Powerful Herbs ~ Learning as I go

We are to heat up to the 80's today.  They sky is looking strange this morning.  One direction looks like a storm brewing, and the other, the sun rising with very dark clouds above it.  We had very bad wind yesterday.

Once again, you are being entertained with a blog draft from June of 2017.  To be honest, I don't remember buying the book.  I think a blog follower sent me her copy, but anyway, a very old draft to entertain you with.  It does have me thinking about other herbs now.  I have, as of last year, started to harvest our wild growing goldenrod.  I had to laugh reading this draft, because I do not remember growing Gotu Kola seeds indoors either.

We are blessed with a lot of wild growing herbs and weeds, but you do have to know what you are picking as well.  Stinging nettle requires some very thick gloves, or your hands will be pricked by the stinging part of the nettle.  

When we had barn cats, I never had a problem finding wild growing catnip.  I dehydrate it for my homemade bug spray (which does work, but has to be applied often or you just sweat it off).

Do you have a favorite herb?  Do you have a favorite herb resource book?   Do you infuse a regular herbal tea for health reasons?

I hope you enjoy this today.  I think I have reduced my drafts down from 80-something to under 30 now.  

Remember this book?  I actually bought it after borrowing it several times from the library.   It's half full of recipes, has pumped me up in the way of adding more herbs/spices to my meals.  I do already, but this has pushed me to a new level.  


I've learned a new word recently - adaptogen .  I'm researching herbs for a brain booster tea, or infusion, and keep coming across ingredients such as "Rhodiola."  When I looked up this ingredient, I see it is a plant grown in the arctic, but not enough research for me.

So far my list of herbs for a "brain booster" tea I've collected are:

~Gingko
~Rosemary
~Gotu Kola, and herb grown in India (new one for me, but Mountain Rose Herbs carries this and I also bought seeds and have started them indoors this year.
~Ginseng, an adatogenic herb

Other herbs I'm considering:
~sage, my research has found it in "thinker's tea" recipes
~peppermint
~Green tea


I'm checking out more and more books from the library.  I hope to find a tea recipe that is suitable and with ingredients I can trust putting in my body. 

So many of the books I want to read are printed in the UK and only on Kindle.  Hmpf.  I don't want to read books on my computer and I don't have a kindle.  Kind of frustrating, but my library will still get my business.

I just learned about eyebright and goldenrod too.  Both are good for spring/fall allergies.  I'm reading as much on these as I can, and have plans for the goldenrod this fall.

I have also been experimenting with different herbs for a hot cup of healing tea.  I felt the second tube that was horribly and very roughly put down my nose and down my throat last winter, damaged my throat.  It hasn't been the same.  I've been drinking a hot tea (off and on) with a bit of sage, thyme and chamomile.


Powerful Herbs ~ Learning as I go  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart
 

April Garden Notes

Just when I thought I was in shape, I was not.  The very first day outside weeding reminded me of that, ha ha!  Boy, oh boy, you do get a work out outside.  

Did anyone else venture out this month to start the garden process, clean up beds and such?  Did you slide out of bed, like a sloth the next morning, and drag yourself to the ever needed delightful coffee you preset to brew the night before? Only to find out you have more muscles than you thought?  And can barely walk, let alone lift your arms?

Note:  The above was drafted up prior to my foot fracture ha ha!  

The arrival of April has pushed all of our "projects" (indoor anyway) on the back burner for now.  It's that time of year to till the garden (done), start weeding and mulching flower beds and the herb garden (in the works), and planting the garden.

 

Our homegrown asapargus is starting to come up!  I have my husband on picking duty for now.  Yum!  No asparagus tastes better than homegrown.

I had plans to dig up the rhubarb in the raised bed, and replant it into a grow bag, for a temporary location.  The raised beds, which were our original beds put in over 10 years ago, are going to be dug out.  They were not tall enough, and we did not leave enough space for the mower.    I'm hoping the rhubarb does okay until we can find it a more permanent home. I will just have to wait a week or so to do this job.

Comfrey is coming back already.  I have it in a plant pot.  I have plans to dehydrate it, and maybe put a few poultices in the freezer.

I dug up the wild mullein plants that were growing in the flower beds, and replanted them in the area I replanted lemon balm.  I know they won't grow as tall, but they needed moved.  As of this post, they are still thriving in their new location.  Thank goodness we got rain after I moved two of them.  I still have one more to move.

(Green onion/parsley pesto  - can also be made with basil)

The herb garden is already producing green onions, the starts of bunching onions, chives, oregano and thyme.  I will have to plant basil, parsley, rosemary, cilantro (see below), tarragon, and margarom.

Although our chives are not all fully up, there are a few bunches that are.  I have dehydrated some for dry mixes and such.  I will freeze some later in the spring.

I dropped some cilantro seeds early this year.  We'll see if they come up.  If not, I have enough seeds to replant.  I'll wait a bit longer to plant more in the herb garden.

Although April is not completely over yet, I don't see much more happening for now.  I do see that my sage survived the freeze warning we recently had.  

Happy Gardening!

April Garden Notes © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart