Mixing Herbs For Tea

Mixing your own herbs for tea, is as easy as choosing the scents that appeal to you and blending up your favorite choices. I find that in the summer months, ice tea is the beverage of choice in my home. Here are the basic herbs that I grow to make a fabulous tea that everyone loves.

The basic blend includes flowery notes of some sort. I use violet flowers,chamomile flowers, dandelion petals, calendula petals or wild rose petals for this. Add one part of this herb.
After adding the flowers (fresh or dried), I add the place holding flavor. To this, I mean the flavor that ties everything together and keeps my iced tea tasting strong enough to withstand a few ice cubes melting into it. Dried red raspberry leaves or dried nettles work well here. Add two parts of these herbs.
Next, a fruity or naturally sweet component is nice. I use dried rosehips most often. These are sold in many herb shops or health food stores if you have not harvested your own. Another addition to this would be Hibiscus flowers. They are not only sweet and lemony flavored, they also impart a rich, red color to your teas. Add one part of these herbs.
Finally, I add the cooling herb. Mint is usually most common here. You can add any combination or variety of your available mints. Add one part of these herbs. A nice and naturally cooling herb is Borage. The leaves or flowers can be used.

After mixing up your favorite blend of herb tea, using these ideas, keep in a glass jar in a dark place. Use at least one teaspoon of dried herbs per cup of water, more to taste.

A part means that whatever measurement you have handy: i.e. your hand, a cup, a tablespoon, is the overall measurement, and you use one or more of them per ingredient.

I hope you can come up with a variation to call your own, that tastes refreshing and delicious for your whole family.

Peppermint

Peppermint, (M. Piperita), is a wandering, invasive herb with a deep purple, square stem and deep green leaves. The undersides of the leaves are purple as well. This is a common and fast growing mint that makes a great tea. Easily recognisable, the taste of peppermint is refreshing and cooling on a hot summer day. It is also soothing to an upset stomach, due to the menthol it contains.The menthol in peppermint soothes the lining of the digestive tract an stimulates the production of bile, which is an essential digestive fluid. A hot cup of herbal tea is an excellent way to settle your stomach after a big meal.

Peppermint is the flavoring of choice for toothpaste as it is an excellent breath freshener. When using peppermint tea as a breath freshener, increase the effectiveness by adding a pinch of anise, caraway or cinnamon. Menthol vapors are famous for relieving nasal, sinus and chest congestion. For a more effective cold remedy, combine peppermint with elder flower and yarrow. For a hacking cough, drink 3 to four cups of cool peppermint tea throughout the day, taking a sip every 15 to 30 minutes.

Peppermint can overtake a garden bed so grow it either in its own pot or bury a pot to the rim in the soil to keep the roots contained. Like most mints, peppermint likes moist, rich soil and full sun. It can grown in partial sun though, so consider it in an area that may not grow much else due to the lack of sunlight. Unlike many other mints that grow from seed, true peppermint grows from cuttings. Stems can be cut and placed in water until they grow roots. These new cuttings will grow new, healthy plants. Often, what is marked as peppermint is just a variety of mint because mints are so easily cross pollinated. Buy true peppermint from reputable growers and see that it is labeled M. Piperita.

Best Perennial Herbs

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Get High With Household Herbs

I have received many emails asking if there are any household herbs that can make a person high or achieve an altered state of consciousness. Answer:

If you are asking as a potential user or a parent of someone who may want to use, it is important to know what household herbs can make a a person high. Although anything has the potential to be misused, there are some common household seasonings that can produce an altered state.

Nutmeg - ingesting a large quantity of this seasoning will produce what drug users refer to as a bad trip, or an altered state that is uncomfortable and exhausting. It is not recommended by either those who use drugs, nor those that do not. Because hearth palpatations, vision disturbances and heavy sweating and extreme exhaustion are the results of its misuse, nutmeg is better left in the kitchen.

Salvia - There is a variety of salvia, known as Salvia divinorum, that has found underground noteriety because of its effects and the fact that for now, it is legal. This beautiful plant was originally used for religious ceremonies by a very select few. By bringing it mainstream, concentrating, and misusing it, the herb is no longer considered harmless and should be noted.

There are many myths about household food and seasonings that seem to continue through the years. The following items have all been said to cause some sort of reaction when misused. The truth is, the only reaction is a headache and/or nausea.

