Red Clovers
Not all clovers have three leaves.
The most common and conspicuous species are the red clover, the state flower of Vermont, imported from Europe as a hay crop; and white clover, a native. Their round flower heads are purple to pink and white respectively. Both grow under 1 1/2 feet tall, although the red clover is the taller. Red clover's leaflets arise from the flower stalks and are marked with prominent V marks called chevrons. White clover forms large, dense strands of undergound spreading stolens--specialized branches along which new plants can spring to life.
You can find clovers on lawns, fields, and disturbed areas. Both species bloom from spring to fall, but the best time to collect the flowers is in late spring, when the flowers bloom.
The North American Native Aborginals, who often ate the entire plant, sometimes included the dried roots in stews. They grind into an excellent flour--good mixed with whole-grain flower in breads, muffins, and pancakes. This adds a chewy texture and natural sweetness.
Since clovers are legumes,they provide a protein that complements that of whole grains.
A strong infusion of flowers and leaves is good for detoxifcation and rebuilding. It stimulates ad cleanses the liver and gallbladder, and creates a gradual sense of all-over strenthening and nourishment that helps with a varity of maladies. People use it for gout, arthitis, skin disorders, and AIDS.
The tea is anti-inflammatory calming, expectorant, and antispasmodic (spasms). People use it to reduce the severity of bronchial coughs, whooping cough, and even tuberculosis.
Red Clover Herb
CHICORY (Cichorium intybus)
It is a bushy perennial herb with blue, lavender, or occasionally white flowers. It grows as a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and in North America.
Chicory may be grown for its leaves, eaten raw as a salad. It is generally divided into three types of which there are many varieties. Radicchio, Sugarloaf, Belgian endive.
Chicory (especially the flower) was used as a treatment in Germany, and is recorded in many books as an ancient German treatment for everyday ailments. It is variously used as a tonic and appetite stimulant, and as a treatment for gallstones, gastro-enteritis, sinus problems and cuts and bruises.
Coriander (Coriandrum Sativum)
The leaf of the coriander plant constitutes an herb in its own right--cilantro, or Chinese parsely--while the seed, whole or ground, has been used in cooking for over five thousand years, making the plant as a whole extraordinarily valuable to the chef.
Coriander makes an appearance in the Old Testament, where it is compared to the manna that God provided for the Israelites in their wanderings.
Meaning of Coriander - hidden merit.
Coriander is rather slow to grow and likes plenty of sun, but it will repay attention by supplying an aromatic bounty to the cook.
This is good for aromatics. Essential Oil of Coriander
Skin: stretch marks, scars
Muscular/Skeletal: arthritis, gout, muscle aches & pains, rheumatism, stiffness
Cardio-vascular/ Lymphatic: accumulation of fluids or toxins, increases circulation
Immune: colds, influenza, infectious diseases, measles
Genito-Urinary/ Reproductive: impotence, frigidity, infertility, estrogen stimulant for irregular periods, post partum care (depression)
Nervous Brain/ Mind: debility, migraine, neuralgia, nervous exhaustion, insomnia; gentle mental stimulant, bad memory, dizziness, shock, fear
Satety Data: generally non-toxic, non-irritant, possible irritation on sensitive skin; cross sensitivity reported with fennel and anise; considered a known allergen, avoid with fibrosis (breast cancer).
How Herbs Work
Why Herbs? Herbs have these function in the body: they
1. Cleanse the body
2. Regulate the system (body, glands, and functions)
3. Are nutritional
4. Raise the energy level of the body
5. Stimulate the body's immune system
Cleanse the Body
The body was built with safeguards and healing powers within it. When we are cut, the body starts to work trying to repair the damage. When we are invaded by an illness the body's immune system is alerted and starts to defend against the illness. Everyday waste products are gathered and eliminated from the body. The body is constantly trying to cleanse and heal itself. Herbs help, rather than interfere, with this cleansing and eliminating process. Drugs may make the system sluggish, cause allergies, kill friendly bacteria, or other worse side effects.
Regulate the system
Besides helping the body to cleanse, the herbs also strengthen and normalize the glands.
Are Nutritional
Herbs are very high in vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that nourish and build body. They help feed the body. Many times a weak or sick body will accept nourishment from an herb when other foods are rejected or unassimilated.
Raise the energy level of the body
Herbs stimulate the energy levels within the body so the body has increased energy to heal itself.
