. If that is all there is to the NS, it is enough to make it, far and away, the most important system of our body. It is what provides integration and coordination to our lives. It allows us to see, feel, touch, create, act and react. Without this basic physical NS there could be no life. To the degree that it is impaired, the quality, tone, color, and richness of life are diminished. If for no other reasons than these we must commit ourselves to keeping our NS healthy if we want a full life.

Herbs and natural therapies play a vital role in the health and well‑being of the Nervous System. Not only are herbs full of concentrated nutrients that are important both nutritionally and medicinally to the nervous system, but herbs also form a direct link between the body, mind, spirit connection. It is important within the framework of the Nervous System, perhaps more so than with any other system of the body, to address health and lack thereof from more than just a treatment of physical symptoms.

Herbal Nervines
The following categories are helpful in defining the action of herbs on the Nervous System.

1. Nerve Tonics
Herbs that feed, tone, rehabilitate, and strengthen the NS are called Nerve Tonics. Nourish the nerve tissue; generally high in calcium, magnesium, B vitamins and protein. Though effective, most are mild in action and can be taken over a long period of time. Herbs from this category are included in every formula for Nervous System disorders.
Examples: Oatstraw (Avena sativa), Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), Wood Betony (Betonica officinalis), Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis and related species), Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), Hops (Humulus lupulus), Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis), Kava Kava.

2. Nerve Sedatives
Relax, help reduce pain, ease tension, aid in sleep. Do not deaden or block nerve endings.
Examples: California Poppy (Eschscholzia california), Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata), St. John_Wort (Hypericum perforatum), Catnip (Catnip cataria), Valerian (Valerian officinalis),, Hops (Humulus lupulus), Lobelia (Lobelia inflata),Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis), Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), Kava Kava, and Cramp Bark (Viburnum opulus).

3. Nervine Demulcents
General action on the NS but are included in almost all nervine formulas for their soothing, healing qualities and nutritional concentration.
Examples: Slippery Elm Bark, Oats, Barley, Flax Seed, Marshmallow Root.

4. Nervine Stimulants
Mildly acting, herbal stimulants gently and nourishingly tone/activate the system. Often adaptogenic in action; feed entire system. Activate the nerve endings by increasing circulation, providing nutrients, increasing vitality. Examples: Peppermint, Gingko, Gota Kola, Spearmint, Wintergreen, Cayenne, Ginger, Bee Pollen, Eleococuccus, Ginseng, Spirulina, Rosemary, and Sage.

Old Farmer's Advice

The following wisdom came in an email from a friend several years ago, and was included in the May/June '05 issue of The Essential Herbal magazine.
I'm a little pre-occupied with things here on the hill right now, so thought that these little gems could stand in for me until my own thoughts are a little clearer.

Old Farmers Advice

*Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
*Life ain't about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.
*Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.
*Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
*A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
*Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
*Meanness don't jest happen overnight.
*Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
*Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
*It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
*You cannot unsay a cruel word.
*Every path has a few puddles.
*When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
* The best sermons are lived, not preached.
* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.
* Don't judge folks by their relatives.
* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.
* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.
* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
* The easiest way to eat crow is while it's still warm, 'cause the colder it gets, the harder it is to swaller.
* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
* It don't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.
* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with watches you shave his face in the mirror every mornin'.
* Always drink upstream from the herd.
* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.
*If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to Nature.

Musings on Candlemas, Bees, & Honey

Musings on Candlemas, Bees, & Honey
By Betsy May
from the Jan/Feb 09 issue of The Essential Herbal

