I am a great exponent of herbal tea and it is no accident that my garden is full of herbs of every sort. Sage tea,beneficial to the liver and kidneys is a frequent beverage for me. Mint for indigestion is another but it is the wild herbs which provide so of the nicest and most refreshing of all .
Lime flowers are very plentiful this year and have been picking them daily for a couple of week, a handful of these sweet smelling flowers infused in a half pint of boiling water make a refreshing drink when strained and chilled. Drunk at bed time this has a pleasantly soporific effect and helps me to relax and be ready for sleep.
Drunk in larger quantities it has a diuretic effect which is useful if fluid retention is a problem. Lime flowers can like many herbs can be dried for winter use and In the summer my kitchen is fragranced by the great bunches of herbs hanging all around.
Chamomile flowers are better dried in a flat bottomed basket,turned daily they will dry quite quickly,tansy,dandelion,nettle,and many more take there turn on the drying racks as the years turns. Lavender,which has so many uses is just coming in to flower in my garden and I have already baked and orange ;lavender cake,made like a lemon drizzle but using lavender flowers along with the orange juice and sugar to pour over the cake while it is still hot.
Today I noticed that the ladies bedstraw,sweetest of all the strewing herbs is in flower in the meadow and if tomorrow is dry I shall pick a large bunch to add to this years pot pourri and of course to mix with lavender and wormwood for the moth sachets . Moths dislike the smell of these herbs and will not lay eggs where they are present.
Even Twiggy is a fan of herbal treats and is the proud owner of three large catnip plants which I should tell you would be a good deal bigger if she would stop chewing them for a week or two,I photographed her this afternoon rolling about on the path as high as a kite of the stuff...what a junky she is!
Today I am making a gooseberry crumble wit the addition of some elder flowers which give the dish a wonderful fragrance. In autumn the berries of this same elder will find there way in to apple pies for a rich red splash among the pale apples and for the splendid flavour they produce and all completely free of charge,courtesy of nature,who am I to refuse such bounty.
One humble request to any weather Gods out there. Picking herbs for drying is not possible when it is raining, a little dry weather would be nice. Thank you.
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