A Place To Begin…. Three Easy Herbs to Grow

Planning and planting an herb garden may seem overwhelming, so why not begin with a few medicinal herbs that you can grow among your annuals and perennials.

The following basic herbs are easy-to-grow and easy-to-harvest for simple teas that you can use to treat insomnia, stomachaches, fevers and other minor illnesses.

For the beginner, I recommend purchasing small plants rather than sowing seeds. I grow this selection in a large deck planter along with other herbs. This way I can sheer them if needed and they are easily harvested for my daily tonic tea! It is very satisfying to run your hands through the leaves and flowers of an herb garden. The air becomes filled with uplifting healing scents. Most herbs do not require rich soil, but enjoy an occasional supplement of organic compost and good drainage

Chamomile (antehmis nobilis and matricaria recutita) has been used for centuries as a gentle sleep aid for adults and children. It is also used to ease digestion, relieve colic and teething pain, and to treat muscle spasms and tension. This small daisy like flower makes a delicious tea from the dried or fresh flowers. The only caution is for people who are allergic to ragweed. They may also be allergic to the pollen of chamomile. There are both annual and perennial chamomile plants, all with similar properties, and all requiring full sun and good drainage.

Lemon Balm (melissa off.) this is one of my favorite herbs for its calming effect on the nervous system. It relaxes the surface tension of the body and is effective for treating nervous tension and depression. A favorite with both children and adults, the leaves have a mild lemon flavor and make a delicious tea. I often suggest that over-active children be offered a cup of lemon balm tea when they come home from school and/or before going to bed. Children can pick the leaves themselves and this activity engages them completely. Plants are great teachers as well as healers. Lemon balm is a fast growing, low-medium height perennial requiring 1/2 day or more of sun for healthy plants.

Peppermint - (mentha piperita) One of the oldest medicinal herbs, it is useful for colds, flu with symptoms of heat and, of course, fevers. It also helps relieve indigestion, gas and colic and counteracts nausea and vomiting. Children love to pick the leaves and chew on them, but too many might cause a rash. Peppermint leaves are very cooling and refreshing and can be combined with less tasty herbs when brewing tea. A rampant grower so even the novice gardener will enjoy a good crop.

GOURMET GREENS
Edible and Medicinal Plants from Mother Nature’s Garden

By most definitions, a weed is a plant that is growing where it isn't wanted. All we have to do is want it, and it's no longer a weed. They become welcome friends for our health"
Jim Duke, Ph.D.

Each year many of us spend countless hours digging out weeds in and around our gardens. Dandelions, plantain, clover, purslane, chickweed, lambs quarters, and nettles are some of my favorite enthusiastic growers. Wild plants are a superior source of nutrition and have strong healing properties to help prevent disease. The phyto-chemicals in plants are recognized by our bodies and easily assimilated, unlike the synthetic vitamins and pharmaceuticals we regularly use. We spray with pesticides to destroy these plants and then buy vitamins at the drugstore! Chefs at 4 star restaurants are using gourmet wild greens in their soups and sauces and getting rave reviews for the unique flavors. Perhaps I can help you look at them with new eyes and begin to appreciate the healing potential and culinary flavors of a few.

Chickweed - stellaria media - Perhaps the most common weed and it grows all over the world. Often you can clear a patch of snow and find chickweed growing. It is rich in calcium, iron, potassium, protein, silica, vitamins and minerals. Chickweed has a mild flavor and can be used raw in salads or cooked and blended into soups. Chickweed is a popular ingredient in salves and creams to help draw toxins from the skin.

Dandelion - Taraxacum off. Before flowering in spring, the leaves are tender and have a nutty bitter flavor. Gather and mix with other greens in your salad. Late in the season the leaves are tough and not as tasty. The leaves are loaded with nutrients, and richer in Vitamin A than carrots. Dandelion leaves are a natural diuretic that do not deplete the body of potassium like pharmaceutical diuretics. You can make a tea from the fresh or dried leaves as a helpful remedy for PMS water retention. Dandelion root can be dug all year, but is best harvested in the fall. The root is a liver tonic and aids digestion by stimulating bile flow and enhances the body's ability to metabolize fat. It also helps regulate blood sugar. You can make a decoction of the root by simmering 2-3 tablespoons of the cut-up root in 1 cup of water in a covered pot for 15 minutes. Drink before meals to help prevent bloating and sluggish digestion.

