posted by admin on Apr 2
Farmers and gardeners all over the world know that to grow leafy green vegetables, annuals with sturdy constitutions, and shrubs and perennials to their peak, a soil rich in all the necessary plant food has to be provided. Herbs can play an enormously important role in building up soil fertility and, by way of thanks, a healthy soil grows even better herbs, too.
Organic gardening associations, and those gardeners in many countries who follow organic methods, believe that to avoid the soil starvation and depletion resulting from unbalanced artificial fertilizing, and the consequent reduced ability of crops to withstand insect ravages and disease, natural means only of enriching the soil and maintaining its fertility should be used. “Organic gardening” means returning to the earth everything taken from it in the form of decomposing animal and vegetable matter in a natural form which the plants can use. In Nature, fallen leaves, twigs, roots, grasses, and animal droppings, even the bones of dead animals and the microscopic bodies of the bacteria living in the soil, are returned to it, and slowly decompose to form the balanced plant nutrients necessary to keep forests and pastureland alive.
The so-called “complete fertilizers” of unnatural origin give (like some drugs) an initial boost; but much recent investigation has found that the soil, after this type of shot-in-the-arm, is left actually poorer than ever, and no increased applications of chemical fertilizers can restore vitality and life to it. Moreover, much of the mineral and chemical content of these fertilizers is in a form the plants can not easily assimilate. Composting and building up again with organic matter and humus can slowly, over a matter of many seasons, restore to the soil the fertility it has lost; but this is a long-term solution, and commercial growers can go broke while waiting for it to be effective.
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posted by admin on Apr 2
In ancient civilizations, medicine was inextricably bound up with religion. All the earliest physicians practised autosuggestion, hypnotism and psychotherapy, though certainly in somewhat different form and under different names. Natural remedies were prescribed for natural diseases, and “magic” remedies for what we now would call psychosomatic diseases and many forms of mental illness. The skills of genuine healers were sometimes assumed by charlatans and tricksters who had no training and no knowledge, but merely a convincing manner and an outstretched palm. Any fool could chant an unintelligible rhyme or sell a so-called “remedy” or “elixir”, and gullible people would buy. The disrepute thus brought to natural medicines and herbs still dogs herb users today. A friend of mine who has suffered chronic illness for many years steadfastly refuses to try any simple herbal preparations on the grounds that she will not poison herself with herbs and “all that mumbo-jumbo”. (I have been “poisoning” myself and my family with herbs a long time now, and our health and resistance to disease is proof enough for me that Nature knows best.) Prevention, everyone tells us, is better (and easier) than cure. The beauty of using herbs daily in many different ways is that so many of them have value in building up resistance to disease; and if a disease does strike, herbal preparations will usually do good without having the side-effects of so many artificially created drugs. But enough of my pet hobby-horse and back to our history.
As the legions of Rome spread out over their conquered territories, Roman customs and way of life changed the ways of the indigenous peoples. After the soldiers came the governors and administrators, and with them the monks, who brought not only their own religious beliefs, but practical knowledge in the fields of agriculture, health and nutrition. Many herbs were carried as gifts from one monastery to another by travelling monks, and from the monasteries the people gradually gained knowledge of the many uses to which they could be put. One of the earliest forms of taking herbs in the diet was in cordials, or an infusion of the herb in wine. From these “cordials”, evolved over the centuries, came the recipes for many of our present-day liqueurs. When you next drink Chartreuse or Kummel or Anisette, give a thought to those peregrinating monks, who used their knowledge and skill in blending herbs and spices (Chartreuse contains some forty-six ingredients) into recipes still unchanged today. These cordials were drunk usually as an aid to digestion at the end of a large meal, for the eating habits of the day were such that the food was often highly unpalatable, owing to deterioration, or indigestible. It is easy to understand the preoccupation with flatulence and stomach troubles in early herbal writings of this period.
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posted by admin on Apr 2
Salvia officinalis LABIATAE
Here is another-herb of Jupiter, bringing long life, with an active old age and all faculties in good working order. Sage is well named, coming from the Latin salvere, to save, and cultures much older (and perhaps wiser) than ours used it as a daily beverage, just as we drink tea.
The Chinese drank sage tea as often as possible, and their early records show how high a value was placed on its health-giving properties. Indeed, 4 lb. of China tea was exchanged by Chinese merchants with Britain for every pound of sage tea grown in England. Both countries were well-pleased with the deal. I wonder which one really had the best of the bargain?
The herb is low-growing, to about 1 foot in height, and is a compact, rather bushy plant. Its greyish-green leaves, with the rough texture of a cat’s tongue, make good teeth-cleaners, and at Tunbridge Wells they are given to spa clients to clean their teeth after taking the discolouring mineral waters. The flowers are deep purple bells, produced in spring, but if you want the herb for the table, nip off the flowering stems when they appear. The seeds are rather large for a small plant, round black balls which can be slow to germinate. Keep the seed box rather drier than usual. This will often start the seedlings on their way. You can soak the seed in warm water if you wish, to soften the hard outer shell before planting.
Sage needs an alkaline soil, so use plenty of dolomite and scatter a handful through the topsoil when preparing a place for the plants. Hot sun and dryness will give you a sturdy bush in a very short time, but watch for any sign of “wet feet” in prolonged wet weather, and move your plant to a drier location. Sage can be a bit pernickety and will sometimes shrivel and die almost overnight for no apparent reason if the weather or soil conditions are not to its liking. Caterpillars are very fond of it, and must be picked off before they can strip the leaves. Dried sage leaves do not keep their flavour as well as most dry herbs, so pick them fresh if you can for culinary use.
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posted by admin on Apr 2
Before planting, dig at least 2 feet down into the ground, loosening packed clay or subsoil as you go, and if you are a perfectionist you may want to sieve the soil, removing hard lumps or dead roots.
If the subsoil is too heavy, mix some coarse sand in with it before returning it to the hole, together with compost, and a few handfuls of blood and bone about a foot below the surface. Plant your horseradish seedling with its stem base about an inch below the soil surface and keep it well watered during its growth. The leaves as they grow have several different shapes, varying from plant to plant. Some are deeply toothed and rather stiff, others resemble spinach but are a paler green, and still others have almost no leaf stem at all, seeming to come straight from the root stock.
Snails love horseradish, and they will strip the leaves to skeletons unless a lookout is constantly kept.
The roots should be dug at the end of the first growing season, and the thick tap root separated from the others. Scrub it, and cut it into strips about i inch wide to facilitate drying. It can then be dried on a tray in a cool oven (watch this carefully to avoid overheating or roasting). When completely dry, the root slivers will be quite brittle, and will snap when bent. Store these strips in a glass jar lined with tissue paper, and grate when needed.
The smaller root pieces can be cut into 3- or 4-inch lengths and replanted with the top about an inch below the soil surface. Rub off all but one strong shoot when regrowth begins, to give you only one crown and a single unbranched root. The herb needs plenty of water at all stages of its growth to keep the root fleshy and prevent any woodiness.
If you do not wish to dry the roots, store them after washing in white wine vinegar. They can be grated as required. Do not use cider vinegar for this; it will discolour the roots to a dark brown.
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posted by admin on Apr 2
The leaves, when cut, should always be used immediately, and can be added to almost any savoury dish at the last minute. The herb seems to have a natural affinity for eggs, and is traditionally used with omelettes and other egg dishes.
Asparagus-Chervil Filling
Here is a chervil-assisted filling for omelettes or pancakes.
Drain canned or fresh-cooked asparagus and heat quickly in a little butter. Add a handful of chopped chervil, heat through, and turn onto the omelette. Drizzle a little lemon juice over, drool, and eat.
Chervil has slight antibiotic properties. Eat as much of it as you fancy.
Quiche Lorraine can have chervil added for an unusual note in this otherwise traditional dish.
Quiche Lorraine
1 6-oz. packet flaky pastry
1\4 pint milk
1\4 pint cream
2 eggs
3 rashers bacon”
chervil (3 scant tablespoons when chopped)
Line a deep flan or souffle pan with the rolled-out pastry, then place this in the fridge until your filling is made. Beat the eggs, saute the chopped bacon lightly, add the other ingredients and season to taste. Pour into the prepared pastry case and bake in a moderate to hot oven until the pastry is brown and the filling firm.
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