Five Herbs almost for Free......

Boost your Health in Spring

nettle - early spring.

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica): In the beginning of spring arrive the first nettle sprouts from the soil. Those first sprouts are especially filled with nutrition and energy. The herb contains large quantities of zinc, which is important for the production of insulin and sex hormones. It contains also much iron, which women are often deficient in - and this can cause anemia and fatigue. Furthermore the herb  has much beta-carotene, B- and C-vitamin, Calsium, Potassium, Silica, and Sodium. The parts above ground of the nettle are used in herbal medicine, typical for women for the nutitrious qualitites. They also work diuretic and mildly blood sugar-regulating.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis): has a calming effect on the nervous system and is used in the treatment of stress and insomnia.
 

Peppermint (Mentha x piperita): is a wellknown ancient medicinal herb, which through centuries was used against stomach problems and nausea. It is also an excellent cure for influenza and colds. It stimulates the circulation - and at the same time it increases the blood flow to the brain and clears the mind.

Ground Elder (Aegopodium podagraria) with the many names is a great edible plant of all time. Most people are irritated by it because it spreads very quickly, but both leaves and flowers can be used in cooking. The leaves are good in salad, soups and vegetable dishes. The flowers are fine as a mix in salad. The leaves can also be used as a green touch in juice and smoothies. The young sprouts taste best. Ground elder is basic, rich in minerals and it is said to be detoxifying, which makes it especially good in joint problems.

                                                                              















Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale): The Dandelion contains almost double as much A- vitamin as spinach, which else is known for its large content of A-vitamin. The Dandelion-leaves taste bitter and stimulate the liver and the digestion. Pluck the fine leaves and chop them finely for salad,  put them in vegetable dishes or brew a tea. The flowers can be used as a decoration in salads and desserts. The Dandelion is used in nature medicine to cleanse the blood and to improve the work of the liver and the bile. The Dandelion contains much potassium and many good vitamins and minerals.

  






source: Sunde tips, Caroline Fibæk, Urt din Sundhed op, FEMINA.
photo: grethe bachmann

A Blue Winter's Day at Kaløvig

                                                                                                         

Kaløvig with the castle ruin in the background, enlarge the photo)

Kalø castle ruin is one of my most visited places -  there is a special atmosphere on that small island. Kalø castle was built by the warrior king Erik Menved in the 1300s as a fortification against the rebellious peasant armies in Jutland. He fought them down without mercy, and those who survived the battle were executed - and their heads and other body parts were hung up on poles along the roads. The road system is the same here today - I haven't seen any ghosts although you might think it was a haunted place!!  But it might be otherwise around midnight, uhuuuuh..........


























The fields are covered in snow, the forest is dark brown, the landscape is swept in a shade of blue. The snow , the blue water, the low sun create a scenery in blue. It is obvious that we are living on the blue planete today. A painter would take his blue brush and start his own blue period like Picasso and other painters did, but I just enjoyed this beautiful blue day with a  high blue sky, a blue sea and some generous glow from a low sun. The days grow longer now, soon we can really feel that it is going the right way. But children don't think it's going the right way, they want snow and ice, they want to go out with their sleigh or their ice skates - we grown-ups are so boring because we keep talking about spring. We have been kids once, many years ago, but we have forgotten -  almost forgotten -  the golden lovely days where we went out with our sleigh, driving down the hill in a blazing speed.

a small parking place opposite the island.

Mr. and Mrs. Duck

 

Two whooper swans (finding food on the bottom).

 








The landscape along the bottom of Kaløvig is listed and very pictoresque. A tongue of land with a medieval stone road leads out to Kalø castle ruin, which lies upon a small island with steep hills and banks at the coast. Several good paths make it easy to walk in the area. If you are interested in plants then it is one of the finest places in Denmark with rests of a garden flora from the Middle Ages. The plants were introduced from southern  Europe and cultivated in the gardens at the ruin - they were later feral. The flora includes especially medical plants, but also plants for dyeing, poisonous plants, kitchen herbs and textile plants. Especially significant are Anthriscus caucalis (burr chervil/gærdekørvel) and Cyproglossum officinale (dog's tongue/lægehundetunge) upon the southern cliffs of the ruin. Besides appear Nepeta ( catmint,catnip/ katteurt), Lithosperum officinale (Common cromwell / lægestenfrø) and Viola odorata (wood violet(/ martsviol); Malva neglecta (common mallow/ rundbladet katost) and Conium maculatum (Hemlock/skarntyde). The seeds from several of the plants can keep the germination capacity for many years. Hyoscyamus niger (black henbane/ bulmeurt)  can can fx sprout after having stayed in the earth for several hundred years - and if there is a slide in the bank the henbane sometimes appears. It is forbidden to dig up the plants but seeds might be gathered. The Nepeta (catmint) only grows in ten locations in Denmark and always in old settlements.

