herbs for seasons

Herbs for Seasons

a few notes on useful herbs to be found at different times of the year -
just pick your season!

Fruits
As the leaves begin to fall, the last of the summer fruits reach maturity and are ready for picking. Apples, pears, medlars, …. the list is long of delicious comfits to eat fresh or to preserve for later months.

Wild fruits are similarly abundant and many are extremely nutritious and beneficial even if they are not as convenient to eat fresh. Notable medicinal fruits include rosehips, hawthorn berries and elder berries. All may be made into delightful jams, chutneys or vinegars.

A wonderful fortifying drink can be made by simmering 2 kg of fresh crushed berries with 500 g of sugar. The basic recipe is 800g hawthorn, 800 g elder and 400 g rosehips, but experimentation is encouraged. Evaporate down until the juice takes on the consistency of honey, strain and bottle.
Take a tablespoonful in hot water for a true tonic.

Mushrooms
Autumn is also the time that many mushrooms appear magically in woods, fields and gardens. Collecting them from the wild can be hazardous, they are not easy to identify and many are poisonous, so do be careful. Worms and maggots like them too!
Fortunately, the two best ones are relatively easy to identify (but still be careful!!).

The majestic Cep or Penny bun (Boletus edulis)

Another favourite is the delicate-scented Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius) which has the slight but distinct odour an d taste of apricots and is exquisite when cooked.

Seeds
Of course the various nuts and seeds provide the sturdiest source of winter calories along with abundant vitamins and minerals. For maximum taste and minimum weight gain try incorporating seeds of the parasol pine (Pinus pinea) into your daily ration.

As the nights draw in and forgotten chills return, winter announces itself once more. Winter is not everyone’s favourite season, but it does have a good side offering as it does unique landscapes and sensations.

All too often, winter is marred by those dreaded coughs and colds that seem to haunt us all at this time of the year. It is not easy to avoid them completely but a few basic precautions allied to a number of agreeable country remedies can help us through the worst and allow us to enjoy winter’s splendour.

The first line of defence in your body is the mucous membrane that lines your nose, throat and respiratory tubes. When stressed, production of mucous is disrupted, leading to runny noses or sticky throats, and the tissue becomes more permeable to bugs and viruses. Some foods can aggravate this, notoriously cheese (and to a lesser extent all milk products) and wheat, but also many others. If you are sensitive to any foods, now is the time to avoid them. Sugar feeds bugs and should be kept to a minimum.

The bugs that live naturally within us help protect against invaders, so it is important to look after them. Using antibiotics and antiseptics is not a good idea unless you have a serious bacterial condition or secondary infection.

There are many herbs which can help strengthen your system and enable you to better resist infection: elderflower, marigold, yarrow, sage, marshmallow.

Coughs can be relieved using coltsfoot, mullein and liquorice. Sore throats will respond to honey and cider vinegar or to a gargle of sage.

The most potent anti-infectives are the "oily" herbs – thyme, rosemary, eucalyptus, hyssop.

Best recipe.
Make an infusion of equal parts of flowers of:
Marshmallow, mallow, coltsfoot, sweet violet, mullein and field poppy.

As the sap rises, so do our spirits and all those new years' resolutions don't look quite so painful in the light of spring. Time to start that diet, ready to squeeze back into favourite clothes. Time to go running, swimming, jumping….

If you don't feel like frolicking or are unable to, no worry – there are plenty of herbs to help you along.

Slower metabolism and Christmas pud can easily lead to a sluggish liver and a clogged-up system. Flush yourself through with cleansing teas, such as goosegrass, elderflower or deadnettle.

For the braver amongst us there's fumitory, gentian and Oregon grape.

Eat lots of radishes, artichokes, horseradishes and mustard.
Drink lots of water.

This is not what you eat whilst having a wild time, but simply a nutritious, cleansing and tasty use of common garden weeds.

Picked when very young, just as the first leaves are appearing, many plants are thoroughly comestible – even most thistles! Dandelion and nettles are prime examples, but there are many more....

Select a few of the following, according to taste. Pick only young, unblighted leaves.

common brighteyes	Reichardia picroides	Milky, slightly perfumed
compass plant	Lactuca serriola	Mild and agreeable
corn salad	Valerianella olitoria	Very mild
chicory	Cichorium intybus	Bitter
hairy bitter cress	Cardamine hirsuta	Warm and slightly peppery
hoary pepperwort	Cardaria draba	Slightly warm
rocket	Diplotaxis tenuifolia	Hot
smooth sowthistle	Sonchus oleraceus	Mild and agreeable

Make a vinaigrette: dissolve a little salt in 1 tbsp vinegar, add 2 tbsp olive oil and blend.
(Add garlic if you like, but crush into the oil first).

For the best relief, gently rub in some st john's wort oil - made by infusing the flowers in olive oil and letting them sunbathe until the oil is a beautiful red colour.

Insects
One drawback of light-clothing weather is the fact that lots of snappy-bitey things can find their way more easily to your tender parts.

Essential oils are a handy repellent, particularly lemongrass, basil and peppermint.

To soothe bites or stings, apply a little vinegar, ear-wax (honestly!) or freshly-masticated piece of plantain leaf.

Travel
The biggest problem when abroad is usually travelling as quickly as possible from your current location to the nearest public convenience.

Avoidance therapy might include some binding herbs such as agrimony, gentian or silverweed. Garlic, echinacea, meadowsweet or marigold will also help.

Make sure your fluid levels remain adequate - the best way to rehydrate and repopulate your intestinal flora is to imbibe coconut milk.

Lots of fresh summer herbs can be made into delicious cordials. A particular favourite is borage, possibly better known as starflower, which has been recently discovered and adopted by cancer researchers as their emblem.

To freshen up and tonify your system, simply blend or juice some fresh leaves and flowers with water, strain and serve chilled. The mild cucumbery taste will immediately evoke memories of childhood picnics and never-ending cricket matches.

Some adventurous types are even known to add a little lemon juice or a spoonful of honey, and mint will further increase the chill factor.