Herbs In Your Garden and What You Can Do With Them
Posted: Saturday, February 02, 2008
by Nicole Carter
Center of Holistic Health
Calendula - This plant loves the sun and warm temperatures so it will continue to give you beautiful flowers all through summer. They will die back when it gets cold but will come back larger each year if given the space. Use calendula for “owies" such as bug bites and bee stings. It takes the pain away! You can chew on the flowers and then put the mushy stuff on your boo-boo. It will hurt less and heal much faster this way. This also works great for scrapes on your knees or elbows. Ask your parents to help you make a herbal salve using calendula flowers. Calendula is great to eat too! Surprise your parents by sprinkling some of the petals on salads! It can also be cooked slightly and will stay bright yellow!
Lavender - Lavender likes warm and hot weather so it will give you flowers from Spring to Fall. Cut the tops off and put them upside down in a paper sack. In a day or two you can shake the flowers right off the stem and store them in a glass jar. Lavender is good for making salves for ouchies and for making lavender lemonade (see recipie section). Bees like lavender but other bugs do not so it helps to keep them away from you and your home. You can also make lavender tea for headaches and to help you sleep. Try cutting the long stems and squishing between 2 sheets of paper. Use books to weight it down, and in a week you will have pretty pressed flowers to use to decorate your mothers day card for mom!
Catnip - Cats go crazy when they smell this plant but it will only make you feel happy:. This plant likes all temperatures but wont give you any flowers. Cut some fresh stems and make a tea to help your tummy when it hurts or to make you feel better when your grumpy. This also makes a good drink when you get sick with the flu and will help you feel better faster.
Spearmint - Spearmint likes the shade so tuck it behind some other plants. You can cut this plant anytime and use it in your teas to make them all taste really good. When it flowers you can sprinkle the flowers in your food or press them for decorating. Surpise your parents by placing a sprig of mint in their tea or lemonade! Be sure to keep this one in a pot because if you plant it in the ground it will kill other plants.
Lemon Balm- If mom or dad is feeling sad make them some lemon balm tea! You can use this herb for all sorts of teas and it will help a sick tummy, a headache, help you to feel happier and makes everytihing taste lemony. This plant does not like the cold so it will die back in the winter but it will come back when it warms up if you leave its roots be.
Recipes Using Your Herbs: For Skin and Body
o Heavenly Herbal Cleansing Scrub
o Dried Lavender flowers
o Dried Spearmint (or other herbs)
o Rolled oats - powdered
o To Use: Use 1 Tablespoon and rub between wet hands to moisten, then gently rub on the face and neck, rinse well.
o Lovely Herbal Astringent Toner
o 1 part witch hazel
o 1 parts purified water
o Dried flowers such as rose petals, lavender, chamomile or calendula.
o Apply with a cotton ball following the cleanser
o Calendula First Aid Oil
o Any amount of dried calendula flowers
o Oil to cover flowers
o This is great as a moisturizer as well as for healing cuts, scrapes and burns.
o Super Exfoliating Sugar Scrub
o 2 parts white sugar
o 1 part oil (almond, olive, grape seed)
o _ part dried herbs (lavender, calendula petals or rose petals work nicely)
o 5 drops essential oil (lavender, chamomile
Herbal Salve
3 parts olive oil
2 parts beeswax
Fresh or dried calendula flowers
Recipes Using Your Herbs: Food and Drinks
Kids Fool-Aid
1-part rose hips
1 part lemon balm or lemon grass
1 part alfalfa
2 parts hibiscus
Stevia to taste
This tea comes out red like cool-aide but without the artificial colors and sugar. Use _ cup herb mixture and follow above instructions. Serve iced.
Lavender Lemonade
1-cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp fresh or _ Tbsp. dried lemon balm or lemon verbena (optional)
2Tbs lavender
3 tablespoons stevia powder (white) or _ cup dehydrated cane juice
Make a tea by steeping 2 heaping tablespoons lavender flowers and 1-tablespoon lemon balm in 4 cups water. Steep 5 minutes and strain. In a large pitcher add the lemon juice, tea and stevia. Add enough water and ice to make 3 quarts or whatever dilution tastes best. This lemonade should come out a light purple to pink color.
Herb salad with Flowers
Use a light base for your salad such as baby greens, baby spinach, Mache or watercress. To this you can add fresh calendula petals, pansies, lavender flowers, flowering mint (just the flowers), chive blossoms and rose petals. Use a very light dressing such as raspberry vinaigrette.
Herb biscuits or Muffins
These can be made with a variety of finely minced herbs or flowers. Here is the basic recipe.
2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
_ cup canola oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp backing soda
1 tsp baking powder
1-tablespoon stevia or _ cup dehydrated cane juice (omit for a savory type of biscuit)
1 egg, beaten (omit for a crunchier type of biscuit)
_ cup yogurt
_ cup milk
1 tablespoon lavender flowers
1 tablespoon rose petals (chopped) or calendula petals
Mix dry ingredients first, mix in the rest of the ingredients and drop by large spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes or lightly browned. Makes 1 dozen. Serve warm with butter and raw honey.
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