Yarrow Salve

Made some salves and lip balm this afternoon. I have a lot of herbs still from last year and want to try and finish them. For this one, I infused yarrow in olive oil for a couple of hours and then mixed in coconut oil and some beeswax.

Chickweed

Stellaria media can be found anywhere in the world where there is moist soil. It can be invasive and is in fact a common weed in gardens, yards, and parks. For that reason, I'm not sure if I would purposely plant and grow it (if I had a backyard of my own), but I also wouldn't pick it off the ground at Central Park, which is probably heavily sprayed and fertilized, to eat for a snack (like I have done before). So I was super excited to find it at the Garden of Eve Farm stand at McCarren Park Greenmarket yesterday.

Many plants that we consider to be weeds often have culinary, nutritive, or medicinal value-- dandelion greens, nettles, purslane, sorrel. Think about how weeds have adapted to withstand almost any environmental condition, absorbing and taking in the good as well as the bad around them and arising stronger in the end. Their actions work similarly in our bodies.

According to my Medicinal Herbs book by Rosemary Gladstar, chickweed is highly esteemed for its emollient, demulcent healing properties and is a major herb for addressing skin irritation, eye inflammation, and kidney and liver disorders. It is most commonly used in healing salves in which the herb is dried, infused in oil, then mixed with some beeswax and used to soothe irritated, dry skin and rashes. I think I will try making that one of these days. Meanwhile, since it doesn't dry or store well, we are eating it fresh and using it in our salads. It's full of vitamins, calcium, potassium, and other good stuff. Today, Neil made pineapple tofu (chicken for him) pasta salad with celery, shallots, and chickweed.

 

Lamiaceae

Fresh mint tea and catnip

A Week in Conway, MA

I just came back from spending a wonderful week in Western Massachusetts, where I attended a program at Goldthread Farm to learn about medicinal herbs. The main goal of the program was to provide us with a basic knowledge of herbal medicine so that we could start integrating their use into our lives. The instructors were wonderful, incorporating a mixture of lectures, herb walks, and farm work. I also met a lot of very nice people-- 4 of whom were also nurses!

The highlights for me were: learning about tulsi, the "holy basil", while drinking freshly harvested tulsi and ginger tea; picking off and eating goji berries during an herb walk around the farm; taking part in the distillation of lemon verbena into essential oil; tasting herbal honeys; daily delicious lunches prepared by an amazing cook; a group trip to Northampton for dinner; and getting to know the lovely lady whose house I stayed at during the week.

I've learned a lot of new things this year, mostly about farming and growing vegetables, but I also really wanted to know more about herbs in particular. Yes, vegetables are good for us. And eating more of them (and subsequently, less meat) has made me feel a lot better in general. But there are so many plants-- even culinary herbs and spices that are already in our kitchens-- that can help us keep healthy and prevent us from getting sick. Of course there's no substitute for Western medicine when you're very ill, but in general, herbs and plants can help us keep up our immunity and defend against common ailments.

This all brings me to the root of why I stopped working at the hospital this year and started working on a farm. Apart from wanting to know where my food comes from, what goes into the soil and how to keep it healthy in order to produce nutrient-rich food, I also want to do everything I can to keep myself from being on the patient side at the cancer center where I worked. Two people who were present at my wedding were patients on my floor. Both have passed away. I took care of one of them during her last 3 nights, and I have to say-- now that I am no longer working there-- that those were the hardest shifts I ever went through. I had never felt so drained. So much that after that, I realized I couldn't work at a cancer center anymore.

There are so many things out of our control-- our environment, upbringing, genetics, etc. But what we eat, even if we can't know where it all really comes from, is our choice and is one of the ways we can actively take part in maintaining health. Sounds simple, but it's really something I never thought too much about before. But I am paying more attention to how different foods make me feel after a meal. Coming from a family where we primarily cook and eat Chinese food, which is also food that I enjoy indulging in, I just try to find a balance. And now I know I can also do small things each day, even if it's just brewing a cup of mint tea after dinner!

Mint Chip Ice Cream

I followed David Lebovitz's recipe and it tastes amazing. I used spearmint fresh from the farmer's market and folded in chocolate chunks instead of scribbling it in melted like he did. It's such a great recipe, I'll probably use it even for other flavors since it turned out so well.