Spring has Sprung!

With April and the Spring rains, allergies are on many people's minds. One of the easiest things you can do is to find a local apiary. These are bee farms and if you can find someone within 25 miles who sells fresh, pure honey, you may be on the road to a more tolerable Spring season! Bees are very local and normally travel up to 25 miles from their home to gather all that wonderful pollen that is causing your red eyes and runny nose. By using the same pollens that cause your problems, the bees create that amazing product, honey. When you take 1 teaspoon of this nectar every day, it acts as an antidote. Much the same way that people in the southwest use rattlesnake venom to make the anti-venom. This is also the idea behind homeopathic medicine. "Like cures Like".

We have a tea for Allergies that you might want to try for some of those symptoms. It has Peppermint, Nettle, Yerba Mate, Mullein, Fennel Seed and Wild Cherry. You will find it in the Medicinal Teas section of the Herb Shoppe.

Also, try our new Sinus Relief Oil. A carefully formulated mixture of pure essential oils to help with those awful sinus headaches and pressure that so often accompanies Spring and allergies. You will find it in the Apothecary section of the Herb Shoppe.

With Spring, I have a wonderful recipe to share with you. This is full of nettles and is so good. Those of us in the great north won't be able to make this for a month or more, but you in the south can try it!

Creamy Nettle Soup

• 8 oz young nettles (use only the top few inches)

• 1/2 cup chopped onion

• 1 pound potatoes

• 2 Tablespoons butter

• 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock

• Dulse flakes or sea salt to taste

• Black pepper to taste

• 4 Tablespoons sour cream Wash the nettles and chop coarsely. Melt butter in saucepan, cook chopped onion until clear. Add nettles and simmer for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cut potatoes into thick slices. Add stock to the nettles, heat & add potatoes, dulse flakes & pepper. Simmer on low until potatoes are soft. Cool slightly & puree in a blender. Stir in sour cream & serve.

Herb of the Month

I'm going to provide some info on herbs for all of those out there who are interested in learning more about these wonderful plants. So every month, I will include an Herb of the Month for you. Since we already have a recipe for Nettle soup, our featured herb this month will be Nettle.

A perennial to zone 2 with germination in 10-14 days. Space 1-2 feet apart. Soil temperature 65-75F. Prefers full sun to partial shade and damp soil, rich with nitrogen. Propagate by seed, cuttings or root division. Likes to grow by running water. As a companion plant: increases flavor and taste of surrounding plants, essential oils, stimulates rich humus formation, rich in iron and vitamins. Use as a mulch. Plant near broccoli. Recent experiments by organic gardening groups have confirmed some early ideas about companion planting. Experiments by Dr. Ehrenfried Pfieffer bear out the theory that stinging nettle increases the oil in peppermint and by hindering the fermentation process in plant juices confers greater keeping qualities on tomatoes.

Nettle leaves are a blood builder often used as a spring tonic and to treat anemia and poor circulation. They contain both iron and vitamin C, which aids iron absorption. In the past, nettle was eaten or sipped to reduce uric acid and to treat gout and arthritis. It encouraged mother’s milk, lowers blood sugar and decreases profuse menstruation. It acts as a light laxative and diuretic (possibly due to its flavonoids and high potassium content). Both a tea and a poultice of cooked nettles are used to treat eczema and other skin conditions (combines well with figwort and burdock). An astringent that stops bleeding, the powder is snuffed to stop nosebleeds. Curled dock leaves provide a remedy for the nettle’s sting and the fresh juice of nettles themselves relieves the sting as well.

Nettle is used by asthmatics-mix the juice of the leaves or roots with honey, take to relieve bronchial or asthmatic troubles. The seeds were once thought to allay consumption, the infusion being taken in wine glass doses. They were also given in wine as a cure for ague, in powder form they were used for goiter, also important in reducing diets. It was thought that a fever could be cured by pulling a nettle up by the roots, reciting the names of the sick man and his parents. Nettle tea was once used for dropsy and as a diuretic. Tincture of nettle is made of 2 oz of the green herb to one pint of proof spirit; Infusions are made by adding 1 oz of the herb to a pint of boiling water.

Nettle Seed is the least known part of Nettles. In Europe, the seed is used as a restorative tonic for old and worn out horses. Nettle Seed can be used as a kidney trophorestorative-literally a food for the kidneys. A recent study published in the Journal of The American Herbalist Guild [4(2):22-25] shows that Nettle Seed increases kidney glomerular function and reduces serum creatinine levels. Many herbalists have seen significant benefits from using Nettle Seed tincture in patients with glomerulonephritis, chronic nephritis with degeneration, and to protect the kidneys from nephrotoxic medications.

Well, that's it for this month, gang. If you are interested in a "Weed Walk" to discover the medicine growing in your own back yard, contact me and let's set one up! Invite your friends and we'll make a day of it! Let's Get Better!