Lemon Balm is a cheerful little plant. With uplifting, lemon-scented leaves and tiny sweet white flowers, it is a pleasant addition to any garden or kitchen apothecary. I have never found anyone who does not enjoy lemon balm, so I call it a “gateway herb.” Even the most wary newcomers to herbs fall in love with its scent and taste, and then become open to trying many more new and unusual herbs…!
Both bees and humans find this plant irresistibly attractive. In fact its Latin name Melissa refers to “bees” — these insects will flock to it whenever it is in bloom. Lemon balm is originally from southern Europe but is now widely cultivated around the world. Like many mint family plants it is a very prolific grower. If you have limited garden space, you may want to place it in a container so that it does not take over the whole garden. (However, I don’t think that that would be such a terrible thing if it did happen...) Summer is a busy and a beloved time for any herbalist - the plants are out in full force and it is time to garden, grow, harvest, process and preserve the abundance of fresh herbs for use throughout the rest of the year. It is a time that I always eagerly await, but it is also a season that passes very quickly. Many plants have a short window of time that is optimal for harvesting, and even if I plan on collecting certain herbs, sometimes I don’t get to everything on my list. The rhythm of the seasons is an important teacher, and I always keep in mind the line of poetry, “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying….” To help you gather your rosebuds and other delightful plants while they are still in their prime, here is a quick list of five of my favorite herbs to collect and use at this time of year. Take a look around your neighborhood and see if you can spot any of these wild or cultivated beauties: Red Clover blooms abundantly throughout the summertime. Look for flowers that are vibrantly colored, and skip those that look wilted or tired. To dry, place the blossoms on a window screen so that airflow can reach all sides of the flower; also make sure the flowers do not touch one another. Use dried red clover blossoms in nourishing tea blends; it mixes well with other herbs like nettles, burdock or dandelion. Calendula is a prolific garden bloomer throughout the whole growing season, hence it’s name, which relates to its ability to flower in every calendar year (if grown in a warm environment). Collect the flower tops when they are freshly opened, and be sure to keep the resin-filled green sepals which surround the petals. Save dried calendula flowers to throw into your fall and winter soups for an immune-supportive addition. Mugwort can be found growing in disturbed areas and along roadsides (but be sure to avoid collecting near traffic-laden roads.) Clip the tall stalks so that you are harvesting the upper third of the plant. The best time to collect mugwort is right before its very tiny flower buds open. Hang a bundle of the stalks upside down to dry. Use mugwort leaves in bedtime teas to stimulate vivid dreams (really!), or blend with herbs like mint, sage and fennel for a nice digestive tea. Mullein is another wild-growing plant, and one of my favorites. I love spotting its fuzzy leaves and tall, majestic stalks throughout the cityscape. Collect the basal leaves from first or second year plants (mullein is a biennial), or patiently collect the lovely yellow flowers as they emerge. The leaves can be dried on a screen or on brown paper bags and used in an old-fashioned steam to support respiratory health. The flowers are traditionally infused in oil to alleviate ear aches. Dandelion leaves can be collected throughout the growing season. As the summer wears on, the leaves will become more and more bitter, but I find them delicious at any time of year. You can either harvest fresh dandelion leaves to dry and use for tea or you can incorporate them into your food. I love to sautee fresh dandy leaves with some onion as a lovely and nutritious side dish. If you are new to harvesting herbs here are a few tips to get you started:
I hope these tips inspire you to do some of your own herb harvesting this season. I’d love to hear what you are collecting - please be in touch! To learn more, consider joining me in one of my upcoming herbal classes. Happy harvesting! Resources: Medicinal Plants and Herbs (Peterson Field Guides) by S. Foster & James A. Duke Edible Wild Plants (Peterson Field Guides) by Lee Allen Peterson A City Herbal by Maida Silverman Edible and Medicinal Plants by Steve Brill Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast by Peter del Tredici This time of year as you walk around our city streets, you’re very likely to come across a beautiful tree filled with creamy white, fragrant flowers. Its aroma is so gorgeous that it makes both bees and hurried city folk slow down their pace. This tree, which tends to go unnoticed when it's not in flower, is our