HOW ABOUT HERB 



A History of Herbs & Families 



There's a new addition to our 

 family — a little grandson. This 

 is always an exciting time — when a 

 new little person joins the family 

 tree — and it got me thinking about 

 the importance of herbs to fami- 

 lies throughout history — especially 

 herbs for babies and new moth- 

 ers — and grandmothers too. 



Perhaps the most important herbs 

 for babies were catnip and fennel. 

 I remember my mother making 

 "catnip and fennel tea" for colicky 

 babies. This warm mild tea fed in 

 a bottle soothed the fussy little 

 one and soon put the child to 

 sleep. Fennel {Foenkulum vulgare) is 

 important by itself as well. Its 

 feathery leaves, golden blossoms, 

 and flavorful seeds are all known 

 to increase milk in nursing moth- 

 ers, relieve flatulence, and sooth 

 the digestive system. And it is 

 certainly attractive in a garden. 



Catnip {Nepela cataria] may give 

 your kitten a high and cause him 

 to act a little wild, but in people, 

 this member of the mint family 

 works just the opposite. It soothes 

 and lulls and sends tension out 

 the window! A new mom might 

 like to try this tension-releasing 

 steam recipe; Bring four quarts of 

 water to a boil, then add one or 

 two handfuls of fresh herbs (catnip 

 leaves and flowers, chamomile 

 leaves and flowers, hops, and jas- 

 mine), and let steep, covered, for 

 20 minutes. Sit in a quiet place 

 and breathe in the steam from the 

 herbs, placing a towel over the 



head to get the most benefit from 

 the steam. Carefully inhale the de- 

 licious aroma. Afterwards, rinse 

 face with clear cool water and feel 

 refreshed and relaxed. 



Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) is 

 another important herb for babies. 

 Remember how Peter Rabbit's 

 mama made him some chamomile 

 tea and put him to bed after he 

 had such a big scare in Mr. Mac- 

 Gregor's garden? Chamomile is 

 known as "the sleepy-time tea." I 

 would be careful about feeding 

 anyone chamomile tea as some 

 people are allergic to it, but a 

 "baby sleep pillow" is mentioned 

 in several old herbals. This pillow 

 combines the sleep-inducing prop- 

 erties of chamomile and hops with 

 fennel. The dried herbs might be 

 crushed and mixed into the stuffing 

 for a small pillow for a baby to hug 

 while drifting off to sleep. (Hops 

 flowers are mentioned in nearly ev- 

 ery old herbal in relation to relax- 

 ation and sleep.) 



Denise Diamond, author of Living 

 with the Flowers: A Guide to Bringing 

 Flowers into Your Daily Life, writes of 

 her grandmother, who had an old- 



fashioned stoppered glass bottle 

 that contained a brown liquid she 

 called her "cure-all." Denise re- 

 members that it smelled strongly 

 of lavender {Lavendula vera, or En- 

 glish lavender, has the strongest 

 scent). Anytime she hurt herself, 

 her grandmother would lovingly 

 dab a bit of this cure-all on the 

 hurt. She always felt better and, of 

 course, enjoyed her grandmother's 

 attention. I have made a bottle of 

 lavender oil for that purpose as 

 well. Lavender has been used 

 throughout history as an antiseptic, 

 so it would be good for bites, cuts, 

 bruises, and general childhood 

 maladies. Perhaps most important 

 would be love with which it is ad- 

 ministered 



Finally, the well-known herbalist 

 Rosemary Gladstar, in her book 

 Herbal Healing for Women, writes of 

 the use of herbs that lift the spir- 

 its. Herbs such as borage flowers, 

 hawthorne berries and flowers, 

 lemon balm and roses, chamomile 

 and hibiscus flowers, and lavender 

 blossoms have long been used to 

 celebrate life. One can use a 

 recipe from Rosemary's herbal, or 

 mix and blend the herbs into deli- 

 cious personalized formulas that 

 create tasty and uplifting blends. 

 You might carry a few good herbal 

 books such as this one at your 

 nursery and share the pleasures 

 and joys of herbs with your cus- 

 tomers and friends. 



Ta«!^a ]ackson, a well-known area herb- 

 alist, tan be reached at 603-431-6774. 



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