• Pleurisy Root (Asclepias tuberosa) In all inflammations of the chest this is an invaluable medicine. It is sudorific, anodyne, and expectorant.
In addition to growing and selling dried herbs, the Shakers also produced and marketed a variety of medicinal preparations, and by the 1880s, some eighty different proprietary medicines were being sold. The herbal medicine business declined steadily after the Civil War, however, as did the appeal of the Shaker religion. But because the Shakers kept careful records—community journals were required by rule, and business documents were rigorously maintained—we can still see and marvel at their wide-ranging efforts to build a better life, not only for themselves but for others.
Read more about Shaker gardens:
Shaker Medicinal Herbs: A Compendium of History, Lore, and Uses, by Amy Bess Miller
’Tis a gift to be simple, ’tis a gift to be free
’Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
’Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
—SHAKER HYMN
AUGUST 7
In some years, today is National Mustard Day.
A tale without love is like beef without mustard, an insipid dish.
—ANATOLE FRANCE
Pass the Mustard Homer Mayo, the seventysomething geezer who won the Adams County mustard competition last year (his story is told in “Mustard Madness,” in An Unthymely Death and Other Garden Mysteries), insists that there’s nothing like mustard to turn on your taste buds—and he’s right. Whether you prefer the yellow ballpark-and-hot-dog mustard, a gourmet Dijon, or the fiery kick of Chinese mustard, you can’t go wrong.
It’s not hard to make your own from mustard seeds or powder. (Check out the recipes on pages 149-141 of Unthymely Death.) But if you want to experiment with herbal mustards, here’s an easy way to get started.
MAKE-IT-YOURSELF GOURMET MUSTARD
1 cup of Dijon-style mustard
¼ cup dried herbs (or about one-half cup finely chopped
fresh herbs)
1 ½ tablespoons dry white wine
Combine all ingredients in a lidded jar and refrigerate for a week before using, so that the flavors mellow and mingle. Keep for up to three months. Some zesty combinations:
• Minced thyme, parsley, and marjoram, with one clove garlic
• Minced tarragon with basil and thyme
• 1-2 tablespoons prepared or freshly grated horseradish, one clove garlic, ¼ cup grated fresh ginger root, 2 tablespoons honey
MEDICINAL MUSTARD
Like pepper, mustard stimulates appetite and digestion. It also stimulates blood circulation, and is traditionally used in chest poultices to ease lung congestion and as a rub to warm chilly hands and feet. Native Americans found the herb useful for headaches and colds (they sniffed the powdered seeds as an inhalant); and as a poultice to ease back pain.
MAGICAL MUSTARD
Mustard had its magical qualities, too. In northern Europe, mothers sewed mustard seeds into their daughters’ wedding dresses to encourage the groom’s passion. In India, mustard seeds were spread on doorsteps to repel evil spirits. In Denmark, mustard was sown around barns to keep fairies and spirits away from the animals.
Read more about mustard:
The Good Cook’s Book of Mustard, by Michele Anna Jordan
AUGUST 8
The jelly—the jam and the marmalade,
And the cherry and quince “preserves” she made!
And the sweet-sour pickles of peach and pear,
With cinnamon in ’em, and all things rare!—
And the more we ate was the more to spare,
Out to old Aunt Mary’s! Ah!
—JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY, “OUT TO OLD AUNT MARY’S”
Sweet, Savory, Sparkling Herb Jellies
You might not think of jelly as a means of preserving your herb harvest, but that’s certainly one way to look at it. Pretty, too, all those sparkling jars of pale lavender or rich wine-colored jelly lined up on a shelf: savory jellies to be served with cheeses or meats, sweet jellies for desserts and treat. Nothing makes a nicer gift for a friend, either.
HOW TO MAKE HERB JELLY
Herb jelly begins with a strong herb infusion brewed with water, fruit juice, or wine. Fruit juice is nice for sweet jellies; wine for savory jellies. The tea is then added to the other ingredients: sugar for sweetening, vinegar or lemon juice for tartness, pectin to set the jelly.