graceful linden (Tilia americana). We are fortunate to have many lindens in our neighborhood — there are even a few streets named after this beauty. Linden makes for an excellent city tree due to its ability to tolerate pollution and harsh urban environments. In addition, it is also an important food source for bees, a wonderful shade tree, and — with its heart-shaped leaves and delightful flowers — brings beauty wherever it grows. Not surprisingly, linden is one of my favorite herbs to give to people. It has many healing virtues and is also a very safe and gentle remedy for people of all ages and constitutions. In Europe, it was traditionally used in baths for young children before bed to help them have a sound night’s sleep. Stressed-out adults can also benefit immensely from a linden bath. But if a bath is not for you, a cup of linden tea will do the trick. Well-loved for its soothing properties, it is one of the herbalist’s favorite relaxing nervines, meaning that it helps to soothe and calm the nervous system. It truly is useful for any kind of anxiety or tension, whether it manifests as headaches, nervous tension, restlessness, tense muscles, or poor sleep. I mix it into bed-time blends to help people unwind after a long day and prepare for a deep night’s sleep. Even though linden is so gentle, I have personally found it to be a profound herb for anyone needing better sleep. It mixes beautifully with other relaxing herbs such as oats, skullcap or lavender. Linden seems to have an ability to help you feel how tired you truly are, so that you can finally get the sleep you need. Beyond its wonderful soothing qualities, linden is a plant that supports a healthy heart. As noted above, linden helps to relax us when we are feeling tense, so it has traditionally been used for the emotional causes behind hypertension and heart palpitations. With its supportive, opening and calming properties linden can help to address emotional issues and stress that may manifest as physical imbalances. Linden is also a demulcent herb: high in mucilage it imparts a cooling and soothing quality on dry and irritated tissues. This soothing, anti-inflammatory action works on both our internal tissues and our external skin - you use it as a wash or a compress on itchy or inflamed skin. This beautiful, gentle tree has so much to offer us: from anxiety and stress, to tense hearts and minds, to troubled sleep - it is is a beautiful balm that grows right on our city streets. For the second year in a row, my dearest friend Jenn Pici Falk and I collaborated on a special women's retreat on the isle of Nantucket. It was a beautiful combination of yoga, meditation, and herbalism over the course of four days. In particular, we focused the retreat around our heart centers and how to tap into and open ourselves from this space.
Here are some photos that capture the magic of our time together... Today the wild violets in my backyard are blooming for the first time this season. They have been gently growing these past few weeks, unfurling their leaves, but today - like magic - they revealed their purple faces to the world. I could not think of a better plant to symbolize spring’s feeling of renewal than the sweet violet flower. With its tender, young, heart-shaped leaves, and its brilliantly colored flowers, it is truly a balm to a winter-weary spirit. As the violets bravely emerge in the still chilly temperatures, I think of them as sweet love letters unfolding from the earth. One of our best and most nutritious wild spring edibles, violet leaves and flowers are high in Vitamins A & C. You can eat them raw, plucked right from the garden; I like to add them to fresh salads for a beautiful spring touch. Violet has a slight mucilaginous quality to it, which means it contains a type of polysaccharide that imparts a viscous quality to water when extracted – a quality that is extremely soothing and cooling to mucous membranes. As such, violets can help calm inflammatory conditions, whether it is itchy skin, inflammation in the gut, or a scratchy, sore throat. Use violets on any irritated tissue – they will provide a cooling and soothing relief. Or, as the famous English herbalist Culpepper said, “All the Violets are cold and moist, and are used to cool any heat or distemperature of the body, either inwardly or outwardly.” Violet is also known as a traditional “blood purifier” or alterative herb. This makes it a wonderful and gently detoxifying plant for the spring season, helping our bodies to wake up from the winter and move along any stagnation. Just as the sap in the trees starts to move, so must we move the inner fluids of our bodies, especially through the filter of our lymphatic system. Violet is one of our best lymphatic herbs and is often used to support the removal of toxins from the system. Herbalist Matthew Wood especially recommends violet for “lymphatic stagnation and swollen glands, often in the throat or around the ears.”