With the arrival of February comes a relatively unknown holiday. February 2 is known in various cultures and religions as “Candlemas Day.” It is the Feast day of The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. According to the Gospel of Luke, Joseph and Mary took baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem forty days after his birth, a typical custom of the time. It was here that the prophet Simeon predicated that Jesus would “become the light of the world.” In modern day, in some Roman Catholic churches, the priest blesses beeswax candles with holy water on Candlemas Day. These candles are then taken home and used throughout the year. Some people suspect that Candlemas Day was an attempt by the Romans to Christianize the Gaelic festival of Imbolc. Imbolc was celebrated at the same time of the year and is sometimes called St. Brigid’s Day. St. Brigid is, ironically, associated with scared flames and holy wells and springs. We also have Groundhog’s Day which was another evolution of Candlemas, also celebrated on the same day. Ancient cultures believed that upcoming weather could be predicted on this day.
There are many different cultural customs associated with celebrating Candlemas Day besides the blessing of candles. In a high school French class I learned that in France Candlemas Day is celebrated by making crepes or very thin pancakes. These tasty round, golden orbs are considered symbols of the sun during one of the darkest times of the year. One of my favorite memories of my adolescent years is when I persuaded my grandparents to eat crepes by candlelight. I can still see them sitting at the dimly lit table, a “Charlie Brown” poinsettia leftover from Christmas in the center of the table, eating crepes with a snow-like dusting of powdered sugar on top. (see end of article for recipe)
In addition to making crepes, I use Candlemas Day as a day to make my own beeswax candles and to take stock of all of my other candles, trim wicks, and clean candle holders. In the evening I try to use only candlelight. Life by the soft glow of candlelight is a much more enchanting place, not to mention the fact that mirrors are much more forgiving! On evenings such as these, I’m reminded of the little pleasures that get lost in the pursuit of modern convenience. On a more personal level, I always re-read my favorite novel of all time, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. It is a must read. The novel chronicles a young girl’s journey in the search for true motherhood, following her into the magical world of three sisters who not only keep bees and make honey, but who have created a world of nurturing ritual and worship.
This of course brings us to honey, that sweet syrupy liquid-gold medicine and food of the Gods. Zeus, the Father of the Gods, is said to have been raised on honey and goat’s milk. Honey has been used for thousands of years, at least as far back as the ancient Egyptians. They used honey as part of the mummification process to embalm bodies. Prized by herbalists, honey has many medicinal properties including being antiseptic and antibacterial. It can be used topically to treat wounds and small cuts as well as internally for sore throats, coughs, and allergies.
“The dandelions and buttercups gild all the lawn; the drowsy bee tumbles among the clover tops and sweetens all to me.” J.R. Lowell
Because it is astringent and a natural moisturizer, honey can also be used as a natural cosmetic. Both Jeanne Rose and Rosemary Gladstar recommend using honey as a face mask or “honey pat.” According to Jeanne, the acid in the honey helps to get rid of blackheads and blemishes. First, make sure the face is completely dry (this is essential) and that the hair is pulled back away from the face. Gently cover the face with honey and pat it lightly. Rinse well with warm water. This facial will create a warm and lasting glow! Rosemary also talks about how her mentor, the great herbalist Juliette de Baricli Levy, grinds herb seeds into meal and mixes them with honey, then leaves them in the sun to dry. These “honey cakes” can be given as treats to little children. Herbal infused honeys are easily made by adding medicinal herbs such as ginseng, garlic, or ginger root to a jar of honey and letting it set for several weeks or months. To speed up the process, gently heat the honey and herbs several times, letting it cool between each heating. The herb itself can be removed from the honey and eaten as a delicious medicinal treat and the honey can be savored by the spoonful, used to sweeten a medicinal tea, or slathered on a piece of toast. The best honey to use, especially for the treatment of allergies, is probably local honey, but I also prize my honey that I got from Mayans living in the jungle in Mexico on my vacation this past summer. There are also other yummy “gourmet” sounding honeys that I’m longing to try such as avocado, blueberry, lavender, pumpkin blossom, and sage.
In addition to producing honey, bees also leave behind tiny golden grains in their footprints, little gems known as bee pollen. According to Rosemary Gladstar’s Family Herbal, bee pollen is a highly nutritious substance. It is a complete protein, contains all 22 amino acids, has higher concentrations of the 8 amino acids that are essential to human health, has high levels of 27 minerals, enzymes & coenzymes, vitamins B1, B2, and B6, niacin, panthenic acid, folic acid, vitamins A, C, & E. Bee pollen can be sprinkled on yogurts, cereals, or salads. Rosemary recommends it as one of the top “super foods” but also cautions us to use it in small amounts with respect, as it takes 4.8 billion grains of bee pollen to equal just one teaspoon. “Herb balls” are an ingenious creation developed by Rosemary that utilize three main by-products of bees: honey, bee pollen, and royal jelly. (Royal jelly basically baby bee food with many nutritional attributes similar to bee pollen). I learned how to make these delicious treats when I apprenticed with her in Vermont. She uses a base of nut butters (almond or cashew) and sesame paste mixed with honey and then adds super foods such as bee pollen and royal jelly, perhaps a few chocolate chips and a little coconut, and then whatever herbal powders you want, including kola nut powder for a chocolaty taste. Her “zoom balls” contain guarana for that extra rush, her throat coat balls contain soothing herbs for sore throats, there are herbal balls with gingko for aging, even aphrodisiac herb balls. Use your imagination and the possibilities are endless! They are truly so delicious that it is hard to believe they are medicine and not dessert.
Warning: Honey is a natural, healthy food that most bacteria cannot grow in. However, it can carry a mild form of botulism and therefore should not be given to babies under the age of one year old because their immune systems are not yet fully developed and they may not be able to fight off this bacteria. Bee Pollen and Royal Jelly can sometimes cause allergy and asthma symptoms. Use with caution in small amounts until you know how your body will react.
“Then he fluttered in and out among the flowers, dipping into every dewy chalice and feasting on his fragrant honey.” Celia Thaxter

