Culinary Uses Of Lemon Verbena
Lemon verbena is grown for its aroma and culinary taste. Unlike most herbs with culinary value, lemon verbena can be used fresh or dry without losing most of its aroma. To dry the flowers and leaves of the herb, tie the stems at the bottom and hang to dry. Alternatively, strip off the leaves and place them in a dehydrator. Continue reading [...]
Purslane: A Weed That Heals
Portulaca oleracea or purslane is a succulent annual herb growing 10-30 cm tall. It thrives in warm, sandy soils and is considered a weed in most regions due to its invasive growth patterns. The plant has red-brown stems and wedge-shaped leaves. It blooms in summer featuring yellow flowers containing 4-6 petals which give way to black, rough seeds. Though purslane is also known as little hogweed, it should never be mistaken with the giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). Continue reading [...]
The Magnolia’s Long History of Symbolizing Grace and Beauty
The stately magnolia has been admired as a symbol of beauty and nobility for countless centuries. In fact, fossils indicate that the magnolia tree and its blooms have remained nearly unchanged for the last 100 million years! Continue reading [...]
Purslane: A Succulent, Culinary And Flowering Weed
Duckweed not only possesses great antibacterial and antioxidant properties but is also packed with important nutritive components such as omega-3 fatty acids which are great for boosting the body’s immune system. Omega-3s are a category of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids. Since the body does not make essential fatty acids, you must get them from the food you eat. Unfortunately, the average American diet is usually low on fatty acids which expose many people to conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Continue reading [...]
Hops: Beer Ingredient With Health Properties
Hops are the flowers of the hop plant or humulus lupulus. The hop plant is native to Europe but is now cultivated worldwide including in the US where 97 percent of hops come from Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. While the climbing hop vine is renowned for imparting flavor to pilsners and ales, most people do not know that these flowers are not only good for making beer but also have medicinal properties. The health benefits of hops are attributed to compounds in the plant’s flowers such as flavonoids, lupulone and humulene.
Alternative medicine enthusiasts hold that these compounds have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-anxiety properties. Continue reading [...]
Royal, Mysterious And Medicinal: Bluebells Surprising Facts
Hyacinthoides nonscripta, commonly known as English bluebell, common bluebell or bluebell is a perennial, bulbous plant in the Lily (Liiaceae) family. It is native to the western regions of the Atlantic and north-western Spain. Today, the flowering plant is naturalized in many parts of the world including the United States especially in the Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes regions, and other parts of North America. Continue reading [...]