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Beautiful Image & Information On Lavender Fields

Herbanite — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:32:48 +0000

New post on Lavender Herbs, as part of the Heritage Herb series from “Culinary Herbs” printed in 1912.

Vendor Application For HerbFest 2012 Now On HerbFest Site

Herbanite — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:26:14 +0000

Come join the largest herb festival in the U.S. devoted to herbs and lifestyle. Click here to copy or have this year’s vendors application emailed to you. Dates are April 20-29, 2012.

Natural Tea Tree Antiseptic Scrub from Sandy in Montana – another of our Herbanites!!

Herbanite — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:11:05 +0000

I really like and appreciate your stories and tid bits. Regarding Tea Tree Oil (how interesting how it got it’s name), I found this recipe in the latest Herb Quarterly. I am always looking for frugal ideas…especially herbal. So here this is for you to share.

Tea Tree Counter Scrub

1 box baking soda
10-20 drops of tea tree oil.

Mix together and store in an air tight container.

Disinfects your counters better than any chemicals…and is is supposed to deter bugs too.

Thanks again, Sandy

Growing & Using Lavender Video

Herbanite — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:48:02 +0000

Lavender Growing & Uses

Preserving Herbs For Fragrance In The Car or Work Vehicle

Herbanite — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:46:12 +0000

Hi Bob, I drive a US Mail van 6 days a week and last summer it started smelling kind of moldy,and funky not in a good way. So I put some lavender leaves, peppermint and some thyme in a muslin bag on the dash and it smelled wonderful all summer and into fall. So I did the same thing with my car. Great tip. Have a wonderful day and hope HerbFest 2010 went well.
Linda

Heart Healthy Herbs From HerbFest

Herbanite — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:13:17 +0000

Can you recommend some herbs for improving heart conditions?

Hi David,

That’s a very good question and one we need to pay attention to. Would you do me big favor? I’m in midst of getting ready for Herbfest for next 2 weeks and if you can resend this to me after April 26 then hopefully can give you a better answer since it is a great question.

I’m not specifically addressing your question BUT..

• Foxglove is the plant from which digitalis is derived. Heart starter when have heart attack.

• Often it’s not the herbs that really help your heart as much as it is by using herbs as seasoning agents you eliminate the often fatty, non heart friendly seasonings such as adding salt to already high sodium foods, especially prepared foods, fats such as lards, butter, etc.

• Herbs add flavor to healthy food items and great example is tomatoes which are good for you and by themselves but greatly enhanced with fresh basil. By adding the basil you delete use of salt.

• Stevia is another additive used in place of sugar and often stevia is very good for diabetics to replace sugar and diagnosis of diabetes also is heart harming as disease progresses.

This just a beginning of discussion and back to you after Herbfest but remind me please.

Thanks.

Herbanite Bob

Taro – The Coco Yam

Herbanite — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:54:22 +0000

When is a Bulb a Vegetable?
Elephant Ear! Which is also called Taro, has been used as a vegetable for 6,000 years in Asia, where it is sometimes called Dasheen, and in Egypt and then Rome. It is considered to be our oldest cultivated vegetable. Taro leaves are rich in vitamins and minerals. They are a good source of thiamin, riboflavin, iron, phosphorus, and zinc, and a very good source of vitamin B6, vitamin C, niacin, potassium, copper, and manganese. Taro is slightly toxic due to the natural presence of calcium oxalate, although the toxin is easily destroyed by cooking or by steeping in cold water overnight. Apicius had several delicious recipes using Taro. When the leaves are as big as they will get, it’s time to harvest. When you dig it up there are large potato or yam like “corms.” Instead of having a thin skin, Taro has a rather thick pinkish skin, looking like a soft coconut skin. One of its names is cocoyam (coco yam). The corms can be as large as cantaloupes or as small as large potatoes. Usually, the Taro root is boiled, but sometimes baked, and many cultures have eaten it for thousands of years. It is then peeled. It is slightly pink with a grainy consistency rather than smooth like potatoes. Taro has been an important “food” to many cultures for it can be used in stews, alone as a “starch,” chips, flour, leafy vegetable, wraps, dessert. A famous Hawaiian staple poi is made by mashing steamed taro roots with water, and then fermenting. The leaves are also eaten or used as “wraps,” stuffed and then eaten or boiled in stews. The leaves can also be used as wraps for steamed or baked fish or chunks of meat. Before people thought about “health food,” Taro was known to be good for the immune system, particularly as a preventative against malaria, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, Lyme disease, West Nile fever, South African tick-bite fever, and dengue fever. It was also mashed raw and used as a plaster in the treatment of boils and inflammation. When a hole is dug in the ground, it is lined with Taro leaves and when the fire burns down another layer of leaves is placed on top of the hot ashes, the food wrapped in Taro leaves, and then another layer is placed on top. When serving the food, fresh Taro leaves are used like doilies on the platters. In fact, in Hawaiian luau means Taro. In these villages, every herbologist, grocer, etc., would have a supply of slightly dry Taro leaves to wrap purchases. Smaller leaves folded like an envelope for powdered purchases, larger leaves as sacks. Left over leaves would be used for siding and roofing material for their huts. Anything left over, peels, stems, leaves, etc., would be used in the compost pile. You cannot ask more of a plant that that! When you look at Taro you see an ornamental plant. When I look at Taro I see an entire lifestyle and wonder how many other plants are here to “serve” us to this extent? I am sure there are many more, if we only knew. I became familiar with Taro growing up on my Grandparents farm. Later, I would find it on the Azore Islands, where they had been born, and people still used it for almost all of the things itemized above.

Claudette of A Magnet A Day

Thank you for your interest in HerbFest

Herbanite — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:43:06 +0000

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