Sunday, June 2, 2013

The Joy Of Herbs: Magic, Healing & Cooking


 
A corner of my humble herbs garden.

 
Chinese baloon flower (platycodon grandiflorus) used to cure sore throat due to heat and anti-inflammatory applications.

 
A black turmeric plant. Some people use it as a 'ngai' plant :)))
 
 
It is a joyful experience to walk into my small herbs garden early in the morning as I would be greeted by the fragrance of my plants: Rosemary, Thyme, Tarragon, Peppermint, Lavender, Jasmine and the like. You may say that in a way, I have saved out some money for purchasing air fresheners.

 

Well, my personal view is that learning magic is not complete without planting some herbs. Let’s set magic aside: herbs are also used in culinary and traditional healing too. Below are some of the uses of herbs I post here for sharing purposes only.

 

·         Tarragon

o   Widely used to improve appetite and digestive system.

o   Can be made into herbal tea, wine or vinegar.

o   It is also said to be able to improve sleeping quality and aids in the recovery of rheumatism.

·         Rosemary

o   It can improve memory and blood circulation.

o   It is used in cooking meat.

o   It can be made into tea or herbal bath, or to some extent; repel insects.

·         Lavender

o   It has mind calming and soothing effect and said to be able to improve migraine.

·         Peppermint

o   It helps to cure cough, stomach ache and respiratory discomforts.

·         Lemon balm

o   It improves in the digestive system and has mind calming effects.

·         Thyme

o   It can sooth headache, nerve ache and stomach ache.

o   The fragrance from a small pot of Thyme can fill a whole house.

·         Oregano

o   It helps to regain strength, calm mind and controls micro-biological growth.

o   Its leaves can be made into herbal tea or herbal bath.

·         Turmeric

o   It can be used to cook fish, meat etc.

o   Said to improve flu and stomach discomforts.

·         Basil

o   It has mind calming effects and improves appetite.

o   Basil leaves can be made into herbal tea and wine.

·         Sage

o   It can helps in improving digestive system, controls spasm, excessive palpitation etc.

o   It is used to reduce the oil content in meat cooking.

o   It can be made into herbal tea or wine for consumption.

·         Sweet Setvia (Sweet Leaf)

o   It is said to be an alternative to sugar.

 

Unfortunately my humble garden cannot house so many herbs available out there. Hopefully one day I would be able to source for a bigger piece of land and plant some more herbs.

3 comments:

  1. Dear Sir,
    With due respect,
    About the sore throat,
    Many years ago, I read an article in local newspaper, of a breathing exercise by Indian Yoga, which is really effective! and my family never suffer sore throat since!
    When u feel uneasy with your throat...
    1]Make your lips as if u are whistling.
    2] Stick out your tongue out, sides of the tongue will curve up around the lips.
    3] Breathe slowly and deeply, with your mouth slowly, for 20 to 30 times. U will feel cooling sensation around the throat....and the sore throat will cured in time. Make this a few time a day...
    or if u wont like curve up the tongue, just stick out the tongue as far possible [like dog] and breath slowly and deeply with your mouth. it is just as effective!
    Hope this help with sore throat sufferer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Your technique works!

      I had a few sleepless nights and my throat started to itch... I tried d technique and I almost instantly felt a breeze of cool air in my lungs.

      Thanks for sharing. I will post it up for more to see.

      Cheers.

      Delete
  2. Sir, I need a sapling of black turmeric .. can you send me .. how much I need to pay for it.. please tell me sir

    ReplyDelete