China Bayles' Book of Days (7 page)

Learn about Scottish herbs:

The Scots Herbal: Plant Lore of Scotland
, by Tess Darwin

Ginger . . . is of an heating and digesting qualitie, and is profitable for the stomacke, and effectually opposeth it selfe against all darknesse of sight; answering the qualities and effects of pepper.

—JOHN GERARD, HERBAL, 1597

JANUARY 26

Today is National Australia Day, celebrating the rich cultural diversities of the entire continent.

A Quartet of Australian Herbs

A reader in Australia, Brother Jim Cronly, enjoys the Victorian-Edwardian mysteries that Bill and I write as Robin Paige. Not long ago, he sent us a sampler of Australian herbs, plants that add their unique flavors to Australian foods. I’ve enjoyed experimenting with and learning about these four interesting herbs.

• Wattleseed (
Acacia victoriae
), roasted and ground, has a complex flavor reminiscent of hazelnut, coffee, and chocolate. For centuries, indigenous peoples ground it into flour staple foodstuff. We combined it with cocoa to make a rich-tasting ice-cream sauce.

• Mountain Pepper (
Tasmannia lanceolata
) is a small tree found in New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. The leaves have a smoked, chile-pepper taste, good with chicken and fish; the berries are more fruity and are a nice addition to marinades and soups.

• The bush tomato (
Solanum centrale
) is a perennial shrub, a relative of the tomato and potato, that grows in the deserts of Central and Eastern Australia. The nutritious dried fruit, which looks like a raisin, has the intense tang of a sun-dried tomato, but with a subtle caramelized taste. The aboriginal tribes of the region call it
kampurara
; for centuries, they gathered it as a staple food.

• Lemon myrtle (
Backhousia citriodora
) is a native of the coastal rainforest. The leaves have a strong lemon aroma and taste with eucalyptus overtones. They are often used to flavor poultry and seafood, and make excellent vinegar, mayonnaise, and vinaigrettes. Researchers have found that the oil has antibacterial and antifungal properties that make it more effective than the better known tea tree oil.

WATTLESEED CHOCOLATE SAUCE

2 tablespoons roasted ground wattleseed
2 tablespoons cocoa
cup sugar
1 cup water
½ teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan, combine the wattleseed, cocoa, and sugar. Add water gradually, stirring until smooth. Add vanilla. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Strain if desired. May be refrigerated for up to a week; reheat in the microwave.

JANUARY 27

More than anything, I must have flowers, always, always.

—CLAUDE MONET

A Floral Calendar

Medieval monks devised a catalogue of herbs and flowers in the form of a calendar, dedicating each day to a particular plant. This calendar was not generally available until William Hone reprinted it in his popular
Every Day Book
, which was published in weekly installments in 1826. Partly an almanac, the book, as the title page announces, offers a miscellaneous collection of “useful knowledge” for “daily use and diversion.”

COLTSFOOT: WHAT’S IN A NAME?

The herb chosen by the monks for this day is coltsfoot (
Tussilago farfara
). The common name referred to the shape of its leaves, which looked like the hoof of a horse. (Different people saw it differently and named it assfoot, foalfoot, and bull’s-foot.) The plant flowers in the early spring before the leaves appear, leading some to call it
filius ante patrem
, or son-before-father.

Other names—coughwort and British tobacco—give a clue to the plant’s traditional medicinal uses. Smoking coltsfoot for the relief of coughs and asthma was recommended by the Greek physician Dioscorides; later, it was mixed with yarrow and rose leaves, as an herbal remedy for asthma. Coltsfoot lozenges were used (like horehound lozenges) as cough drops. The fresh leaves were applied to boils, abscesses and ulcers, and coltsfoot compresses were used to relieve joint pain.

Read more about the floral calendar:

Flora’s Dictionary: The Victorian Language of Herbs and Flowers
, by Kathleen Gips (The monks’ calendar is reprinted on pp. 170-177.)

Excellent herbs had our fathers of old—
Excellent herbs to ease their pain—
Alexanders and Marigold,
Eyebright, Orris, and Elecampane.
Basil, Rocket, Valerian, Rue,
(Almost singing themselves they run)
Vervain, Dittany, Call-me-to-you—
Cowslip, Melilot, Rose of the Sun.
Anything green that grew out of the mould
Was an excellent herb to our fathers of old.
—RUDYARD KIPLING, “OUR FATHERS OF OLD”

JANUARY 28

Bright flowers whose home is everywhere

—WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

“Daisies Don’t Tell”

In the monks’ medieval calendar, today was the day to celebrate the daisy (
Bellis perennis
), which had a wide variety of uses. Daisies don’t tell? The meaning of that phrase probably has something to do with the daisy’s unreliability in forecasting future events.

THE MEDICINAL DAISY

The daisy’s genus name,
Bellis
(martial or warlike) refers to its use by Roman doctors as a common treatment for battlefield wounds. John Gerard, the sixteenth-century herbalist and author of the first important herbal in English, wrote: “The leaves stamped take away bruises and swellings . . . whereupon it was called in old time Bruisewort,” adding, “The juice of the leaves and rootes snift up into nostrils purgeth the head mightilie, and helpeth the Megrim [migraine].” If daisy snuff didn’t do the trick, one early herbalist advised simply chewing the fresh leaves.

