Herb Thursday; Wild Carrots and Hemlock

A WARNING

WILD CARROTS AND HEMLOCK

 

While out walking last week I realised the grassy bank was covered in new smallish plants. I thought I recognised this plant as a wild carrot. I know it grows around here, this is the perfect habitat, grassy, wild and by the sea. I thought it could be useful, I thought if I collected some I could taker it home, positively identify it and maybe even use it. Enjoying my walk and happily wandered along the cliff edge path I occasionally stopped  to put some of this plant in my bag.

 

WILD CARROT

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-QuAnnlace.html

Queen Anne's lace or wild carrot, herb ( Daucus carota ) of the family Umbelliferae ( carrot family), native to the Old World but naturalized and often weedy throughout North America and Europe. Similar in appearance to the cultivated carrot (which was derived from this plant), it has feathery foliage but a woody root. The tiny white flowers bloom in a lacy, flat-topped cluster (called an umbel) until they die off, when the cluster becomes nest-shaped. The plant was formerly used in folk medicine as a diuretic and a stimulant. Queen Anne's lace is classified in the  , class Magnoliopsida, order Apiales, family Umbelliferae.

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/carwil25.html

Traditional Medicinal Uses---

Diuretic and stimulant. An infusion of the whole herb is considered an active and valuable remedy in the treatment of chronic kidney diseases and affections of the bladder. The infusion, made from 1 OZ. of the herb in a pint of boiling water, is taken in wineglassful doses. Carrot tea brewed in this way from the whole front, is considered excellent for a variety of arthritic conditions.

The seeds are very useful in flatulence, colic, hiccough, dysentery, coughs, etc. The dose of the seeds, bruised, is from one-third to one teaspoonful, repeated as necessary. They were at one time considered a valuable remedy for calculus complaints. They have a slight aromatic smell and a warm, pungent taste. They add an agreeable flavour to malt liquor, if infused in it while working in the vat. Traditionally, in herbal medicine a poultice made of the roots and applied to ulcers.

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HEMLOCK

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Conium+maculatum

A very poisonous plant, the toxins are especially concentrated in the seed. The stems contain up to 0.06% of the toxic alkaloids, the leaves between 0.03 and 0.8%, the flowers from 0.09 to 0.24% and the green fruit from 0.73 to 0.98%. The toxins, however, are very volatile and decompose readily especially when the plant is dried or cookedThe toxins paralyse the respiratory nerves, causing death by suffocation. Children have been known to die after using the hollow stems as blowpipes. The poisonous nature of the plant varies considerably, with many people believing that the plant is less toxic when grown in cooler climates, but this is not scientifically recognised. It grows through out Europe, Scandinavia and America.

http://www.thepoisongarden.co.uk/atoz/conium_maculatum.htm

How Poisonous, How Harmful?

Five alkaloids are present. Coniine is the most important but it also has  Conhydrine, pseudoconhydrine, methyl-coniine and ethyl-piperidine. It is a  violent emetic and convulsive, it causes paralysis of central and peripheral nervous system and death by respiratory failure. In Plato’s ‘Phaedo’ the fictionalised account of Socrates’ death there is no mention of nausea and vomiting. It may be that whilst the plant material is emetic juice obtained from squeezing the stalks does not have this effect.

Being a member of the same family as carrot and fennel, there have been instances of poisonous hemlock being mistaken for an edible plant.

What plant did I have you ask??? I have no idea, I didn’t keep it long enough to find out, it is now quietly rotting in my compostor.

Found this video, thought it was quite funny and it fits well with the topic, apologies about the poor quality of the video though, I included it because  thought it was funny.

 

 

 

 

Herb Thursday; CARROTS, CARROTS AND MORE CARROTS

We’ve had carrot soup followed by carrot cake and, feeling on a bit of a roll, I went back looking for more carrot stuff. And you would not believe what I found;

 

A CARROT MUSEUM!!!!

 

I didn’t believe it either but here it is, any thing and every thing any one could ever hope to know about carrots. This museum even has a floor plan with every thing in sections,

oh I love it, you HAVE to check this out.