Stimulates the body's immune system
Herbs stimulate the immune systems and promote the body's natural good bacteria.
Herbs have been used by man as food and as medicine for many centuries. Herbs are natural, not instant. They work with the body, not against it, in strengthening and building the body gradually so the body itself is stronger. Herbs can be compared with food; they feed the body, Just as with food, herbs need to be used with wisdom and knowledge and not indiscriminately.
There are herbs that are infection fighters, anti-bacterial, antiseptic, hormonal, diuretic, antihistamine, laxative, antispasmodic, cardiac, digestive, nervine, relaxant, etc. Herbs perform certain functions in the body, just as certain foods contain vitamins and minerals that help certain areas of the body.
Herbs store indefinately. They lose about 30% of their potency in the first 24 to 36 hours after picking, but are stable after that if kept in a cool, dry place.
The taste of herbs helps indicate how to use them. The mild, pleasant tasting herbs can be used freely. These are usually the tonic herbs that help every part of the body. The bitter tasting herbs are usually the medicinal herbs. These are used in times of illness or to maintain certain problems.
The Egyptians revered chamomile for its power to cure fevers, particularly the recurrent fevers of malaria. The body or Ramses II was anointed with chamomile oil. Common chamomile is agreeably aromatic, with a distinct scent of apples, hence its name from the Greek kamai, meaning 'on the ground' and melon, meaning 'apple'. When walked on, its strong fragrant scent will often reveal its presence before it is seen.
Chamomile used to be called the 'plants' physician' because nothing seems to contribute so much to the health of a garden as a number of chamomile herbs dispersed about it. If another plant is drooping and sickly, in nine cases out of ten it will recover if you place an herb of chamomile near it.
Its active principles are a volatile oil, anthemic acid (the bitter principle) tannic acid, and glucoside. Boiling dissipates the oil. Chamomile tea should be prepared in a covered vessel, in order to prevent the escape of steam, as the medicinal value of the flowers is largely lost by evaporation. To make a tea, the flowers should be allowed to steep in extremely hot, but not boiling water for at least 10 minutes, strain, and sweeten to taste.
It's uniquiely suited to treating digestive ailments, including ulcers, because it combines anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmodic and stomach-soothing properties.
Chamomile tea has long been known to dissolve gallstones. It is excellent for the stone appears in this, 'that a stone that hath been taken out of thie body of a man, being wrapped in chamomile, will in time dissolve' says Nicolas Culpepper.
Apart from their uses internally, chamomile flowers are also extensively used as a poultice and fomentation for external swellings, inflammatory pain, or neuralgia and will relieve where other remedies have failed, proving invaluable for reducing swellings of the face and caused through abscesses. Bags may be loosely stuffed with flowers and steeped well in boiling water before beind applied as a fomentation. The anteseptic powers of chamomile are said to be 120 times stronger than sea water.
The whole herb is used for external applications in toothache, earache, and neuralgia. One ounce of dried herb is infused (soaked) in 2 pintes of boiling hot water and allowed to cool.
DIEFFENBACHIA AND TOM-TIM TOMATO
(strory by Group Captain Rajagopal - Copyright)
Dieffenbachia One such plant was kept at the entrance steps from the car porch of Mr. Sampath's sprawling bungalow. Mrs. Sampath was very proud of her collections of potted plants. She was especially fond of this particular plant in the entrance as it had large lush green leaves with lovely white and yellow spots. All the visitors to her house were envious of her Dieffenbachia. It was supposed to have been brought from Ooty. She had instructed her gardener Ranga to remove all weeds from the pots as well as from the lawn. Mrs. Sampath does not like to see any wild weeds in her garden. One day a small weed plant sprouted in the same pot as the dieffenbachia in the porch. With in two days the plant grew and few leaves came out. The dieffenbachia was annoyed. "Hey, you, how dare you start growing in my pot. What type of plant are you.? The land lady dislikes the sight of
such useless weeds like you in her garden. You better vanish or you will be uprooted and thrown out," The weed said "I am Tom Tim Tomato,
( Solanum Nigrum ) and I grow anywhere and every where. In fact my seeds are propagated by ants and other insects. No body need look after me. I don't need big pots or beds. Normally no pest will attack me."
