With my basil (okay… Rick’s basil ) growing so beautifully, I was inspired to make some savory muffins featuring fresh basil – thought up this recipe from my basic muffin mix recipe and it worked very nicely.

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients

• 2 cups Flour
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda (Bicarbonate of Soda)
• 1 tbsp sugar (optional)
• 1 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

• 1 cup milk,
• 2 eggs
• +/- 50ml of the oily vinaigrette from the sundried tomatoes

To fold in:

• 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes (in vinaigrette)
• 1/4 cup crumbly feta cheese
• handful of basil leaves (to taste)

Method:

1. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and work through with a fork till well mixed
2. Combine wet ingredients in a separate jug and mix well
3. Add the wet to dry and mix till just combined (don’t overmix)
4. Fold in the sundried tomatoes, feta and basil
5. Scoop a 1/4 cup mixture in a lined muffin tin
6. Bake for 20 mins in 180C oven (turning pan halfway through to ensure an even bake)

Happy Herbing!
Minette

As a treat for myself and my two little girls I decided to make some bath bombs today. In celebration of the herb of the year 2012, and because it is so gentle on my little one’s skins and beautifully florally, I decided to make them with Rose essential oil and rose petals. They really came out beautiful and I cannot wait to see them fizz all their good stuff into the bath this evening!

Here’s how I did it:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda)
• 1/2 cup Citric Acid
• 1/2 cup Cornflour
• 1/4 cup Epsom salts
• 2 3/4 tablespoon base oil (I used Grapeseed, but Almond or Avocado or any other would be good too)
• 3/4 tablespoon water
• 65 drops of Rose Essential Oil
• Colouring (use cosmetic grade) optional
• Rose petals (washed, dried and pesticide free) optional

Loosely fill a jar with fresh rose petals which have been rinsed and patted dry. Add enough clear honey to cover the petals and leave in a warm place for at least one week. Strain the honey and take a sip as required to soothe sore throats and mouths.

- folk remedy

• 2 egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup loosely packed red rose petals, rinsed and patted dry
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons rose syrup
• 1/3 cup half-and-half
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• candied rose petals, for garnish

Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the water and rose petals. Bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat, and let steep, covered, for 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove and discard rose petals.
3. Add the sugar and rose syrup, and return to boil for 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Immediately pour the boiling mixture in a slow stream into the egg whites, beating continuously.
5. Add the half-and-half and lemon
   juice, and beat the mixture for 1 minute.
6. Freeze in an ice cream maker, or in freezer (with regular stirrings).

Recipe from Edible Flowers: A Kitchen Companion with Recipes by Kitty Morse

A champion in my garden, indeed the King of Herbs, is the Sweet Basil – giving large full-flavoured leaves in abundance. Some have started flowering so I must remember to pinch off the tops of those plants that I do not wish to go to seed and die off just yet. I normally let at least a third of my basil crop go to seed though so that I am ensured of some new plants next season. Being a summer annual, I know the sweet basil won’t last forever, so I am enjoying it fresh in almost every meal!

Another herb that I have noticed is looking lovely at the moment is my Bee Balm (Bergamot). A few have even started to flower and their raggedy-head bright flowers are too beautiful -and as their name suggests, very much loved by the bees. I cannot believe that they have even ousted my lemon balm from its favourite spot this year!

As I said, the Mediterranean’s are suffering a bit with all this wet, even with the super-duper-drainage that I have provided for them – in particular my Purple Sage and Golden Sage are looking like they might not make it. But then, sage is the one that I just cannot seem to get growing, so no surprise there! Although the thyme, oregano and savory are not doing too bad, they were much more prolific last year this time and it might be time for me to mix things up a bit and move them around before the next growing season.

A lovely little surprise is that the Tuscan Blue Rosemary is flowering again, so I foresee some delicious rosemary flower omelettes in the near future – yummy!

Of my salad herbs I don’t even want to talk – but that is simply because I thought that having a rabbit in my herb garden, as a pet, would be a good idea… Well, there was SO MUCH plants, I never thought that dear little grey-brown Bella would be such a force of destruction! Alas, I’ve learnt my lesson and she is strictly cage-bound unless I am around to shoo her away from where she’s not supposed to be!

I’m not doing much to the garden now, just keeping neat and clean – trimming off some dead leaves and twigs where applicable, picking off flowers heads and continuing with my natural pest management practices and fertilising. Harvesting time is almost upon us, so I’m not disturbing the status quo at the moment, just encouraging healthy and happy growth.