Nettles Urtica dioica/Stinging Nettles - you may not recognize it, but most of us have experienced the sting. They grow easily along river beds, and woodlands. I don't expect you to plant them in your garden, but they are worth identifying in the wild and nurturing a wild patch if you have the space. The plant is covered with tiny hairs that cause intense stinging upon contact. Long valued as both food and medicine, nettle is a gourmet green and is enjoyed a hundred different ways by wild food enthusiasts. Nettle is dense with nutrients including calcium, magnesium, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and amino acids. It has the highest protein of any green vegetable and is one of the best sources of digestible plant iron..A plant with many uses - gourmet green, medicine and tonic, hair rinse, plant fertilizer, even nettle cloth was made from the fibrous stalks. Gather the tender tops in early spring before it blooms. Wear gloves and a long sleeved shirt when harvesting. Drying and cooking neutralize the sting. Do not eat raw nettles. Dry nettle leaves to use as a nutrient tonic tea year round.

Crush dried nettles into soups and stir fry dishes. Steam fresh nettle greens and flavor with garlic and olive oil - or lemon juice and a bit of feta cheese. Delicious and healthy!

Plantain - plantago major and plantago lanceolata - Both species grow in a circular cluster and can thrive between the cracks in pavement and among the greens in empty lots. American Indians called plantain " white man's foot print" because wherever European populations settled, plantain seemed to pop up in their footsteps. Plantain leaves have anti-microbial and ant-inflammatory properties and contain natural chemicals that stimulate wound healing. The crushed leaves made into a poultice are excellent for treating bug bites, stings and minor cuts. It will draw out foreign objects such as a splinter. The leaves are edible in early spring but get tough later in the season. They are rich in beta carotene, calcium, chlorophyll and the seed stalks contain psylium - a familiar bulking agent for sluggish or irritable bowel. To keep plantain readily available for poultices, puree fresh leaves with a small amount of water in a blender, freeze in ice cube trays and thaw as needed. A tea can be used to treat mouth sores and throat infections.

Purslane - portulaca oleracea - For 2,000 years this was a well-known cultivated garden vegetable in Europe. Purslane is a smooth, reclining annual plant that can cover yards with its doily like mat of thick, succulent, creeping green stems. Grows in sunny, sandy soil and appears in late spring and dies in the fall. The leaves have a wonderful sweet-sour flavor and are great raw in salads. Years ago, I grew it as a ground cover around my tomato plants and harvested for salads as needed. Purslane is a super nutritious wild food containing high antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and is the best food source of Vitamin A, C and E. All this plus high levels of magnesium make it a beneficial food for the heart. A recent Gallup poll showed that 72% of people surveyed reported inadequate magnesium intake. Magnesium is needed for calcium absorption. Also low levels of magnesium contribute to high blood pressure. You can cook purslane like spinach or eat it raw in salads. It’s delicious and free!

Some other gourmet wild greens include - lambs quarters; wild chicory; sheep sorrel; amaranth; violet leaves; wild mustard; burdock root (aka gobo Rx); yellow dock greens, wild leeks and so much more.

There is a wealth of nutritious and delicious wild greens in nature – and they are free! Please show respect for the plant kingdom, and protect your health, by follow the guidelines for foraging listed below

Hint: Have your children help identify and pick the wild greens
then they are more likely to eat them.

RECIPES

Green Glory Juice
Morning Power Shake
Nettle Soup
Hot Ginger Lemonade
Zesty Herb Tofu Meatballs
Procedure for Lacto-Fermentation

SPRING TONIC
GREEN GLORY JUICE
Yields 2 cups

This light, fresh tasting juice is a mild diuretic and stimulates the liver’s detoxification function.

1/2 bunch leaf parsley (leaves and stems) washed well and with the roots if possible *

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, well washed

1/2 bunch of alfalfa sprouts (optional) **

1 medium carrot, trimmed and scrubbed

4 celery stalks with leafy green tops

1 apple

4 ounces of romaine (about 1/2 a medium head), red oak or bibb lettuce

1/4 to 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice

Cut the parsley if necessary to fit the juicer, and juice with the mint and alfalfa.

Cut the carrot and celery if necessary and juice.

Core and juice the apple. Juice the lettuce.
Stir juices together, add lemon juice to taste and drink immediately.

Modified from Tonics, Robert Barnett
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*PARSLEY- Fresh parsley is incredibly nutritious. High in Vitamins A, B and C, beta carotene, iron copper, folic acid, calcium, and magnesium. The leaves of parsley contain up to 25% protein. Parsley has a folk reputation for treating tumors. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health are currently examining parsley to see whether it possesses cancer fighting properties. Easily grown in home gardens, I enjoy snipping and chewing some parsley as I work in my garden. I always feel I’m doing something good for my body when I eat something dark green.

