Cooling herbs for summer: Magic Mint

This month's blog party, hosted by Alchemille, is all about how to stay cool in hot weather. First things first, I have to second Kiva's motion to make friends with a river. I know that it's not realistic for everyone, as there are many places not near to water. But if there is a way .... to get to the water, even if it means a cool bathtub or a kiddie pool, it beats any herb in this department.
I'm so in love with my river that it's probably holding us back from moving on in life in ways we should. I must be by fresh water. The way the surface illustrates the weather and the seasons, or the mood of the wind. Standing in the rush of the cool water, with hot sun on my shoulders and the honk of the Great Blue Heron, restores my deepest sense of self and of adaptability.

Along the riverbanks grows the wild mint. I try always to stop and say hello, pinch a little top to cool my senses, and thank it for staying wild. She keeps good company, alongside juicy, succulent chickweed, wild roses and calamus, all of which have varying degrees of coolness.

My garden takes lessons from the river. The mint crawls wildly through the roses, strawberries, and honeysuckle. She is particularly healthy this year, making frequent use easy and very helpful. A handful of mint steeped in a jar of water makes a multi-purpose cooler: we drink it of course, but also soothe our faces and hot shoulders with it, or make a batch just too add to a cool bath. Children's splinters can be coaxed out in a foot bath of mint and yarrow. Heat rash on infants or toddlers can be relieved with a mint infusion applied with a mister or cotton balls. Rinsing the hair with mint vinegar is a great way to treat your hair during the heat. And mint and melon balls - or mint whip cream on strawberries? yum!

See, mint helps our bodies regulate temperature in a couple ways. It assists our triple warmer, and it helps to move the heat that may be stagnant, so that it can be released through sweat and circulation, without actually increasing internal heat - like a chili or ginger might. And because it's a gentle plant it can be used often without any worries.

The anodyne properties help in relieving pain both internally and externally, which, if originate from inflammation, can become exacerbated in hot weather. It has been cited to relieve a wide range of ailments, from arthritis, to cold sores, to poison ivy, diaper rash, sunburn, and oral ulcers or gingivitis. Wounds are treated well by the numbing mint offers and the antibacterial action. Internally, mint is a classic and reliable digestive herb, helping to alleviate children's tummy aches and assist adult's metabolism of heavier foods.

Being such a vigorous grower, (some might dare to accuse it to be invasive) as well as endlessly versatile, no one should have to go without a cooling mint summer remedy in some form or another. I highly recommend making close friends with mint: grow a mint garden (there are so many!), eat the flowers in your salad, make a mint preparation with each of your menstrums and compare them..... including honey! Make a honey-mint liqueur for your special nights, or dry some leaves for a cooling powder.

Stuff some fresh mint leaves inbetween your toes before a long summer hike.

The whole mint family in general (Lamiaceae, formerly Labiatae) is truly an entire panacea in itself. With so many different genus', an easily identifiable botanical pattern, and geographically wide range, it's a first learn for herbal students. Especially children, who need to be able to eat, touch, taste, smell, and essentially merge with a plant in order to internalize it.

The botanical pattern: square stem, opposite leaves, irregular flowers, and often aromatic, is a simple set of rules for kids to remember and apply. Comparing different mints is fun and strengthens our powers of observation - lemon balm, rosemary, lavender, sage, monarda, oregano, motherwort, and ground ivy lined up in concert is beautiful and educational. If you have an ice cream maker, home-made cucumber-mint ice cream will be a coveted treat.

Swaddle yourself in mints this summer; staying cool, connected, and very healthy.

New Growth

What sheer delight .... my beautiful two year old Elder (Sambucus Canadensis) returned with good and healthy folage this spring. last year she was devoured within days by a monstrous super-worm who webbed, nested on, and then ate the entire plant leaving but a skeleton. I didn't know if she would make it, or what to do. So you can imagine my double delight when I spotted, at my feet, a baby! Oh joy! I can't wait for flowers ... and dare I wish for berries?
I suppose the newborn Elder makes up for my S. Nigra not returning :(. I was told it was just as hearty. There were no pests on that one, oddly enough.

Below, is a beautiful display of new coming out of old. I often read instructions to cut back my woody plants before winter; Sage, Lavender, and Rosemary. Well the latter dies no matter what I do, but thee Sage and Lavender grow directly out of the remaining stem. They have unanimously died each time in the past where I cut them back. This Sage even over wintered in a pot on my deck amazingly enough, especially for a first year plant. I love her perfect illustration of renewal.

Sister Secrets

She arrives early, ready to take on the tasks of the season with sheer delight. There is no hesitating, no questioning, no doubting. She shakes off the wet soil as if it were fresh water after a swim. She is perfectly refreshed. She isn't worried that obstacles will come her way, for when they do they are mere reminders of life's surprises and unexpected turns. She tames them with her candied lemon perfume and soothes them with her hypnotically bright green skin.

Despite her popularity and host of extreme talents, she is not obnoxious. For any troubles you might have, she's listening, openheartedly and with a full embrace. A long lost sister she is, braiding your stories into pretty sounds, offering to you her older sister secrets. Big sister Melissa knows all about real beauty, real confidence, real magic, and true sisterhood. If you meet with her, she'll share.

I first met sister Melissa when I went to the Coventry Herb Farm, Caprilands, many years ago. The garden's were something of another land, like I imagined England or Ireland to be. So many sweet little plants everywhere. I stuffed my nose in every one I could, soaking in the prana. Sister Melissa struck me with a consciousness that was something of an ancient memory, a playfulness and abandon and depth of beauty. Ever since I could have my own parcel of land to grow, I would always plant her right away. She always grows big and bushy. Like a good Auntie, she comes when my children are ailing; when life has gotten them down with a bug or an ache or a woe; she heals all. She knows that restoring joy is priority and even more so with children for that is their source. She wastes no time worrying if that is true.

She comes to me when my skin is troubled, soothing it with her cooling oils. She flirts with me when I am grumpy, gently lifting my eyelashes. Her incredibly feminine flowers are small but many, swarming the bees right to her. She knows the Matriarchal family secrets of the Labiatae. She is sweetness! She knows honey and alchemy. She knows change. Dear Melissa isn't afraid of grief. She grows in rich soil and poor soil as well, knowing how to make glory out of any situation. She is unconditional. She's happy in Grandma's garden and happy in the best of the Botanical Gardens. She teaches me adaptability, and versatility.

I am an only child. Where else will I find my Sister?

In the Green.

I will not circumcise my plants

I have been reminded several times after my Blog entry: Song of the Salvia that the Labiatae family has been officially renamed the "Lamiaceae" Family.

So I am here to tell everyone that I won't do it. I won't circumcise myself, my children, nor will I circumcise an entire plant family. Just as Women are identified by their beautiful, life giving Vulva's and milk holding Breasts, the Labiatae family has been healing and nourishing Women and families for centuries. The flowers have lovely labias, an upper and lower lip, the whole flower being beautifully irregular just us humans, and the flowers are usually bisexual. That tells me that the flowers are generous in their healing and creativity for everyone ... a motherly trait indeed. There is no good reason in my eyes to take away it's namesake. I do not know, nor do I care, why they changed it.

To me, it has always been and always be, the LABIAtae family.

Humph.