One thing that has continued to make me smile during these crazy times we're living in is seeing all kinds of new people starting up home gardens who never had the time or opportunity previously. Of course my boyfriend and I are still only amateurs ourselves, but I have found much joy in the process of sowing seeds and watching them grow. When we're lucky and find the right combination, those seedlings grow into fully fruit-bearing plants that provide us delicious sustenance at the cost of a few dollars for the seeds and the labor from our backs. I am so pleased to see many others finding that same joy right now!
Besides just the benefit of growing something out of the dirt with your own two hands, the more local our food is, the more nutrients it retains and the more positive impact on the environment as a whole. You can't get much more local than your own yard or a pot on your balcony! We are still in the early stages for our spring garden. Lots of seedlings popping up, but still a ways off from actually seeing what will produce. However, a few of the usual suspects in the herb garden are growing like gangbusters.
Though I consider myself lucky enough to be working just as much as I was before the lockdown, sometimes I wish I had a bit more time for projects as there are many to be done on my suburban homesteading list. The past few weeks I've grabbed what precious extra time I can find to work on preserving the wholesome herbs growing all around us. Some of these preservation methods I've written about before, but I'm also working on a few different preparations this year as I continue to slowly expand my repertoire.
Oregano Tincture
Oregano is a member of the mint family, which explains why we seem to be able to grow it so well. Our mint, lemon balm and oregano always come back each year, with no effort on our part. Seems like a good gig until they start infiltrating every nook and cranny in the garden. Lately I've been trying to pull a lot of it back, while also putting the herbs to good use. The oregano I often dehydrate to restock my spice cabinet and use in my cooking.
In addition to using plenty of it fresh in dishes to finish them off, like this yummy lentil and cabbage stew I made earlier this week. Sometimes I forget that I can walk right outside and snip a few sprigs to toss right in, but then other times I'll go out and grab a whole bowlful to make into a beautiful pesto.
Oregano is reported to have so many health benefits. From being studied for it's antibiotic and antimicrobial properties, to lowering blood sugar, and being full of other health-promoting antioxidants [source], it's a smart choice to add to your garden. I decided to try making an oregano leaf tincture this year to add to my personal natural medicine cabinet. Though it sounded a bit intimidating at first, it really is quite easy to do. I made a trip to the liquor store to buy a nice big handle of vodka, filled my clean little jars about 3/4 of the way up with oregano, then topped them off with the liquor.
I'll let these steep for 6-8 weeks before transferring to my new jars that I got just for this purpose. I have used oil of oregano before, but this will be my first time seeing how a tincture works. Our household tends to stay pretty healthy, but I love having some form of oregano preparation around when the winter months come around to ward off any bugs at the first sign of a cough or sniffle. I have my jars in the basement away from light to prevent any degradation of the mixture, and my lovely jars are beautiful shades of colors to prevent the same thing once all those good properties are extracted from the leaves.
Lemon Balm & Mint
While we have plenty of dehydrated mint and lemon balm left from last season to use as a delicious tea, I'm on top of another round this year for more of the same and also for grinding up as another addition to the well-stocked spice cabinet! My header image for the post is a jar of mixed herbs that will be lovely added to a salad dressing, sprinkled into a curry, or used in any number of other recipes. Fresh herbs are wonderful, but sometimes the dried add a totally different level of flavor that is quite nice. It is a lot of work to dehydrate enough leaves and then grind them down to make a powder, but the process can be quite meditative and I like having the smaller grind to use in recipes.
Lemon balm and mint are both great for digestion, and lemon balm is one I also became more interested in as it has properties that may help with anxiety and stress [source]. I believe I have enough vodka left to do a lemon balm tincture along with my oregano and my pine catkin one (thanks @nateonsteemit for that idea). My pal @fionasfavourites also suggested a lemon balm, well, balm to use topically. Perhaps that will be researched today as my plants are getting to be the size of toddlers...
We have plenty of other herbs coming along to use, such as dill, basil, cilantro and parsley. I would love to learn how to forage a bit more for some of the wild-growing medicinal and edible plants found her locally, though that sneaky poison ivy makes me hesitant as it tends to be quite rampant around here. I'm highly reactive to that pesky plant, so I tend to shy away from any area where it might be found, even the back of our own yard...
If any of these preparations intimidate you, falling back on a nice sprinkle to finish off your wholesome homemade meals is never a bad way to harness the power of the plants! I'm still only scratching the surface on all the ways to make the most out of our herbs to keep ourselves healthy and well, but it is always a fun process to continue to learn and experiment. I hope we will all continue to explore, even when the pace of the world picks back up and the usual rat race begins again.
Perhaps some of this slowed down living will stick with us all for a while, if not indefinitely... A girl can dream, can't she?
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