MyHerbCorner

Archive for the ‘Summer’ Category

Very tasty and great for the circulation which can be stressed on hot days, is a tea of hawthorn blossom and leaf.

I like to infuse a big jug with lemon slices and herb, pour over hot water and let infuse until cold. Then I strain and add ice cubes or give it into the refrigerator.

If you have winter right now you may like the warming effect of  a cup of hot hawthorn tea

Summers can be hot and dry and we all have to use the water wise. You can help by bathing your kids in a herbal bath (use a big container as bath they will like something unusual and you can teach them to be water wise in an early stage ;- ) and then use the water for the garden.

Peppermint geranium or other scented flowers smell really beautiful in a bath.

You could also collect the water when you have a shower. Stand into a suitable container (like the one in the picture below) and use the water for plants afterward.

Keep a bucket in your bathroom. If you use warm water for brushing teeth, collect the cold water in the bucket and then the warm water in a cup for brushing your teeth.
Collect also the rain water of the roof with barrels or other containers.

Cover the water collector with a fine netting or plastic foil so insects don’t drown.
With one night rain we had this little container full. We will buy some barrels so we can collect all the water we need for the garden. Don’t worry if the water is yellow or orange, that’s from the pollen which may stick on your roof.

Actually the flowers, veggies and herbs like the collected rain water more then the water from the hose

My husband was busy to bring this birch some relieve from an ivy which clinched to her and sucked her blood.

I am so happy to have a birch in our garden. The leaves in spring are delicious in salads and you can collect them if you need a help for infected bladder or urinary tract.

In Europe I also collected the sap and will show you in Spring, if possible.

In our little forest we planted my avocados. Hope they doing well there.

While digging a hole for them we found another larva I don’t know.

We have also discovered this lily in our corner.

Christoph was very busy and now all cut trees and other twigs are processed. Here he used our bench as alternative for a … sorry, can’t find the English word for it… ‘saw horse’ (thanks Hana!)

Anyway, it worked well

While my husband was busy with his saw, David was the whole time in our ‘wild corner’ (we call it that way because we leave this corner to the birds and plants without weeding out)

Anyway, he told me he was collecting…

…  Kawakawa fruits. Unfortunately this ones aren’t ripe yet (they turn orange when ripe)

But I am lucky there are still fruits in a height David can’t rich them

If you want to make tea of Kawakawa (which is said to purify the blood), use the leaves which are eaten by bugs because it is said they are higher in medical properties (Very interesting, because you shouldn’t do that with other herbs. Normally you collect the untouched ones because they are stronger and higher in medical properties. Only weak herbs are munched on…)

My little herbalist and his ‘product.’

I love my camera which is ideal to make macro pictures.

For example this basil is gorgeous.

And when you have a closer look you discover the fancy blossoms.

In the next pic you see what I mean. Have you ever really ‘seen’ a basil flower like this?

I must admit I didn’t before.

Now I invite you to a little trip through my blooming garden.

This is a plant I don’t know. It is like a little shrub with this big pink flowers and elliptic leaves.
Maybe I can identify them after a visit in a garden center, but if you can help me I would be really happy

Here is a beautiful rose which smells like raspberry

I discovered a lot of pink oxalis in the garden.
My friend told me I shouldn’t rip them out (I was just removing the strayed ones in the garden) because they bring luck

So now I let them grow along the fence of the Mediterranean corner.
It looks really cool

When we went to the end of the road to pick our Verbascum…

… we saw this cute cattles.

One particular draw my attention since it looked like a buffalo child wouldn’t be this enormous big ear marks.

In the high grass here and there bloomed beautiful thistles looking like little artichokes.

Where the Verbascum grows is also a…

… Tree Tutu. All parts of this plant are poisonous (except the blossom petals, but anyway don’t try it out…)

Please teach your children not to touch it, and of course not to eat the poisonous berries!

Early European settlers learned it by the hard way with dead cattle and people.

So now to one of my favorite herbs… yarrow (Achille millefolium)
When we harvested the mullein I also found some yarrow and red clover (Trifolium pratense)

At home I gave flower and leaves of the yarrow into a clean jar.

Then I filled up the jar with olive oil (this is a nourishing oil for the skin)

With a yarrow stalk I released hidden air bubbles.

I let this infuse for 6 weeks or so, before I strain it. Some people infuse it 4 weeks (a moon cycle) long.

You can use the oil on bumps, sprains, burns, insect bites or stings and as well on dry or cracked lips (may be a tip for my friends in the Northern Hemisphere ;- )

I also found it helpful by massage it into the skin as repellent against our nasty sandflies. (Yep, this tip is for you in the Southern Hemisphere ;- )

If you think oil is too messy just pop in some bees wax to make an ointment (click here for a link) or a cream (click here for a recipe)

To learn more about yarrow and it’s uses click here.

So, now I gonna have a cuppa of mullein infusion… and remember, when ever you make mullein infusion or tea, strain it through a cloth to hold back its tiny hairs which can irritate your throat

Cheers!