If you read old herbal texts from a few centuries ago you will discover that violet was also prescribed as a support for emotional upset – it was said to “comfort and strengthen the heart” and to “to moderate anger.” Violet has an amazing ability to bring its soothing comfort to any inflammatory situation, whether physical or emotional. Botanically speaking, the violet plant is quite unique. Violets actually produce two different kinds of flowers – first the spring-born flowers (which attract both bees and humans alike). Usually, however, these flowers do not produce seed. Later in the season, violets produce a second kind of flower that grows close to the earth, or underground. Called cleistogamous flowers, these hidden blooms do not usually fully open, and are self-pollinated. Try pulling away the leaves of a clump of violet in late summer or early fall to find these unusual, pale flowers. If you happen to find a seed pod, take a peek inside – you will be most amazed to find a capsule full of luminous, iridescent seeds that shimmer in the sunlight. The first time I discovered the hidden secret of the humble violet, it took my breath away with its beauty. HOW TO FORAGE AND USE: Violets are abundant in early spring, and may even spontaneously grow in your backyard or garden. As with harvesting any wild plant, be sure that you are collecting plants in an area that is free from contamination. It is always a good idea to test your soil for heavy metals, and to stay away from collecting near busy roadsides. Once you have determined a suitable place to harvest your violets, you can pluck the young leaves and flowers when they first emerge and eat them raw in fresh salads. Violets are in their prime when the weather is still cool, so take advantage of the flowers while they are available. Once the weather turns warm, only the leaves will remain. You can also use dried violet leaf and flower when the fresh plant is not available, but the vivid purple-blue color of the flower will fade once dried. To make a violet infusion, steep up to 1 Tblsp. dried leaf in 8 oz. hot water for at least 10-15 minutes. If you would like to extract more of the soothing, mucilaginous qualities mentioned above, steep the dried leaf in cold water instead, which will preserve the beneficial polysaccharides. Violet blends well with other herbs such as rose, oat tops and linden for a relaxing tea. Note: The Violet we speak of here (Viola odorata and related species) is NOT the same as the indoor houseplant, the African Violet, which is unrelated and poisonous. Be sure to only use plants you have positively identified. A Spring Recipe: VIOLET SYRUP adapted from herbalist Susan Weed Ingredients: 1/2 pound fresh violet flowers 2 cups water 2 cups raw honey Directions: Collect your violet blossoms. Boil the water and pour over the fresh blossoms; cover. Let steep overnight in nonmetallic container. The next day, strain out the flowers and reserve the bright purple liquid. Combine the violet infusion and honey in a saucepan. Simmer gently, stirring, for ten or fifteen minutes, until it seems like syrup. Fill clean jars. Cool. Keep well chilled to preserve. This article was originally published on Cambridge Natural's blog. I love using vividly-hued plants this time of year, when the winter has made us snow-weary, and we all long for more color in our lives.
Adding brightly colored herbs to tea infusions always adds a bit of cheer to the day. Think of cornflowers, hibiscus, rose and calendula - even when dried these petals retain their lovely colors... I concocted the following recipe -- a delicious & bright turmeric oxymel -- in the spirit of bringing more color into my life. If you haven't made one before, oxymels are simply a combination of vinegar & honey infused with herbs. Turmeric is a wonderful health tonic that benefits the whole body in many ways, and it is especially good for supporting healthy digestion and liver function. It is renowned for its anti-inflammatory properties and helps to protect and invigorate the liver. This is a delightful food/medicine for spring-time wellness! LIVER-LOVING TURMERIC OXYMEL: 4 Tblsp. powdered turmeric OR 3 Tblsp. fresh grated turmeric 1 Tblsp. crushed black peppercorn 1 Tblsp. crushed cardamom pods local honey apple cider vinegar pint-sized glass jar wax paper
While we are still blanketed in snow and temperatures are frigid, this month is full of hope and renewal. With the arrival of the equinox on March 20th comes the official start to spring and longer, warmer, and greener days ahead.
In celebration of the equinox I formulated the following blend. This tea is a simple way to get lots of easily-assimilated minerals into your body, while also supporting the liver and your body's pathways of detoxification. It feels like a gentle spring cleaning for your whole system! Don't be surprised if you feel lighter and more energized after drinking this infusion over the course of several days. Your eyes will sparkle and your liver will thank you! EQUINOX TEA 1 part Nettles 1 part Alfalfa 1/2 part Dandelion leaf 1/2 part Chickweed 1/4 part Spearmint (This recipe is proportional. 1 "part" equals any sized bowl or measurement of your choice so that you can make as large or as small a batch as you'd like.) Blend all herbs together. Place 5 heaping Tblsp. in a glass quart-sized jar, cover with boiled water and cap immediately. Let this steep overnight or for at least 7 hours at room temperature. In the morning, strain out the herbs. Gently re-heat the brew if you wish, or drink it as is. Store any extra tea in the fridge and drink within two days. Happy soon-to-be Spring! |
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