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk

Medicinal Herbs and plants; Stinging Nettles

 

 

 

 THE STINGING NETTLE

The stinging nettle is commonly found throughout the UK and the US as well as other parts of the world. It has the Latin name Urtica Dioica and is part of the nettle family (Urticaceae) of the genus Urtica. It usually flowers between June and September; the flowers are arranged in long catkins and are coloured green, red or white. These include separate 'male' and 'female' flowers.

The plant is usually about about 1 metre high with leaves covered in tiny hairs, which, when brushed past give Urticaria, or A-nasty-red-rash-which-itches-like-hell, for a while. Some nettle stings are more severe, Urtica urentissima, for example, is found in Java, and can cause a rash for a whole year and may, in extreme cases, cause death.

If you do brush past and get stung, it is vitally important not to scratch the rash. If you have no shop bought lotions to apply  try washing the sting out, or use a natural remedy - the leaves from the dock plant or even the juice from the nettle.

Dead nettles of the genus Lamium come in white, purple & yellow varieties, but do not sting. They are protected from harm from looking like the stinging nettle.

The best advice about cooking with stinging nettles comes from ‘’Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places’’, which says:

Clean and chop nettles wearing rubber gloves. Once you’ve cooked them a little, the stingers are deactivated, and the plant becomes wonderfully edible.

Nettles should be washed and placed in a saucepan, dripping wet, for 20 minutes to cook.

Other Uses for Nettles

Nettles have more use than you might normally expect...

§         The University of Plymouth has proved that the stinging nettle can have a beneficial effect on arthritis sufferers (osteoarthritis), confirming folk law dating back to Roman times, which suggested flogging with nettles (Urtication) as a cure for chronic rheumatism.

§         Nettle products include soup, tea, nettle pudding, porridge, beer, Yarg cheese (which is wrapped in nettles), paper, cloth dye (which is yellow, and comes from the root)……………….this one I really want to try!!

§         Nettles provide a source of food for caterpillars, some of which feed exclusively on the nettle. It is also a food source for a wide variety of insects, including ladybirds, and, according to hdra.org.uk, supports 107 species.

§         Nettles act as an accelerator for compost, and a rich source of nitrogen and minerals. Plus it's a source of vitamin A and C……………..glad I found this one out, my compostor needs a bit of accelerating.

§         Nettles are alleged to be anti-inflammatory (and generally helpful with all skin conditions), antiparasitic, antiseptic and a digestive stimulant It may cure rheumatism, arthritis muscle wastage problems, inflammation and, bizarrely, head lice. If it fails to remove the lice, it could still stimulate hair growth. The nettle has been used medicinally by the Greeks and later the Romans. In fact, it has been alleged to cure almost everything.

The nettle does not shed enough pollen to be a major cause of hay fever!!

 

Information from

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1310950

 

 

 above.............nettle soup

The Nettle - Urtica dioica

How did the nettle get its name?

The latin name of the plant dioica means 'two houses' - this refers to the fact that the male and female flowers are normally carried on separate plants. It is possible that the 'nettle' is derived from Noedl meaning a needle - referring to the stinging mechanism in the nettle leaves. Others suggest that it comes from the Latin nere and other similar old European verbs meaning to sew.

What's in the sting?

The stinging structure of the nettle is very similar to the hypodermic needle although it predates that man-made invention by millions of years!

It used to be thought that the main constituent of the sting was formic acid -Although formic acid is present in the sting, recent research has shown that the main chemicals are histamine, acetylcholine and 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin). A fourth ingredient has yet to be identified.

Food from nettles

People have eaten the nettle for many centuries and at one point would have been relished as springtime treat! Pepys wrote in his diary of having eaten ‘...some nettle porridge, which was very good’.

above..........dried powdered nettle

Nutritionally the nettle is an excellent source of calcium, magnesium, iron and numerous trace elements as well as a range of vitamins. The young shoots can be used in soups and stews and in place of spinach. The Northumberland Cheese Company even produces a nettle cheese!

