Lavender

          What a lovely plant! I just love it's wonderful colour and smell.

          Lavender is a great decoration for your home or in the garden. It is also a very useful plant. It attracts butterflys, bumblebees and other bugs so it is good to have it in a garden.

          It is a very interesting spice. Parasites and insect repellent. And of course an excellent remedy for many diseases and conditions.

                                                                                                                                          

                    

As a remedy, lavander is used for : tea, oil, tincture, vinegar, herbal bags, cream and essential oil.

Tea                     

It is made from flowers ( fresh or dry ) and  has interesting, intense smell and taste of lavender. I like to add honey in my lavender tea. It has taste like a candy. Reminds me on a hot summer days.

Lavender tea is good for:

relaxing,

calming nerves,

insomnia,

headache,

digestion ( it enhances digestion and helps with flatulence ),

liver,

cold and infection of respiratory system.

To make tea, boil one cup ( 2 dl ) of water and pour it over one teaspoon of lavender flowers. Cover and leave for 2 or 5 minutes ( for fresh flowers leave less than 2 min ). Strain and drink few cups a day. For stomach problems and flatulence it is better to drink unsweeten tea.

Tincture

Tincture is good for rheumatic pain in the muscles and joints, for insect bites, skin itching. Rub the painful areas with the tincture. For insect bites just apply the tincture or make a compress.

Making the tincture

         You can make it just from flowers or flowers with little bit of stems.

Put the flowers ( fresh or dry ) into glass jar and pour alcohol over it. Close the lid and leave it in a sunny place for 2 weeks. Shake the jar from time to time.

After 2 weeks, strain the tincture and pour it in a dark glass bottle. Keep it in a dark, dry and cool place.

Lavender oil

Good for relaxing muscles, neck pain, skin ( helps to regenerate the skin ), arthritic and rheumatic pain. For skin problems apply the oil on the skin, rub it gently. In other cases massage the painful areas with oil for some time.

Making the oil

Take the fresh  flowers and put them in a glass jar. Pour over extra virgin olive oil so that it covers the flowers. Close the jar with a lid and leave it in a sunny place or near some heat source for 14 days. Shake it from time to time. Strain the oil and keep it in a dark glass bottle, in a cool, dry and dark place.

Drying  and keeping lavender

                                                                                

       Pick the lavender by cutting their stems, useing a knife or a scissors.

For tea, it is best to cut short stems, below the flowers. They will dry faster than long stems.

 To preserve more curative properties, crush the dry lavender before making the tea. Or if you want to make tea only from flowers, pull them off from the stems.

After picking, place the lavender on a clean cloth or a paper, in thin layer, or make a little bouquet ( in that case, cut longer stems ) and hang it  upside down.

You can dry it outside ( in the shade ), or inside ( away from sun or heat source ).

       

      Keep the dry lavender in a cool, dry and dark place. Best in a paper bag or a glass jar.



Lime / linden

These are lime flowers. They smell fantastic.

Use

Lime is used for:

-         curing cold, flu and respiratory system,

-         lowering high temperature by enhancing sweating,

-         sore throat,

-         calming cough,

-         purifying blood,

-         enhanceing urine and stool,

-         soothing nerves,

-         insomnia, etc.

 Tea

To make the tea, put one teaspoon of crushed dry lime flowers ( with or without small leaves) in one cup ( 2dl ) of boiled water and cover.

Strain it after 10-15 min. You can add honey.

Large amounts of lime tea can induce heart problems, so be careful.

Picking and drying

Lime blossoms from June to July (depends of the type of lime).

Best time to pick it is in the beginning of blossoming, before the flowers  change their colour.

Curative parts of lime are it's flowers with little leaves attached to them ( little leaves aren't used if they have rust ). Big leaves  also have some curative properties but aren't used so often.

 

After picking, place the flowers on the clean cloth or paper, in thin layer.

You can dry it outside ( in the shade ), or inside ( away from sun or some heat source ).

Put the dry lime in a paper bag or a glass container and store it in a dry place. It is better to crush dry lime just before use.

Saving some sun for the winter

               They are gorgeous! So gentile and soft on the skin. 

When to pick it?

Any time from May to August  is good for gathering lovely camomile  and drying it for next year.

Camomile loves the sun, so best time to pick it is when the sun is high in the sky. Then it has most curative properties, which we wont to preserve and smells the best.

How?

Pick only flowers of camomile, useing your hands. Don't pick those with lices. Look for them on the bootom of flowers, or on the stems. If you see some other bugs, that are running away as soon as you picke it, don't worry they will leave (unless there's too many of them).

Drying

You can dry it outside or inside, just keep it away from the sun.

Put your camomile on a clean paper or a cloth. Make sure that flowers have enough space between them, so that they can dry faster. If you don't have much room put them together but in a thin layer.

It is better to dry herbs faster to preserve more curative stuff.

Where to put dry camomile?

Use a paper bag or a glass jar to put camomile in.

