Pineapple Sage:
Use the fresh leaves too add an interesting flavour to teas, fruit drinks, fruit dishes and salads. Use the sweet flowers as an edible garnish, in salads, sandwiches and desserts. Batter leaves, fry and serve with cream. Good with chicken, cheese and in jams. Thread leaves between meat and mushrooms, onions or capsicum on kebabs. Use branches for wreaths and leaves in potpourris. Yarrow:
Young, bitter leaves and flowers can be chopped and added to salads, dips and liqueurs. Leaves are used in the early stages of a cold or flu. They are excellent when crushed and placed on a wound to stop bleeding. Place fresh leaves in the nose to stop a nosebleed or treat a migraine headache. Chew a fresh leaf to ease toothache. Also used to treat mild depression, high blood pressure, scanty menstrual bleeding and menstrual pain, and mild cystitis. Good for the circulation of blood and for treating fever, rapid heartbeat, and inflammations. Improves the appetite. Put some leaves in to boiling water and inhale the aroma to treat asthma and hay fever. Excellent as a compress for treating varicose veins, thrombosis and acne. Use a poultice of the leaves for spider bites. As a douche it is used to treat yeast infections, help stop secretions and haemorrhages. Use a tea as a mouthwash for inflamed gums, or a douche for leucorrhoea. Combined with rosemary and peppermint, it makes a good hair wash to treat dandruff and falling hair. Use dried flowers in crafts and floral arrangements. It is also an ingredient in many herbal cosmetics as an astringent and cleanser suitable for oily skins. Flowers produce various shades of white and yellow dye with an alum mordant. The whole plant produces shades of grey to black, or olive green with iron mordant. Add to a compost heap to accelerate decomposition. When grown in the garden, it helps other plants nearby to become more resistant to disease. Warning: Do not use when pregnant, or for more than 2 weeks. Excessive doses are toxic. Allergies to yarrow are common, and sensitivity increases with use. May cause photosensitivity and other allergic reactions such as headache and vertigo. May cause urine to appear brownish, but this is no cause for alarm. When cows eat yarrow, their milk develops an unpleasant taste. Yarrow interferes with the absorption of iron and other minerals. Excessive doses may interfere with existing anticoagulant and hypo- or hypertensive therapies. Caution should be exercised by epileptic patients. Lemon Balm:
Use fresh leaves in salads and as a garnish for fish and other dishes. When candied, the leaves make attractive cake decorations. Chopped leaves can be added to egg, fish and chicken dishes and sprinkled over fresh vegetables. Goes well with corn, broccoli, asparagus, lamb, shellfish, ground black pepper, olives and beans. Add the leaves to cooked dishes in the last few minutes. They can also be added to summer drinks and fruit salads, soups, sauces, and ice cream, and make a good substitute for lemon peel in recipes. An ingredient of Benedictine and Chartreuse. The flower tips and young leaves are floated in wine or fruit cups as a flavouring and garnish. Substitute for lemon rind in jam making, and add to marmalades. Makes a delicious tea, alone or added to ordinary tea. It helps relieve anxiety attacks, palpitations with nausea, mild insomnia and phobias, and when used as a sedative it is good for children. It combines well with peppermint to stimulate circulation, and can also be used for colds and flu and is most effective in the early stages of a cold. The tea is used to treat headaches and tiredness, mild depression, laryngitis, colic and dizziness, and is reputed to enhance the memory. It calms a nervous stomach, controls high blood pressure, relieves menstrual cramps, promotes menstruation and treats insomnia. Fresh juice is used to treat goitre and Grave?s Disease. It is especially suitable for children, and makes a good substitute for chamomile. A crushed fresh leaf applied to insect bites eases discomfort. As a poultice it treats sores and tumours. In ointment, it is good for cold sores. Attracts bees to the garden. Potpourri. An infusion of leaves makes a refreshing skin toner and can be used in rinse water for clothes. A stronger infusion makes a good rinse for oily hair. Use as a facial steam for dry skin and to treat acne. Use in furniture polishes. Rub on a fresh leaf to soothe insect bites. Use in sleep pillows, and add to soaps. Used to bathe discharging eyes in puppies. Used to bring down retained afterbirth in farm animals. Also used for farm animals for eye ailments, nervous and brain disorders, heart abnormalities, uterine disorders, to increase milk yield and to prevent miscarriage. The leaves rubbed onto wooden furniture makes a fine furniture polish. Warning: Avoid medicinal doses when pregnant or if suffering from night sweats. People with either Grave's disease or thyroid-related illness should not use this herb except under medical supervision. Prolonged contact with balm plants or leaves may cause contact dermatitis (itching, stinging, burning, reddened or blistered skin) or it may sensitize you to other allergens. |