Indoor Garden Tips

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Herbal Head lice Removal

Want a natural way to get rid of head lice? Try whipping up remedies involving rosemary, lavender, and thyme. Herbs for head lice are used in many ways. They are a natural remedy for these annoying critters, usually showing up in epidemic proportions once schools are back in session.

To use herbs to repel head lice, simply make a infusion of the herb, or combination of herbs. Use the infusion as a rinse after shampooing. Additionally, place up to 6 drops of essential oil from the repellent herbs, in your bottle of shampoo. I like a blend of lavender and rosemary, three drops each, as a preventative mixture.

Are you trying to get rid of head lice once infested? Try adding up to 6 drops of essential oil from any of the herbs that repel lice, to an ounce of olive oil (for shoulder length or shorter hair. Double this, for longer hair). Comb this mixture into hair, completely saturating every strand, and the scalp. Cover the head with a shower cap, and leave on overnight, then wash with a gentle shampoo in the morning. Once hair is washed, comb with a fine toothed comb to remove nits. The oil will help loosen the nits, making them easier to remove. Repeat for up to three nights, taking a break from the essential oil for two nights, and repeat if necessary.

Always keep in mind that head lice are simply an opportunistic bug. They are not reflective of your hygiene or any other factor. Keep a close eye on your kid's hair for the few weeks that head lice are being spread around every year, and you may never have to deal with these annoyance of head lice again.

Oregano

Possibly one of the most recognized herbs in the cook's garden, oregano is easy to grow and adds plenty of taste either fresh or dried, to foods.

Oregano is a satisfying herb for any gardener. It is easy to grow and care for, as long as it does not remain wet for too long. Oregano grows very well in partial sun, making it a good choice for an indoor windowsill garden.

Oregano is also a well loved cooking herb. It is used in Italian cooking and known by most children as the pizza herb. Use it in any tomato based dish with great success.

To dry, strip oregano leaves from the stem and lay on paper towel, out of direct sunlight. Store in an airtight container and enjoy throughout the winter season.

Chives

Chives are one of the most well known herbs, but often one of the least used. Everyone seems to know someone else who grows chives but other than snipping onto baked potatoes, Chives never seem to get used to their total potential.

Chives are a wonderful addition to the beginner's garden. They impart a light onion flavor in any dish and can be used interchangeably in recipes calling for onions. There is even a variety of chives that tastes like a blend of onion and garlic. Chives keep their lovely green color when cooked so they make a fancy addition to butters for an aromatic blended topping for corn on the cob, pasta dishes or garlic bread.

Chives are easy to grow. They require full sun and will benefit from rich, moist soils. Keeping your chive plant snipped back will cut down on the dried, yellow stems from overtaking the entire clump. These are simply the chive leaves that have finished their growing cycle. Cutting them back will create a new batch of bright green leaves. If you continue to cut the blossom heads from your chive plant, the flowers will keep coming and you will have a special ingredient for the following culinary delight. Chives need to be divided every two to three years. You simply dig up the entire clump of chives in early spring, chop it into two or three pieces with a shovel and replant each one separately. This ensures a fresh start for more chives. Chives have a stunning purple blossom that offers a culinary treat that will become a fantastic treat for any food lover. Fill a one quart jar about 1/2 full of white vinegar. Start snipping and submerging the blossoms as they open. If you continue to snip and remove all the blossoms, this will force the plant to keep making flowers. Once the jar is full-with vinegar covering the blossoms, cover and let steep in a dark cupboard for at least 2 weeks. The blossoms will fade to white and the vinegar will become a shockingly pink color. The delicate taste of chive blossoms will arguably be one of the finest infused vinegars you will ever taste. Be sure to keep this treat in the dark as sunlight will fade the color rapidly. This makes a wonderful gift for your food loving friends. Chives are easy to grow and abundant. To store them for winter use, you must not dry them. The taste fades rapidly. The proper way to keep chives tasting fresh all year long is to freeze them. I have frozen them in long stems and snipped them into the foods as needed or you can snip them before freezing in a freezer proof bag.

Chives also grow very well on a windowsill. If you would like to try growing herbs inside and do not think you have enough light, try chives at first. They will grow almost anywhere as long as they don't get too dry.