There’s nothing more like a love letter from the planet than self-seeding pop-up borage. It’s hard to say what it is that makes them the delight that they are -is it that they are edible? That they can be frozen in an ice cube to create joy in a cold drink? The vivid blue color or the way the pollinators love them? Or is it just that they appear where they want to, when they want to?
These turned up in my potato bed, and is still blooming in mid-October.
Borago officinalis is native to the mediterranean, but it self-seeds happily here in New England. Sometimes called bee bread or star flower, the blue of these flowers is vivid and cannot fail to capture the eye’s attention. Pliny the Elder called Borage a euphorosinum —a plant that elicits a feeling of euphoria. Consumed for centuries, the blue can be used as a dye and of course this lovely flower attracts bees to your garden.
Kat Maier notes that borage is a salty, mineral dense, oily herb, popular as a remedy for inflammation brought on by dry states.
For me, a perfect blue star flower suspended in my ice cube gives me joy. That’s enough for me.
the common weed st johns wort is known for its healing ability, and pollinators love it too.
The first couple of years we lived here there was no St Johns Wort in our yard. It’s a common weed – Hypericum perforatum – in these parts, and has good medicinal value. Used to support against depressive mood and for its healing benefits, it’s become famous. That said, it accelerates the metabolism of pharmaceuticals, which makes internal use contraindicated for folks on meds.
I complained to no one in particular the summer before last about its absence here in my garden, and wondered aloud where I could find enough to make some oil. The following summer a few St Johns Wort plants appeared in a few spots around the garden. And this year – pow! There were many. Who says we don’t get what we ask for? The savvy gardener has raised an eyebrow here and said “yes. And next year it’s all you’ll have in your garden!” But it does pull out easily enough.
So at around July 4th I harvested the flowers that have come to our yard. There was enough to make both oil and tincture. The tincture can be taken internally or used in liniment, and the oil can be used as it is or in a salve or liniment to support healing of the skin and pain relief. I use the tincture in formulas to support mood and I make healing salves regularly. In years past I’ve ordered both from Mountain Rose Herbs, who make wonderful organic products.
collecting St John’s wort is easy to do, and leaves your fingers stained red.
St Johns Wort only flowers once in the year, and not for very long. Miss your opportunity and wait another year.
When the time to strain the flowers came, the color was the deep red color St John’s Wort should be – an indication of the oil’s medicinal value. The tincture has an even redder, darker hue.
St Johns Wort oil and tincture are red.
Today I combined the St Johns Wort oil with Arnica flower oil and birch essential oil to make a salve for muscle and joint pain and stiffness.
There’s been so much growing in the garden this year- herbs, flowers, vegetables and fruit to admire, enjoy, water, and harvest….. and the wildlife the flowers attract – yellow finches, monarch and other butterflies, and hummingbirds… along with the less affable chipmunks and voles, has been its own story. But the flowers take center stage for everyone. Sunflowers, Wood Betony, Oregano, Sage, Calendula, morning glories, marshmallow, fennel, daisies, rudbeckia, echinacea, yarrow,, zinnia, lavender, and others… medicine for the mind, body, and soul.
A pot of nasturtium has become a favorite haunt of the local hummingbirds. When they appear on the deck visiting the flowers everything and everyone stops to watch and listen to them. They bring their kind of own medicine, too.
There’s no feeling like watching a bumble bee on flowering st johns wort or a giant sunflower; radiating the pure joy of doing what comes naturally, of things going right, of the natural abundance of summer and the flowering season.
the common weed st johns wort is known for its healing ability, and pollinators love it too.
Fleeting, magical moments.
This week the sun was shining just before the wildfire smoke blew in. Calendula stood nodding in the morning sun.
calendula is used for it’s healing power in skin and tea remedies
Wood betony, covered in happy pollinators and graceful in the morning light, looked magical. Mint grew tall, absolutely at large and threatening a takeover of the garden, it’s soft leaves rising into the sun and flanked by a regiment of lemon balm.
Wood betony is a perennial herb used as a nervine. Graceful purple spires of flowers bloom in July in the Northeast of America.
So I joined the bees and their pollinator friends in the garden, collecting calendula, wood betony, peppermint, plantain, and lemon balm to dry for teas.
Skullcap is effective for relieving anxiety, calming anger, clearing the head.
Likely the most common request I’ve had for herbal support has been for the relief of anxiety and stress. Speaking for myself, stress, tension, and anxiety have been a condition for which I’ve sought an antidote over the years.
Enter Skullcap.
Skullcap is well known in herbalism as an effective relief for anxiety, stress and muscle tension, especially in the neck, shoulders, and head. Herbal Reality, an excellent source for all things herbal, also notes it is used for the relief of angry hot states and as a support in addiction withdrawl. It’s beneficial for those dealing with tension headaches or TMJ.
