Rose

If there is an herb that is most loved and valued across all of time and geography, it might be rose. Roses have been valued for their beauty, fragrance, and health benefits for hundreds of years.

One of the utilized properties of rose is its ability to protect your body cells from damage and help with cellular regeneration. Many skincare regimes include rose for this reasons. Our Rose Rejuvenation Cream pairs rose infused oil with rose-hip seed oil to deeply nourish and repair skin; especially helpful for those of us living in high altitude.

When taken internally, Rose has a long list of potential health benefits. It’s paining relieving effects are often used in reducing menstrual crams. Rose is high in antioxidants which help neutralize free radicals and relieve the body of stress. It has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cognitive diseases.

Anjali Apothecary cooks Rose and Shatavari (a deeply restorative, adaptogen) in ghee (the optimal carrier of herbs) for summer time. This ghee is nourishing and a little cooling (pitta balancing). The herbs boosts immunity and are anti-inflammatory. They add moisture in the digestive tract and support the reproductive system of men and especially women through out menstruation, pregnancy and menopause.

By Anne Heart

Lamb’s Quarter / Goosefoot

Chenopodium album

Lamb’s quarter is a wild herb that grows abundantly all over the world. It’s favorite spots are disturbed areas, consisting of all soil types. You can find it in your garden, a vacant city lot, even on the side of a mountain road at 10,000 feet. While you will see it emerge in spring, they will grow all summer long, even dropping seeds and growing new plants before fall is over.

You can imagine it as a wild spinach. Its taste is a unique one among the wild plants, as it tends towards a salty flavor - a rare treat. The leaves, stems, even flowers are edible raw or cooked. This is one I love to pick and nibble whenever I see it in my yard or on a hike. As it’s on the invasive weed lists all over the globe, it’s quite the resilient plant, and there’s no sustainability issues to harvesting.

Weeds have a bad reputation. I was once told a weed is just a plant that you don’t want growing where it is. Merriam Webster agrees, “a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth.” The later half of the definition is what I find the most noteworthy. These are the plants that are strong, resilient, determined. These are the plants that we can learn from, not just pull out and discard. They can nourish us more deeply than some others. In fact, the Pennsylvania Dutch used to eat it, along with dandelion and plantain greens, to cleanse after winter. It also contains more iron, protein, vitamin B2, and vitamin C than either spinach or cabbage. And it’s free.

It gets its other common name, goosefoot, from a loose translation of the lation name - chinos (“goose”) and podion (“little foot”) based on the shape of the leaf. The underside of the leaf is silvery, and depending on the time of the year, can have a pink-ish color to the edges.

While this plant has a multitude of ways to use it - raw in a salad, cooked in a frittata, baked into lasagna, save the seeds and sprout or cook like quinoa - my favorite way to enjoy it is a pesto.

By Meg Berry

Check out my recipe HERE.

Plantain / Psyllium

Plantago major, P. lanceolate

I grew up with plantain growing in my backyard. Unfortunately I did not know it because of it’s amazing medicinal properties, but through what all children had to learn - twist the long stem around the flower head and pop it off to see how far you can make it go. I grew up in Pennsylvania, where Plantago lanceolate was the dominant species. Out here in Colorado, Plantago major is mostly what I see. While the latter doesn’t have the same childhood fun, it is similar in medicinal properties.

When we learned about plantain in school, I could not believe what magical plants were always around me. And that lesson never ceases to continue in my life. I am more and more fascinated by the plants growing in our yards, out of the concrete, and on edges of various locations. In fact, in permaculture the edges are an important area to observe. What do you find when you meet your edge?

Of course, there’s a place for creating beautiful gardens and purposefully choosing to grow plants. There’s magic there too. But there’s something special about cultivating some wild plants - maybe instilling some wild tendencies in ourselves too, or some ancestral resilience?

Looking for plantain isn’t too hard. You can go to a park or soccer field most places and find it growing, like dandelion does. If you’re new to this plant, this is a great place to start. It will grow almost anywhere, some say in more poor soils, perhaps trying to heal it, hence growing in large fields of grass. Keep your eyes peeled this summer, and maybe try harvesting some yourself. The leaves can be dried for tea, or other herbal preparations.

What can it do?

It’s most known for being a vulnerary - wound-healing, from tannins. Similarly, it has a drawing action, being able to bring debris and infections up and out of the body. Traditionally, fresh leaves were crushed up to make a poultice, releasing an enzyme that combines with one of its constituents to produce aucubigenin, which is highly bacteriostatic. A friend of mine stepped on a scorpion, and immediately applied some chewed/crushed plantain to the location to help draw out the venom, leading to minimal symptoms. Other external applications are cuts, scraps, minor skin inflammations, wounds, boils, insect bites, poison ivy dermatitis, and hemorrhoids.

A few of its other healing properties: anti-inflammatory (great for the digestive tract), astringent, emollient, demulcent, anti-allergic or some individuals.

Drinking it in tea form can be helpful for inflammation in the respiratory tract, digestive tract, reproductive tract, and urinary tract. For external skin inflammations, you can dip a clean cloth in the tea and apply to the area, or make a poultice with fresh leaves. You can infuse fresh or dried leaves in olive oil and have for use in the winter as well. These are just a few herbal applications, among many others.

By Meg Berry

Check out my recipe for a tea blend for digestive health.

Calendula

Calendula officinalis

The beloved Calendula, brings bright warmth to our gardens and hearts. It is one of the most well known and loved herbs in Western herbalism, and is versatile in his healing ways. It can help with inflamed and irritated skin. It can help prevent the spread of infection through antiseptic and healing properties; and even speed up the repair time. It can be cleansing and detoxifying.

Calendula may be most known for its affinity for the skin. A British folk medicine saying, “Where there is calendula, there is no need of a surgeon.” At a time when most surgeries were amputations from infected wounds, calendula was used for cleansing wounds and promoting healing. While you would not want to apply it to an open wound, it can be very effective for cuts, scrapes, wounds, red and inflamed skin, minor burns (including sunburn), acne, rashes, and more. For those with little ones, it can be helpful for diaper rashes, cradle cap, and sore nipples from breastfeeding.

While Calendula is also known for its antimicrobial properties, it is also a great herb for digestive inflammation. Many people today are struggling with various digestive illnesses or complaints - bloating, cramping, diarrhea, constipation, and others - and where Calendula shines, is in its ability to soothe and assist in healing an irritated digestive system. As a cholagogue, it can aid in the relief of gallbladder problems, and some vague digestive complaints. It may not solve the root of your digestive issues, but it can be a great vulnerary - wound healing - ally.

Aside from its numerous physiological healing properties, it is also said to lift the spirits, brighten your mood, and encourage happiness - a sunshine herb, a heart herb - an herb that almost always has a positive effect on people. Easy to grow in most climates and soils, you can enjoy Calendula in your own backyard. We start seeds in the spring in trays, and transfer after the last frost date. You can harvest the flowers in early summer and dry in the shade.

By Meg Berry

Summer Herbs