Not only humans have benefited from the consumption of the nettle. When dried and turned into a hay the nettle loses its sting and becomes palatable to livestock. In Sweden the nettle is sometimes cultivated for this purpose and fed to milk cattle because of the increased milk production that results.

Horse breeders have often added nettle seeds to horse feeds to give the animals a sleek coat.

Treatments from nettles

As well as the nutritional value people have exploited the medicinal properties of the stinging nettle.

Culpeper recommended the use of nettles to ’...consume the phlegmatic superfluities in the body of man, that the coldness and moisture of winter has left behind“. He also prescribed the juice of the leaves as a treatment for gangrenes and scabies.

Native Americans used the fresh leaves to treat aches and pains. European herbalists used the leaves in a similar fashion to treat gout and arthritis.

Surprisingly, although the nettle sting is highly irritant, once dried to neutralise the acid the leaves are a natural anti-histamine and also have anti-asthmatic properties.

The dried powdered leaves can also be used to staunch the flow of blood from small cuts.

In recent times the nettle has also been found to be effective in the treatment of benign prostate hypertrophy.

 

Clothing from nettles

The nettle can be used to produce a fine fibre that can be spun and woven into cloth.

Cloth has been woven from the fibres in mature nettle stems for many centuries - frequently used for tablecloths and sheets in Scotland. It is, however, difficult to ascertain the extent to which it was used as the term nettlecloth came to be used for all manner of fine material whether made from nettle or not.

Being similar in texture to those materials produced by flax and hemp fibres the cloth also became widely used by the German army during the First World War when there was a shortage of cotton for the soldiers' uniforms. Some of the reports may have been propaganda but is clear that nettle fibre was used alongside that of the nettles' Asian cousin, Ramie ( Boehmeria nivea ).

The juice of the stems and leaves has been used to produce a permanent green dye, while a yellow dye can be obtained from boiling the roots. Both colours have been used extensively in Russia.

Powdered stinging nettles are excellent for treating eczema and other itchy skin conditions. Nettles are used as a natural, deep cleanser especially useful for oily skin. Lotion made with stinging nettles can be used to wash irritated skin. Stinging nettles powder can be used in bath soaks, body wraps, facials, soaps and salves. Make a poultice to treat external bleeding or itchiness. Nettles are said to encourage hair growth and can be added to hair wraps. Powdered stinging nettles can also be used to achieve a natural green color in soaps. You can add the nettles powder directly to your formulations or make an oil infusion and use the strained oil.

INFORMATION FROM

http://www.nettles.org.uk/nettles/lore.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The videos are....................

 

1. HOW TO GATHER NETTLES WITHOUT GETTING STUNG

 

2. GATHERING WILD FOOD IN CENTRAL PARK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medicinal Herbs and plants; Nasturtium

Nasturtium

I have just bought 6 nasturtium seedlings, I didn’t plan too but I saw them in the shop, the last of the batch, beginning to wilt and slightly reduced in price and on impulse I bought them. I quite like nasturtiums but has steered clear before because I has this idea that I should only plant native European plants and the Nasturtium plants were first discovered in the jungles of Peru and Mexico in the 16th century. Guess they have been here for quite a long time now.

Nasturtiums are popular because of their rich colours, like jewels in the garden. They are fast and easy to grow and can survive quite a lot of neglect, not that any one I know would neglect their plants of course. There are loads of varieties, bushy plants, trailing plant, or climbers; it’s the climbers I like the best. Not only are they beautiful, they are ultimately useful too. The leaves and flowers are edible, with a peppery tang, and even the seed pods are used as a substitute for capers.

If grown from seed they germinate after 7-10 days, they should be sown to a depth of about 1/4" and the Plant spacing for seedlings should be about 6 inches. They grow to a Height of around 12 to 18 inches and are Annual.

Culinary Uses: Why consider nasturtiums an herb? Because the entire plant is edible! Yes…. the ENTIRE plant. This peppery plant is perfect for salads, herb vinegars, appetizers and garnishes. You could mix assorted greens such as romaine, radicchio or spinach with a handful of nasturtium blooms topped with a home made dressing. Or they can be used top  bake a batch of spice cupcakes, the cup cakes can be frosted with a cream cheese topping  and then topped with a single nasturtium bloom, what a luncheon treat.

