Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is good for soooo many things!! It makes a calming and uplifting tea and is also delicious as sun tea, it has been proven to reduce cortisol which is a stress hormone that is a precursor to so many diseases, it also has anti-viral properties and as such it good for cold sores
(salves) The bees LOVE lemon balm I must be part bee because I do too!  It is a mood elevator as well and has been used successfully for depression.
 Recent research has shown lemon balm may be useful for many things including the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease due to its ability to inhibit acetylcholinesterase. It can also help with digestive complaints and has long been known as a sleep aide.

As an unusual member of the mint family the native herb yerba buena (Satureja douglasii)  has always intrigued me with its strong powerful scent, shiny green leaves and its status as a trailing ground plant, that weaves fragrance through the forest floor. It loves to grow in open sunny dry places at lower elevations and can often be found growing near garry oak and arbutus.Just like me yerba buena loves an ocean view!! It can be easy to miss as it is so low growing and has only short ascending branches up to about 3 inches. To find yerba buena can be a true blessing! The solitary flowers are white to purplish tinged and bloom in June and July.
It has long been used as medicine among many native people up and down the west coast, and has been used for colds, fever, digestive complaints, relaxation and even as an aphrodisiac! Yerba Buena means good herb in Spanish and until 1847 was the name of San Francisco. Other medicinal properties include being diaphoretic, antiseptic, febrifuge, sedative, and anthelmintic.

I like many others have always enjoyed a delightful cup of tea from this lovely little plant yet an experience I had several years ago changed the way I thought about Yerba Buena forever.(and other things as well..)

As I was walking one day on a mountain near my home, I sat to rest in a sunny spot and discovered a patch of yerba buena.I always feel it is such a gift when I find this plant for although it is native to this area I still find it a rare occurrence to come across it. Then a most amazing thing happened. Clear as daylight the following popped into my head ”Please take me with you and make me into medicine for lung ailments. I have been up here soaking in the warmth of summer after surviving the strong winds and pelting rains of the winter and spring. I can bring the warmth and dryness of summer to people when the wind and rain get trapped inside of them."

Well you can imagine my surprise but not being one to argue with a plant, I gathered some and headed home. I felt moved to add some horehound and elecampane as well. I mixed it all with some alcohol and vegetable glycerine and called it Lung Elixer.

By October of that year the wind and rains did come and people started asking for help and the lung elixir went to work. Then the calls started coming in.” what was that you gave me?” My bronchitis was better in 4 days!” and ‘My children have had whooping cough before and nothing has worked like this!!” Comments like these continued on for the rest of the winter. I had used elecampane and horehound before but never together with yerba buena.

Now for the scientific among you I can almost hear you thinking “ this person is nuts!!” I realize none of this experience has any scientific merit and is merely anecdotal, yet I cannot deny my own inner voice nor do I want to.

I feel deep gratitude I listened and I strongly feel this is a valuable way as any of working with plants. I must add however to do all the research in other ways too if you are not familiar with the plant, perhaps keep a record of your own listenings..you never know where things might lead when we walk slowly and silently in nature.

 Please feel free to make comments or ask questions on this on article or any other of my writings. Please note this is copywrited material and please do not reproduce in any form without written permission

REFERENCES:

Moore,Micheal 1993 Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West Red Crane Publishing




Pojar and Mackinnon,1994 Plants of Coastal British Columbia,B.C. Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing




Bean,Lowell John and Katherine Siva Saubel 1972 Temalpakh(From the Earth);Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants.Banning,CA. Malki Musuem Press(189)




Bocek,Barbara R. 1984 Ethnobotany of Costanoan Indians,California,Based on Collections by John P.Harrington. Ecomomic Botany 88(2):240-255(17)




Gifford,E.W.1967 Ethnograpic Notes on the Southwestern Pomo.Anthropological Records 25:10-15(15)