One of the plants that are just reaching and breaching, is my dark opal basils which I’ve planted as companions around my tomatoes. So, walking about my little garden this afternoon, I realised that it was time to deadhead the basils.

(>>> deadhead <<< to pinch the growing top off a herb plant to stop them from flowering and going to seed – which you don’t want your annuals to be doing too soon – and to encourage sideways growth or bushiness).

I had no meals planned with fresh basil (although I think that using the purple basil in the tomato risotto I make could be interesting). I was also not in the mood to make pesto, but I had to use the beautiful heads of purple basil I had at the end of my deadheading mission. And then inspiration struck – I remembered the lovely Tuscan Pink Vinaigrette I made a few years ago. Perfect!

Herbal vinegars and vinaigrettes always look and taste so fantastic and they are so easy to make – here’s a How To on my Pink Tuscan Herbal Vinaigrette.

For the pink basil flavoured vinegar
What you need

• clear sealable glass jar, cleaned well
• white GRAPE vinegar, or white BALSAMIC vinegar, please don’t use spirit vinegar
• bamboo skewer

How to make it

• fill the glass jar almost to the top with the vinegar
• feed the rinsed basil leaves onto your skewer
• pop the skewer with herbs into the vinegar and top of the bottle with more vinegar  Make sure the herbs are submerged in the vinegar.
• let stand in a cool and sunny spot, but not in direct sunlight – you’ll see the vinegar turn pinkish within a few hours and the full colour and flavour will develop over a week or so

You can, if you want a bolder colour and flavour, strain the leaves and add new ones and let it rest for another week.

When you are happy with your pink vinegar, you can move on to making the Tuscan vinaigrette.

For the Tuscan vinaigrette
What you need

• bottle for your end product
• your pink vinegar from above
• extra virgin olive oil
• selection of Italian Herbs (I used Oregano & Garlic, some salad onions)
• salt & freshly ground pepper

How to make it

• add your chopped oregano, garlic and salad onions, salt and pepper to the pink vinegar and let stand for a few days to infuse
• strain the herbs and decant the vinegar into your final bottle to fill it up to a third
• add a few sprigs of whole herbs and a few slices of salad onions to the vinegar – this is more for look, so choose unblemished leaves
• fill the bottle with Olive Oil
• serve & enjoy!

>>> vinaigrette<<< A salad dressing (also used as a marinade sometimes) made by mixing oil and vinegar and often flavoured with herbs and spices.

I’ve been bathing her in a mixture of Lavender pure essential oil and Rose pure essential oil with a splash of Almond oil and then rubbing her down with my own home-macerated Calendula oil and it all helped, but nothing seemed to work as a longer term solution (each night, come bath time, her skin was very dry and rough and itchy again).

I am quite excited tonight though as it is the first night in a long time that I put her pyjamas on over a soft (at least much softer than normal) skin and it seems to be all because of a big bulbine (Bulbinella frutescens) rub down I gave her earlier today. I am going to continue with the bulbine for at least another week and see what results I get. At the very least, I know it is not at all harmful to her little skin and even if it does not help with the eczema and dry skin, it can only be good for her.

I simply press the gel out of the freshly picked bulbine leaves and rub it straight onto her skin, even better sometimes I get it right to split open a leaf and facing it down (gel side to the skin), use it as a rub on the affected parts.

Echinacea, or purple coneflower, can be taken as a herb tea, but it is particularly the tincture that is preferred as an immune tonic.

A tincture is a traditional way of extracting the therapeutic constituents of a plant using alcohol and water.

To make your own echinacea tincture you would need:

• a wide-necked clear jar
• echinacea root (or a combination of root and herb)
• 80 proof alcohol (vodka is a good choice)
• distilled water
• sieve/muslin
• a dark glass bottle (with dropper lid if you have)

If you have harvested your own herbs, make sure they are clean from debris.

• Pack your jar 1/5 (one fifth) full of herb
• Add alcohol to the jar to fully cover the herb*
• Leave the jar to steep for at least 2 weeks, gently shaking the bottle every now and then.
• Strain the mixture through a fine sieve, or for clearer results, muslin or cheesecloth. Discard the herbs.
• Decant the resulting liquid, your tincture, into a dark glass bottle. Keep out of direct sunlight

* You can make a alcohol-water mix of 1 part water to 5 parts alcohol if you wish. The idea around using this mixture is that those constituents that are not solvent in alcohol will be solvent in the water.

Echinacea tincture can be taken during times of high-risk of infection and at the onset of cold/flu symptoms.