Basic Crepe Recipe
½ cup flour
1 tsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
¾ cup milk
1 T vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract (or you may substitute almond, orange, lemon, or rum extract for vanilla)

1. Into a medium size mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, and salt. 2. In a separate bowl, combine beaten eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Gradually add egg mixture to dry ingredients, stirring constantly with a wire whisk or fork until batter is smooth. 3. Pour onto a griddle and cook like a pancake. Put on plate and spread your choice of jams and jellies, pudding, or pie filling on top, roll crepes and dust with powdered sugar.Yield: 10 six inch crepes

Rose Beads

Susanna Reppert from The Rosemary House is doing a series on her blog about botanical beads and asked me if I had an entry about Rose Beads. At the time, I did not, but quickly came up with one. Here goes...
Making beads from plant materials is fun and very rewarding. There are several methods, and the following is one of the time-honored traditions amongst herbies. I think most people try this one at least once and the beads that result are really special.

Rose Beads
Adapted from Incense, Oils, and Brews by Scott Cunningham

3 parts fresh Rose petals from the most fragrant variety available
1 part fresh Rose Geranium Leaves
Rose Water

Remove the white stem ends from the rose petals. Cover the petals and leaves with plain water in a nonmetallic pan (editor’s note: some sources suggest using cast iron. We did, and the beads were lovely). Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Ensure that the mixture doesn’t actually boil. Turn off the heat and let soak until the next day. Repeat the simmering again for a half hour. Repeat this for three days in all, adding rose water when necessary (particularly using rose water instead of plain water on the last day). On the last day squeeze out all liquid until you have a fragrant mess. The mixture should be dry enough to hold its shape. Form into small, round beads with your hands, each about 1/4 inch long. Push a large needle or stiff wire through each bead while it’s still wet to form holes for stringing. Let dry for a week or so, moving them around to ensure even drying.
The beads will be black when finished, and when worn on the body they release a delicious rose scent. The fragrance can be refreshed by rubbing a tiny amount of rose oil into the beads. Rose beads have been made and handed down through generations.

If you're more inclined to want a simpler version, try our pre-mixed botanical bead mixes, or learn to do them with our book on herb beads. Either way, it's a wonderful project for a day immersed in herbs!

Got Stress?

