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About Clary Sage Essential Oil

Belle — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:12:23 +0000

Do you know that Clary Sage essential oil has a particular affinity for the female cycle? Its scent, said to be the most euphoric of all essential oils, gives it calming and soothing qualities that relieve painful periods, premenstrual tension, and abdominal cramps. Other female problems it treats are irregular and absent menstruation.

This delightful oil, distilled from the flowers of the European herb, Salvia sclarea, has a sharp, nutty herbal uplifting aroma that makes it very useful for treating the mind and emotions. It promotes communication; helps with frigidity, depression, and stress-related problems. In fact, it helps to uplift the most despondent person and release depressed thoughts.

It soothes and eases tension in troubled times and is relaxing when faced with apprehension.

In skin care, Clary sage is helpful as an anti-wrinkle application, especially for older skins; promotes cell regeneration, and regulates sebum production providing treatment for premenstrual facial blemishes.

Use this essential oil as a massage blend, a vapourisation, therapeutic bath, diluted for direct application such as rubbing in to the temples to ease headache, and as a facial oil.

Warning: Do not use during pregnancy or combined with alcohol. It may cause drowsiness so do not use before driving. Always follow the directions on the label.

Roman Chamomile Essential Oil

Belle — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:09:13 +0000

This is a delightful essential oil that helps to calm and sooth the mind and body and ease irritability.

As a massage blend it’s very useful for balancing the female reproductive organs helping to regulate menstruation, ease premenstrual tension, and relieve painful menstruation.

Because Roman chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) essential oil is anti-inflammatory it can be used in a massage oil blend to treat skin allergies such as eczema and to relieve skin irritations. It’s also deodorizing and helps to lighten fair hair.

Make a massage oil blend and rub in to the neck and shoulders to help relieve insomnia, migraine headache, stress and tension. It can also be massaged in to any part of the body to help relieve aches and pains and over the abdomen in a clockwise direction to help ease the discomfort of indigestion.

Add a few drops to a child’s bath to help relieve upset tummies, teething, and fretful moments.

Other conditions that benefit from applications of a massage oil blend made with this essential oil are flatulence, rheumatism, and gout.

Warning: Use with care if suffering from low blood pressure.

Cedarwood Essential Oil

Belle — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 05:09:41 +0000

Highly valued since ancient times, Cedarwood essential oil has calming, astringent and drying actions that make it useful for the treatment of many conditions and beneficial for skin care.

In ancient Egypt beauticians valued this oil for its preserving qualities so it comes as no surprise that it’s still used today for regenerating and preserving the skin as well as restoring hair.

Derived from two species, Juniperus virginiana and Cedrus atlantica, genuine Cedarwood essenital oil has the aroma of a freshly cut tree that gives a delightful restful effect of being in a forest. Its relaxing and regenerating properties help to release long-term anxiety and reduce stress.

Conditions this remarkable oil benefits include hair loss when combined with rosemary, psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema, and dandruff as well as those that affect the respiratory system such as catarrh, bronchitis, mucous congestion, and sinusitis. It’s also an excellent deodorizer, which makes it ideal for foot baths.

Other uses for Cedarwood essential oil include direct application to help oily skin and heal shaving nicks; diluted it can be used to treat pimples and acne as well as part of a blend for skin and facial applications. After washing hair add a couple of drops of the oil to the final rinse water to treat dandruff, seborrhoea and maintain a healthy scalp. For respiratory problems and to calm tension and stress use the oil in a vapouriser, a therapeutic bath or as a steam inhalation. Its refreshing woody aroma makes it a popular ingredient in men’s toiletries.

Warning: Do not use during pregnancy.

Bergamot Essential Oil

Belle — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:03:41 +0000

If you suffer from nervous tension, anxiety or depression then you will find the uplifting qualities of Bergamot (Citrus bergamia) essential oil very beneficial. This oil, popularised in Italian medicine folklore, is made by pressing the fresh peel of a fruit that resembles a miniature orange first grown in Bergamot, a small village in northern Italy.

As its botanical name suggests, Bergamot essential oil is light with a delightful floral and citrus aroma and yellow-green colour. It has astringent and antiviral actions that give it many uses.

Conditions that this oil treats includes those mentioned above as well as stressful states, adult colic, anorexia nervosa, dermatitis, intestinal parasites, eczema, dermatitis, sores, and wounds. It relieves cramps, premenstrual tension and symptoms; symptoms of acne and cold sores and is helpful for post-natal stress. Use it to heal oily skin and skin conditions of nervous origin; diluted in water it can be rinsed in the mouth to help with bad breath and relieve the discomfort of mouth ulcers. It’s also highly antiseptic and cleansing.

