Tag: garden

My Apothecary Garden of Herbs & Flowers

Today I’m writing about my apothecary garden, as I’ve just decided to call it.

Recently I appropriated the last section of our vegetable garden. I wanted to grow plants that had nice flowers, as well as being attractive to the bees and butterflies.
The plants being useful herbs, or harvestable in some way, was also a factor.

The term ‘apothecary’ is derived from the Ancient Greek word (apothḗkē), which means “a repository or storehouse”. The term also refers to a medical person who dispenses herbs and medicine. Hence my idea for the term ‘apothecary garden’.

These are the herbs or flowers that I have planted.

Echinacea or Purple Coneflower

These plants have beautiful big purple pink, daisy like, flowers that look great in a vase. Apart from looking nice, these flowers attract bees and butterflies to the garden. The flowers and leaves of the plant can be used to make tea and the petals are edible.

Research has yet to determine what exact compounds in purple coneflower give it its medicinal properties. Animal and test tube studies have shown that the extracts do fight certain viruses and appear to stimulate the immune system to ward off bacterial infection. Laboratory findings have shown that it is also effective in healing superficial wounds. Generally, echinacea is widely used for boosting the immune system.

Borage or Star flower

Borage is actually considered a herb and has clusters of blue star shaped flowers. Again, this plant is a favorite of bees and is also known as a Bee Bush. Both the flowers and the leaves of the plant are edible.
Borage leaves have been used in European herbal medicine since the Middle Ages.
Traditionally, the leaves have been used to treat rheumatism, colds, and bronchitis. Borage seed oil has also been used in combination with fish oil for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and skin disorders.

Bergamot or Beebalm

Bergamot is an ancient herb that belongs to the mint family. Its name was acquired due to the similarity in fragrance to the unrelated Bergamot Orange. Because of it’s flowers, it’s commonly grown as an ornamental plant to attract bees and butterflies to the garden. There are different varieties of this plant and the flowers range from deep red to pink and white.
This is another plant where both the flowers and leaves are edible. Using the leaves and flowers to create a tea similar in taste to Earl Grey.
North American tribes in the eastern United States used the herb to ease the pain of mild abrasions and bee stings by crushing the leaves of the plant and rubbing them on the skin. This is where the common name of ‘Beebalm” originated.

Chamomile or German chamomile

German chamomile is one of several different species in the daisy family that have the common name chamomile. Looking similar to daisies, the flowers have an apple-like fragrance and are attractive to bees and butterflies.

Chamomile is one of the more familiar medicinal herbs, with a high profile in literature and a long history of use. It is commonly used for making the herbal infusion called chamomile tea. As the infusion is purported to have anti-anxiety properties, is widely regarded as a sleep-inducer and has been used medicinally for many ailments. Chamomile is also one of the top ingredients used in hair care products for lightening and brightening blond hair.

As I actually planted seeds for my garden, I now have to water and wait. Hopefully in a couple of months I will have flowers like the ones in the title picture and will be able to share some of our uses for these plants.

Till the next post,
Live clean n Prosper
(Sources –traditionalrootsinstitute, sustainablegardeningonline, herbcottage, wikipedia)

Our Home Grown Vegetables

Today I decided to write about vegetables, to be specific, our home-grown vegetables.

A couple of years ago Scott created a vegetable garden in a neglected garden bed along our fence line. Once the plants got established, we have enjoyed lovely home-grown, chemical free, vegetables.

How successfully….

Scott has tried growing several different things, some with success, some not so successful.

We have had success with Heirloom Carrots. The first time we harvested some we were quite surprised at the variety or colours that we had. Apart from the common orange, we had yellow, red, white & purple carrots, they really add colour to the plate. We continue to plant these seeds so that we always have some carrots.

Sweet potatoes have been a challenge. We planted 2 varieties, the common ‘Gold’ and the less common ‘Hawaiian’ sweet potato. The plants were quite large and healthy, but the crop was small. Hopefully next time around the results will be better.

Scott has had some great success with growing zucchini. We have had some large enough to stuff and roast.

We have not had success with growing cauliflower. As we don’t use any chemicals on our garden, our cauliflower plants were attacked by bugs and died.

At the beginning of winter Scott planted Purple Sprouting Broccoli seedlings and this week we harvested the last head of broccoli. It was quite large and really purple. It is also quite good for us.

