Ten Things to do with Mint

1 - Brew a gently fragrant tisane/tea!  (good for the digestion)

2 - Mint jelly and mint sauce, both wonderful with lamb

3 - Mint juleps!!!

4 - Lavishly toss shredded mint leaves into a fresh fruit salad for a cool treat

5 - Stir into a chilled pea soup, for a springtime delight

6 - Hang a sprig in the shower for a spa-like experience

7 - Muddle into a glass with a bit of sugar and a few berries, add some sparkling white wine. Seasonal fun!

8 - Carefully dry some leaves to use in sachets. Mixed with lavender it makes for a lovely sleep pillow.

9 - Mint ice cream? Steep the mint leaves in the cream or milk before preparing this tasty dessert.

10 - Add a few sprigs of mint (and any other herbs in your garden) to a wildflower arrangement for a spicy note!

Homemade Medicines: On Making Tinctures

We head into flu season with a mighty arsenal of natural medicines: elderberry tincture, echinacea tincture, rose hip tincture, and a special honey-based cough syrup. 

Rather than spend big bucks on tiny bottles, we make our own - here is how!

Ten Things to Love about Thyme

I love thyme...in my garden it lends pretty greenery and soft spicy scents, in my cookery thyme adds a piquant note. But thyme is more than just another pretty face!

Natural Remedies: Upset Stomach

 Rather than popping a pill for nausea or an upset tummy, why not try a gentle herbal remedy? These time-honored recipes are safe and effective, without scary side-effects! 

Elderberry-Rosehip Syrup Recipe

I use a number of herbal preparations in our home - from tisanes to tinctures, steaming vapors to syrups, and gentle creams and ointments. This year, in addition to my ever-ready elderberry tincture, I experimented with soothing syrups.

10 Things to Love About Cinnamon

1 - Fragrance! Does anything smell as wonderful as cinnamon-laced baked treats? Or that warm and cozy and cheering scent of simmering cinnamon on the stovetop?

2 - Cinnamon buns, cinnamon applesauce, cinnamon red hots, cinnamon lends a piquant note to just about anything!

3 - Its good for you! Cinnamon is known to help lower blood sugar and can also help regulate blood pressure ~ so sprinkle some in your morning coffee or tea or oatmeal!

4 - Cinnamon has an antifungal and antimicrobial action, which is why it features in many warm-climate meat recipes (curry, anyone?). With modern refrigeration, we don't have to worry about preserving meat or hiding the taste of bad meat - we can just enjoy the spicy treat!

5 - The delicious scent of cinnamon can keep you alert and help ward off the blues - yet another wonderful reason for keeping that potpourri of simmering spices going all thru the blah winter days!

6 - Cinnamon taken internally is also known to help ward off mild depression, keeping the circulation and mood vibrant and alive!

7 - Cinnamon in tooth powder provides an antiseptic action that helps fight infection along with the great taste! One recipe we use is 2 parts white oak bark powder, 2 parts baking soda, 1 part myrrh powder and one part cinnamon powder. We sometimes add tea tree oil or organic peppermint essential oil for extra power!

8 - Spicy cinnamon makes a tasty and antibacterial addition to homemade cold tonic: slowly steep 1-2 cinnamon sticks in a cup of honey. When cooled, add 2 Tbs of this cinnamon honey to an equal amount of fresh lemon juice and slowly sip. It is soothing to the throat and helps to quell a cough. If you prefer to skip the honey, steep the cinnamon sticks in water!

9 - Tummy feeling a bit down? Try some cinnamon on toast... it helps to soothe away nausea, flatulence, and indigestion.

10 - Cinnamon may help support the immune system against cancer, HIV and other ills - it is currently being studied.

Learn more about cinnamon here!

10 Things to Love about Lavender

1 - That marvelous scent is my favorite reason to have lavender around in several forms: the flowers, the essential oil, and the hydrosol.

2 - Soothing lavender tea: One heaping tablespoon of the fresh or dried flowers in a tea pot, add boiling water into the pot and infuse for about ten minutes. Add honey for a touch of sweetness! Lavender tea settles the stomach and induces sleep.

3 - And speaking of sleep, lavender dream pillows are welcome in the very best of boudoirs! To make your own, simply sew a small pillow from a soft fabric and stuff with a mixture of rice (or buckwheat hulls) and lavender flowers. If the scent fades after a time, it can be refreshed with a few drops of lavender essential oil. Mmmm...what a lovely way to drift off to dreamland!

4 - Unsweetened lavender tea makes a wonderful hair rinse, and is effective against dandruff.

5 - The essential oil is safe and can be rubbed (gently!) directly onto burns, abrasions, insect bites, athlete's foot, and other small wounds. It is antiseptic, antimicrobial and antifungal.

6 - The oil can also be massaged into the temples and shoulders as a treatment for tension and headache.

7 - Lavender is often used both as tea and in aromatherapy as a treatment for depression.

8 - Lavender sachets were not tucked onto drawers, trunks and closets simply for their lovely scent! No, in fact, they help to repel moths. And the essential oil can be mixed with white vinegar to make an effective disinfectant spray!

9 - Pulverized lavender flowers add a delightful flavor to cookies and other baked treats.

10 - Lavender infused honey ~ no need to say more!

Late Spring Spearmint Harvest

My spearmint is growing like mad - the stalks are over 2 feet tall - I guess they really liked the feeding of composted manure I gave all of my containers before winter!