NEWSLETTER

Healing Garden

"...Planting Ideas for Wellness "

Premier Issue-Winter 2005-06

 

ARTICLES

Dandelion: both beauty and beast

“Nature distributed medicine everywhere.” –Pliny the Elder, AD77

Dandelion (Herba Taraxaci) must surely have been one of the plants Pliny the Elder had in mind when he made this declaration. It defies categories, qualifying as a weed, food, medicinal herb and stirrer of childlike inspiration. I suspect that memories connecting us to dandelions are nearly universal, at least for those of us who live in the northern hemisphere (dandelions aren't native to most of the southern hemisphere).

Balm, bees and Benedictine

This time of year melissa officinalis (also known simply as melissa or more commonly as lemon balm)

is at its peak of scent and flavor after rapid new growth over the past weeks. It could easily be mistaken for a mint since it is in the mint family, though it has larger leaves and its distinctly lemon-like fragrance also sets it apart--a bit lighter and slightly more pungent than actual lemon. While it likes to spread and can be a bit invasive in habit, its foliage has a quiet soothing quality that reflects its medicinal uses.

California golden

California 's official nickname “the golden state”, has in my mind as much to do with golden fields of California poppies and the California Golden trout (native only to the Kern River drainage south of Mount Whitney ) as with gold metal. According to one Native American legend, the gold was actually deposited in the earth from the yellow and orange petals of California poppy blooms.

Benefits of rose within its buds and hips

“The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem, for that sweet odor which doth in it live…

Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odors made.”

The rose in Shakespeare's Sonnet 54 may symbolize universals like love and devotion, yet calls our attention to the impulse when we are near a rose to put our nose down close and discover the elegant fragrance. As the spring rains close in Ojai, roses are afoot. There is a lavender one near my door called Fragrant Plum that draws me each year with its citrus-like scent, while it reminds of roses' healing qualities.

Sweet innocence of jasmine

“Yet my heart is sweet with the memory of the first fresh jasmines that filled my hands when I was a child.”

Rabindranath Tagore: “The First Sweet Jasmines” from the Crescent Moon, 1913

It is difficult not to notice that jasmine season has begun in Ojai. Its fragrance tends to gather in the air in clouds, and walking through one of those clouds in the parking lot at my office makes me spin around and walk back through for another pass. The scent has a softness and innocence that does indeed allow the childlike part of us to relax. My favorite among the more than 200 species of jasmine, is a long-petaled variety called Angel Wing growing just outside my bedroom window.

Tea's health benefits may be the “icing”

Tea is the most widely consumed commercial beverage in the world, ranking well above second-place milk and third-place carbonated soft drinks. Recently, possible health benefits of tea have gained attention in the U.S. Tea is brewed from leaves or buds of camellia sinensis (sinensis meaning Chinese). Native to South Asia, it is cultivated in tropical or subtropical regions at elevations of 3,000 to 8,000 feet. While it is usually pruned to a height of less than 6 feet, in 1961 a wild tea tree purported to be 32 meters tall, a meter in diameter and 1700 years old was found in a rain forest of Yunnan, China .

 

 

A Berry for the Heart

Hawthorn would be one of my choices for an herb to connect with Valentine's Day. It's burgundy red berries are widely believed to have positive effects on the heart. But the berries follow from white or pink flowers which are quite spectacular in the spring, and were traditionally cut to celebrate May Day.

The Medicine Chest at your Greengrocer

Visiting the market Sunday, I was reminded that while locally grown greens are a spring or summer treat in many regions, in Ojai they peak following winter rains. Those who saw the movie “What the Bleep Do We Know?” will recall evidence in quantum physics of the powerful qualities which can infuse water. Rain seems to impart some of that magic to vegetables. I used to grow asparagus in my garden, and though profuse watering would produce just modest growth, its edible shoots would grow 6 inches overnight after a rain.

Mints are cool

The flavor of mint is familiar to us through candy canes and gum, mint juleps and schnapps, jelly, tea and the Middle Eastern dish tabbouleh . Candies flavored with mint have even absorbed the name—mints. And while its culinary uses shine, there is an extensive history of use for medicinal purposes both in the West as well as in Asia, along with growing modern scientific evidence of therapeutic value.

Frankincense and Myrrh—As Good As Gold

The legendary frankincense and myrrh were the most prized aromatic gums of the ancient world—on a par with gold in terms of value for healing, incense and perfumery. They have had spiritual significance in the story of the Three Wise Men, as well as St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia (now in Turkey) who was a 4 th century healer whose icons have been reputed to emanate myrrh.

More than a partridge in a pear tree

While apples, oranges and bananas tend to be the predominant fruits in the modern United States , in many parts of the world pears historically have been very important.

The Wisdom of Sage

As we warm to the Thanksgiving holiday, many of us will reach for sage leaf ( Folium Salvia Officinalis ) to give our favorite recipes a familiar pungent flavor.

Treat yourself gingerly

The Other Ginseng—American

First in a series on herbs utilized in the United States which are also utilized in traditional Chinese medicine.