What is it with me and Summer??

OK, you'd think with my being an herbalist that I would love Summer with the heat and humidity and the plants pushing their way up thru the cool darkness of the earth, right?? Well, truth of the matter is that I don't care for Summer that much. I'm not a bug person, and I really don't like heat. It gives me rashes, makes me sweat like I don't know what, and generally makes me feel 'yucky'. I don't know why, but I don't feel "clean" when it's 98 degrees, and I'm hot and itchy and lethargic from the heat...whew. Go figure.

I DO however, love the results of the heat from the sun, which, in turn, gives life to the plants that I love so very much. I look with awe each day at the Lemon Balm I salvaged from the weeded-over herb bed, the chocolate mint that smells SO divine, and the fresh, young oregano leaves that will soon flavor my plate of pasta!

I sit here in my shop, watching the families behind me roto-till their sun drenched piece of land (I am so very envious!!) in preparation for planting. I can just tell that in a few months, they will harvest and preserve most of their food for the coming winter, and I truly do wish it were me. Perhaps someday, I will possess a piece of land that actually sees the sun (my present 'piece of land' is in virtual darkness with so many trees that block the sun from my back yard) but for the present time, I have to enjoy the efforts of those strangers whose life I so wish to participate in. They would, I suppose, think me bizarre if I ever approached them and told them so. But they are such good examples to the neighborhood! That's what its all about! Growing your own food, taking care of your dwelling place, browning your skin in the sun, enjoying the heat.....

I have some plants in the store that I'm desperately trying not to kill!!! They're in little Styrofoam cups that I hope won't prove too toxic a home for them. I have Mammoth Dill, Lemongrass, German Chamomile, Parsley, Catnip. As they grow bigger, I will nurture them into sell able plants. Hopefully, that will be next months' blog.....for now, adieu!

Dreary Day or not a Dreary Day-that is the question

OK, so this morning is gray, and quite dismal, however, it affords the Herbalist an opportunity to pull out the books, and study in an unrushed atmosphere. Being part of the corporate world for so long, I always feel like I'm 'wasting time' when I sitting over a book. Truth of the matter is, this is what arms me with information to disseminate when people come into the shop and shoot random questions at me. I've been to the shop several times this week already, primarily to make sure that my little herb seedlings weren't in need of water. A quick spritz over the Styrofoam cups, I grabbed the door sign to bring home and re-vamp. (The "re-vamp" actually looks SO much better than the original).
I could take an entire day a week, and just sit and either read or peruse the web to accrue information on my beloved herbs. That's part of the beauty of this particular field: there's always more to learn, and the info that you already know just doesn't change. We keep adding to it, but the info about plants remains the same for millenia. Wonderful!
So, now, I found some information regarding Bugle....that free growing blue flowered plant that comes back on my front lawn year after year after year.....it's a perennial, flowering from the end of April thru the beginning of July, with solitary, tapering flower-stalks, 6-9 inches high, and it's creeping scions or runners. As winter approaches the runners of this plant die, but at every point where the leaf pairs and the rootlets were formed, there is a dormant plant waiting to develop fully in the Spring.
The flowers are a purplish blue, crowded into a spike formed of about six or more ring of whorls, generally six flowers in a whorl.
In herbal treatment, an infusion of this plant is still considered very useful in arresting hemorrhages and is employed in coughs and spitting of blood in incipient consumption (Tuberculosis) and also in some biliary disorders, a wineglassful of the infusion-made from 1 OZ of the dried herb to 1 pint of boiling water-being given frequently.
In it's action, it rather resembles digitalis, lowering the pulse and lessening its frequency, it allays irritation and cough, and equalizes the circulation and has been termed 'one of the mildest and best narcotics in the world.' It has also been considered good for the bad effects of excessive drinking.
Green (Universal Herbal, 1832) gives as his opinion that 'the leaves may be advantageously used in fluxes and disorders of that kind as they do not, like many other plants of the same value, produce costiveness, but rather operate as gentle laxatives.'
He states that a decoction of the herb has been employed for quinsy on the Continent, where the herb has been more employed as a remedy than in this country.
The roots, by some authorities, have been more astringent than the rest of the plant.
Needless to say, immediately on finding this information, I found a flat basket, lined it with paper towel, took my kitchen shears, and proceeded to my front lawn.
I boiled water, pouring it over the fresh herb, and let it brew for about 10 minutes. Well, by my review, this herb is what's considered a 'bitter' but nonetheless, pleasant. It was quite mild, and would mix unobtrusively with any other herbal tea and be undetected.
I will keep using it, not for the benefits towards consumption, but for the reported benefits of reducing the pulse rate. For those with hypertension, this may prove to be an easy to take, mild aid.