Ranga pulled out the Tom Tim Tomato and threw it outside the compound wall. The Dieffenbachia felt very happy. After a while there was commotion in the house. Mrs. Sampath's baby was seriously ill. The child was vomiting and crying with pain in the stomach. Grandmother, Mrs. Sampath and all others tried their best to pacify the child. Grandmother thought that the child must have eaten something harmful to the system The baby was not able to tell clearly what it had consumed. But the grandmother went about checking all the plants in the house. She saw the leaves of potted plant at the entrance in the porch were torn and one or two pieces were missing. She immediately asked Mr. Sampath to call the doctor. On examination the Doctor found that the child must have consumed some poisonous material. He gave a stomach wash. It was established the child had eaten few pieces of the leaves of Dieffenbachia. Later he administered some medicine for temporary relief and left saying "that it will take effect after a while". After many hours the child started crying. Grandmother knew that the poisonous leaf had affected the child's alimentary canal. She immediately asked Mrs. Sampath to get few leaves from the Tom Tim Tomato, the wild plant growing in the same pot as the Dieffenbachia.
" You mean the wild useless weed that I asked Ranga to throw out?", enquired Mrs. Sampath. My dear, it is neither wild nor useless. I need the leaves of the plant immediately. Otherwise the child's condition will become serious' said grandmother Ranga was asked to locate the uprooted Tom Tim Tomato. Ranga brought the plant from the corner of the culvert where he had thrown. Luckily, no cattle had seen it till then. Grand mother carefully took few leaves of the plant and made two spoons of the juice and gave it to the child to drink. Within half an hour the child felt comfortable and stopped crying. Grandmother told Mrs. Sampath to throw all the decorative plants and allow the weed to grow. She pulled out the Dieffenbachia and planted the Tom Tim Tomato in same pot. Moral of the story is : "Many weeds growing in the garden are nature provided medicines, while many decorative plants may be poisonous."
Thank you Nance for this very valuable and useful information.
Sorry for acknowledging this so late.
I wish all our members read this.
In the garden of Mother Nature a many valuable herbs grow by themselves.
But we overlook them and most of the times we throw them out to plant attractive flowering plants with least medicinal value or sometimes poisonous.
All our members should read this article without fail
This reminds me of a Story I wrote sometimes back.
I am posting it her for our members
Blessed Thistle
Compounds in this herb reportedly have anti-HIV activity. A powdered extract of the herb has been applied externally for skin cancers.
Blessed Thistle is used by herbalists to increase the flow of milk in breast feeding. For this purpose the warm tea is given to mothers. It also reputedly breaks up blood clots, relieves jaundice, stops bleeding, increases appetite, and lowers fevers.
Blessed Thistle contains a volatile oil and a bitter principle known as cnicin.
Aloe Vera
Arab traders introduced the use of aloe to other parts of the world. Jesuit missionaries planted it around settlements in the New World.
Legend has it that the Central America Natives and Mexico were so amazed at this plant's ability to relieve so many ailments--cough, abscess, arthritis, bursitis, cararacts--to name just a few, that they called the plant, with its long leaves reaching toward heaven, "The Hand of God."
The word aloe is derived from the Arabic alloeh, meaning "bitter, shiny substance." Only aloes with aloin--have actual healing power. There are over 300 kinds of aloe, but only three are readily available that produce the miracle healing juice called aloin.
Aloe vera, also known as Aloe barbadenis (referring to the island of Barbados where it once grew in abundance).
Aloe succotrina, named after the island of Socotra near Yemen. Because of it disagreeable smell, it was mixed with fragrant myrrh when wrapped among the burial clothes.
Aloe ferox, which originated in South Africa and is nown as Cape aloe.
Most people are familiar with aloe's reputation as a healer for the skin. But what is not commonly known is that aloe vera can be ingested (in juice or capsules). Users claim its all-natural elements regenerate interal tissues and organs in the same way its regenerates the skin tissue.
Taken internally, it is said to have a healing effect on arthritis, ulcers, diatetes, and more.
An aloe vera left produces two substances: (1)a yellow or reddish sap, called latex, that is bitter and irritating to the lips. This sap is the juice of the plant and is responsible for most of its healing power. The active principle that makes it work is called aloin. (2) The leaf also produces a clear, semi-solid, unpleasant-smelling gel, which enables it to avoid water loss and survive for extremely long periods of time with water. If the leaf is cut, the gel simply heals over. The gel has been used for centuries to soothe and heal burns, cuts, and skin irritations and to soften skin.