Warnings: Do not use for Berloque dermatitis or externally when exposed to ultra-violet light. It may increase skin photo sensitivity and be irritating to sensitive skin. Do not use before exposure to sun.

Use only as directed and seek advice from your health care professional if symptoms persist.

What’s So Good About Tea?

Belle — Tue, 04 May 2010 12:02:24 +0000

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the highest sources of antioxidants, in fact it contains more of these health giving constituents than any vegetable or fruit. The antioxidants in tea appear to protect the body against heart disease by slowing the break down of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, improving blood vessel function and preventing blood clots. They also appear to have protective functions against strokes, cancer, and the type of DNA damage that causes cells to turn cancerous.

Drinking only one or two cups of tea a day may reduce the risk of artery blockage by forty-six percent. Antioxidants in tea belong to a group called flavonoids that are rich in catechins and these are responsible for giving the herb most of its health giving properties. Cell studies showed that one of the most important catechins, epigallocatechin gallate, blocked an enzyme that is needed for cancer cells to grow.

Black tea is made by crushing the leaves and allowing them to ‘ferment’ in the tea’s enzymes while green tea isn’t fermented; both come from the same plant. The most popular non-alcoholic beverage, tea can be purchased in various forms but the finest and most expensive is made from unopened leaf buds and leaves picked from the youngest shoots .

To gain maximum health benefits from tea allow it to brew for at least five minutes to extract the maximum amount of catechins. Tea can prevent the absorption of iron so try to drink it between meals rather than with them but if you enjoy a ‘cuppa’ with a meal eat a few apricots every day to keep your iron levels up. Drink two to five cups daily and keep tea leaves in airtight dark glass containers in a dry cool place; green tea has less caffeine than black tea.

Warrigal Greens – Wild Plant Food and Medicine

Belle — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 11:39:01 +0000

It’s amazing how things happen sometimes. For quite a while now I’ve been hoping to find Warrigal greens (Tetragonia tetragonioides) growing on our 6 acre property but it was nowhere to be seen. A few days ago I decided that it mustn’t grow in this area so gave up any thoughts of gathering this plant to use as vegetable. As I was walking back to the house I saw a plant that looked like it but only had the time to check it out today. To my sheer delight I found that it is Warrigal greens.

This lovely wild food and medicine plant is growing quite near our house – after living here for just over two years I find it incredible that I have been hoping so much to have it growing here and then after searching for it for such a long time it turns up almost on my doorstep!

Warrigal greens, also known as Warrigal cabbage and New Zealand Spinach, is a member of the pigface family and is native to New Zealand, Australia and Norfolk Island where it grows in arid woodlands and plains, and in salty coastal soils. It also grows in other regions of the Pacific from Japan to South America. It has escaped from cultivation in Asia, the United States, Africa and Europe.

During Captain Cook’s first voyage to New Zealand in 1769 the ship’s botanist, Joseph Banks, recognized its value. Cook tried to get his crew to eat the plant as a vegetable to protect them against scurvy but they refused until they realized his officers were eating it. It became so popular among them that the supply had to be rationed. Not only did this incredible green vegetable protect the crew from scurvy but it also cured those who already had it.

During this first voyage Cook also discovered Warrigal greens along the shores of Botany Bay, Australia. After European settlers arrived on the continent the plant was gathered and eaten as a popular and easily obtained source of green vegetable.

This wild plant that can also be cultivated contains properties with sedative effects and anti-inflammatory chemicals. It’s also anti-scorbutic and may be effective in preventing the formation of ulcers.

Warrigal greens is a perennial creeping plant with thick stems that grow to one or two metres long. Leaves are thick, bright green, alternate, and are two to eight centimetres long. Small yellow flowers appear in late spring to summer and the green seed capsules are hard and long with three to six small ‘horns’.

Because the leaves contain oxalates, which can be harmful when consumed in large quantities, they should be blanched for three or more minutes then rinsed with cold water before cooking them or using them in salads.

Lavender Scones

Belle — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:12:16 +0000

Some time ago I was fortunate enough to be invited to a morning tea at a pretty lavender farm where there is a shop selling all types of products made from lavender including lavender wine. On the menu at the coffee shop were lavender scones…of course I couldn’t resist them.

They were served with vanilla flavoured cream and the combination was delicious. Lavender flowers provide a delightful delicate flavour in foods if they are used sparingly.

