herbal teas:: quite possibly a new obsession

Sometime last year, I became mildly obsessed with herbalism. Maybe it began when I was visiting a dear friend in Oakland who has become something of an herbalist herself, but I asked her what kinds of medicinal plants I should plant in my garden. I started small...some lavender, calendula, chamomile, peppermint and spearmint, along with some other herbs that definitely have medicinal properties (rosemary, thyme, sage). By the end of the summer, I had grown a mini-arsenal that I dried and have finally picked off the stems and stored in jars.

In addition to the herbs that I grew myself, I've been stocking up my pantry with more from a great local natural foods store. At the recommendation of my friend, I purchased two books that have so far proven to be excellent. The first, Growing 101 Herbs that Heal, is mostly for gardening and was really helpful when I was deciding which herbs I wanted to grow myself. It does include some recipes for how to use the herbs too, but I found it most helpful for information on growing herbs.

The second book, Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health, well, it's just amazing. This book is all recipes on how to make everything from cough syrup to face cream. I haven't yet tried out any of the body care recipes, but I certainly hope to soon. And I just finished off a small jar of "Rosemary's Perfect Cream" that my friend gifted me and I think I need to make myself some more. I have signed up for a winter skin remedies class at my local co-op in a couple of weeks, so that might be the answer! These are two books I would highly recommend, but what I would also recommend is checking some out of your local library to see what you like, then go buy the ones that seem worth keeping around!

The main herbalist thing I've gotten into so far, though, is tea. I've concocted a fairly standard tea that I think is good for daily drinking. It includes burdock root, red clover, peppermint (from my garden!), nettle leaf, and lemon balm. {This is the mixture in these photos}. I've been trying to brew a pot of these every other day or so and just have it on hand to drink a little cup each day.

It's been really exciting to experiment and learn about the different properties of the different herbs. I've tried a headache tea with feverfew, and a throat coating tea with marsh mallow root. I'm also brewing a headache tincture with feverfew and lavender (imagine my surprise to discover that there just happened to be feverfew growing in the yard at our old apartment!). In fact, I need to strain that tincture, it's been a little bit too long brewing....

Even though it's January (and freaking freezing outside, literally) I am starting to dream about my garden this year. I do hope to plant more medicinal plants. I'm also hoping to find some places where I can wildcraft some of the herbs I use the most. I know there's a ton of nettle growing around here that most people probably wouldn't miss...