Chamomile

German Chamomile,(Matricaria recutita) is a fragrant herb known for its apple-like taste and scent. In fact, this relative of the daisy gets its name from the Greek word kamai, meaning melon or ground apple. For thousands of years, people all over the world have been brewing chamomile into teas to aid digestion and calm jangled nerves. Gentle enough for both pregnancy nausea and infant colic, chamomile tea is a wonderful way to soothe yourself or your child naturally. A new to me idea is to use German chamomile tea, double strength, as a preventative to damping off in seedtrays. The Gardening guide shared this great tip. I will be using it from now on. German Chamomile grows in poor, clay soils. The short, two-month growing season of German Chamomile allows it to be planted with other biennial herbs or planted as an early or late crop. Chamomile is not only fragrant in the garden, it is easy to dry and use throughout the year. Remove the flower heads when they open and dry them on a newspaper in a quiet place. The tiny flowers are light and airy. They will blow around with the slightest breeze. To harvest chamomile can seem a chore. The flowers are very small but abundant. Some have better luck using a chamomile rake, which is a hand held device that combs the plants to remove the flowers. I find that it tends to tear a lot of plants up by the roots when I use it so I stick to the hand approach. Go out every day and you will find more flowers ready to harvest. This keep the flowers coming for an extended period of time.

Chamomile is an easy herb to grow and offers a lot of choices for teas, rinses and fragrant additions to crafts. Grow some as a ground cover or in a bed of its own, chamomile offers a gardener so much.