The Twelve Herbs for the Holidays

Bedstraw

                

Our Lady’s Bedstraw at The Cloisters

Skylands is hosting a themed Christmas called:  “The Twelve Plants of Christmas.” 

Not to be outdone, I wish to install a virtual “Twelve Herbs of the Holidays.” 

The first four:” Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme”---they are of the refrain from the Simon& Garfunkle song from the Graduate (1969). Each has medicinal use and symbolic meaning.

It’s likely they were seasoning for your holiday meal. 

In the 1930s, we only saw one of them: Parsley---garnishing the turkey. It was the pre-eminent herb in the grocer’s.

The scented ones include Bayberry, Lavender, and Bedstraw. Folk lore has it that bedstraw was used in baby Jesus' manger, It has a sweet aroma released when it is warmed. See it at the Cloisters next summer.

One herb for the unexpected: Mistletoe stands for life out of death, and is a social highlight of holiday parties. Another unexpected herb is used to protect our guests: Santolina. Health herbs (Chamomile, Peppermint and Spearmint) are part of the twelve herbs of the holidays to make teas for stress-free holidays.

January? Probably health herbs teas .

--Pat Libutti, The Urban Herban

Herbs in The Midnight Garden of Good and Evil

The Poison Herbs: From top: Mandrake, Mandrake small, Foxglove,Belladonna, Arium, St. John's wort, Belladonna, Foxglove, Arium,Thorn Apple, Thorn apple botanical drawing, Wormwood label, Wormwood.



Bewitch and Beware the Whole Year Through!

The setting for Behrendt’s novel is Savannah, with noted squares and graveyards; but the gardens are pictured as dark, very dark. Could these toxic herb have been part of the eerie settings?  All three outlined below live in Georgia---and New Jersey--- It might have been.

The Thorn apple (Datura stramonium)  is also known as Moonflower and  Locoweed. It is part of the Poison Family---lower left hand side. It is both poisonous and medically useful, as are its relatives in the nightshade family, Belladonna (Altropa belladonna) and Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum).

If you handle the Thorn apple’s seed pods carelessly, you will get pricked painfully. But when the pod opens, the seeds do their dastardly work. Toxic reactions are due to alkaloids that cause vision distortion, hallucinations, and can be fatal. Such is true with Belladonna and Mandrake as well. These are not plants to display in a garden club show and tell! Many of the parts of the plants are toxic; check your local poison plant directory.

The medicinal uses of these nightshade members are surprising: Datura was formerly an asthmatic medication, Belladonna is an eye medication, and Mandrake was used for stomach ills. 

Cornell notes their debilitating effect on livestock, USDA lists them as ‘noxious plants’; and Native Americans from long ago used them as hallucinogenic aids for ceremonies. 

You will find an exhibit in the Cloisters herb gardens in their "Magical Herb" section. There are many others which could have been part of the same Garden, such as Foxglove and Mayapple---but this will wait till another Halloween.

A closer view of the Thorn apple---see the prickly pods?


Sources (some) 
U. Michigan: Native American Medical Plants Database 
FDA: Poisonous Plants Database
 A Modern Herbal 
Cornell University’s Ag Extension publications 
USDA .

Just Basil

FROM THE URBAN HERBAN’S NOTEBOOK: 
BASIL

Basil & Tomatoes are the Peanut Butter and Jelly of Vegetable Land. 

The last basil needs to be harvested before it disappears into the frost, to be grown in the home garden---next year.

The best tasting basil, if plucked, in July or August can be part of Sicilian Tomato and Basil Salad. Take a tomato, quarter it, drizzle freshly made  oil and vinegar dressing over it, and top with sliced thin basil.  

Also, try a Many-Basil Pesto: use Genovese Basil with others, such as Cinnamon, Lemon, or Pistou, the French contribution. Each blends for a piquant pesto.

Basil is past its prime, which was July 21; it lost some of its volatile oils. It would be best in stews and sauces. Just dry it carefully and store in a brown glass jar (Why? Chemists have figured out that the volatile oils will not seep through the glass, as they do with plastic. )

Or, store in the fridge, to be used a bit at a time when you wish.

Basil comes from India and spread quickly to the Mediterranean, thanks to travelers. It was used medicinally to cure coughs and colds, just like its relatives, the mints.

 It was originally considered dangerous, and it was believed that a pot of basil hid a scorpion under the pot base (Do you believe that one?)

Program at Van Saun for Children: "Just Basil"
https://www.scribd.com/doc/248655680/05232014-Latest-Van-Saun-Desc-Adults