China Bayles' Book of Days (11 page)

In the Middle Ages, Hildegard von Bingen used violet juice as the basis for a cancer salve, while physicians employed the herb to treat insomnia, epilepsy, pleurisy, and rheumatism. The plant was said to be ruled by the planet Venus (which ruled the throat), making it a natural as a treatment for throat ailments, too.

In fact, violet leaves and stems do contain a soothing mucilage, as well as salicylic acid, the precursor of aspirin—good for the throat. They’re also rich in vitamins A and C, and for people who didn’t have access to fresh veggies in the winter, an early spring salad of violet leaves was a very good idea. The flowers taste sweet and are often made into syrup or jelly, candied, and crystallized. Try violet syrup with your favorite pancakes—and a spoonful for that scratchy throat.

SWEET VIOLET SYRUP

2 cups boiling water
6 cups freshly picked violet blossoms (unsprayed), washed
thoroughly
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Place violets in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over them, then place a saucer on top to submerge the flowers. Let stand for 24 hours. Line a colander with cheesecloth and pour the violets and liquid through it, squeezing out the liquid. Discard the blossoms. Add sugar and lemon juice to the liquid and simmer in a nonreactive pan until the mixture is the consistency of syrup. Cover and refrigerate. Use within a week.

Read more about violets:

Flowers in the Kitchen: A Bouquet of Tasty Recipes
, by Susan Belsinger

Violets: The History & Cultivation of Scented Violets
, by Roy E. Coombs

FEBRUARY 16

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

—KAHLIL GIBRAN

Wind-tossed?

If the winds have been playing havoc with your hair, you may need some extra hair care. Hair conditioners help keep hair soft, manageable, and healthy. Ruby Wilcox (who is always playing with hair color and style) has designed two simple home-crafted jojoba-based conditioners that help her get the upper hand over frizzes and tangles. Jojoba (pronounced “ho-ho-ba”) oil is derived from the jojoba bean and especially valued for cosmetic uses. It is a liquid wax (rather than an oil) that helps tame roughness and flaking, and has healing properties. Many conditioning recipes also use eggs, for extra protein.

ROSEMARY JOJOBA CONDITIONER

1 cup rose floral water (available in drugstores and on-line)
1 tablespoon jojoba oil
10 drops vitamin E oil
4-5 drops essential oil of rosemary

In a nonreactive pan, over low heat, warm the rose water. Add jojoba oil. Pour into a blender and add vitamin E oil and rosemary oil. Blend for 1-2 minutes.

To use: Before shampooing, wet your hair and pour the conditioner onto your hair and scalp. Massage it in. For extra conditioning, wrap your head in a warm, damp towel and leave it on for 20-30 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with warm water and shampoo.

ROSEMARY AND EGG CONDITIONER

1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons jojoba or almond oil
4-5 drops essential oil of rosemary
1 cup water

Beat the egg yolk until frothy. Beat the jojoba oil and rosemary oil into the egg, thoroughly incorporating. Add this egg-oil mixture to the water, stirring to blend. Massage into scalp and hair. Rinse and shampoo gently.

Read more about hair care and other herbal beauty treatments:

Natural Beauty from the Garden
, by Janice Cox

Jojoba (
Simmondia chinensis
) is . . . a handsome, distinctive desert plant . . . The oil (actually a liquid wax) extracted from the seeds . . . is an excellent scalp treatment for either dry, flaky dandruff or brittle hair.

—MICHAEL MOORE, MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE DESERT AND
CANYON WEST

FEBRUARY 17

I whipped two eggs with feta cheese, added some basil and thyme, topped the cooked omelet with yogurt and chives, and sat down to eat and think.

—THYME OF DEATH: A CHINA BAYLES MYSTERY

Eggs and Herbs: A Perfectly Delicious Breakfast

There’s nothing more perfectly natural than an egg, and eggs and herbs together are perfectly perfect. An omelet for one or two is easy, but omelets for a crowd are a different story. Here’s an easy way to manage breakfast eggs for a large, hungry family—in your oven!

BAKED EGGS WITH GARDEN HERBS

4 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon chopped chives
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes, or 2 teaspoons fresh
minced parsley
dash crumbled dried tarragon
dash dried leaf thyme
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 eggs
½ cup half-and-half or sour cream (low-fat is fine)
½ cup shredded Gruyère or Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine butter with herbs; divide among 8 6-ounce ovenproof custard cups. Place cups in a large shallow baking pan and place in oven until butter has melted. Break an egg into each cup. Top with 1 tablespoon half-and-half or sour cream and 1 tablespoon shredded cheese. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until eggs reach desired doneness. Serves 8.

Read more about eggs and herbs:

Omelettes: Eggs at Their Best: Quick and Easy Recipes for 50 Sensational Omelettes
, by Laurence Sombke

In February, in the New of the Moon, sow Borage, Coriander, Marjoram, Radish, Rosemary and Sorrel.

—GERVASE MARKHAM, THE ENGLISH HOUSEWIFE, 1615

At the waning of the February Moone, sow onions and leeks. Sow parsley at February full Moone.

—THE EXPERT GARDENER, 1643

FEBRUARY 18

Today is the first day of the Celtic Month of the Ash (February 18-March 17 ), according to some calendars.

Igdrasil, the Ash-tree of existence, has its roots deep-down in the kingdoms of Death: its trunk reaches up heaven-high, spreads its boughs over the whole Universe: it is the Tree of Existence. Is not every leaf of it a biography, every fiber there an act or word? Its boughs are the Histories of Nations. The rustle of it is the noise of Human Existence, onwards from of old. . . .