THE DIVINING DAISY

But daisies weren’t just popular medicine. They were also popular for making prophesies. You’ve certainly learned the most famous one: “He loves me, he loves me not.” The last petal decides the question—but its unreliability is unfortunately notorious. You can, however, tell the seasons by the coming of daisies: It’s spring in the English Midlands, people say, when you can put your foot on nine daisies. But be careful: Dreaming of daisies in spring or summer brings good luck; if you dream of them in fall or winter, however, bad luck is on the way.

Read more about daisies:

A Modern Herbal
, by Mrs. Grieve (1931)

Let the housewife be skilful in natural physick, for the benefit of her own folk and others: for to have a physician alwaies when there is not very urgent occasion and gret necessity, is not for the profite of the house.

—GERVASE MARKHAM, MAISON RUSTIQUE, OR A COUNTRY

FARME, 1616

JANUARY 29

My usual hair-care regimen is homemade and simple. I concoct my own herbal castile shampoo with aloe, chamomile, and lemon juice, and occasionally I beat up an egg yolk and rub it in after a shampoo. When it gets really dry, almond oil is good. The almond oil treatment usually takes care of dandruff as well, but if it’s a problem, I massage in mint vinegar three or four times a week until it clears up.

—LAVENDER LIES: A CHINA BAYLES MYSTERY

Herbal Hair Care

Herbal shampoos are easy to make, and you can choose the ingredients that are especially suited to your needs, whether your hair is light or dark, oily or dry. You can buy the inexpensive ingredients at a natural foods store. This basic recipe makes about two cups of a no-suds shampoo.

HERBAL SHAMPOO

16 ounces distilled water
2 ounces herbs (see suggestions)
6 ounces liquid castile soap
2 tablespoons aloe
½ teaspoon jojoba oil
½ teaspoon pure essential oil (see suggestions)

Bring the water to a boil. Add herbs, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer 15-20 minutes. Strain and cool. Gradually add the castile soap, mixing gently, then the aloe, jojoba, and essential oil. For easy use, pour into a plastic squeeze bottle. Shake gently before using.

SUGGESTED HERBS:

• For blond hair: 1 ounce calendula flowers; ½ ounce each of chamomile flowers and comfrey leaf (OR dried orange peel OR 1 tablespoon aloe gel).

• For dark hair: 1 ounce sage leaves; ½ ounce each comfrey leaf (OR rosemary, if your hair is oily) and Irish moss.

• For dry hair: ½ ounce each nettle leaf, marshmallow root, calendula flower (OR substitute elder flowers OR orange blossoms).

• For oily hair: ½ ounce each yarrow leaf and flower, witch hazel bark, rosemary.

• For dandruff: 1 ounce rosemary, 1 ounce thyme. Rinse with cider vinegar.

SUGGESTED ESSENTIAL OILS:

• For normal hair: lavender, clary sage, chamomile

• For oily hair: basil, lemon, patchouli, rosemary, tea tree, witch hazel, ylang-ylang

• For dry hair: myrrh, peppermint, calendula

• For dandruff: clary sage, lavender, lemon, patchouli, rosemary, tea tree, ylang-ylang

Read more about making your own bodycare products:

Earthly Bodies and Heavenly Hair: Natural and Healthy Personal Care for Every Body
, by Dina Falconi

JANUARY 30

In the medieval floral calendar, today’s herb is spleenwort.

Spleenwort and the Doctrine of Signatures

Spleenwort (
Asplenium scolopendrium
) isn’t an herb you’re likely to run into every day. But the monks who compiled the floral calendar thought that today was a good day to celebrate spleenwort (
wort
is the Anglo-Saxon word for “plant”). I thought I’d use the occasion to tell you about the Doctrine of Signatures, which explains how spleenwort (and other herbs) were named.

THE DOCTRINE OF SIGNATURES

In earlier days, it was believed that plants were “signed” by the Creator with visible clues to the purpose for which they were designed. Red plants could treat the blood, yellow plants would be effective against jaundice, blue-flowered plants could treat a bruise; plants with bloom or fruit shaped like the genital organs promoted fertility. Plants with leaves shaped like the spleen, the liver, or the lungs were thought to be medicinally useful to treat these human organs. This theory, promulgated in Renaissance Europe by Paracelsus (1493-1541) and Jacob Boehme (1575-1624), is also found in Chinese philosophy, in the Qur’an, and in the plant lore of Native Americans. The theory fell into disrepute during the eighteenth century, but many of the plants retained the names they were given.

SPLEENWORT

Spleenwort is a pretty fern that thrives in dry, shady areas. We no longer grow it as a treatment for diseases of the spleen, for which it has no proven efficacy. But we grow herbs for all sorts of reasons: because we like to use them in cooking, crafting, and healing; because they grow comfortably in our gardens; and because they are powerful symbols, conveying meanings through the rich associations of human history.