 Leave it in a dark and dry place.

Positive effects of coffee

Coffee is always  good reason to get together with friends and have fun. If you are drinking it  alone it can be a form of meditation. With someone or alone it is nice to sit somewhere and slowly drink warm cup of coffee, specially if you eat chocolate or some cake with it.

         About coffee tree

Coffee tree is a small evergreen tree (2-3 m), that growes in Africa and South America. Fruits of coffee tree are green in the beginning and red when they are ripe. Each fruit has two seeds (coffee beans), from which the coffee is made.

                                                                                            

Positive effects of coffee

 This positive effects are from coffee made from coffee beans, not instant or coffee without caffeine.

Also don't drink to much, one or two cups a day are enough.

Positive effects of coffee are:

-         increases the depth and frequency of breathing (which improves the supply of oxygen to the blood and tissues),

-         increases the blood pressure,

-         improves intestinal muscular contraction,

-         enhances the intellect, imagination and the ability of verbal expression,

-         works positive in case of alcohol or drug poisoning,

-         strengthens the heart,

-         increases muscle resistance towards the fatigue,

-         caffeine works as an analgesic.

Caution

People with: high blood pressure, heart problems, gout, gastritis or gastroduodenal ulcer, pain in joints and muscles should be careful with drinking coffee.

Coffee dehydrates the body, so remember to drink more water.

Large amounts of coffee can induce chronic intoxication. Symptoms of intoxication are: insomnia, night mares, hand tremor, respiratory problems, lose of appetite, losing weight, tachycardia.

All of this symptoms disappear when we stop drinking too much coffee.

Common Juniper

         Description

Common Juniper (Juniperus communis) is a nice evergreen bush that can grow into tree. You can recognize it by its spiky leaves, green and dark blue berries. They are green in the beginning, when they mature green turns into dark blue. That happens every two years, because Juniper blooms in the spring but its berries became ripe  next year in the autumn.

Use

Only dark blue Juniper berries are used (usually dry) for healing, as a spice or for making alcoholic drinks.

In some countries Juniper berries are used for making beer, wine, aromatic vinegar, for giving aroma to gin and other alcoholic drinks.

In the kitchen it is used as a spice for meat and fish. Also for making jam and compote.

         Drying

Juniper berries are dried in the sun or artificial heat.

    
     Healing

Common Juniper is used for digestion, respiratory system, gout, rheumatism, sciatica, disinfection of urinary tract and respiratory system.

     

    When not to use it ?

It shouldn't be used in case of acute urinary infection.

 Pregnant women mustn't use Juniper because it can induce labours.

Juniper shouldn't be used in big amounts because it can be damagin to the kidneys.

         TEA

Tea is made from blue Juniper berries. It is good for digestive and respiratory problems.

To make tea, crush 1 teaspoon of dry berries, pour over them 1 cup of boiled water, cover. Strain after 5-10 min.

Drink 1-2 cups for problems with stomach and intestine.

For respiratory diseases add little bit of honey in a warm tea and drink it right away.

Tea can also be made from young spring sprouts, it is full of vitamins.

Tincture

Tincture is good for digestive problems, rheumatism, gout and sciatica.

It is made from 20g of dark blue Juniper berries and 5dl of alcohol (about 40%). Put the berries in the jar and pour alcohol over . Close it and leave in warm place for 1 week. Shake it from time to time. Strain and pour into bottle.

You can drink it in small amounts for digestive problems. For rheumatism, gout and sciatica rub it on the painful places.

Walking on a cold day

         It is good to be  outside, on the fresh air, even if it is cold like now, in the midle of winter. It is important to experience all kinds of weather conditions, to feel the wind or sun on our skin, to breath fresh air.

         Sometimes it is hard to leave a warm home and go out in the cold, but it is better to freeze a little than to be bored.

         Walking makes me feel good, tired but relaxed. Helps to clear the mind of annoying thoughts and to fill it with positive. Sometimes when walking I feel that I can do anything I want.

         It is nice to smell snow in the air and to feel cold on your cheeks.

I took some nice photos of herbs in my walks this days.

HIP

HAZEL FLOWERS

PRIMROSE

Nice cup of tea

         It is completely natural to eat more during winter, also to eat stronger food. I like to eat and drink something nice to keep me warm and happy when it is cold and depressive outside, like: hot toast with butter, chocolate (always good), hot potatoes, little bit of brandy or wine, nice warm tea and lots of other stuff.

         Nice tea, for me, is one that has good taste, smell and colour. The one you can drink even if you are not ill, like: hip tea, lime tea, camomile and mixture of camomile, yarrow and nettle.

Hip tea

Hip tea needs a little bit of honey (1 teaspoon) and lemon juice (1 slice) to enhances the taste.

To make hip tea pour 1 cup of boiled water on 1 teaspoon of dry hips, cover and strain after 10-15 minutes.

         It is better to add honey and lemon in warm, not hot tea, because they don't stand high temperatures.   