Not long after I tried these scones I tried to find a recipe for them but had no luck so I added lavender flowers to my favourite scone recipe and served the scones nice and hot with vanilla flavoured cream sweetened with a little icing sugar.

2 cups self raising flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons lavender flowers

60g butter

¾ cup milk (approx)

a little extra milk to glaze

Grease a scone tray and sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add lavender flowers . Rub in butter with fingertips then add sufficient milk to form a light dough. Turn out on to a floured board and knead lightly . Roll out to 1cm thickness and cut into shapes or use a small cutter. Place on tray and glaze with milk. Bake in a very hot oven (450ºF/230ºC) for 10 minutes or until brown and well risen. Makes approx 21.

Fresh lavender flowers can be used to make lavender vinegar and flavour jams while small amounts of dried or fresh flowers can be combined with savoury herbs to add to stews and soups.

Because of their bitter taste lavender flowers aren’t a good choice for crystallised flowers.

Elderberry Flower Fritters

Belle — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 06:44:18 +0000

These fritters make a delightful and delicately flavoured dessert, especially when served with double cream or vanilla ice-cream.

12 clusters of elderberry flowers

¼ cup plain flour

1½ cups water

1 egg

Oil for deep frying

Cut the stalks from the flower clusters leaving a small stub. Mix the flour, water, and egg together in a food processor or blender or if you don’t have these you can gradually whisk the water in to the flour and then the egg.

Heat enough oil to just cover the flowers to 190°C. If you don’t have a thermometer or deep fryer you can test the heat of the oil by dropping in a small cube of bread; if it browns in 1 minute then you will have the correct temperature.

Dip each cluster in to the batter and carefully slip it in to the oil. Cook them until they are golden brown turning them with a slotted spoon. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towel. Sprinkle with a little icing sugar if desired.

This recipe will serve four.

Comfrey, a Great Healer

Belle — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:38:41 +0000

Many years ago when I first started studying to be a medical herbalist my husband badly injured his little finger at our shop; it was almost cut right through and only had a small amount of flesh still holding it together. He phoned me at home and told me he’d hurt his finger. Not realizing how bad it was I told him to go across the road to the ambulance and I’d drive straight to our shop, which was only a minute or so away.

Back then the ambulance used to dress wounds and attend to minor injuries but they haven’t done that for quite some time now. When I got there the ambulance officer on duty had told my husband it was too bad an injury for him to do anything with it and to go to the hospital. When I realized that it wasn’t just a deep cut but a severed finger I felt terrible; I should have told him to go to the hospital not the ambulance!

I had to mind the shop so my husband drove himself to the hospital where he was admitted straight away and taken into surgery as soon as the surgeon could get there. Refusing to follow my husband’s wishes and amputate the finger, the surgeon pinned the severed half back on to the remaining stump.

Two weeks later my husband had to go for a check-up and have the pin removed. When the surgeon pulled the pin out the finger came apart! So he pushed it back together and sent my husband away telling him to give it another two weeks to heal.

When I was told what happened I suggested we rub the comfrey ointment I had made in to the finger. We did this for the two weeks and when the surgeon pulled the pin out the finger remained intact. He was totally amazed so my husband told him that we had applied comfrey ointment to the finger. At that stage comfrey had been banned for internal and external use in Australia. There was such an uproar over this that the ‘powers-that-be’ eventually allowed us to use the herb externally. Anyway, getting back to the surgeon, he couldn’t get over how well the comfrey ointment had healed the finger and said to my husband, “How were you able to get it?” To which my husband laughingly replied, “Can’t tell you that.” “Well anyway,” said the surgeon,” just keep using it – it’s a great healer.”

One of comfrey’s common names is Knit Bone and this story certainly adds credence to such a name. If any of you have stories about using comfrey we’d love you to share them with us.

What is Pet Grass?

Belle — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:34:49 +0000

Pet Grass (Dactylis glomerata)

If you have pets such as dogs, cats, and guinea pigs, you’ve probably noticed them eating this grass in your yard unless of course it’s always maintained and there is no place for weeds or grass to grow long.

Pet Grass (Dactylis glomerata) has been described as pet medicine and is even very good for birds. It contains high levels of vitamins and minerals so it’s a perfect natural supplement for your pets whether they have four legs or wings. It’s a perfect breath freshener for dogs and will assist cats with eliminating fur balls.

Let it grow in your garden or grow it in containers if you live in an apartment or don’t have a garden. Wherever it grows make sure it’s handy for your pets so they can chew on it whenever they need to.

This health-giving grass grows in full or part sun to a height of 30 cm (1ft) and likes well drained soil; water and fertilize regularly.