1 cup chopped fresh herbs, or 1/3 cup dried (for ideas,
see below)
2½ cups boiling water, juice, or wine
¼ cup lemon juice or cider vinegar
4½ cups sugar food coloring (optional)
3 ounces liquid pectin
To make the infusion: Pour boiling water, juice, or wine onto the herbs. Steep until cool. Strain infusion and measure 2 cups into a large nonreactive pot.
To make the jelly: Add sugar and vinegar or lemon juice to the herb tea and cook over high heat, stirring constantly. When sugar is dissolved, add coloring (if desired). When mixture boils, add pectin. Return to a full rolling boil and continue boiling and stirring for 1 full minute. Remove from heat, skim off foam, and pour into half-pint sterile jars and seal. Store in refrigerator. For longer storage, process for five minutes in a boiling-water bath, and seal with a thin layer of melted paraffin.
Suggested combinations:
• For sweet jellies: Apple, orange, or pineapple juice with scented geraniums, rose petals (white heels removed), rosemary, lavender, pineapple sage, lemon balm, mint
• For savory jellies: White wine with dill, tarragon, lemongrass, lemon geranium, parsley; red wine with garlic, rosemary, thyme, savory, bay
Read more about preserving your herbal harvest:
Good Gifts from the Home: Jams, Jellies & Preserves, by Linda Ferrari
AUGUST 9
Today is Izaak Walton’s birthday. He is known for his book The Compleat Angler, and for this remark about lavender-scented sheets: “I long to be in a house where the sheets smell of lavender.”
“Whoever heard of anybody having a normal week just before her wedding?” Ruby demanded. “Why, things haven’t even started to get difficult. We haven’t heard Sunday’s weather forecast yet.”
More headaches. I held the lavender to my nose and sniffed.
—LAVENDER LIES: A CHINA BAYLES MYSTERY
Lavender Lies: About China’s Books
Lavender was a natural choice when it came to selecting a signature herb for that all-important book in which China and McQuaid would finally (after many trials, tribulations, and setbacks) get married. Lavender is, after all, the favorite of most brides, and China is no exception. It’s a traditional headache remedy, too—and who doesn’t suffer from a headache or two when they’re planning a wedding?
Before China and McQuaid can get married, they have headaches to fix and mysteries to solve. There’s the who-killed-Edgar-Coleman mystery, about a local real estate shark found shot to death in his garage. With the small-town gossip mill turning at top speed, it doesn’t take long for China to learn that Coleman was blackmailing several City Council members—did one of them do him in? Then there’s the mystery of a missing child, and a mother’s agonized search. The final mystery, of course, has to do with whether the long-anticipated wedding will actually come off, for while China, Ruby, and their friends are making wedding arrangements, McQuaid has been appointed as Pecan Springs’ interim police chief, and it’s his job to solve a murder. China can forget about a honeymoon—unless she can help McQuaid catch Coleman’s killer.
Whether you’re helping with a wedding or solving a murder, lavender will provide sweet, welcome relief from headaches and stress. Take a basket to the herb garden and pick the flower spikes just as the buds are opening. If that headache is really getting you down, sniff lavender often, or try some lavender tea. You can add the fresh or dried flowers to homemade soaps, cosmetics, potpourris, a
nd sachets, or use them in cookies, vinegars, jellies, and teas.
More Reading:
Lavender Lies: A China Bayles Mystery, by Susan Wittig Albert
One of the country names for meadowsweet is bridewort because this was the favourite plant for strewing at wedding festivals.
—KAY SANECKI, HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH HERB GARDEN
AUGUST 10
In the days when Roses were valued more for their fragrance, sweet flavour, and medicinal virtues than for their beauty the petals were used in countless ways.