Taken as a tea or in tincture form, it’s a reliable way to calm the mind during the day because it does not bring on drowsiness. And combined with Passionflower, Hops, or Wild Lettuce it becomes a sleep formula, lending it’s calming and relaxing effects to the hypnotic effects of these other herbs.
In a tea it has a mild flavor, so it’s easy to add to any loose tea you are drinking or to have on its own. Native to North America, it grows readily in moist places.
It’s a good friend to have along in a dosing bottle of tincture to take the edge off on stressful days… I can personally vouch for it’s effectiveness!
Skullcap is safe for folks of all ages, is gentle, and benefits teenagers who are often anxious. The dose is 5-30 drops of tincture a day or 3-6 grams of dried leaves and flowers in a tea. You can find this delightful herb at Mountain Rose herbs or you can easily grow it in your backyard in a sunny moist spot. Take care to get the right variety – Scutellaria lateriflora – if you choose to grow it yourself!
Skullcap, Scutellaria lateriflora and also called Mad Dog skullcap growing happily in my backyard.
Gut health influences so much beyond digestion – energy, mood, immunity, brain function …. I’d go as far as saying it affects and feeds our vital force. We’ve all heard this, but so often we don’t really know how to support our gut outside of taking a supplement for our microbiome and digestive health.
Some days our gut just isn’t feeling its best. Despite that, we go on with our day, our work, school … meeting our responsibilities. In this blog I’d like to suggest gut healing tea as an opportunity to care for ourselves while continuing to soldier on, if that’s what we choose to do.
A tea that’s formulated for gut health can taste great. Ginger, fennel, peppermint … all delicious and easy to find. You can add honey, too, if you like your tea sweet. These herbs, along with others, can also be healing to the gut, support digestion, reduce inflammatory states, stimulate digestive secretion, relax and ease anxiety, support the lymphatic system, soothe and protect irritated or inflamed tissue in the stomach and gut, and even tone and strenthen the stomach. It’s a long list of benefits, isn’t it?
Some of my favorite herbsfor a gut health tea follow below, with notes about their benefits. This is not an exhaustive list, the idea is that you can blend your own tea if you want to. Or just buy a fabulous blend from an organic tea maker with some of these herbs in it!
Chamomile –(Matricaria recutita) flower–warming and relaxing (nervous system and lower part of the digestive track), discourages nausea.
Catnip (Nepata cataria)– warming and relaxing (nervous system and upper digestive track; also antacid (helps with heartburn)
Marshmallow Root (Althaea officinalis) – soothing to the gut, anti-inflammatory.
or Licorice (Glycyrrhizza glabra), soothing to the gut, tones the stomach, sweetening, harmonizes your tea blend. Helps with digestive dryness, irritation, ulcers. [Can use up to ¼-⅓ part Licorice root in your tea. Note Licorice increases aldosterone,which can raise blood pressure, so not recommended for those with hypertension.]
Some years ago during my time as the Digital Program Manager for the New England Journal of Medicine, I developed hypertension. I was genuinely surprised; I’d had low blood pressure most of my adult life.
In retrospect there was a clue; my predecessor had been gifted a blood pressure cuff by our General Manager at her going away party. Why should I have been any different?
My physician, a wonderful, deeply practical and very knowledgeable internist, advised me my diastolic pressure was dangerously high and had to be attended to. But I didn’t want to take pharmaceutical blood pressure medicine. So we agreed I could try exercise and meditation first and return for a blood pressure check soon.
When I returned my blood pressure was not reduced. It proved to be a tenacious condition. I was busy at work, and agreed to monitor my blood pressure daily and take the meds. I did this, meditating regularly, which did help. But I maintained a high stress level despite efforts to manage it, and my blood pressure remained high, too.
Eventually I left the job, taking another job in program management. My blood pressure remained a problem throughout, no matter how much I exercised, meditated, and ate foods that supported me.
The meditation helped and I got to a new place in understanding what was happening in my mind – very powerful. But my daily life and internal dialogue were still driving my blood pressure. I think meditating more would have ultimately helped bring it down reliably, but I have not disciplined myself to a practice that regular and deep, yet.
So, finally the game-changer was an herbal formula I found in David Hoffman’s book “Medical Herbalism.” Not just the motherwort, the hawthorne, the linden, the skullcap — all very helpful and they do affect my pressure positively — but the addition of crampbark to the formula was the magic. My diastolic blood pressure finally came down into the 70s.
And I feel that the crampbark has affected my thinking and my stress level, too. I can calm my stress reaction much more effectively now that I’m working with it. Somehow it’s shifted my relationship with the narrative that causes the pressure, in the same way a conversation with a wise elder brings fresh understanding.
It’s hard to describe the relief I felt when the monitor started to show me acceptable numbers without taking the lisinipril. Peace. Freedom. Deep deep relief.
Peace created.
Everyone’s different and most people struggle with their systolic, rather than their diastolic pressure. What works for me might not work for others – perhaps unsurprisingly there are several formulas in Hoffman’s book that address blood pressure associated with a range of conditions; dealing with the root cause is always the aim and Hoffman’s formulas make clear that there are several plants that can work together to address hypertension in an individualized way.