A bit about the Broccoli,

There are differences in the nutritional values of green and purple broccoli.

The purple broccoli has higher levels of vitamin C, folate, iron, calcium, isotonic, glucolin, and anthocyanins.

Purple sprouting broccoli also contains the phyto chemicals ulphoraphane (thought to help prevent cancer) and may provide resistance against heart disease, osteoporosis and diabetes. Overall, purple sprouting broccoli was found to contain higher contents of antioxidant compounds than green broccoli.

After cooking, the purple sprouting broccoli retains higher levels of antioxidant. (Sources; https://academic.oup.com/biohorizons/article/ ; https://drizzleazure.wordpress.com)

We have also had a pumpkin vine growing in our garden. It is growing quite well, taking up lots of space, and we have been looking forward to harvesting some pumpkins. However, we are not having much success.

The pumpkins are forming but don’t mature.

Scott was ready to pull up the plant. He spoke to one of his Uni lecturers who advised that the little immature pumpkins were quite good steamed.

We have since tried steaming them and they taste like button squash. So, I guess the pumpkin vine isn’t a complete failure. We are continuing to harvest the tiny pumpkins and are also going to try roasting them.

All in all, our garden is providing us with some lovely, chemical free, whole foods. By trying to grow different varieties, we eat a more varied diet.

Till the next post,

 

Live Clean n Prosper

Science has proven Grandma knows best!

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First of all, Happy Mothers’ Day to all the Mum’s.

Second, it seems that our Grandmothers know best! Of course.

According to a recent newspaper article, scientists are finally proving what our grandparents have known for years. Many of us have that been advocates for these lifestyle changes are often viewed with skepticism. It is great to have science backing us up.

food, garden, washing, walking

Some of the most notable changes mentioned, are things that Scott and I have been doing for some time. I thought I would share these with you, quoting from the article as I go.

Easy lifestyle changes

  • Cooking from scratch, using real food ingredients. “This will save you kilojoules and having a raft of additives in your meals.”
  • Using old recipes and cookbooks. “Cornwell University in the USA compared recipes from the 1936 and 2006 editions of ‘The Joys of Cooking’. They found that recipes in the 2006 version had an average 63% more kilojoules.”
  • Grow your own fruit and vegetables. “Helps kids to eat more and home grown tastes better. Less chemicals and gardening is great for reducing stress.”
  • Eat at the dinner table. “Helps a child’s vocabulary, develops table etiquette and creates an opportunity for family communication.”
  • Switch off screens. “Studies have shown that excessive screen-time impairs brain structure and function. Mostly in the frontal lobe, which controls our sense of empathy.”
  • Ditch the chemicals. “Research into lung function found that it was 14% worse in people who used modern household cleaning products regularly, than those that didn’t.”
  • Hang out the washing. “The suns’ rays actually help to disinfect clothes and remove stains. It is also an opportunity to get some Vitamin D.”
  • Go for walks. “Research from Harvard University shows that people who walk regularly live longer and have a lower risk of heart disease and stroke. They are also more likely to have a healthy weight and stronger immune system.”
  • Get to sleep early. ‘Studies have shown that those who don’t stay up late are more optimistic, patient and productive. They also have stronger immune systems than night owls.”

We don’t have children, but for those that do…..

2 more changes.

  • Let kids be dirty. “Microbiology Professor Brett Finlay and Immunologist Marie-Claire Arrieta, authors of ‘Let Them Eat Dirt’ say – Keeping children too clean can weaken their immune systems by depriving them of valuable microbes.”
  • Play outside. “Time outdoors is beneficial for adults and kids alike as it improves concentration. Exposure to sunlight also reduces a child’s risk of developing near-sightedness.”

These are all easy changes to make that can have a long-term impact on your health and wellbeing.

We have found that ‘cooking from scratch’ has encouraged us to have a more varied diet, as we try different recipes. It actually saves us money when we plan our meals in advance as we only buy the ingredients we need for the week.

Scott has found that spending time in our small fruit and vegetable garden lowers stress. It is also great to be able to add home grown vegetables to our meals.

Finally, it is great to read that more studies are finding that constant exposure to modern chemicals is having an adverse effect on our bodies.

Till the next post,

Live Clean n Prosper

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