Garden herbs and medicinal plants

While being ill (flu) all week, first I turned to natural cures as I usually do. Normally, it works, and I do not have to go and see a doctor.

Teas and herbal infusions have been a long-standing tradition to fight the flu in Hungary. In pharmacies, it is possible to buy all kinds of herbs and medicinal plants (the loose package works much better than the filtered versions). Hungary is a major producer and exporter of these plants and many people make an extra living by picking the leaves and flowers.

In Kishegy, we also have some of the most common plants which have medicinal values, such as elderberry, rosehip, sage, dandelion, linden, thyme, lemongrass, peppermint, rosemary and acacia flowers (the latter bees turn into honey).

The flower of the linden tree can be dried and crushed and used for making tea. It is a natural healer of cough and cold. 

Lemongrass is great for making teas or use in desserts (on top of ice cream...). It is often mixed with chamomile and/or mint to make a refreshing tea. I use lemongrass for making ice tea during the summer, it is truly much better than the store-bought ice teas. It is a natural healer during the flu season, and children accept its flavor easily as well.

Elderberry is abundantly available in our area. It grows wild and the bushes surround the garden. Its beautiful whitish-yellowish flowers perfume the air during spring, and early autumn, its deep-purple berries add an amazing color to the garden palette. I can hardly wait to make elderberry syrup when the flowers are in bloom. Until then, I turn to the dried flowers to fight the flu. They are great against bad coughs. 

    

Sage is a plant that we've had in the garden for years. It somehow endures harsh winter frosts and no matter what, it starts to revive in the spring. It is a strong flavored plant, I usually use it for making "saltimbocca", (I will write about food in the garden during the spring-summer season) one of my favourite dishes. Its tea is also great for lessening cough and alleviate sore throat. It has beautiful flowers.

        

All flowers and leaves described above need to be infused using hot water while rosehips would lose their vitamins and valuable substances if we poured hot water over the berries. They need to be clean, and cut in halves. I normally pour cold tap water over the berries and let it stand for hours. The outcome is a reddish-browish coloured water that I normally dring with honey and some lemon juice. Rosehips are highly concentrated with vitamin C. They have much more than citruses. If only picking the berries was easier!

I can hardly wait to get better, and to have spring again when I can go back and work more on the herb garden "boxes" we have had for many years in Kishegy. More boxes to build, more plants to try...

"30 years of work and joy - Kishegy (SmallHill) - 1983-2013

Remembering spring

2013 = THIRTY YEARS OF JOY

KISHEGY HAS BEEN WITH US SINCE 1983

There is always something calm and peaceful about a winter garden, full of snow...

I realized I did not write much during these past few weeks. The reason is that we have not been back to the garden much. Mom says that right now, there is half a meter of snow in the garden. This means that the one right now is probably one of the thickest snow blankets the garden has ever had. Calm and peaceful it is - there is nothing one can do about it, and that is the way it should be. Nature took over, asking for a little time. 

Mom also says that we have many birds who come to feed on the seeds they put out for them in the feeders.

Two days ago even a cardinal appeared (my favourite). We have never had them in the garden. (I hope that this is a good sign - less disturbance, less pesticides? I hope so.)

I can only imagine how the cardinal's bright red color shows against the crystalline white of the snow...

People often think it is boring to be in a garden during wintertime. Nothing is farther from the truth. It is far from boring: it is a time for being inside, resting, contemplating and ... working. Re-arrange drawers, look at book collections, invite friends from Kishegy to watch a film together and have dinner, play cards with family members, create a new tablecloth one always wanted to do, but during gardening time there was just never enough time. Let the cats inside to feel their furry coat for a while, look into their eyes trying to figure them out... especially "my friend, Dzsidzsó" (Jinx), our very first one.

And under the heavy blanket of snow, somehow, there is life. It is just there, waiting. I hope the yellow tulips are getting their strength together for the time when Easter comes (very early this year) we will enjoy their brilliant yellow after entering the gate. I can only hope that as the experienced vegetable gardeners at Kishegy told me, the 63 lettuce plants that are now resting peacefully under the snow will somehow make it in the spring and do not freeze to death. 

I never succeeded with lettuce so far. I told this to the neighbor ladies, they looked at me and just laughed (they normally give THEIR lettuces in the spring as presents, probably feeling sorry for the us, city folk (we have had the garden for 30 years.) They nevertheless look very appreciative when we do succeed in having some vegetables - last year it was green beans, the year before tomatoes. I also just had a funny feeling that they gave me the plants not only because they are nice people, but also because they wanted to see whether I make it through the back-breaking job of planting all 63 of them... I did! (It almost did break my back. And thinking that the ladies are minimum 25-30 years older than me... and they have minimum a hundred or more lettuce plants planted in their garden, for sure).

Any gardener's nightmare is another plant, the dandelion. Nevertheless, kids love them as they first turn bright yellow then into white mini clouds they can blow away, transforming them into tiny parachutists. I am just wondering how many we will have this year. Last year, no matter how hard we cut the grass and the dandelions' heads off (sorry, plant protecters, but grass is important, too) we had extensive fields of bright yellow in the spring. 

They look absolutely stunning and then not-so-amazing once they start to turn into white puffs. But that is a different story. Right now, while remembering the snowy landscape of Kishegy, the dandelions seem almost unreal....

Older countrymen say that there is a time for everything. And this is really comforting to know, waiting for spring in Budapest's winter.

Budapest, thinking about Kishegy (SmallHill)