These plants have hot peppery leaves and can add a watercress-like flavour to salads, sandwiches, vinegars, or even summer cold soups. The edible flower buds can be stuffed with cream cheese, used as a garnish, or used to create golden herbal vinegar with a spicy accent. The seeds were ground during World War II as a replacement for pepper and you can still do this. Wait for the seeds to dry-they are larger than peppercorns-and grind them in a grinder. You can add this mixture with herbs to make a savoury herb salt as well.

 

Nasturtium vinegar is wonderful as well. Add several blossoms and some leaves to a jar with a clove of garlic. Fill with vinegar and allow to sit for 4-5 weeks. I also like adding it to other herb vinegar combinations for a nice peppery addition and it colours the vinegar a lovely shade.

Nasturtium buds can also be used in the kitchen. They can be pickled and used in place of capers, although unless these are grown on a large scale this isn’t really practical. Also of course, if you pickle the buds you’ll have no flowers.

 

Like most herbs it even has Medicinal uses. Nasturtium can be used externally as an antimicrobial poultice or compress for treating local bacterial infections. It can also used internally as a medicinal tea to help fight bacterial infections, especially respiratory infections or it can br used in the same was as treatment for the flu or just a common cold. The leaves have a very high vitamin -C content which is also thought to help in relieving cold symptoms. The tea can  also be used to help fight infections of the reproductive and urinary tracts

How to use this Herb Medicinally

The leaves or the flowers can be used.

Tea: Cover and steep 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls of fresh leaves in 1 cup boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain out leaves. Typical adult dosage is one cup tea taken up to three times daily. Nasturtium leaves and flowers are medicinal when added to the diet. Compress: Soak a clean cloth in the medicinal tea as prepared above and apply externally. Poultice: Bruised leaves are placed between 2 thin layers of gauze and applied to the skin.

Medicinal Herbs and Plants; Chamomile

My reasons for choosing Chamomile this week is personal

…………..some of you already know I did a very silly thing earlier this week and accidentally burnt my back and shoulders in the sun. It has been very, very sore. I used ‘after sun gel’ given to me by my daughter but it didn’t seem to help. Then I remembered being told that, amongst other things, Chamomile is very good at soothing sunburn and other skin complaints. Well………….what’s that saying? ‘Necessity being the mother of invention’; I don’t grow chamomile and I don’t know anyone who does so I bought myself a box of chamomile ‘tea bags’. These so called Tea Bags are just dried flowers which are exactly what I need for an infusion. So, I made up a pint of ‘tea’ using 4 teabags, 1 pint of boiling water and allowing it to steep for about an hour. Then I left it to go cold and chilled it in the fridge. Since then I have been using a clean piece of cotton dampened in this cooling infusion to lay across my back every couple of hours. And I have to tell you it works. The redness has almost gone and my skin feels soothed and cooled. Unorthodox maybe but effective defiantly.

 

For more information of little flower I went to the BBC

 This is from the BBC website at

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4183549.stm

 
Camomile tea for aches and ills

Drinking camomile tea can fight a cold and banish menstrual cramps, UK researchers believe!

Five cups a day for a fortnight is enough to boost urine levels of substances that can ease muscle spasms and fight inflammation.

 For years, people have used camomile as an anti-inflammatory, a mild sedative and as an anti-ulcer remedy.

It has also been reported to have anti-oxidant activity and the essential oil extracted from the chamomile flowers has been shown to possess antimicrobial activity.

Drinking tea caused levels of both glycine, which can ease muscle spasms, and the anti-inflammatory hippurate in the urine to go up.

After the volunteers stopped drinking the tea at the end of the two weeks, levels of glycine and hippurate stayed elevated for up to a further two weeks, which suggests the effects may be long-lasting.

Maureen Robertson, from the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine, said camomile worked by removing heat from the body.

"It's a very safe herb to use. It's good for inflammation, particularly of the gastrointestinal tract."

She said the high essential oil content of camomile also made it a good antiseptic.