**ALFALFA SPROUTS - Alfalfa is a winner as a spring tonic and cellular detoxifier. Sprouts are a traditional food associated with Spring. The tiny alfalfa seed produces a root than can reach 100 feet into the earth where it has access to minerals and trace elements unreachable by other plant roots. Sprouts contain eight enzymes which help assimilate protein, fats and carbohydrates and are a rich source of protein, carotene, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, silicon and zinc. They also contain abundant chlorophyll.
Note for Nursing Moms: Parsley dries up milk and Alfalfa stimulates milk production. So leave out one of the ingredients.

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Breakfast Power Shake
With Modifications

8 oz oz soy or rice milk
or 4 oz soy or rice milk + 3-4 oz natural yogurt
1 scoop ProGreens ™ or spirulina powder
1 scoop protein powder
1 scoop Pure Whey protein powder
½ cup fresh or frozen fruit – preferably organic

Blend on low or pulse until blended

Add any of the following you wish:
1 – 2 tbs flax oil
1 tbsp fresh ground flax seed
Powdered minerals

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NETTLE SOUP

1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
2 potatoes
olive oil
1 large handful of young nettle leaves (about 1/4 - 1/2 pound)
1 1/2 pints of vegetable stock or 1 vegetable bouillon cube
zesty herb seasoning (or your favorite combination )
1/4 pint goat's milk (optional)

• Peel and chop the onion, garlic and potatoes. In a large saucepan, add a little olive oil and sauté the vegetables for 3 - 4 minutes.
• With gloved hands, trim the nettle leaves from their stems and discard the stems. Thoroughly wash the leaves and add them to the saucepan.
• Meanwhile, make the chicken or vegetable stock with the bouillon cube and 1 1/2 pints of boiling water. Add the stock to the saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Boil rapidly, uncovered for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender enough to break with a fork.
• Add the contents of the saucepan to a blender. Blend until the mixture turns into a thick soup. Return to the saucepan to keep it hot. Season with herbs and stir in the goat's milk.

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HOT GINGER LEMONADE

A Winter Warmer!

3-4 oz fresh ginger root
juice of 1-2 organic lemons + peel
small amount of organic honey
small amount of cayenne pepper

Grate fresh ginger. Add to water and Simmer 10-20 minutes. Take off the heat and add fresh squeezed lemons and honey. Grate Lemon peel as well. Sprinkle with a few grains of cayenne. This drink will ward off the chills of an oncoming cold by creating heat and warmth in the body. Tastes good too.

A Rosemary Gladstar recipe

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Tofu Meatballs with
Zesty Herb Blend

1 cup cooked brown rice
1 lb firm tofu, drained and mashed
1/3 cup tamari or light soy sauce
¼ - ½ c. of bread crumbs
¼ c. of parmesan cheese
¼ c. of ground nuts or seeds (flax,
walnut, sesame seeds, etc.)
¼ c. of diced sauteed onions (optional)
¼ c. of diced fresh parsley
1&½ tsps zesty herb blend or a combination
of dried thyme, sage, rosemary, garlic,
sea vegetables, nettles, oregano, basil, etc.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix everything together. Roll into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with foil.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly – the bottoms will stick a bit. Serve with dipping sauces, tomato sauce, or in a pita. These meatballs freeze well. A delicious and healthy addition to your menu!

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PROCEDURE FOR LACTO-FERMENTATION

Equipment: Mason jar(s), non-iodized salt (sea salt works),
filtered or distilled water, healthy vegetables, vegetable shredder, mallet. When you become proficient you can use old fashioned crocks to ferment.

(1) Slice, Shred or Chop vegetables.
(2) Weigh on a kitchen scale.
(3) Place in mixing bowl with any herbs or spices you wish to incorporate.
(4) Do not scrub vegetables before preparing and do not rinse in chlorinated water. The chlorine kills lactobacilli.
(5) Mix in non-iodized salt – 1 ½ tsp per pound of vegetables. 1 tablespoon per quart.
(6) Wash jars and lids with hot water. Boiling is unnecessary. A 1 pint jar will hold 1 pound of vegetables.
(7) If you are using shredded cabbage, carrots or a similar vegetable, pound with a mallet to begin excreting juices from the vegetables.
(8) Pack jars tightly, leaving ¾’’ head space. Tighten lids medium-tight.
(9) Leave at proper temperature (on a tray) for at least 3 days. Burp the jars if necessary and transfer to cold storage

.
Some ingredients you might consider using (alone or in combination): cabbage, pickling cukes, carrots, garlic, dill, onions, shallots, peppers, Chinese cabbage, daikon, turnips, parsnips, ginger, cilantro, beet greens, green beans, green tomatoes.

Lactobacillis population is highest after initial fermentation and then their continued reproduction causes die off and reduces population. Moving them to cold storage slows this die-off.

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