         If you want more aromatic version of hip tea, add clove and cinnamon to it. This is a very nice tea from which the whole house smells like cinnamon cookies.

         There are two ways of preparing this tea.

1.    Pour 1 cup of boiled water over 1 teaspoon of hips, 1-2 cloves and some cinnamon. Cover and strain after 10-15 minutes. Add honey and lemon juice in a warm tea.

2.    Put 1 teaspoon of hips, 1-2 cloves and some cinnamon in 1 cup of cold water. Put it on the fire, as soon as it boiles remove from fire and add half of sliced lemon. Cover and strain after 15 min or more. Sweeten it with honey.

Lime tea

         Lime tea smells like honey and reminds me on the time when lime tree is blooming and that wonderful smell is spreading everywhere.

         Lime tea also likes a little bit of honey (1 teaspoon). To prepare this tea boil 1 cup of water and pour it over 1 teaspoon of lime flowers, cover it. Strain the tea after 10 minutes.

Yarrow and blackberry cream

Yarrow and blackberry cream is used for curing hemorrhoids, applied externally. It is made from yarrow (Achillea millefolium) flowers and blackberry (Rubus fructicosus) leaves, about 15g of each herb. Herbs need to be fresh and chopped.

Making the cream

Heat pigs fat (about 90 g) to a temperature of frying steaks. Use a big pan, much bigger than the amount of fat, because fat is very hot and can foam. Caution is necessary.

         Add herbs part by part, stir few times with a wooden spoon and fry herbs a bit. Remove it from fire and cover.

         Next day heat it to melt the fat, strain it with a strainer or/ and cloth. Squeeze the herbs a bit, pour it into small  containers or jars, cover when it cools down.

Label it

         Write the name of the cream and year of making on the jars, so you wouldn't forget what is in it. This happens to us sometimes, we keep similar containers in the same spot and later we forget what cream is in which container so the sniffing party begins. Same is with oils. In eather case it is best to write something on.

         Keep it in the fridge or other cool place, it can last for a year or more. The amounts can be reduced, according to your needs.

         For more about making herbal creams and why is better to use pigs fat than artificial creams look at this posts.

Drinking camomile tea is also good for healing hemorrhoids internally, it heals and do not couses diarrhoea.

Making natural herbal cream

Description

Natural herbal cream is cream made from fresh herbs and pigs fat. You can make it yourself, it is easy.

Before, I wasn't very happy to use cream made from pigs fat. Then I read in book from Dr.Theiss that pigs fat is good for skin because it is natural and skin absorbs it well, also it transforms well the healing substances from herbs through skin.

Use

They can be used for dry skin or some concrete problem. That dependes of herb from which the cream is made. We have written about creams like: marigold, camomile, comfrey, agrimony. There you can find recepies how to make each cream. You can reduce the amount of herbs and fat in recepies, accordingly to your needs.

Making herbal cream

         First find fresh herbs (try to find herbs that are away from any pollution, like: traffic roads, industry, polluted waters, pesticides, artificial fertilizers). Then chop them into small pieces. Heat the fat in a big pan (use big pan because the fat foams). Be careful while you are doing this, don't touch the fat because it burns like hell.

         Heat it to the temperature of frying stakes. Divide herbs into few parts, then carefuly add one part, stir, add another until you spend it all. Fry it very shortly.

          Remove the pan from heat, cover it and leave somewhere to cool. Next day warm it a bit, just to make fat liquid.

         Strain it through cloth and strainer. Squeeze the herbs. Pour it into small containers, small glass jars, etc.

         Write the name of herb and the year of making it on the container and keep it in refrigerator or somewhere where it is cool. It can last for a year.

Macerated oils

What are macerated oils?

They are oils in which herbs have realised their good ingrediens, with  help of sun or some other heat source.

Use

Can be used for some concrete problem, for dry or damaged skin, or for a massage.

We have already written about some oils, like: camomile, hyperici, yarrow, marjoram.Colour and smell of oil dependes of herb from witch it is made.

    Hyperici oil has wonderful red colour and smell's like St. John's Wort and olive oil. We often use it for relaxing massage, or for back pain.

        

Camomile oil has yellow-green colour and smell's like camomile.

Making macerated oil

To make oil you need fresh flowers (some use dry) and good oil, cold pressed and not refined (cold pressed oil is remedy by itself), like: olive, almond, sunflower, etc.

Put the flowers in a glass jar, don't press them. Then pour oil over so that it covers the flowers. Close the jar with lid and then find place where it is sunny most of the day. If it is not warm outside, keep it inside near some heat source.

Shake the jar from time to time. Leave it for 14 days or more and then strain.

Strain it with the help of strainer or cloth or both. Squeeze the herbs so that you get most of the oil out.

Storing the oil

Pour oil in dark glass bottles and keep it away from light and heat. If you don't have dark bottles, use plain. It is always good to recycle, so when you buy something leave the bottle, jar, etc. and use it again.

Remember to write name of oil and year of making on the bottle.