Today while drinking a pot of tea and beginning a new sewing project, I was impressed to go outside to take some photos of one of my favorite herbs, Bergamot. Also known as Bee Balm, it's an attractive plant that not only draws butterflies and humming birds, but renders a sweet, earthy, woodsy aroma in the surrounding area of the circle that it's growing in. Last year I attempted to make some scented oil with it, and although it wasn't the best I've ever made, it was passable and I used it on myself. The faint forest fragrance is one of my favorites, and I fully intend to make more this year, improving on the process, perhaps by harvesting a bit sooner, and also by combining some essential oil of Bergamot with it. I'll post how that goes...
Other photos I took include Thyme that has been in an herb pot for the past couple of years. I'm amazed at the resiliency of this tiny plant, evidenced by the healthy green leaves after having been ignored all winter long, and left outside. I simply have to take the herb pot to work with me, and put it out by the back on the old air conditioning unit. I'm sure it'll be happy there because it gets very, very warm in that spot; full sun, a sheltered corner of the building, and a metal unit to sit on which also holds the suns heat. Tomatoes would do famously there too, I'll bet. Hmmmm, since I have one of those 'up-side-down' planters for tomatoes, maybe I'll attempt that in addition to the Thyme.
I also captured a plant called "All Heal" on film. It's a plant that I read about in a book on Indians, and the plants they use for both ritual and healing. This plant has reportedly amazing healing qualities and can be used for a number of ailments, including broken bones(used as a poultice), headaches, and other mild maladies. I tried it as a tea last summer, and it is so mild I can't even describe the taste. I mixed it in with another kind of tea and drank till my heart was content.
More on my beloved herbs later.............
My yard is overrun with this pretty small, blue plant, called "Bugle", but I can't find out much info on it, so I don't know if it's used for any healing purpose. I don't know the Latin genus either, but I will do more research and see if I can find a use for it. It grows profusely, again, all on it's own, and returns year after year. It just get mowed down with the lawn mower, but I hate to see it go to waste.
Herbs are wonderful plants for the "lazy gardener" such as myself. They come back, year after year, after having been virtually ignored, and trampled on and never ONCE weeded! Yet each Spring, I see the tiny green heads popping up out of the soil, and I rejoice at the start of life for another season. Surely God is good to us! Even amidst city life, with it's smog, auto exhaust and factory dust, you'll see herbs growing in abandoned lots, in the cracks of the sidewalks, anywhere there is sun. It amazes me. Case in point, my own back yard; I have Mullein that grows every year, in different spots, and I have no idea where they come from; either birds or the seeds from the dried plants at the end of season are carried on the breeze and they lay in dormant apprehension in my yard till the next Spring. Then I'm always pleasantly surprised when I see those familiar fuzzy clusters of muted green leaves, and know that soon there will be tall stalks shooting up to display their famous yellow flowers that are so recognizable to me. Once again I think of the amazing property of this plant to heal both lungs and earaches. At this typing, I have some sitting in a dark cupboard in olive oil, shaken every day (not stirred...) which will become a wonderful healer for earaches on May 10th. I can't wait to try this soothing elixir.
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