SOME ADVICE ON SELECTING WHICH HERBS TO GROW

Now for some advice on selecting which herbs to grow. Most people want to start with, say, half a dozen. All depends on your own taste and requirements. If you eat a salad every day, you will want such herbs as chicory, dandelion, parsley, chives, perhaps Florence fennel (the bulbous root section is used), and basil. If your taste runs to hot savoury casseroles or vegetable and egg dishes, choose some of the culinary herbs like marjoram, sage, thyme, dill, chervil, and winter savory. For cool drinks and fruit cups try salad burnet, borage and all the mints; and for herb teas, some of the best are camomile, peppermint and spearmint, comfrey, lemongrass and sage. For the keen gardener, yarrow, comfrey, valerian, tansy, rue, southernwood—all are valuable as described in their individual chapters; while a selection of the medicinal herbs I would never be without are chives (or garlic), lemon balm, comfrey, hore-hound, horseradish, hyssop, rosemary, sage, thyme and yarrow.

Whichever category you wish to choose from, learn as much as you can about each herb so you can use and enjoy it to the full. This book contains only some forty-odd herbs. Many thousands of plants can be classed as herbs, with characteristics beneficial to man. Another book is already in preparation, extending the list to such plants as nasturtium, calendula, burdock, coltsfoot, Golden Rod, equisetum, and many more. The list is endless.

*24\181\8*

RECIPES WITH THYME

Chicken with Thyme

Season a small roasting chicken inside and out. Roast uncovered in a moderate oven for half an hour on each side. Remove the fat from the pan and add 1 whole lemon, cut into small cubes, i cup of dry white wine, 2 tablespoons of red-currant jelly, and several chopped stalks of lemon thyme. Return to the pan, and roast until tender. Serve this dish with whole fresh apricots, stoned, cut, and filled with horseradish and cream cheese. This makes a real special-occasion dinner.

Stuffed Cutlets

1 cup toasted stale bread, diced

1\2 cup sauteed chopped mushrooms

2 shallots, chopped and sauteed Chopped thyme, pepper and salt 1 egg yolk to bind it all together

Cut pockets in chops or cutlets, insert the mixture and fasten with a toothpick. Brown the meat in a little oil, and transfer to a covered casserole, baking in a moderate oven for 20 or 25 minutes. Stir in 1\2 cup of cream, and pour some of it over the chops. Reheat and serve immediately.

When roasting a loin of lamb, put salt, pepper, and chopped garden or lemon thyme between the chops. Cook a sprig of thyme with marrow and zucchini, and put a few leaves with mushrooms. In nineteenth-century France, thyme was used with many vegetable dishes; and seasoned stuffed tomatoes, a favourite of the southern provinces, were often flavoured with crushed thyme leaves.

The plants can easily be increased by dividing a clump and setting out again any rooted portions. Garden thyme grows easily from seed, too. Sow it in the spring or autumn. It will grow slowly for a while, but there is flavour and aroma in even the tiniest sprig, so use it right from the start.

*147\181\8*

PARSLEY: USING AND DESCRIPTION

Petroselinum crispum UMBELLIFERAE Petroselinum sativum

Parsley well deserves its place as the most widely used of all herbs. And it is true that there is often more goodness and nutrition in those sprigs of garnish left on the plate than there is in the dish itself. So eat up every little bit, and bless Mother Nature for her bounty.

Parsley contains vitamins A, B and C in the leaves and larger quantities of C in the roots, approximately three times as much as oranges. Its vitamin A content is more than that found in cod liver oil. It contains the fatty acids necessary to utilize in the body the fat-soluble vitamins, and is rich in minerals of which iron is the most important, but calcium, sodium and magnesium are also present. Apiol, the oily non-volatile liquid found in root and leaves is a powerful digestive aid in the quantities found in the parsley plant, and another substance, apiin, a form of pectin, also helps in this process. Parsley stimulates the whole digestive system, and also the kidneys, to promote healthy action in this most important organ. If your kidneys are unhappy, then so are you; so keep them healthy and functioning well with the addition of parsley every day in your diet.