The Latin name is  Chamaemelum Nobile and as well as having many medical uses it is also used in hair conditioners, hair tonics, facial masks and facial washes. It is know to be very kind to the skin (I can personally testify to that) and useful for people who suffer allergies as it is virtually non allergic.

Medicinal Herbs and plants; Common Dandelion

Medicinal Herbs and plants; Common Dandelion.

 

This is such a common plant every one has them in their garden. It is of the genus Taraxacum, and  has hundreds of ‘new species’ being described as it tends to hybrid naturally; but all of these hybrid plants act in exactly the same way so if they are being collected as a useful herb the exact species or sub species really does not matter. As a medical herb the roots and the leaves are used. The both contain trannins, glycosidic substances and insulin. The milky sap of the plant has a beneficial effect on the liver and kidney. The leaves contain vitamins C and B(2). This herb can help prevent gallstones and kidney stones and is generally recommended by herbalists in the treatment of digestive and bowel disorders. It is also useful in the treatment of rheumatic disorders especially if an excess of uric acids is involved.

 

 

Treatment is usually administered in the form of an infusion prepared by  briefly boiling  one tablespoon of the crumbled dried root to one cup of water and then allowing it to steep for about twenty minutes. This is taken twice per day.

 

 According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a serving of uncooked dandelion leaves contains 280 percent of an adult's daily requirement of beta carotene as well as more than half the requirement of vitamin C. Dandelions are also rich in vitamin A.

 

Dandelions are also used as herbal remedies. The white sap from the stem and root is used as a topical remedy for warts. The whole plant is used as a diuretic and liver stimulant.

 

 

Dandelions can be beneficial to a garden ecosystem as well as to human health. Dandelions attract beneficial insects such as ladybirds. In a study done at an American University, experimental plots with dandelions had more ladybirds than plots without dandelions, and fewer pest aphids, (due to the ladybirds eating all the aphids). Dandelions long roots aerate the soil and enable it to accumulate minerals, these minerals are added to the soil when the dandelion dies. 

 

 

 

 

Dandelion Wine

 

 Keep in mind that this recipe was obtained from an "old timer", and has been passed down (hand written) over the years. You can modify it, experiment with it as you please. Note: the secret to the potency of this wine is in the raisins. The more raisins, the stronger your wine will be.

 

 

Ingredients:

 

Dandelion blossoms

1 Gallon of Water

1 qt. of Water

2 lbs. Sugar

2 Oranges

1 Lemon

Yeast

1 handful of Raisins

 

Makes one gallon

 

Directions:

 

Use only fresh blossoms, from which all stems are removed (otherwise it will be a bitter wine). For every gallon of flowers (well packed but not crushed) pour one gallon of boiling water over them. Let this mixture sit 24 hours or so. It will smell really weird (sort of like artichoke water - Don't worry this is okay). Then, add lemon, oranges, raisins (Note: I add 2-3 to mine!), sugar (Use a bit less than this for a drier wine) and yeast. Special wine or bread yeast both work well. Add a little (about 1 quart) of hot water over the top of this mixture. Put cheesecloth over the opening of the container (to keep bug-beasties out) and let sit and ferment for 10 days.

 

It will boil and bubble most merrily!

 

After the 10 days, strain into a cask/vat/container. If you don't have fancy wine-making equipment a bottle from those water fountain dispensers (5 gal.) with a water seal works great. For water seal, put a large cork in the top of the container through which you can run some aquarium tubing. Seal the top with duct tape (to ensure no air leaks) and run the tubing from inside the liquid about halfway inside the bottle, downwards into a bucket of water. Water seal lets the carbon dioxide escape from the fermenting wine, into the water, letting no air into the process. Let this arrangement sit for however long it takes, until there is no further fermentation/action taking place, and the liquid looks clear. Then siphon off the wine (taking care not to disturb the sediment in the bottom) and bottle it.

 

This wine can be tasted at this point, but is better if you let it sit about 3 more months.

 

Happy wine making!

 

 

Thanks to the Flower Recipe Group for this recipe.

