Lovely Lemon....Herbs?

From: Mother Earth News

By: The Herb Companion staff

Gardening expert Jekka McVicar shares lemony herb-infused recipes from her first major cookbook, Jekka's Herb Cookbook.

Lemon Balm: This invasive herb is incredibly useful (and underused) in the kitchen. Harvest its leaves for cream cheeses, vinegars, dressings and veggies. You can also use it to make a mildly sedative tea to ease headaches, indigestion and nausea. Read more about lemon balm.

• Almond and Lemon Balm Stuffed Apples

Lemongrass: This tropical grass is lemon-scented with robust cream and beige cane-like stems. Towering 3 to 6 feet, this flavorful herb is often used in southeast Asian cooking. Its lemon flavor complements curries, seafood, garlic and chiles. Read more about lemongrass.

• Lemongrass Oil

Lemon Verbena: This herb shows off pale green lance-shaped leaves that smell strongly of lemon sherbet. For the best flavor, harvest in early summer. Use to flavor oils, vinegars, fruit puddings, fruit salads and jellies. Read more about lemon verbena.

• Lemon Verbena Crème Brûlée

Jekka McVicar grows more than 650 herb varieties on her herb farm in South Gloucestershire, England. The United Kingdom’s leading organic herb grower, Jekka’s Herb Farm has won more than 60 gold medals from the Royal Horticultural Society, including 14 at the renowned Chelsea Flower Show.

As well as the day-to-day running of the farm, Jekka is also well-known for her regular appearances on television and radio broadcasts on gardening and cookery and as an enthusiastic writer on herbs, having published five books.

Jekka will be the keynote speaker at the 2011 Herb Society of America educational conference, to be held June 23 to 25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information, see www.herbsociety.org. 

Like Mosquitos? If not plant Lemon Balm!

From: Mother Earth News

By: Stephanie Bloyd

Lemon balm, the International Herb Association’s 2007 Herb of the Year, is an ancient antidote to modern-day stress. This versatile herb can be used to calm nerves, promote restful sleep, and reduce digestive distress — plus it could be your new best friend in the great outdoors. Not only do its leaves have a rich, zippy, lemon smell, but they also contain compounds that can repel mosquitoes.

“Some northern European forms of lemon balm are high in citronellal, a compound which mimics the well-known herbal repellent citronella oil,” says Arthur Tucker, an ethnobotanist at Delaware State University. He notes that some forms of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) are nearly 38 percent citronellal. A variety called ‘Quedlinburger Niederliegende’ with this higher content of essential oil is available from Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Richters.

For a quick mosquito repellent, simply crush a handful of lemon balm leaves in your hand and rub them on your exposed skin. Grow the plants near your backdoor or in your garden, where the leaves will be handy when you need them.
LEMON BALM TO THE RESCUE

In addition to keeping biting bugs at bay, lemon balm has a long history of medicinal use. Cultivated in the Mediterranean region for the past 2,000 years, this perennial herb was prized for its catchall curative properties. During the Middle Ages, King Charles V of France was said to drink lemon balm tea daily for his health. Paracelsus, a Swiss Renaissance physician, called lemon balm the “elixir of life.” And in the 17th century, the French Carmelite nuns made their famous Carmelite Water with lemon balm and other herbs to treat nervous headaches and neuralgia. Today, lemon balm is gaining acceptance as a useful herb for modern stress-related maladies.

“Weedy lemon balm, which any old brown thumb can grow, would be one of the herbs you should try before resorting to pharmaceuticals,” says James Duke, an internationally renowned herbal expert. “It’s cheap, easy, efficacious, pleasing and safe; and it makes a good tea. Lemon balm is about as safe and pleasant an herb as there is.”

Duke thinks lemon balm could compete favorably with drugs such as Ambien for insomnia, Avirax for oral herpes, Zoloft for depression and Zantac for indigestion. The German Commission E, established by the country’s Minister of Health in the ’70s to review herbal remedies, has approved lemon balm for gastrointestinal problems, as well as nervous sleeping disorders.

To read the rest of this article click here No More Mosquitos!!!

Calendula Recipe

From: Old Fashioned Tips

Posted: 29 Jul 2011 09:20 PM PDT

I sow calendula seeds almost every summer because they are easy to grow, edible and last until a hard frost in the fall. This year I planted the seeds in July, and they'll be blooming in August through at least early October. I use the petals in herb vinegar, and salads, plus I cut some blooms to bring inside, but I leave most of them in my flower garden for their pretty colors. What I don't cut or harvest for using, I deadhead until late in the fall, then I allow the seeds to form. There are always plenty of seeds to dry and save for next year. I store them in envelopes and keep them in a basket with my other seeds.

I've found calendula grows best in full sun, with regular soil, and watering when it's extra dry. I don't fertilize, and they always do well. If you do add anything to the soil make sure it's organic, and don't use sprays if you plan on using the petals in recipes.

This is one of the salads I've made with calendula petals. It's delicious and especially pretty if you are having a tea or luncheon.

I used a mix of organic greens and lettuce plus:

tomato

cucumber

carrots

cilantro and basil leaves, stems removed

First, I tossed the basil and cilantro with the greens. You could use other herbs as well, but I like these two together. I topped the greens with the sliced cucumber and tomato and put the carrots off the the side. I picked two large calendula blooms and carefully pulled the petals off, leaving the center because it's bitter. After the salads were on the plates I sprinkled them with the petals. I used a raspberry vinaigrette, but Italian dressing is good too.

On OFL we have tips and recipes for nasturtiums, which are also easy to grow:
http://oldfashionedliving.com/nasturtiums.html