The herb is as valuable to most animals as it is to humans, although never give it to birds of any type or to pet rabbits. It does not suit their digestive processes at all, and has even been fatal to cage birds.

Parsley is a highly valued addition to a dog’s diet, and natural rearing methods for dogs make great use of it. As a general tonic, to keep liver and kidneys functioning well, parsley should be sprinkled over the dog’s meal every few days. My own little long-haired Corgi is a walking advertisement for parsley and kelp. Born with her head on one side, and unable to be bred or shown, she was to be destroyed until we took her as a household pet. Now three years old, she has the constitu¬tion and endurance (and appetite!) of a Great Dane, and she was reared on fresh meat with parsley and kelp as dietary supplements, and horseradish leaves and garlic to keep her worm-free and healthy.

To the ancient Greeks, “to be in need of parsley” was to be gravely ill. To them, only parsley was powerful enough to be of use in extremis.

Pliny, that wise old Roman, was one of the first to extol the virtues of parsley. He sprinkled it on his fish-ponds, observing the increase in the health and vitality as well as the number of the inhabitants. So as far back as the first century A.D., parsley gained a reputation it has never lost, that of increasing virility in males and fertility in females. The giving by one woman to another of a parsley root still today brings forth the remark, “Well,, you should be pregnant within the year.” I like to think it is due not to an “old wives’ tale” but to the increased vitality and enjoyment of life that a parsley plant in the garden will give you if you eat some every day.

*117\181\8*

FENNEL: HISTORY

Sweet Fennel Foeniculum vulgare UMBELLIFERAE Florence Fennel Foeniculum duke

Fennel was a much favoured herb in the days of the Roman Empire.

So gladiators fierce and rude Mingled it with their daily food, And he who battled and subdued A wreath of Fennel wore.

Longfellow does not say just how the fennel kept the gladiators fit and trim, but we now know that it has a definite action in predigesting and breaking down oily and fatty foodstuffs in the diet. Indeed, Roman matrons also drank fennel tea, and used it when cooking fatty food, not to perform feats in the arena, but to keep their waistlines trim and their figures supple and healthy. Fennel owes most of its popularity to its slimming qualities.

Another, and also very important property of fennel, is its use in eye afflictions. Together with rue, it is prescribed as an eye strengthener and restorer of failing sight. A strong solution of fennel, using the leaves only, is made by boiling them in water until the water is reduced by half. This lotion is applied to the eyes each day, when it is cool. Repeated use is necessary. Exact quantities are not really critical in herbal preparations. The body uses only what it requires of the herb, and discards the rest. There is no harmful build-up as with some types of synthetic drugs.

Fennel produces such a multitude of seed that it naturalizes very easily in one or two seasons. Wild fennel does degenerate gradually in flavour, but makes up for this by hardier insect-free growth.

*86\181\8*

RECIPES FROM BORAGE

Millet Pilaff

If your teeth are your own, and you enjoy using them, try this recipe, a reputed favourite of the ancient Persian kings; but make sure you buy the millet seed for human consumption, not millet birdseed, or the husks will be very unpalatable—more like lead shot than a culinary delicacy. The French White Millet is the best variety, and your health food store should have it.

1 cup millet

1 tablespoon olive oil

3\4 cup cold water

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 crushed garlic clove

2 fine chopped borage leaves Spring onions, chopped

Thin slices raw button mushrooms Young uncooked green peas

Wash millet, and drain. Heat the oil in a large heavy pan and fry the millet until golden over medium heat, tossing over occasionally. Pour in the cold water, salt, soy sauce, and garlic. Cook gently till water is absorbed, grains separate and dry. Remove garlic. Add remainder of ingredients, stir through to heat quickly, and serve at once.

Antipasto

Try this Italian hors-d’oeuvre as an appetizer, or do as the Romans do and have a different breakfast for a change. Serve with crisp bread sticks. Very low on calories!