—THOMAS CARLYLE (1795-1881)

The Mythical, Magical Ash

This month is sacred to Yggdrasil, the ash tree (
Fraxinus excelsior
), one of the most powerful of all trees. In Viking mythology, it was known as the Tree of Life. Because the ash tree was revered for its powerful protection, healing wands and protective staffs were made from it. It was also used as a traditional Yule log, bringing the powerful, protective light of the sun into the hearth on the darkest day: the winter solstice.

In the English Midlands, the ash was used in many divinations, and had other magical uses. To cure warts, you obtained a new pin for each wart you wanted to get rid of. You pushed a pin into the tree, then into your wart, then back into the tree again, chanting this charm:
Ashen tree, ashen tree, Pray buy these warts of me.
(If it didn’t work, you tried a different tree, or lived with your warts.)

THE MEDICINAL ASH

The bark of the ash has been used as a substitute for quinine in the treatment of fevers, and was thought to clear obstructions from the spleen and liver. The leaves were used as a laxative, as a treatment for rheumatism, and—through diuretic action—as a weight-loss aid and treatment for congestive heart failure.

THE USEFUL ASH

The crisp, green fruits of the ash tree (called “keys”) were pickled for use in sauces and salads. The wood of the tree was both strong and flexible, and so was widely used to make wheels, skis, and agricultural implements. The attractive grain and flexibility made it a popular furniture wood.

Read more about pickling ash keys and using the ash medicinally:

The Countryside Cookbook: Recipes and Remedies
, by Gail Duff

Even ash, even ash,
²
I pluck thee off the tree. The first man I meet, my true love he be.
—TRADITIONAL LOVE CHARM

FEBRUARY 19

Only with winter-patience can we bring
The deep-desired, long-awaited spring.
—ANNE MORROW LINDBERGH

Winter Patience

If you’d like to have early plants or special varieties for your herb garden, you’ll probably want to grow them yourself. If you start them now, in a sunny window, your winter patience will be rewarded in the spring. Easiest annuals to try: basil, dill, chervil, summer savory, and sweet marjoram.

You’ll need seed flats, peat pots, or recycled containers (mushroom boxes and egg cartons, with drainage holes). Fill with a purchased potting medium or use a mix of 2 parts sand and 1 part vermiculite. Moisten, sow the seeds, and barely cover with soil. (Read the seed packet to learn the germination requirements.) Cover the container with plastic and put in a well-lighted place, watering from the bottom, if possible, to keep the surface evenly moist. As soon as germination begins, move into full sun. When the herb seedlings are large enough to handle, transplant them into individual pots. In another week or so, begin hardening them off by moving the pots onto a protected porch or setting them into a ventilated cold frame (easily made with boards or bricks stacked 3-4 high, covered with an old window or sheet of plastic or fiberglass that allows the sunlight in). After a week, the seedlings will be sturdy enough to survive the shock of transplanting into the garden.

STARTING TINY SEEDS IN A PLASTIC BOTTLE GREENHOUSE

Some herb seeds—artemisias, pennyroyal, ambrosia—are powder-fine. To start these, cut a 2- or 3-liter soft drink bottle in half. Using a heated ice pick (careful!) punch 5-6 holes in the bottom. Fill the bottom half to a depth of 4-5 inches with potting medium and cover with vermiculite or fine-sieved sphagnum moss. Moisten the medium, then sow the seeds as evenly and thinly as possible, pressing into the surface. (Don’t cover with soil.) Put the top half onto the bottom half, so that you have a mini-greenhouse. Screw on the plastic bottle cap and put in a window with good indirect light. Water from the bottom, so as not to disturb the soil surface. As soon as the seeds are growing strongly, remove the bottle cap. A few days later, take the top off the bottle. Transplant into individual pots when large enough to handle. Harden off on a porch or outdoors.

Read more about seeds and seedling care:

Growing Herbs from Seed, Cutting & Root: An Adventure in Small Miracles
, by Thomas Debaggio

To make a hot Bed in February, for the raising of any tender Plants of Flowers, you must provide a warm place defended from all Winds by a Pale made of Reed or Straw, about six feet high: within which you must raise a Bed . . . of new horse-dung. . . .

—WORLIDGE SYSTEMA AGRICULTURAE, 1697

FEBRUARY 20

Zodiac: Today or yesterday, the Sun enters the astrological sign of Pisces.

Like several other signs, Pisces is ruled by two planets: Venus (its early ruler) and Neptune (discovered in 1846). A mutable sign—changeable and communicative—dreamy Pisces is a water sign. Piscean people are creative, sensitive, and empathic, with strong desires. They can be emotionally vulnerable and rather melancholic.

—RUBY WILCOX, “ASTROLOGICAL SIGNS”

Pisces Herbs

For centuries, Pisces was said to be ruled by Venus, and many of its herbs are related to Venus. Ailments associated with Pisces have traditionally included insomnia (and its opposite, a tendency to sleep too much!), addictions, psychotic disorders, lung diseases, and afflictions of the foot. To this list, contemporary herbalists also add immune system disorders. Herbs associated with Pisces, Venus, and Neptune are said to improve the immune and lymphatic systems, assist in sleeping, and strengthen the feet. Many have an antibacterial effect. Here are some of the Pisces herbs: