Rue's Garden Herbals

Well, I went to the gym yesterday. After walking uphill to Wild Animal Park and being exhausted I decided I needed to get some exercise. I almost never go to the gym. It costs $25 a month and my husband says that going once every two months costs us $50 a visit. The last time I went my sister called me while I was in the parking lot and asked where I was. I told her I was at the gym. Her response? "Not the gym! You? The real gym? Are you seeing somebody named Jim?" I will show them all and be healthy enough to live forever.

As I was planning my garden today I started to think about feverfew. One thing that has done very well with almost no attention is the feverfew. It reseeds itself so I now have three times as much as I started with. It's a pretty plant with little flowers that have a yellow center with white petals. I think the flowers look a little like chamomile. Feverfew is good for migraines and arthritis pain. It can be drunk as a tea or the leaves can be eaten. I've heard the leaves are bitter and it was suggested to put honey on them. (As I was writing this I decided to go out and pick a leaf to taste for myself and it is bitter. It also tastes kind of green, whatever that means.) It likes sun but can live with some shade. I wouldn't put it in the full sun where I live because it regularly gets into the upper 90's here but certainly a fair amount of sun works. Feverfew is susceptible to aphids and root rot when the soil is not well drained. Pick it in the morning as soon as it's dry. It is so charming that I would plant it in my garden just for show. It's one of my favorites.

Yesterday I went to the Wild Animal Park in Escondido, CA with my son and grandchildren. It is a wonderful place. Among other things, we saw a lion and heard him roar. It immediately brings to mind images of being out somewhere facing a predator alone and, I can tell you, there's not much hope that I'd come out on top. My money's on the lion. We also fed lorikeets, which are birds that will drink nectar out of a paper cup that you hold in your hand. As it happened, all the birds seemed pretty full when we were there but one of them felt free to poop right above me as he flew by and my sleeve had to be Spray-n-Washed that night.

I was reminded how out of shape I am when I had to park in a space far below the front entrance. I made it up the hill to the front gate, but I was practically ready for a stretcher when I got there, so I am now committed  to going to the gym more often. I was afraid that after I walked around I wouldn't be able to push the pedal on my car to get home but it all turned out fine.

The Wild Animal Park has an extrememly large botanical presence. Many species of plants reside there, more than animals by far. But I recognized rosemary as I walked past a row of spiky plants with blue flowers. It made me feel right at home.

Rosemary has a reputation for helping people remember things. Rosemary assists in the breakdown of acetylcholorine. A deficiency of this chemical may contribute to Alzheimer's disease. Rosemary contains antioxidants and helps improve circulation throughout the body, which includes the brain. It is a digestive tonic and a headache remedy. And it seems to stimulate hair follicles, so it really is good for your head in every way! Rosemary loves sun and grows well in pots. It's pretty hardy but in a fight for space between rosemary and rose geranium, I can tell you the rose geranium wins. Rosemary has been used as protection against evil and a symbol of fidelity. There is a Christian story that when Mary was on the trip to Egypt, she stopped to rest and threw her robe over a bush of rosemary with white flowers, and the flowers turned blue to honor her.

Well, it's Saturday and my day with my son and two of my grandchildren will have to wait until tomorrow. It is 7:30 in the morning and it's a wonderful weathery day, as my grandson would say. I have the window open and am listening to the rain. The fire is burning and pretty soon my husband will bring me a cup of tea and I will be perfectly happy.

Yesterday I picked a bouquet of lavender and I will try to put up a picture of it. The blooms are a dark blue purple and very beautiful. Lavender is part of the mint family, which I would never have guessed. It doesn't have specific insect enemies to speak of so it's pretty hardy but it doesn't like undrained water around its roots. It can be used in all kinds of projects. I crochet a little bag and tuck a sachet of lavender in it and keep it in my purse so I can smell it during the day. But we have made lavender room spray, lavender water, lavender dryer bags, lavender soap, lavender hand salve and lavender and rosemary iced tea. And that's just scratching the surface.

I am reading Herb Gardening for Dummies and it is a great book. Here is a quote: "For instance, did you know that you should drink horehound tea, hot from the fire, if you are poisoned by your stepmother?" This could come in very handy!

Today I dove into soap making. I have been meaning to make more soap for a while but I got lazy. So today I made peach and lavender soap (my personal favorites). I sell soap and hand salve on another web site so it's also useful to make soap. My kitchen smells wonderful and tomorrow or the next day I will have lovely bars out on the shelf that I will enjoy for the next three weeks while they turn into completed soap.

I also set up four tinctures. I thought it might be fun to make a tincture to replace the melatonin I sometimes take at bedtime to sleep. So I put chamomile, skullcap, passionflower and valerian into separate jars with alcohol and distilled water. The water is necessary because the alcohol is 190 proof. No, I don't drink this moonshine-like stuff in the evening, I got it just for tinctures and it's perfectly safe to ingest. My jars are tucked away on the bottom shelf of an herb cupboard in the dark. I will shake them once or twice a day for the next three weeks and then strain out the liquid and I will have tinctures. Then I'll combine the tinctures to make a sleepy time brew.

It occurs to me that in three weeks I will be both very clean and very sleepy.

Saturday I will be dragging my son-in-law and two of my grandchildren through some extraordinarily fun activity that we can do around rain. Let's hope I think of something soon!