12 button mushrooms, sliced lengthwise

1 oz. uncooked green beans

2 stalks celery, cut in strips 2 inches long, 1\2 inch wide

1\2 green capsicum, slivered

1\2 oz. walnut halves

Cauliflower florets, sliced 1\4 inch thick

1 small carrot, slivered

Marinade

3\4 cup wine vinegar 1 clove garlic, crushed Pinch oregano, bunch parsley

3 borage leaves, chopped 1 tablespoon raw sugar

Bring marinade to the boil, cool, shake with 5 tablespoons olive oil in a glass jar until well blended (or use blender). Pour over vegetables in a covered earthenware crock, and stir several times in the following two days. Drain, and serve on platter. It is advisable to provide small forks with this dish, as the vegetables may be a little too oily to handle. For a variation, add some fennel or dill seeds to the mixture instead of the oregano.

*56\181\8*

PREVENTION OF THE COLD

Through a few simple precautions, we can reduce risk of catching a cold or flu by approximately 80 per cent.

Most colds are caught by hand contact by first touching the hand or face of a person who has a cold or flu and then touching your own face, nose, mouth or eyes.

To minimize risk of catching a viral infection, avoid shaking hands or kissing anyone who has a cold or flu. Avoid using a phone if an infected person has just used it. The same applies to handling any object that may have just been touched by a cold or flu sufferer.

Above all, keep your fingers away from your face, nose, eyes and mouth. Even if you have just shaken hands with a cold sufferer, unless your hand actually touches your face you are unlikely to catch a cold.

Whenever you have any contact with a cold or flu sufferer, the best precaution is to wash your hands with hot rail seconds. Then wipe your hands with disposable paper tissue. Few viruses should remain on your hands after that.

The precaution is recommended after you have been with anyone who has a cold or flu, even if you didn’t actually touch them.

However, cold or flu viruses may also be transmitted through air. Hence it’s wisest to avoid contact with sneezers and coughers in crowded places. The most likely locales for catching airborne viruses are where you come into close contact with people, especially in elevators, trains, buses, planes, theaters, restaurants, schools, homes and offices.

Try to limit contact with sneezers and coughers in crowded places. Walk or drive to work if you can rather than go by bus or train. If you find yourself next to a sniffler on an elevator, consider getting off and taking die next elevator. If a friend or relative has a cold or flu, phone them rather than calling in person.

Should you be sneezed or coughed at from close quarters, blow your nose gently but steadily as soon as you can. Take care not to touch your face or nose with your hands. Five minutes later, blow your nose again. Always use throw-away tissues rather than handkerchiefs.

*222\30\4*

DIET FOR LIFE

Every single study to emerge from modem nutritional science has strongly indicated that our bodies rebel when we eat a diet high in fats, refined carbohydrates and animal protein. Our immune systems, and all other body systems and organs, fare best when we eat a vegetarian diet of complex carbohydrates augmented, if desired, by small amounts of fish, chicken or turkey without the skin, or by low-fat, unflavored yogurt or cottage cheese.

We should also aim to eat as many foods as possible in their primary state, meaning exactly as they exist in nature. Although grains, legumes and tubers may require light cooking, the closer they are to their original natural state, the more they contribute to our being disease-free.

While it helps to eat the 80-10-10 way during an infection, for maximum benefit we should try to follow this way of eating all of the time. Although no controlled study has been made to show that vegetarians have fewer colds, a number of carefully planned studies—including the Framingham study—have clearly demonstrated that vegetarians have a much lower incidence of heart disease, stroke, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, osteoporosis, gallstones and kidney stones, and infectious diseases than do men and women who eat refined carbohydrates and foods of animal origin. It would seem safe, therefore, to extend this list to include the common cold and influenza.

*198\30\4*

SUPER NUTRITION FOR COLD THERAPY: VITAMIN B COMPLEX

A deficiency of B-complex components, especially Bl, B5, B6, B12, folic acid and PABA, have been clearly linked to impairment of the immune system in many animal species. Particularly when Bl, B5 and B6 are low in the bloodstream, immunocompetence has been found to fall off. A lack of vitamin Bl (thiamine) can also cause mild depression which has a detrimental effect on immunity. Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) has helped relieve many severe cases of hayfever; for this purpose, you should begin taking it one month before the hayfever season begins. And PABA is a B-complex component which acts as an anti-inflammatory agent.

It is not necessary to take large amounts of any single B vitamin. However, when intake of any single B vitamin is increased, the entire spectrum of the B complex should be increased proportionately. Hence B-vitamins are best taken in the form of a timed-release B-complex supplement containing the entire range of B-components.

*170\30\4*

COMPLICATION THAT MAY FOLLOW A COLD OR INFLUENZA: LARYNGITIS AND PNEUMONIA

Because the respiratory tract is a series of cavities (sinuses, lungs etc.), connected by air passages, viruses can spread from the nose to the sinuses and throat and into the middle ear trachea, larynx, bronchial tubes and lungs. Secondary infections spreading to these locations can cause complications, some quite serious.

Laryngitis is a bacterial or viral infection of the larynx or voice box located at the top of the trachea (windpipe). The common cold virus is often the culprit, in which case medical treatment may be of little help. The infection causes inflammation of the mucous membranes of the larynx and vocal cords. Laryngitis is a common occurrence toward the end of a cold. Although fever and other flu-like symptoms may occur, the characteristic symptom is hoarseness which may be followed by loss of voice. When due to a viral infection, the voice returns as soon as the cold or flu ends. If voicelessness persists, a doctor should be consulted to determine the possible existence of a bacterial infection. Self-treatment includes staying at home and resting if possible, and bolstering immunocompetence by practicing the same therapies recommended for a cold.

Pneumonia is an umbrella term used to describe a variety of forms of inflammation of the lungs, ranging from a mild complication following an upper respiratory tract infection to a life-threatening disease. In all cases, the alveoli or gas exchange cells lining the lungs become infected, either by a virus or bacteria. Bacterial pneumonia is fairly easy to cure with antibiotics, bed rest and soothing cough medicines but recovery from viral pneumonia can take weeks and may require breathing oxygen.

It is interesting to note that most cases of pneumonia occur in people with low immunocompetence.

Symptoms of pneumonia include a fever which may rise to 105°F with abrupt chills and sweating, a painful cough, a sharp chest pain while breathing, breathing difficulty while resting, blood in the sputum, and a bluish tinge to the skin.

Pneumonia is a common complication following a bout with cold or flu but in persons with low immunocompetence it can be precipitated by a variety of causes ranging from physical accident and trauma to emotional stress resulting from divorce or loss of a loved one.

*146\30\4*

CONQUER YOUR COLD IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS

Five hundred million colds beset Americans annually, causing a loss of 46 million workdays, and each winter week 13 percent of the population catches a fresh cold.

Yet the message of this book is that you can easily eliminate 80 percent of the risk that you will catch a cold this winter. And if you do catch cold, chances are good that you can recover completely not later than the evening of the second day.

Credence for these claims comes from the breathtaking succession of discoveries through which science has already unlocked the secrets of the common cold.

We have already learned the structure and design of cold and flu viruses and the entire process by which viruses enter the nasal passages and replicate themselves in cells lining the mucous membranes.

Because the common cold may be caused by one of over 200 different strains of rhinovirus, or similar virus, science has been unable to produce vaccine. A new form of alpha interferon spray, which may prevent up to forty percent of colds if used correctly, may soon be approved by the FDA. But despite some pioneering success with monoclonal antibodies and with a drug called WIN 51,711, medical science can still do little more than soothe the symptoms of the common cold.

Much of the newly discovered information about the common cold and flu has emerged as a by-product of cancer research. And most cancer research today is centered on immunology—the study of white blood cells (soldier cells) charged with defending the body against infection and disease.

Both the common cold and flu are caused by viruses which are recognized as foreign invaders and are identified as non-self by the body’s white blood cells. Cancer occurs when a body cell’s genes go berserk and become so genetically different that the cell, too, is identified as non-self by white blood cells.

Thus both cancer cells, and cold or flu viruses, invoke a similar response by the immune system.

Whether white blood cells can overcome and destroy a cancer cell depends on the overall competence of the body’s immune system. When immunocompetence is high, white blood cells are able to destroy each individual cancer cell that appears in the body before it can begin to clone into a tumor. When immunocompetence is low, a cancer cell may survive undetected and divide and grow into a tumor.

*122\30\4*