NOTES:

• It is not advisable to take Echinacea if you are allergic to plants in the Asteraceae family, such as marigolds, daisies and chrysanthemums.
• If you suffer from auto-immune disorders, do not take Echinacea without consulting with your medical specialist.

When my four year old daughter had a consistently high fever recently, I did a lot of reading on children’s fevers, and in particular the naturopathic way to manage them. I thought to share some of the basics of what I’ve learnt:

What is a fever and why do we get fevers
A fever is an elevation of body temperature (because of a rise in the body’s set-point) above what is considered to be the normal range of 36.5°C and 37.5°C.

A fever may be caused by:
• Bacterial infections
• Viral infections
• Medications (including vaccinations)
• Illicit drugs
• Heat exposure (heatstroke)

Many parents, when their children show a rise in temperature, immediately think to treat the fever, but a fever is not a disease itself, it is only a symptom of an illness and is normally simply an indicator that something else is going on. Indeed, according to May Bove N.D. in her book, ‘Encyclopedia of Natural Healing for Children and Infants’, a fever “acts as a strong vital sign that the immune system is doing its job”.

Not only does a fever create an inhospitable environment for some pathogens (bacteria and viruses), but research suggests that it also enhances immune response by increasing the production of infection-fighting white blood cells, their speed of response and mobility through the body as well as their ability to destroy germs.

Taking a temperature
A wide range of temperatures in individuals are considered normal. Generally a normal temperature is given for “an otherwise healthy, non-fasting adult, dressed comfortably, indoors, in a room that is kept at a normal room temperature (22.7 to 24.4°C), during the morning, but not shortly after arising from sleep.” (Wikipedia.org)

• Rectal temperature is about 0.5°C higher than oral temperature (this is the closest to the body’s core temperature)
• Oral temperature (or from the ear) is around 36 to 36.8°C
• Armpit temperature is about 0.5 lower than oral temperature

Children normally have higher temperatures than adults, and temperature in the afternoon is also generally higher than in the morning. Activity levels, ambient temperature, clothing as well as food and drink all influence temperature, so take these factors into consideration when taking readings.

Specific thermometers are intended for the different methods of taking temperature, know which you are using, e.g. don’t use an oral thermometer rectally.

Fever and illness
There seems to be no direct correlation between the severity of a fever and the severity of the illness. A child with a relatively serious infection may only show a low-grade fever while a child with a high-grade fever may be only slightly ill.

The naturopathic way to manage fevers
A consensus among many of the specialists consulted in various articles is that a fever should not necessarily be treated and that, although it is not very pleasant for the patient, most people recover without any treatment.

The best approach from a natural viewpoint is to support the fever.

• Hydration – all texts indicate that it is most important to keep your child well hydrated – offer water, watered down juice, herbal tea (including Rooibos), soups or broths. Some electrolyte replacement drinks may also be helpful. Cooler drinks are preferred and small frequent sips are better than trying to get a lot down in one go.
• Rest – fevers generally make children lethargic and getting them to rest should not be too difficult, but if they are energetic, try encouraging calmer activities (such as reading or building blocks) so that metabolic rate is not overly increased.
• Cooling – when the fever is making your child really miserable, cooling them down can help them rest more easily and comfortably. To bring down a moderate to high temperature, encourage perspiration by giving a fever reducing herbal tea (see recipe below) and by sponging them down with luke-warm water (or letting them soak in a tepid bath). Never expect to return them to normal temperature, you will most probably only be able to cool them by a degree or so.
• Nourishment – your child probably won’t feel like eating when they have a high fever and this is quite okay – digestion of heavy foods may increase metabolic rate and cause a further rise in body temperature. While you are keeping your child well hydrated, there is not really much to worry about their eating habits. Nutritive soups can be offered as these add to hydration and is easy to digest, leaving the child’s body to channel its energy to fight the infection. If your child is hungry though, don’t keep food away – the old saying of “starve a fever” needn’t apply.
• Supplements – some pathogens are said to flourish in iron-rich environments, and for this reason, while the child is feverish, iron supplementation should be stopped. It is even recommended that eating meat (which is rich in iron) be avoided as far as possible.

What not to do

• Do not use cold baths – the cold constricts blood vessels which actually diminish heat loss and it results in shivering which will make body temperature rise.
• Do not give aspirin to children to bring down a fever – this has been linked to a serious, and possibly fatal condition, called Reye’s syndrome)
• Do not use alcohol to rub down the child – alcohol could be absorbed through the skin and the fumes are unpleasant for youngsters.

When should you worry
ALWAYS consult your paediatrician if you worry or if you are unsure.