—ELEANOUR SINCLAIR ROHDE, ROSE RECIPES
FROM OLDEN TIMES
The Fragrant Rose
There’s no greater pleasure than to walk through the garden on a bright morning when the sweet, summery fragrance of roses fills the air. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could preserve that scent for always? You could make a necklace of rose beads (see May 20); or you could try another of the many old-fashioned ways of capturing that glorious fragrance.
ROSE OIL
Make your own delightful rose massage oil with this simple recipe. Pack 4 cups of fresh scented rose petals into a glass jar. Cover with 1 cup almond oil and let stand for two days. Strain the oil into another jar, pressing the oil from the petals. Discard the petals. Repack the jar with fresh petals, and pour the scented oil over it. Repeat several times, until the fragrance has reached the desired intensity.
ROSE WATER
Put 2 cups of scented rose petals into a nonreactive saucepan. Add 4 cups of distilled water, and simmer over low heat until the liquid is reduced by about half. Cool. Strain and discard the petals. If you’d like a stronger scent, repeat, using fresh petals and enough water to make 4 cups. Keep in a spray bottle to use on your hair and skin—even nicer when it’s cooled in the refrigerator.
ROSE SUGAR
Make this fragrant sugar to sprinkle over strawberries and add to herbal tea. Bruise ½ cup clean, scented rose petals in a mortar. Stir petals into 1 cup superfine granulated sugar and store in a lidded container for 3 weeks. Sift the sugar from the petals. Use immediately or store in a clean, dry container.
Discover more delightful things to make with roses:
Rose Recipes from Olden Times, by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde
Bags to Scent Linen. Take Rose leaves dried in the shade, Cloves beat to a gross [thick] powder and Mace scraped; mix them together and put the composition into little bags.
—THE TOILET OF FLORA, 1779
AUGUST 11
An addiction to gardening is not all bad when you consider all the other choices in life.
—CORA LEA BELL
Taste-Tempting Fruit Vinegars
The peaches are ripe and luscious, and the market is displaying beautiful raspberries, blueberries, and cherries. Use them, along with a variety of herbs and spices, to make a vinegar, and you’ll have a shelf of wonderful taste-tempters all winter long.
HOW TO MAKE A FRUIT VINEGAR, WITH HERBS
Pit the fruit if necessary, cut up or mash it lightly. Wash the fresh herbs and bruise lightly. Put fruit and herbs into a quart or half-gallon jar and cover completely with vinegar. Put on the lid and set the container in a dark, cool place for at least a week, shaking every day and making sure that the vinegar covers the fruit and herbs. Steep as long as a month, checking for flavor. For the most intense taste, strain out the fruit and herbs, pour the flavored vinegar over fresh, prepared fruit and herbs, and steep again. When you’re satisfied, strain into a nonreactive pan. Add sweetener (up to ½ cup sugar or ¼ cup honey to each 2 cups of vinegar). Simmer for 3 minutes, stirring. Skim off any foam, let cool, and pour into sterilized bottles. Cap and label. (You’ll want to experiment with sweeteners; some people prefer none at all.)
SUGGESTED COMBINATIONS
Use red wine vinegar with these fruits and herbs: Raspberries, lemon thyme, and rosemary Cherries, tarragon, and anise hyssop Cranberries, mint, orange peel, cinnamon stick
Use white wine vinegar with these combinations: Peaches, opal basil, cinnamon stick Raspberries, fragrant rose petals, rose geranium Strawberries, mint, candied ginger Strawberries, peaches, opal basil, candied ginger
Read more about making and using fruit vinegar: Gourmet Vinegars: The How-tos of Making and Cooking with Vinegars, by Marsha Peters Johnson
If the sage tree thrives and grows
The master’s not master and that he knows.
—ENGLISH HERB LORE
AUGUST 12
The Theme Garden for August: A Tea Garden.
Do you remember during hot summer days you would pause by the lemon balm in a tour of the garden and draw the leafy tips through your lightly closed, warm, moist hands? What a fragrance would be released. You no doubt did this to the bee-balm, the peppermint, applemint or many another herb which makes a fragrant tea.