It seems odd to think that the time just following the holidays can be difficult, but there's that let-down, along with the fact that it's a long way off until the next time people get some time off work. We won't even talk about how long we in the North East have to wait to plant our gardens!
There are many herbs that can help ease and calm a stormy day, or even a long period of difficulty. In fact, in thinking about writing about these herbs, I looked back over an article that I wrote for a small publication over 10 years ago. In addition to the herbs that were at that time cutting-edge, there are several more that hadn't come to the forefront yet. Just the other day, Dr. Oz talked about Passionflower, and how it can be helpful - particularly for women who are constantly going from one task to the next, never finishing, and then having trouble shutting down for a restful night - know anyone like that?

 We will start with mild and go from there, listing a few herbs that can help right now. One would additionally be sure to get lots of rest, see that their vitamin and mineral requirements were met, and look into some deeply nourishing herbs for the nervous system, as well. Many of these are said to take days or weeks to make a difference, but I can always feel a shift right away.

My first line of defense is always Chamomile.

I like to drink a cup of tea and that will usually help. It immediately helps me to drop the shoulders and let out a long breath. Another possibility is 20 or 25 drops of tincture, because often if you had time to sit and drink a cup of tea, you wouldn't be stressed, right? If at all possible, a nice warm bath with a few drops (no more than 10) of Lavender essential oil OR a spray of essential oil mist on the pillow case before bed will help to put a bad day behind and let a new day get a decent start.

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) tincture is a favorite for one of my friends.

She uses it when her kids "get on her last nerve", and suspects that's how the herb got it's name. This herb is well known for her helpfulness in menopause, but part of that is the way it helps with anxiety and ... stress!

Next in line is a St. John's Wort.

It is made it into a tincture here each year and taken only as needed. Some people take it daily, although it should not be taken in conjunction with any prescribed MAOI inhibitors.
We also keep Eleuthero (aka Siberian Ginseng) on hand.

Eleuthero was tested in large block factories in Siberia. The workers in one building took the herb daily, while the next building did not. The workers using the herb were found to do better in every measurable way - absenteeism, quality of work, cheerfulness, etc. Scientists are unsure exactly how it works, but it is stimulates cells of the immune system and protects the nervous system. Some people feel that the two (SJW and Eleuthero) work very well together.

Of late, these remedies weren't cutting the mustard for me. Coincidentally, a few years ago I was looking for something for a friend who is a tax preparer. Four months out of the year the workload increases by (seriously) 1000% and the stress takes a visible toll. A couple new herbs became part of my daily routine. 

Holy Basil (Ocimum sanctum) - also known as Tulsi - came up in my research with some prodding by Sandi Wakefield at Black Kat Herbs.

That year it so happened that I had purchased a Tulsi plant at an herb festival, and she was large and busy, perfect for a quart or so of tincture. He and I shared it, and it was the first time in many years that I heard him laugh in March. Seriously. We sometimes use it in tea form, too. Besides helping with stress, Holy Basil is considered a tonic to the nerves, increases memory, is anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-oxidant, immune stimulating, and acids contained in the herb change the way our bodies release cortisol and the way we react physically to stress. In India, Holy Basil is used for nearly all ills. I have an entire flat on order for this spring!

In addition, we use Mimosa (Albizzia julibrissin), also sometimes known as "the happiness herb."

It is also sometimes called "herbal Prozac", which I don't like at all, but it seems to get the point across, and some herbalists include it in formulas for grief. Sometimes when we are stressed it is because we are grieving the loss of something. If you've ever seen Mimosa flowers, they are happy little flowers, pink puffs that sit on top of the leaves in bunches.

Oddly, every time I gather Mimosa flowers, I smell cotton candy. Most people say it smells like peach, but I think I'm combining a bunch of senses to come up with the cotton candy :-) There is only a faint scent to Mimosa, so it may be something about the color that clicks something in my brain...

Mimosa helps to reduce anxiety and stress. The flowers are thought to increase happiness while the bark is more grounding. We use a combination here at home. I use it daily, and when my 18 year old starts getting weepy or angry during certain parts of her cycle, I will offer her a bit of the blend.