Although fevers rarely rise to a dangerous level, call for help when:
• your child is an infant of three months or younger with ANY rise in temperature (nurse a child as often and for as long as possible to ensure adequate hydration and to calm them)
• your child’s temperature rises very rapidly
• temperature rise to very high (41°C)
• your child has had a seizure or has had them in the past
• your child has a stiff neck
• your child has difficulty breathing
• your child is vomiting or has diarrhea
• the child remains lethargic, sick and uncomfortable even when the temperature is lowered
• your child seems confused or delirious
• there is loss of consciousness or the child is difficult to awaken
• the fever persists for more than 72 hours
• your child’s behaviour changes
• your child cries inconsolably

Contacting a doctor when your child has a fever is a good idea, even if it is just to find out what may be causing the rise in temperature. It could bring much comfort and relieve stress for parent and child.

Herbs for Children’s Fever
Most herbs for fever work in supporting a fever, rather than repressing it. They take only the edge off the fever in order to make the child more comfortable; doing more than that may actually prolong the underlying illness.

The individual herbs may help to hydrate, calm the child, increase perspiration, decrease chills and stimulate immune response.

The herbs listed below can be used singularly in a tisane (herbal tea), or in combination:
• Catnip (Nepeta cataria) – a fantastic calming herb which is said to be a wonderful children’s herb for fever and sleeplessness.
• Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) – a well known and trusted herbal tea for calming and inducing restful sleep, Chamomile also may help reduce a fever somewhat and stimulates the immune response.
• Elderflower (Sambucus nigra) – a common herb for colds and flu, elderflowers are useful in a fever tea because they increase perspiration.
• Ginger (Zingiber officinale) – especially helpful if the fever is the result of the common cold or flu, or stomach-ache.
• Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) – this herb is soothing and calming and often included in most children’s herb tea mixtures. It may promote perspiration.
• Liqourice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) – the root of liquorice adds a sweet taste and enhances the workings of the other herbs.
• Peppermint (Mentha × piperita) – besides adding a delicious minty flavour to the herb tea, peppermint can help to slightly bring down a fever that has risen too high.
• Yarrow (Acchillea millefolium) – another favourite for colds and flu, yarrow maintains a fever, but prevents it from rising too high.

Lemon juice or honey can be added to the herbal teas for taste (NOTE: never give honey to a child under 1 years of age)

Rubbing your child’s feet with garlic-infused olive oil before bed is also said to stabilise a fever through the night.

Some essential oils that have been used by aromatherapists and naturopaths for fevers include:
To promote sweating and resolution of the fever:
• Rosemary
• Lavender
• Tea Tree
• Yarrow
To cool the body and reduce the risk of febrile seizures:
• Bergamot
• Eucalyptus
• Peppermint

The oils can be added to a tepid bath (4-6 drops) or foot bath or in a massage oil for feet, neck and shoulders.

Children’s Fever Tea Recipe
1 teaspoon of the following mixture, steeped in 1 cup boiled water (cool before drinking and flavour with honey and/or lemon juice)

• 10g Catnip
• 10g Chamomile
• 10g Elderflower
• 10g Lemon Balm
• 5g Peppermint

My experience
Initially, after visiting the paediatrician and having the diagnosis be “a viral infection which has not manifested itself yet” (i.e. no other symptoms bar the consistent and high fever), I gave my daughter the prescribed Lotem syrup to help bring down the fever. As soon as the medicine took effect (dropping her temperature from around 39.9°C to 37.9°C), she was her “old self”, but the moment the medicines worked out, she started feeling miserable and lethargic again and her temperature would soon spike back to around 39.9°C. The more I read on fever management for children, however, the less inclined I felt to give her the paracetamol-ibuprofen mix and eventually decided to let her fever run while I monitored her closely. I made the tea as above and administered it in small sips throughout two days. When her temperature ran too close to 40.5°C, I had the Lotem ready and gave her half the recommended dose – this was only necessary twice. I am happy to admit that the fever finally broke for good. Although she is still slightly high at 37.5°C, her temperature has not risen above this for at least the last 24 hours, and this temperature is close enough to what is considered normal for me to feel happy.

Resources

http://www.easyhomeremedy.com

http://www.emedicinehealth.com

http://www.gaianaturopathic.com

http://www.homemademedicine.com

http://www.innerhealth.us

http://www.keys-to-living-a-healthy-lifestyle.com

http://kidshealth.org

http://www.mothernature.com

http://www.natural-homeremedies.com

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com

http://www.suite101.com