Could you reverse this thread, Please~Krystyna
~Thank You
Burdock
People with sugar metabolism problems or chronic weakness often have stomach, kidney, mineral levels, will build stabilize and detoxify these organs.
It is helpful for colds with antimicrobial action...It's demulcent action soothes the upper respiratory tracts mucous membranes.
Burdock root-catnip tea is a great remedy for breaking up, dissolving, and eliminating some stubborn kidney stones and gallstones.
Burdock seeds are crushed to make a popular tincture used to purify the blood and as a traditional liver tonic.
Thank you dear John for this link.
Love, Krystyna.
For information on herbal treatments for cancer have a look at the Holy Lance website, re sections entitled "Nature's Cure for Cancer", "Supplement" and "Appendix")
Thank you dear Nancy and dear John - really very interesting. I like herbs...
Love, Krystyna.
Lettuce Opium: Lettuce tea has been long known as a soother of pain and a sleep inducer when opium was not available.
Dissolved in wine, it is said to soothe, calm comfort and relieve pain. In France, water distilled from lettuce is used as a mildsedative.
Dandelion Tea: is a good remedy for gallbladder complaints.
Dandelion root helps decrease high blood pressure, thus aiding the action of the heart.
Dandelion helps fight osteoporosis. It has a fair source of silicon, which helps strengthen bone
Leaf coriander (a.k.a. cilantro/ Chinese parsley) is another very good herb to grow.
It is helpful in dealing with mercury & lead toxicity. (See the Holy Lance website, re the section entitled 'Mercury Poisoning and Dental Amalgam Fillings'
Orange Peel, Cut
Orange Peel is a digestive aid. It is used for abdominal bloating, nausea and poor appetite. Orange peel moves stagnant energy and helps the digestion. Also used as an expectorant for Arguably, the most important flavanone in oranges, herperidin has been shown to lower high blood pressure as well as cholesterol, and to have strong anti-inflammatory properties. Importantly, most of this phytonutrient is found in the peel and inner white pulp of the orange.
Using orange peel to flavor tea, salads, salad dressings, yogurt, soups, or hot oatmeal, buckwheat or rice every day may be a practical way of achieving some cholesterol-lowering benefits.
Orange peel contains aromatic compounds that are antiseptic, reduce muscles spasms and decrease the thickness while increasing the production of mucosal fluids. It also contains bitter compounds that are anti-inflammatory, reduce muscle spasms, increase the production of digestive fluid and increase blood circulation. Citrus peel has been used to treat coughs, colds, flu, fevers, and bronchitis.
Grow Your Own Herbs
Your best bet is to invest in a manufactured window box or planter, but any watertight container will do. Outdoor container gardening wants a drainage hole, but to avoid ruining the windowsill or table, best to have something watertight indoors, or at least a large enough tray underneath. Place a generous layer of stones, terra cotta shards or packing peanuts at the bottom of the container, as this is where the water will settle, and not flood the soil. Add your potting mix, ensuring that it has a healthy mix of potting soil, peat moss and vermiculite (or perlite). Water absorbing polymers will also help with keeping the soil moist longer.
If you want to start the plants from seed, follow the instructions on the packets carefully, unless you are sowing seeds from the mature plants in your yard. A good way to help them along the germination path is to cover the container in clear plastic and place it on the top of the refrigerator for a couple of days to keep them moist and warm. When you notice the plants breaking the surface, you can bring them off the fridge and move them to the window, but leave the plastic on for a couple more days, but make sure the plastic does not come into contact with the sprouts. Once the seedlings seem sturdy enough to weather life on their own, remove the plastic.
Many varieties will grow quite happily indoors on a sunny window ledge or porch. In addition to providing a source of fresh herbs, an indoor garden can look extremely attractive, and they are a wonderful introduction to gardening for children.
Herbs which will grow indoors:
Basil
Oregano
Mint
Parsley
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme
Angelica
Chamomile
Dill
Fennel
Lavender
Geranium
Chives
Here is an idea:
Herbal Garden Stacker
Start a garden in your own kitchen. Culinary herb garden kit is designed to help you start herbs in your own kitchen or windowsill with a neat little 12" x 12" x 5" greenhouse. This herb greenhouse provides the perfect climate for fast herb propagation and growth. In just a few weeks you will have herb plants