Those are the things we use here at The Essential Herbal. Almost all of them are available on our website if you don't have them growing at your house!

January prize

The winner(s) packages from December have all been mailed out, so on to January...
All orders placed during the month of January will be entered into a drawing for:
Three wonderful tinctures to keep you and yours happy and healthy through the dark days leading to spring. Holy Basil, Elderberry, and Echinacea - one ounce of each.

The many ways of herbalism

There are a lot of different kinds of herbalists out there. Some people weigh and measure everything, following precise recipes. Some work by the fullness of the moon. Some of us learned at our granny's knee, and some take a lifetime of classes. Some worked for years and years, finding kindred spirits to share information and knowledge with. Some wouldn't dream of making anything without adding a little energy from the universe. Me - I'm a folk herbalist. I believe that the herbs are brilliant, and they will do what they were meant to do if you can get them where they are supposed to go. To me, measurements are handfuls and bunches and "some" - just the way I cook.
The thing is, I also think that everyone is correct. I respect that not everyone will be comfortable with the same thing that feels right to me, because I know and love far too many people who would never attempt to cook without a recipe.
In a recent conversation, it was emphatically intimated that the methods I use disrespect plants and the medicine that comes from them. If I didn't know so many wonderful herbalists who are also folkies, it would have cut me to the quick.
In a lot of ways, herbs are like a religion or a belief system. There will always be people who see their way as the only way. That is just human nature.
In high school, I took a class called World Cultures. In that class, we studied all of the major religions, and in retrospect, the teacher did a fine job of keeping his own beliefs to himself. He simply stated the tenets of each system, how the people lived their lives, and the beauty of each of those ways of life and beliefs.
So these days, my personal mission is to get people involved with the plants around them and learn to bring them into their lives... to share that joy of discovering how good nettles taste, or how deeply satisfying it is to be able to soothe a loved one who is ailing with a handful of weeds from the yard.
Anyone who knows me will also know that I have a deep love and respect for those plants. I don't really care how you learn, or how you eventually use the plants - anymore than I care how you pray. I only care that you do learn, and that your methods bring you joy.

Back in the Herbal Groove

Whew - the holidays are over here at The Essential Herbal, and it's time to get back to the normal day-to-day stuff. There are the little details to be done, like figuring out tax stuff, but I don't want to think about that just yet. Tomorrow's another day. And besides, there's a new deadline coming up. It seems like that happens all the time!

I've been just moving from one lounging position to another for the last couple of days. Not much energy, no motivation - blah.

Several (like 10!) of my friends and listbuds are just getting their coursework or ordering the Art and Sciences of Herbalism course from Rosemary Gladstar, and I'm a little jealous. There are a couple of things going on behind the scenes here that have to work themselves out over the next few weeks, so we'll just see. I wanna play too! Two of my friends started talking about it on the TEH list, and within 24 hours there were a whole bunch of people signing up - AWESOME!!!

Last night, my friend Leslie posted about infusing some white sage in oil. She said that it just made her feel more balanced and motivated. I've had a pound of the wonderfully fragrant stuff sitting here, waiting for me to get up the gumption to distill it. So I followed her example and infused a little bit into olive oil. She was right - it is amazing.

Next up was going outside to gather some chickweed for an oil infusion. A friend of mine ran out of it and needs it for some products she makes. Even in this bitter cold weather, the chickweed is green and lush under the pines - even if it is frosted. The wind was whipping around pretty well, and every so often flipped my coat up over my head when I bent down under a tree. Ha Ha, very funny, Mother Nature. It was fast work to fill a basket, as the mats of chickweed clung together in the cold. It is now in a crock covered with oil in the warm oven, infusing away. Last, I was going through the pictures on the disk when looking for the chickweed shot. I found this one of my sister and me when we were taking pics for the upcoming dvd on salves and balms. "She" had chosen a much more serious shot - so for posterity, here we are doing what we do more than anything else: Happy New Year, everyone.

Tomorrow I'll post to let you know what we'll be awarding at the end of the month when we draw from all the orders rec'd in January!