funny car

back home on narrow roads........

photo 19. January 2013 Kaløvig: grethe bachmann

Boosting Your Health with 5 Herbs

I know that most people today know how to take good care of their health. I  myself too. Sometimes I forget all the good advice, but when I  begin to see the herbs pop up from the earth out there in the woods and in the fields in spring, I suddenly remember how fantastic it is that you can just go out there and gather herbs for your own kitchen. All those herbs during spring and summer with all those fine qualities. There are so many fine herbs out there with an ancient history, and when you gather herbs it's like being the part of a thousand year old chain of people. The herbs were always there - and they probably will continue to be there...........



5 herbs for your health.

Stinging Nettle.














Already from the first days of spring the first little nettle shots pop up into the air from the black soil, and those tiny sprouts are bursting with nutrition and energy. The nettle contains among other things large amounts of zinc, which is important for the production of insuline and sexual hormones. Nettle contains also much iron, of which women are often in shortage - this can cause anemia and fatigue. Furthermore the nettle contains much betacarotene, B- and C- vitamins, calcium, potassium, silicon and sodium. The aboveground part of the nettle is used in herbal medicine, typically for women, because of its nutritious qualities. The nettle also works diuretic, mildly blood-sugar regulating and milk promoting.

  Lemon Balm                                                                                      

Old garden at Nyord, an island between Zealand and Møn

Lemon balm is sedative for the nervous system and is used as a natural part of  the treatment of problems  like stress and insomnia.


 Peppermint

Krans-mynte( Mentha x verticillata)

Peppermint is a wellknown old medicinal herb, which through centuries was used against stomach problems and against nausea. It is also a good means against flu and cold, and it stimulates the circulation - at the same time it increases the blood circulation to the brain and clears the mind.




 Ground elder

This is the edible plant of all times - most are annoyed by it because it spreads violently, but both leaves and flowers can be used in cooking. The leaves are good in salads, soups and vegetable-dishes. The flowers can be used in salad. The ground elder is also fine as a green touch in juices and smoothies. The tiny leaves taste best. The plant is basic, rich in minerals and is said to work detoxifying. That's why it is especially good in arthritis-problems.


 Dandelion

The dandelion contains almost double as much A-vitamin as spinach, which is known for its big content of A-vitamin. The leaves of dandelion taste bitter and stimulate the liver and the digestion. Pluck the fine leaves and chop them finely for a salad, or put them in vegetable-dishes - or brew a dandelion tea. The flowers can be used as a decoration in salads and desserts. The dandelion is used in herbal medicine to cleanse the blood and to improve the work of the liver and the gall. It contains much potassium and many good vitamins and minerals.





Source: Caroline Fibæk: Urt din sundhed op, Sunde tips, Femina nr.19, Maj 2012. 

photo: grethe bachmann

photo of Mentha x verticillata: stig bachmann nielsen, naturplan.dk 

Watercress/ Brøndkarse
Nasturtium officinale

- a brook almost overgrown in watercress.

Watercress is native from Europe to central Asia and one of the oldest known leaf vegetables. The plant is a member of the cabbage family, related to garden cress and mustard, known for their peppery flavour. It is not related to Tropaeolum, popularly known as "nasturtiums".
Watercress grows mainly in running water, with its long creeping, hollow stalks floating on the surface. The small flowers are white or green - and like many plants in this family the foliage of watercress becomes bitter when the plants begin producing flowers. If unharvested, watercress can grow to a height of 50-120 cm.

Watercress thrives in clean, running water, but can be cultivated in a garden or in a pot. The plant is immensely rich in minerals and vitamins and works fine in the kitchen. Watercress has more iron than spinach, more calcium than milk and three times as much vitamin E as lettuce. It's packed with vitamins A and C, and is low in calories. It is dealed fresh and the young shots are used before flowering. Its taste is spicy and piquante, it can be used raw or cooked in salads, soup, shellfish and as a green sprinkle; suits for Hamburg parsley, pork, champignons, chicken, grill, fish and dressing. The seeds kan germinate like common cress and the dry seeds can be crushed to a mustard. One of Britain's best known dishes, watercress soup, became very popular in the 17th century when it was claimed to cleanse the blood. Watercress was once popular as a tea, freshly made with lemon and sugar. It was drunk as a tonic to ease aches and pains.

