A bit of herbal talk and my biggest influence

This week will be busy preparing all sorts of talks.
First I will attend our local Primary school and try to 'inspire' them for their upcoming summer holidays.
There is so much to do outside: it doesn't have to be something extraordinary, something where you need expensive gadgets or special clothing. Experiencing your environment can be as exciting as a journey abroad - especially if you live in such a quaint, beautiful place like our part of the world.
All senses will be activated once you step outside the house:
see: the beauty, observe plants, animals ... even the weather
touch: a lot: soil, stones, animals, plants ( yes even nettles :) )... wash your hands afterwards
taste: 'real', plain food .... many herbs will let your taste-buds experience new impressions
smell: take a deep breath .... inhale the pureness after a rainfall in summer, smell flower, herbs, food... exercise this sense ... there is no limit
hearing: listen to the birds, the morning choir at dawn and also wait until the last bird goes to bed. There is a lot of buzzing, humming, screeching, barking, 'muh and maeh-ing' to be discovered.


As some 'facebookers' might have discovered that I will offer a talk on HERBS. briefly how to cultivate them and how to use 'domesticated' and wild Herbs.

The Talk will be on Wednesday the 1st of June in the Tubbercurry Family Resource Center, 11.00 - 12.30.

Over the years I have done several Talks on Herbs, for women groups and some within Adult Education. Even though I never promoted them, some friends of mine are aware, that I do have an interest in the subject and that I use Herbs on daily basis.

No - I do not have am official Qualification. 

But I do have a lifelong passions for this 'Hobby', which was nourished by three influential people: my Granny and both of my parents - in later years mainly my Mum.

Happy in their garden

     

I might sound sentimental ...., but it is the first gardening year without all of them. With my Mum I would exchange a lot of news over the phone what was growing in her garden patch and in mine. What did we already harvest, what dish did we cook, what cake did we bake or what tea we would be on and how did it 'kick in' ... and always a bit of a chat about the weather.

even outside the growing season, Mum had to make sure that the birds had clean water in the little pond 

Despite, that the visual memories of my Grandmother are rather faded, her individual scent seems to be imprinted in my memory. Whenever the smell of yarrow hits me, a button in my brain seems to be activated, which lets me remind of her. Not only had she a lot of simple everyday Herbs in her 'Farmers-Garden' ( Bauerngarten ), but sometimes we would be out walking with her and collecting her 'favorite' herbs Yarrow, chamomile and St.Johns-wort. At home she would put them on sheets of newspaper and let them air-dry. Once you entered the farm-house that scent of dried herbs was everywhere, but especially yarrow seemed to be her personal fragrance to me.
Another habit of hers, which I want to share, is, that before we cycled the 5 km back home to our house, she would give us a feed of dark brown sourdough rye-bread, loaded with butter ( we could see the mark of our teeth in the butter ), a pinch of salt and covered with small cut chives. All washed down with a glass of raw cows-milk, where cream has settled on the top, which gave us white mustaches.
Our Dad was a real Gatherer. Every year he was out ( and we often with him ) collecting wild strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. I m not talking about a basin of any size, but buckets .... ! His special passion was collecting mushrooms,  but that Hobby finished after the nuclear disaster in Tschernobyl, as high radiation was discovered within that region ( parts of Bavaria ).
Whenever Dad had his harvest done, all fruit was spread on the kitchen table and Mum and us kids sorted out the fruit from the 'creepy-crawleys'. Some summers the tiny worms were everywhere ( even at night in my dreams ) and other years the fruit was near to perfect. Usually our Mother made syrup and incredible beautiful jam from this harvest ...and cake ...lots of yummy cake. I still love doing my own jam from our own fruit, but it never is as intense as Mum's wild Raspberry Jam.... not to mention the disappointment when I buy some 'Gourmet-jam' for 4 or 5 euros... .
I suppose its a matter of life-style nowadays, but many years ago all those procedures were a matter of saving money and trying to get by with your own produce ... it didn't matter in which country you lived.

part of my herbal corner during last weeks sunny spell 

Back to the herbal business - most people would ask me, but what do you do with all those herbs - well I mainly pour hot water over those and drink them. But I also make my own Valerian and Echinacea - drops. Recently I visited my aunt, the last survivor of my parents family. She is a nun and grows and uses herbs all her life, like her Mother did.
Herbs can ease certain discomforts, but I have to advise people to see always a general practitioner if you are unwell ... as already mentioned I m not a doctor, healer or anything in that direction.
But there is no harm in certain habits, like drinking my evening cup preferably with lemon-balm, sometimes mixed with wild peppermint or an borage leaf/blossom. This time I would collect white-thorn blossoms and later in the year its berries. Then drinking nettle tea or making nettle-feed for my plants gives that powerful herb ( some call it weed ) a clear reason for its existance. Also young dandelion leafs do taste nice between hot spuds - and are good for you ...... and much more.

a herbal summer lunch with ALL homemade products

So again, if you know someone in the area who has an interest in this subject, give him a hint and my contact details.
Thank you for sharing.