—ROSETTA E. CLARKSON, MAGIC GARDENS
A Garden of Herbal Teas
In our busy lives, let’s not forget the pleasure of taking tea in the garden, with the birds singing, the roses buzzing with delirious bees, and the air sweet with the scent of honeysuckle. Sounds delicious, doesn’t it? Easy, too. All we need is a teapot, a teacup, tea herbs, fresh or dried, and the time to sit quietly and sip.
Creating a garden of tea plants doesn’t have to be difficult, either. For an instant tea garden, try clustering pots of tea herbs on your deck, beside a small table and pair of chairs. No room for pots on the floor? Hang them, or line them up on your deck railing. Or put cushions and a low table beneath a luxuriant trailing vine—hops, for instance, which will bring the scent of fresh-mown hay to a pot of tea. If you have the space, you might want to place a sundial in the center of a square or circular plot and arrange the plants around it, the taller ones in the center or the back, low plants around the edge. Add a small fountain, and the falling water will play a soft musical accompaniment to your own private tea ceremony.
SOME MUCH-LOVED TEA HERBS FOR YOUR GARDEN
SERVING TEA IN THE GARDEN
Serving tea in the garden is easier if you’re organized for it. A handsome china teapot or glass pitcher, delicate cups and saucers or glasses for iced tea, a pretty tray, a spotless tea cloth, a small vase of flowers, a plate of sweets or savories—if you keep what you need in one place, you’re more likely to use it. And if you’ve already arranged your tea garden to include a place for several chairs, you’ll want to invite a friend or two and make an event of it. There’s nothing nicer on a warm summer afternoon!
Read more about tea gardens:
Herbal Tea Gardens: 22 Plans for Your Enjoyment & Well-being, by Marietta Marshall Marcin
Tea Gardens: Places to Make and Take Tea, by Ann Lovejoy
AUGUST 13
My new herbal calendar arrived today!
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may
Old time is still a-flying.
—ROBERT HERRICK
Time Is Still A-Flying: From Susan’s Journal
Every year, my friend Theresa Loe sends me her herbal wall calendar—always a beauty, filled Theresa’s notes on gardening, crafting, and cooking with herbs and Peggy Turchette’s gorgeous drawings. (Peggy has also done the drawings for this book.) Theresa has been creating her calendar since 2001, and she’s still spilling over with delightful ideas to mark and measure time, herbally speaking.
I love garden calendars, and collect them by the dozen. But I also love the old “books of days”—the book you’re reading now is a modern example of the genre. My favorite was published in 1862: The Book of Days. A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar. Robert Chambers, the author, tells me that tansy cakes are an important custom at Easter, that the herb horsetail was used as a “children’s bottle brush,” and that “A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay.” And then there is Charles Kightly’s The Perpetual Almanack of Folklore, whose entry for tomorrow . . . well, you’ll see, when you get to August 14. Another personal favorite: A Country-man’s Daybook: An Anthology of Countryside Lore, compile
d by C. N. French in 1929 and “Dedicated to Cottage Gardeners.” For today, I read this meteorological admonition:
If the moon show a silver shield,
Be not afraid to reap your field,
But if she rises haloed round,
Soon we’ll tread on deluged ground.
I am also reminded to “never offer your hen for sale on a rainy day” and “Day and night, sun and moon, air and light, everyone must have, but none can buy.”
I’ll keep these wise words in mind. I hope you will, too. Meanwhile, I really must do something about my rough hands. On her October, 2006, calendar page, Theresa offers a great suggestion:
THERESA LOE’S CHAMOMILE SPA OIL
¼ cup jojoba oil
6 drops of Roman chamomile essential oil
4 drops lavender essential oil
2 drops tea tree essential oil
Combine all oils in a glass jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid. Store in a cool dry place. Use within 1 year.
Enjoy an herbal calendar:
China Bayles' Book of Days Page 32