To subscribe send an e-mail to

FLOWER-RECIPE-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

 

 

Medicinal Plants and Herbs; Blueberries

BLUEBERRY, or common bilberry, or whortleberry

Vaccinium Myrtillus L.

You’d be forgiven for thinking blueberries have no place in Britain’s repertoire of home-grown fruit, but you’d be wrong. Blueberries grown on this side of the Atlantic are among the best in the world - so enjoy them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been delving into my wonderful little herb book again and came across an entry for Blueberries. There are over 200 species of this shrub. This little book claims the part of the plant to be most useful medicinally is the leaves which apparently contain tannins, flavonoid, glycosides, and glucokinins. The fruit itself contain tannins, anthocyanin pigments, organic acids and lots of vitamin C. The pharmaceutical companies harvest this plant on a commercial basis for use in the treatment of diabetes. In folk medicine it has been used traditionally as an antibiotic especially in the treatment of urinary tract infections. For home remedies the most usual method is an infusion of one teaspoon full of dried crushed  leaves and cup full of boiled water, this is used in the treatment of urine tract infections or bladder infections. A decoction of one teaspoon crushed unsweetened dried fruits to one cupful boiled water can be used for diarrhoea

 

 

 

 

 

 

            

http://www.mamaherb.com/Ingredients/View.aspx?id=716&page=1&

 

This is what this web site has to say;

Blueberries

Description: Blueberries are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus. They are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as low bush blueberries, and the larger species as high bush blueberries. The leaves can be deciduous or evergreen, ovate to lanceolate, and from 1-8 cm long and 0.5-3.5 cm broad. The flowers are bell-shaped, white, pale pink or red, sometimes tinged greenish. The fruit is a false berry 5-16 mm diameter with a flared "crown" at the end; they are pale greenish at first, then reddish-purple, and finally indigo on ripening. They have a sweet taste when mature, with variable acidity. Blueberries, especially wild species, contain anthocyanins, other antioxidant pigments and other photochemical which may have a role in reducing the risks of some diseases, including cancers. Researchers have shown that blueberry anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, flavonols and tannins inhibit mechanisms of cancer cell development in vitro. It also lowers the blood pressure and is a mild Diuretic.

Related Treatments

Conditions Treated: Wounds and Injuries

Specific Conditions Treated: Bruises

Ingredients Used: Blueberries

Description: Bruises are also known as contusions. Bruises develop when small blood vessels under the skin tear or rupture, most often from a bump or fall. Blood leaks into tissues under the skin and causes the black-and-blue color. Bruises heal, usually within 3 to 4 weeks, they often turn colors, including purplish black, reddish blue, or yellowish green. Long periods of standing will cause the blood that collects in a bruise to seep through the tissues. Bruises can occur in some people who exercise rigorously, such as athletes and weight lifters. Bruises in elderly people occur frequently because their skin has become thinner with age. Blueberries contain a flavonoid called proanthocyanidins, which strengthens the walls of capillaries weakened by bruises. Vitamin C present in Blueberries also reduces bleeding from arteries.

And the BBC web site has this to say

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mostof_blueberries.shtml#recipes

(This is for my sister because she is celiac)

Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

Preparation time less than 30 minutes

Cooking time 10 to 30 minutes

To ring the changes, fresh blackberries, raspberries, loganberries or mulberries can be added instead of blueberries.

Ingredients
175g/6oz rice flour
50g/2oz tapioca flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
1 rounded tsp xanthan gum
¼ tsp salt
150g/5oz caster sugar
60g/2½oz butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, preferably free-range, beaten
60g/2½oz buttermilk
150g/5oz fresh blueberries
12-hole muffin tin lined with paper cases

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/35F/Gas 4.

2. Sift together the rice flour, tapioca flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and xanthan gum in a large mixing bowl. Add the salt and sugar and mix well.

3. Whisk together the cooled melted butter, egg and buttermilk in another large bowl. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the butter, egg and buttermilk mixture. Stir gently with a wooden spoon to combine and finally gently fold in the blueberries.

4. Divide the batter equally between the 12 muffin cases and bake in the oven for approximately 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out cleanly. They are nicest served warm.