NB: It is not advisable to gather watercress out in nature unless it is absolutely certain that no animals are upstreams, especially sheep. People can get a deadly serious infection from a liver parasite. (The parasite dies by cooking.)

The juice from watercress is used in bathing soaps, and the cooked plant in baths for soar muscles. It has a long-standing reputation as a hair-tonic, helping to promote the growth of thick hair when rubbed on the head. Watercress cooked in milk and added honey is used for a face lotion, which keeps the skin soft and brightens freckles. Victorians actually thought the plant could remove freckles, and they also used it as a cure for toothache and hiccups. Eating a bag of watercress is said to be a good cure for a hang-over.


Dollerup Bæk

When Hippocrates founded the first hospital on the island of Kos around 400 BC, he grew wild watercress in the natural springs and used it to treat blood disorders. As a medicinal plant watercress has been traditionally considered a diuretic, expectorant, purgative, stimulant, stomachic and tonic. It has also been used as a remedy against anemia, eczema, kidney and liver disorders, tuberculosis, boils, warts and tumors. It is commonly detoxicating and strengthening by long illness. According to Pliny the smoke of burning cress keeps away serpents.

According to the book "James Cook and the Conquest of Scurvy", Captain James Cook was able to circumnavigate the Globe three times, due in part, to his use of watercress in his sailors diets. Maybe he had read about the Persian king Xerxes who ordered his soldiers to eat watercress to keep them healthy during their long marches. It was also used by soldiers in general to both prevent and cure scurvy. Irish monks were said to survive for long periods eating only bread and watercress and referred to watercress as"pure food for sages". Lord Byron was quoted as saying that watercress "doth restore the bloom to the cheeks of a young maiden". He also called it the "Herb that while young is friendly to life."

Superstition:
Watercress belongs to the Moon. It is connected to the water's elementary creatures, the Undines. If it is worn in a red flannelbag it protects people who sail or flies over water. It gives insight in the nature of water. If watercress is eaten by day peoples' dreams will be more provident, mysterious and visionary. The plant increases empathy and understanding.

Anglo-Saxons swore by watercress potage to "spring clean" the blood. The British vegetarian writer Colin Spencer says that the Romans treated insanity with vinegar and watercress. Roman emperors ate it to help them make "bold decisions". Watercress is believed by many to be an aphrodisiac and in Crete, islanders swear by its powers and ancient recipes are handed down from one generation to the next. The Greeks had a saying that "Eating cress makes one witty". According to Cretan legend watercress grew in the springs of the Dikton Cave on Crete where the god Zeus is said to have eaten the plant to fortify himself against his murderous father Cronos.


"When I ask for a water cress sandwich, I do not mean a loaf with a field in the middle of it.”
Oscar Wilde



photo Dollerup Bæk, 25. July 2009: grethe bachmann

Dyer's Broom/ Farve-Visse
Genista tinctoria



Dyer's Broom is also named Dyer's Greenweed. It has pretty butter-yellow flowers and it grows all over Europe where it is found in heaths and fringes, along roads and the edges of woods and in light oak- and pine woods. All parts of the plant are poisonous.

The plant was always used for dyeing linen and wool, already the Romans knew these qualities. Dyer's broom provides a useful yellow dye which is fast, and it was grown commercially for this purpose in parts of Britain into the early 19th century. The woollen cloth mordanted with alum was dipped yellow with dyer's broom. In England linen and wool were dyed yellow with dyer's broom, then dipped into a vat of blue dye - woad or later indigo - to produce the once famous Kendal Green, which was superseded by the brighter Saxon Green in the 1770s. Kendal Green is a local common name for the plant. With an after care with iron-sulphate the dye becomes dark brown and with copper sulphate olivegreen.

In Welsh mythology Blodeuweed is the name of a woman made from the flowers of broom, meadowsweet and the oak by Math ab Mathonwy and Gwydion to be the wife of Llen Llaw Gyffes. Her story is part of the Mabinogi, the tale of Math, son of Mathonwy.

A traditional hymn from Sussex says:
Sweep the house with blossed broom in May
Sweep the head of the household away.
Despite this it was also common to include a decorated bundle of broom at weddings.

Ashes of broom were used to treat dropsy, while its strong smell was said to be able to tame wild horses and dogs.

In folk medicine dyer's broom was used for numerous diseases like many other herbs. Besides this it was used as a coffe-substitute and a culinary herb. The plant is poisonous so they might need a treatment after a cup of coffee or a spray of broom-spice on the dish!



photo Trehøje, Mols 11. July 2009: grethe bachmann