Red Clover is beneficial to both people and the earth. It is good to plant on poor compacted soils as the roots will break up the soil and go down and fix nitrogen and bring up minerals from way down deep. It has long been known as a blood cleanser and a few days of drinking it will really make your skin glow! The skin is the largest organ and toxins will eliminate through the skin when the other channels are overloaded. Red clover is a great herb for both men and women, It is high in calcium so it can help keep bones strong and research now reveals that is estrogenic in nature so it can help with hot flashes and other uncomfortable symptoms of menopause. And for men it can help shrink an enlarged prostate. So lets make this one a daily drink!! It is fragrant and can taste very sweet. Not to mention its sheer beauty.Another reason red clover is so great is that it helps to alkalize the blood, and we hear about alkaline diet alot these days as disease tends to thrive in an acid environment, so keeping our system alkaline is one of the best things we can do for our health. From an energetic view point red clover is cooling so it can calm hot emotions such as anger and fear. Some other benefits are it lowers blood pressure and is an anti-cancer herb. Not bad really for a cute little pink flower!!
If you haven't had it yet please try some!! Hot or cold it is delicious!! The blossoms are the best part with just a bit of the leaf. It contains coumarins so should not be used by people who are on blood thinners as it can have the same action.And from the world of folklore it is thought that holding a red clover blossom can give you fairy sight, that is the ability to see and talk to fairies!!
Try it and let me know!!! Meanwhile you if you are looking for me I will be.....rolling over in the clover!!!! ( and over and over because I feel so great!!)

The nettles are up! The nettles are up! I have heard this jubilant cry from many beaming faces in the last few weeks…Everyone in the know has their own favorite way of finding and preparing this wondrous plant and we all know that when we eat it, drink it, juice it, dry it, pickle it or even wash our hair with it we feel REALLY good. It is a  sure sign of spring here in our Southern Gulf Islands. A welcome tonic filled with green vitality to restore us to health and vibrancy after those long cold gray winter days. It pours forth its blessings as food, fiber and medicine and has proven itself for centuries especially in Scotland and England where it has been called upon for everything from making bed sheets to beer. Nettles aka stinging nettles aka Urtica Dioica has to be one of the most nutrient filled plants I have ever come across. With its deep green, sometimes purplish leaves it is a great source of iron, calcium magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, as well as many trace minerals. A 100 gms of cooked nettles provide you with 2900 mg of Calcium and 41mg of Iron. WOW. It truly is one of nature’s superfoods. Harvest the new tender growth or just the tops of them when they get a bit older. Look for them in cool shady moist areas. But what about that sting you say?? Well be careful when you harvest it, use gloves for sure although I must admit I really like getting a few stings…just a few every year.. Also tread lightly and remember to selectively snip as nettles provide habitat for others in our ecosystems especially some endangered butterflies. Harvest in a way that when someone else comes by, no one will even be able to tell you have been there. Remember to say thank you before you start to pick, during and after. Great communication is the basis of all good relationships! Yellow dock often grown near nettles, and the leaves can be chewed up and put on the stings, there is an old rhyme that goes:

Nettle in Dock out Dock Rub Nettle Out! 

Use nettles as you would spinach in a soup or just steam them on their own. Add a bit of celtic salt and a pinch of cayenne. yum yum! I just had Nettle Lasagna with my neighbor. Did you know that in my observations that if you share nettles in a meal with someone, you will likely be friends for a loooooong time! You can run nettles through your juicer if you really want to know what an inner zing is! They make an amazing green juice that is high in serotonin. Serotonin aides in creating a peaceful feeling. The first time I juiced nettles a friend and I drank about a cup each and we got sooo peaceful we both dozed off quite quickly. ( it was the middle of the day..) so perhaps nettle juice should come with a warning..or just try a little bit at first. For years I have used Nettles as a final rinse for my hair and wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that I have very little grey hair even in my 50's

I always bring nettle tea to my friends who have just given birth, not only does it help replenish nutrients and build the blood back up but it also is known for increasing mother’s milk. Nettles are a natural diuretic and fresh nettles contain a lot of Vitamin K so it can help arrest excessive bleeding. It is a great plant for women at all stages of life, for its calcium and iron and for men too it can help reduce an enlarged prostrate. For those on blood thinners they may want to be cautious as nettles can have the same action.

Not only is this a master plant in the food and vitamin department but one can make cloth from its fibers. I had a friend years ago that carried a small hand spinner and was always spinning nettle. Gandhi would be proud! In the 1600’s in Scotland you could sleep in nettle sheets! Now there is a project! Here is some more info on nettle fiber http://www.swicofil.com/products/016nettle.html

In England they have a whole week called be nice to Nettles week. You can go to the website and take a nettle quiz and after completing it I discovered that I was a nicely nettley!! It is fun and informative: www.nettles.org.uk Dry some nettles too to use in teas for the rest of the year They have a very rich taste and are great on their own or mix them with a bit of peppermint or lemon balm. And soon I am sure I will run into you and hear the nettles are up! The nettles are up!!