Archangelica officinalis UMBELLIFERAE

Angelica is one of the oldest-known herbs. It is a native of cold countries, Russia and Lithuania and Iceland, and as far south as Germany. It is classified as a biennial, but if it is not allowed to flower and is cut back hard it will grow as a true perennial.

The legends about angelica are many. It was introduced into England in the sixteenth century with already a wide reputation on the Continent as a powerful remedy for coughs, colds and rheumatic complaints—all the troubles of the cold, damp climates in which it grows naturally and, as Nature has ordained, where it is most useful to man.

In Europe, it flowers on St Michael the Archangel’s day, 8th May, and it figured in many rites and rituals for this festival. In England it gained a strong reputation as a stomach strengthener, and was used extensively, the roots in particular being chewed as a protection from the plague. Angelica root was said to actually cure even after infection had already taken place, and it was an ingredient in the “Four Thieves’ Vinegar”, a concoction of powerful herbs drunk by four robbers who pillaged the bodies of those dead from the plague, and maintained apparent immunity themselves.

In Norway, bread was often made using the dried powdered roots; but all parts of the plant are valuable, the leaves to use dried in pot-pourri (pick them before flowering commences), and the stems and bark stripped and candied, or cooked with rhubarb to take away its tart taste. The seeds are used to flavour liqueurs such as Chartreuse, and are also used commercially in perfumes.

*41\181\8*

Samuel Hahnemann, the brilliant exponent of the homoeopathic school of natural medicine, found yet another principle relating to herb usage. He discovered that by giving massive doses at varying strengths of a particular herb certain symptoms could be produced in healthy people, and he formed the theory that a person showing this same set of symptoms in illness might be cured by an infinitesimal dose of the same herb. Application of his discoveries has provided some astonishingly effective results in the field of natural medicine. This is an over-simplification of a very complex theory, and further reading on the subject can be very rewarding.

I do not think any of us can scoff at something that works, and works not only on humans but on animals as well, thus confounding those who cry “Faith Healing!” and “If you believe in something hard enough, you will be cured.” Homoeopathic doses of herbs are even being used to activate the compost heap. Work done in England recently has shown that a concentration of one in ten thousand parts of yarrow (Achillea millefolium) added to the compost heap is the most effective “dose”. I have proved this myself, and the short time taken to produce rich well-decomposed compost has been very valuable to me in my herb nursery, where all the plants are organically grown and natural compost is one of their chief foods.

In 1927, in Baker Street, London, a Mrs Leyel started up a small shop selling dried herbs and herbal preparations, known as the “Society of Herbalists”. Interest in the use of herbs grew to such an extent that in 1936 a new Society of Herbalists was formed by admirers of her work, by those who had benefited by using herbs, and those who wished to gain more knowledge to help in healing others. The hundreds of members became thousands, and Mrs Leyel wrote many books that have become reference works for those studying natural medicine.

Another herbalist with a world-wide reputation is Juliette de Bairacli Levy, an Israeli lady who has spent a large part of her life living amongst some of the primitive peoples in so-called “under-developed” countries, learning from them their herbal lore and usage. The American Indians, the natives of several South American countries, and the gipsies all over the world, have given her a wealth of information on how they manage to raise their families and their live-stock under extremely poor conditions. In many cases, their health and vigour, even in old age, should bring shame on our affluent, enlightened society, with its increasing toll from asthma and obesity and early coronaries. Two of her books are listed in the bibliography at the end of this book, and I can recommend them to those wishing to raise livestock by natural methods or to care for the health and well-being of the family without recourse to unnatural products.

*9\181\8*

Summer savory Satureia hortensis LABIATAE Winter savory Satureia montana

A beloved culinary herb of ancient Greece, savory has an annual variety, summer savory, as well as the perennial or winter savory. Both have similar flavour, and winter savory is the kind I have found best to grow. It is evergreen, of a spreading rather low habit of growth, with woody little stems on which appear tiny starry white flowers in spring and early summer. It has a pleasant aroma when the leaves are crushed, and a special affinity for beans, peas, and the squash and marrow family. A sprig added to the water when steaming chokos will make you wonder why they are still such a lowly vegetable. Remove the sprig after cooking, as the hard stem is not very palatable. The herb is used in sauces and to flavour herb vinegar and the softer leaves can be stripped from the stem and added sparingly to soups, too. It will stand longer cooking than most herbs, with no deterioration in flavour.

