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.

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

Camomile steam inhalation

Inhaling camomile can be realy helpful for closed nose. I have used this few times when my nose was closed so I could breathe just through my mouth. Camomile steam melts mucus in the nose, so that you can blow it out, and the airways become clearer.

If you want to try this, first you need to make camomile tea. Put 1 teaspoon of camomile in a cup of boiling water, stir and cover. After 5 minutes strain the tea and put it in a bowl, pot or cup from which you want to inhale. Tea needs to be warm, but not to hot to burn skin or airways.

Put the cup on the table, lean over it and cover your head and cup with towel. Inhale camomile steam for a while (5-10 minutes), blow your nose if you need to. You can repeat this proces (if you want to), with the same tea, reheat it a bit, or make a new one.

Some people even drink this tea after they finish inhaling, this is optional. After inhaling stay inside where is warm, do not go outside if it is cold.

Marjoram

Marjoram as a herbal remedy is used for troubles with stomach, bowles and bile. It also helps with nerve diseases, allergies and cold with coughs.

Marjoram is a well known spice for pasta, potatoes, wine and etc. can be planted in the garden or pot whether you want to use it as a cure or spice. It is rather easy to find and buy its seeds or small plants for planting.

For tea put 1 teaspoon in a cup of boiled water, stir and cover. After 2 minutes (or if you prefer 5 or 10 minutes) strain it. Some people recommend 2 tablespoons to leave for 5 minutes.

Lime tea

Lime is an excellent remedy for respiratory system during cold, for chronic cough, it relaxes nerves, good for sleep, helps with anemia, purifies blood and kidneys.

I drink lime tea when I have sore throat. To make tea put one teaspoon of lime flowers in one cup of boiled water, keep it covered for 10 minutes, strain and sweeten with honey.

Lime tea is very tasteful and nice smelling, so it is nice to drink it even if you are not ill.

Picking hip

Leaves are falling, but there is still time to pick hip, and to make yourself a nice stash of hip tea for the winter.

 I went the other day, the sun was shining, sky was blue and hips very red, a nice day to pick hips. It was a nice walk too, in this lovely automn weather, 2 in 1, maybe even more.

Hip is now just right, firm and red, so a picked some for tea, they wouldn't go down easy I poke myself a few times on its thornes, but it's nothing serious just to make it interesting.

If you are not familiar hip is the fruit of wild rose (Dog Rose), it growes wild in nature, mostly where people don't work on theire land, by the road, on the edge of a forest, or where ever it can. For tea they are picked in automn (dependes on the weather) when they are firm, softer ones are used for making marmelade.

When picked hips need to be cut into smaller pieces (chopped), I use the machine for mincing meat. Then put on clear paper (not printed) to dry, usually  in a warm place in the house, takes a few days. I keep it on top of the kitchen cupboards.  When dry keep it in a paper bag ( glass jar, cloth) and you have your one hip tea good especially for the winter.

I like to pick hips for tea couse then I know where it's gathered, away from roads, people who use pesticide. Also I have a lot of tea, sometimes even more then I can use in a year, but even after a year they are still good, change a colour a bit.

Hip tea is full of vitamin C, good for cold and very tasty sweetened with honey or plane.

Hip tea for cold and flu

     Hip is the fruit of wild rose, Dog Rose (Rosa canina). Tea from rose hip is an excellent tea for cold and flu. Hips are rich with vitamin C, who is an antioxidant.

     It is best to drink few cups of this precious and tasteful tea at the first sign of illness. That will remove the symptoms and you will feel better. Of course, it is also good to drink tea if you are already ill. It always works for me.

     Recepie for tea: put one teaspoon of hips in to one cup of boiled water, leave it covered for 10-15 minutes. After you strain it, put 1 teaspoon of honey and lemon juice (from one slice), that will give wonderful taste and better curative properties.

In this tea you can add cinnamon and clove. Clove has antibacterial and antiseptic powers. Clove and cinnamon are excellent disinfectants.

     Recepie for  hip tea with cinnamon and clove:

Put one teaspoon of hips in to water, add 1-2 cloves, and some cinnamon. Put it on fire. When it boiles remove from fire, add half a lemon (sliced). It is good if the lemon is organic. Leave it covered for 15 minutes or more, strain and sweeten with honey.

    

My favourite herbal tea

Herbal mixture made from camomile, nettle and yarrow is my favourite herbal tea by taste and strength. I drink it from time to time just as a prevention, or as a remedy to cure or to relieve a symptom.

It is good for allergies (respiratory, etc), cold, preventing urinary infections (bladder). It relieves PMS symptoms and menstrual cramps if you drink it few days (or a day depending on the problem) before a period.

Can also be used for lots of others symptoms and diseases, for witch this herbs are good for, and the list is long.  Camomile, nettle and yarrow are very strong herbs, used together they make a tea with good taste and you get a part of curative properties from each herb.

To make tea take a bit of each plant (dry), so that you get about one teaspoon of mixture. Put one teaspoon of mixture in a cup of boiled water, leave it covered for 2 minutes, than strain it.

For me this herbal mixture is a good evening tea, especially when it's cold out side.

Camomile (Matricaria chamomilla)

Nettle (Urtica dioica)

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)