Herbal Living Contributor

I have become a contributor for Mother Earth Living's new web site, Herbal Living.  I'll be posting videos and posts about herbs - growing, using and enjoying.  The first video is about making a tea that helps immensely with a sore throat.

Sage and Ginger Tea

If you would like me to make a video on some aspect of herbs, just let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for watching and sharing.

Betty

Emerging Herbs

Spring took its own sweet time in arriving this year.  Winter simply did not want to loosen its grip.  Finally, the spring peepers are singing their chorus, red-winged blackbirds have appeared and plants are starting to awaken.

Here is Stinging Nettles, Urtica dioica.  Notice the purple/red runners that nettles sends out to spread from place to place.  Yes, indeed, this plant will sting you!  When it reaches about a foot high, I will harvest the aerial parts.  I use garden gloves, salad tongs and scissors to harvest.  Come back in a few weeks and I will share some delicious recipes for nettles.  It is nutritious and really good.

This is Motherwort, Leonurus cardiaca.  Motherwort will grow to 3-4 feet tall.  It is really a great herb for some types of anxiety, especially when someone needs to be "lion-hearted", as the Latin name suggests.  I usually use it in tincture form, as it is quite bitter.  

Lady's Mantle, Alchemilla mollis, is just beginning to unfurl her cloak.  When I lived in England, it seemed EVERY English garden had Lady's mantle.  It is a really pretty mounding plant that will casually spill over a walkway.  The Latin name tells of its one-time use by alchemists.  There is said to be magic in the dew that collects in the folds of the leaves.  I like to dip my finger in the dew and anoint my face with it.  Can't hurt!  And it's rather fun.

Video of some of my work

Video of some of my work