Tuesday - June 1st

I've just been to a great talk by Nikki Darrell, Medical Herbalist, from the Evergreen Clinic, talking about growing your own herbs for medicinal and culinary purposes.

Here are some of the medicinal properties of some common herbs:

Sage - Gargle for sore throats and gums. Treat excessive sweating and hot flushes
Tastes - cooks well beans, chicken and pork

Rosemary - good for circulations, good for memory, good stress and acts as an adrenal tonic, good for liver and aiding digestion
Tastes - Great in stews and lovely chopped up in a shortbread mix

Lavender - great for sleeping
Tastes - used as a culinary additive, and flavours biscuits

Calendula -Use in infusion for the skin. Soothes the lining of the gut and eases arthritis
Tastes - use the flowers in salads

Thyme -Gargle for sore throats, anti-oxidants, anti - fungal, digestive tonic
Tastes - Great with salads, bean stews and meat stews

Borage - Supports the adrenals (stress)
Tastes - use flowers in Salads

Lemon balm - Anti - viral, calsm the mind
Tastes - use leaves for teas and salads and fruit salads

Lemon verbena - Aids digestions and soothes the nervous system
Tastes - use leaves for teas and salads and fruit salads

Mints - wide variety but generally aid digestion
Tastes - curries, teas, salads

When cooking with herbs, remember you just need to sprinkle a few tablespoons on top or mix through a soup or stew.

Check out my wide range of recipes for more uses of herbs