And interestingly, if you monitor your blood pressure it’s not hard to see how it responds to your medication and your state of mind -experimentation is not hard.
This little thyme plant is a cutting from one of my garden plants. A joyful little being in my kitchen window, it gives me a warm feeling in my heart to see it there leaning toward the winter sun. It’s getting leggy and could use a trim to encourage a fuller, bushier look.
Thyme is culinary, medicinal, and ornamental. Aromatic, warming, and delicious, it’s stimulating for digestion and makes an amazing steam to treat cold and flu. Soothing, safe for adults and kids, it helps prevent respiratory infections.
And it’s adorable. Look at those precious little leaves.
It’s also easy to grow. To bring my little friend inside, I just took a snipping of one of my plants, dipped it in rooting hormone purchased at a garden center, and popped it into moist potting soil. I kept it moist in the window while it established some roots and voila! In the garden it likes a moist sunny spot.
That may seem a little provocative but this is a concrete statement I’m prepared to stand behind. I’ve never met a plant that did more for people during the night than Passionflower.
Sure, Valerian helps you sleep… but Passionflower quiets the night-time ruminating, worrying, anxious, and repetitive thoughts that are so common for people. Categorized as sedative, nervine and anti-spasmodic, Passiflora incarnata is a perennial native to the southeastern US, and the flowers and fruits are the medicinal parts of this plant.
People for whom I’ve recommended it say things like “the best night’s sleep I’ve had in as long as I can remember,” and “wow the Passionflower is awesome!” For my part, I can say that when I take passionflower tincture or a capsule before bed I reliably sleep much more soundly than I do without it. My mind is calm. Also, I am prone to grinding my teeth at night and the passionflower eases that noticeably, too.
There’s more to passionflower than its bed-time virtues. Great for over-active and anxious minds it can be taken during the day, too, to help with anxiety. But I think that Passionflower’s super power is it’s ability to calm the mind for sleep.
I’ll leave it there for now, except to note that I’ve seen in some recent literature that Passionflower isn’t recommended for people who take beta-blockers, or for young children. On reviewing this in the American Herbal Products Association’s Botanical Safety Handbook, though, no safety precautions are reported with the exception of some people reporting allergies to Passionflower.
Safe, effective, and sure to support a better night’s sleep – a pretty good bed partner, wouldn’t you agree?
The content presented here is for informational and educational purposes only and does not substitute professional medical advice with healthcare professionals.
That last piece of leftover pie I had for breakfast this morning left me thinking “I need a cup of peppermint tea.” Too many sweets over the last few days has taken a toll.
I drink peppermint tea whenever my stomach’s unhappy. Peppermint, the binomial name is Mentha piperita, is known to have other health benefits but it’s enough for me that that it tastes great and soothes my stomach. It’s fabulous after dinner with honey (and maybe even a dollop of cream) for a sweet treat, too.
To make it:
Boil water
Pop a peppermint tea bag into a mug of the boiling water.
Cover the tea – this keeps those volatile oils in your teacup. You can use a little dessert plate over the cup if you don’t have a proper teacup.
Let the tea steep for at least 5 minutes (10-15 minutes is better).
Enjoy the mint on its own or add honey or milk if that appeals.
You can buy peppermint tea bags at the grocery. Or you can grow it! It’s easy… so easy, in fact, that it will spread if left alone.
The peppermint show above is in my garden. Peppermint is perennial. If you plant it in good soil it will grow in sun or part shade. It isn’t fussy and I’ve never needed to water it once it was established, though it thrives with periodic watering. But be careful! It will take over your garden if you let it!
To make tea just cut the stems and hang them up to dry or use a dehydrator.
Here in the Northeast winters usually feel endless to me. This year I started early. The Cape is a little warmer owing to being on the seashore, and I have some early start herbs I’m putting in. WOOOO!
Cape cod soil is pretty much what you’d expect … sand and clay. And lots of it. So we trucked in some planting soil and started clearing away vines and debris in a sunny spot to the west of the house.
It doesn’t look like much right now but it will be full of flowering herbs this summer! And we’ve found a local fence company to put in a garden fence for us – it’ll have to be dug into the ground to protect my precious gardens from rabbits and woodchucks. Two stories come to mind whenever I think about rabbits and woodchucks decimating my garden: Peter Rabbit and Caddyshack. You wouldn’t expect those two to go together, would you??
early herbs include chamomile, echinacea angustifolia, comfrey
And importantly, our friends the garlic shoots have made an appearance:
garlic emerging from a bed of leaves
Is this garlic shoot seriously not the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen?
chard and onions starting to grow in a seed starter mat.
Finally, the onions and kale I started early are coming along. I added a few leek seeds in later, to the right, and I’m waiting for those to germinate. Later this month it’ll be lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower.
I am dreaming of spring flowers and greens, and beach walks. Soon!