Open sun suits savory well, and moderate conditions, and it is easily grown either from seed or hard-wood cuttings, taken in summer or early autumn.

Often added to herbal medicines for its warming qualities and pleasant taste, disguising some of the more unpalatable herb flavours, it has been used also, like rue, to sharpen sight.

Savory was taken to America by early British settlers, and has naturalized well. Crushed leaves rubbed on a bee-sting alleviate the pain. Try a few well-bruised sprigs of savory steeped in white wine for a refreshing tonic drink. If the flavour of basil is too strong for you in a recipe, substitute savory. If you are partial to young button squash or the dark green zucchini, slice them thinly, saute quickly in butter to which a savory sprig has been added, and serve immediately.

An unusual conserve can be made using the herb. It goes equally well with cold meat as a garnishing jelly or on toast as a jam. Try it drizzled over ice-cream too, as a piquant sauce. Top the dish with a sprig of fresh applemint or pineapple mint.

*132\181\8*

Vegetable Hotpot

1/2 stick celery

4 medium carrots

2 small onions Chopped cabbage Mustard or cress sprouts 4 tablespoons oil

1 cup stock

2 tablespoons cornflour Small handful hyssop leaves Salt and cayenne pepper

Wash and dice all the vegetables (except the sprouts), and add to the hot oil, tossing to coat them evenly. Saute over moderate heat for several minutes. Add the hyssop and seasonings, then add the stock, cover and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the sprouts just at the last minute, heat through and serve immediately. Do not overcook, as the vegetables should be crisp and chewy.

It is frequently used in the perfume industry, its concentrated oils being blended with other fragrances in eau-de-Cologne.

Plant hyssop as a low hedge around the vegetable patch. Its flowers will bring the bees, and its roots have been found to cleanse the soil and keep many soil pests at bay. Don’t, however, grow it near radishes: the two plants are not compatible, and the radishes will have poor flavour.

Hyssop has also been found to improve the yield from grapevines if planted along the rows, particularly if the terrain is rocky or sandy, and the soil not as easy to work as it might be. So add another plant to the list of those that can improve the health and productivity of food crops. Some day soon, as man’s distrust of artificial growing methods forces him to turn back to Nature, all these green natural “chemical factories” will once again be given the opportunity to work for us.

*102\181\8*

Allium schoenoprasum LILIACEAE

There is in every cook’s opinion

No savoury dish without an onion;

But lest your kissing should be spoiled

The onion must be thoroughly boiled! So said Jonathan Swift, and so at one time or another have all of us felt about the pungent smell of onions. This anti-social property is also shared by their small cousins, onion chives and garlic chives. But those of us who have any knowledge of natural medicine know that the onion family, with garlic at its head, is one of the greatest blessings to mankind in all the plant kingdom. I venture to say that if more people questioned their natureopathic physicians on the use of garlic in “miraculous” treatment of asthma and bronchitis, there would be an astonishing decrease in the misery caused by these diseases. Chest complaints cannot all be laid at the doorstep of smog and pollution. Some come from bad nutrition, causing imbalance and consequent bodily malfunction, which our foetid air only aggravates; and for most of these inherent bodily weaknesses garlic or one of its chive relatives can be of inestimable value.

I don’t propose in this book to deal with garlic itself. The study of all its cleansing properties would fill a very much larger volume; but I hope to write at length of it in a further book.

Chives have, to a lesser degree, very similar properties in the safeguarding of general good health and the warding off of disease. They contain, amongst other valuable constituents, iron, pectin and sulphur, and are a mild natural antibiotic. They help to strengthen the stomach and combat high blood pressure, and have a tonic effect on the kidneys. Every invalid recuperating from serious illness should have chives every day in the diet, for they have a stimulating effect on the appetite and, like all herbal medicine, have no troublesome side-effects. Chives also reduce the indigestibility of fats in food—a boon to those cholesterol-level watchers.

The herb came to Europe via the Asian cultures, and it is mentioned in early Chinese herbal writings. Marco Polo is credited by some with spreading its fame anew around the Mediterranean.

*71\181\8*