| About Herbs | ||
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If you ask someone what a herb is, they will probably tell you it is a green
thing you stick in cooking to flavour it. While this is partly true, the
trouble is that Monk’s Hood, Hen’s Bane and Foxglove are all regarded as
herbs, but if you cook with them you will probably not live to tell anyone about
it!
Ask a biologist what a herb is and they will tell you it is a plant which
produces foliage during the spring and summer but dies down to the ground in the
winter. You are probably familiar with herbaceous plants. But it’s
not quite the definition we are looking for.
Different book on herbs give a slightly different interpretations of what a
herb is. So in the end we worked out our own interpretation, which we feel
is fairly accurate.
A herb is a plant which is, or in the past, has been
valued for its medicinal or aromatic properties.
As you can imagine, this covers a wide range of plants, from the Maidenhair
Tree (Ginkgo Biloba) which grows to a height of 130 ft.(40m) to Ergot (Claviceps
purpurea) a tiny fungus which grows on grains of rye and from which is extracted
LSD.
It also includes roses, lilies, gentians, gardenias and forsythia. The
other side of the coin is that it includes cannabis plants, opium poppies and
coca from which cocaine is obtained, an original ingredient of coca-cola.
In fact most of the medicines and drugs used by modern doctors are either
extracted from herbs or are a synthetic copy of a plant extract.
In ancient times, off the shelf drugs and medicines were
not available and so men of medicine had to look around for what was available
to help them, and one of the most available commodities was plants.
The Chinese are regarded as the most ancient of herbalists,
but this is mainly because of their meticulous written records, a Chinese Herbal
has been discovered which was written 5,000 years ago.
If we look to the west, herb gardens were planted in Egypt some 4,000 years ago. Paintings on tomb walls have been found depicting herbs, and fragments of papyrus from 2,800 BC have been discovered detailing herbs and their medicinal properties.
If you were suffering from an ailment in ancient times you would appeal to the gods for assistance and so the Egyptian priests became the physicians and herbalists of their day. Many of the medical practices of the Egyptians were absorbed by the Greeks and these were passed onto the Romans.
Dioscorides was a Greek physician in the 1st Century AD,
during the time of the Emperor Nero. He wrote four books on herbs
and their healing properties and this became the main reference for the next
1,500 years.
Although the Roman conquerors introduced many new herbs
into Britain, the Druids were already practitioners of herbal medicine. At
school I was taught that the Britons fighting alongside Queen Boadicea painted
their faces and bodies with woad which made them blue. I assumed that this
was an attempt to make them look frightening to their enemies, but in fact it
had a practical application. The herb woad is a very strong astringent, in
other words it reduces bleeding and helps wounds to clot, and also has
anti-bacterial properties.
During the Middle Ages, it was still the religious orders
who were responsible for the practice of medicine in Britain and most
monasteries had a Knot Garden where they grew healing herbs. These gardens
were modelled on the formal Roman herb gardens. The Monks did not just
value herbs for their medicinal properties however, they used them to flavour
their vegetarian diet, for dyeing fabrics and as ingredients for the alcoholic
drinks they brewed.
In the 13th Century herb cultivation became increasingly
popular, and many of the large houses grew a large variety of herbs for
household use. From the 16th to the 18th Century botany and medicine were
regarded almost as a single science and by the 17th Century most Universities
across Europe had their own “Physic Garden”.
As colonial explorers brought back new plants, the Physic
Gardens expanded into the botanical gardens we know today and colonists also
took seeds and plants with them, expanding the range of herbs in the New World.
Today there is a growing interest in herbs and herbal
medicine in this country, partly because we are tired of fast food and there is
a growing distrust of conventional medicine with its heavy-handed pharmaceutical
drugs with their side effects.
Most medicines are synthesized copies of chemicals that can
be found in herbs. The pharmacologist discovers which ingredient of
the herb has a beneficial effect, extracts this and then synthesizes a copy.
Taken in isolation these chemicals often have unpleasant side effects.
When you use the original herb, the chemical is not taken in isolation but in
combination with other chemicals the chemical combinations are known as
synergies and are usually much gentler and have less detrimental side effects.
In fact even in the
medical profession a growing respect for alternative medicine can be found.
We have visited hospital wards where we found nurses practising aromatherapy.
With the advent of super-bugs, resistant to the cocktails of antibiotics that
have been pumped into patients for years, new methods of treatment are becoming
essential.
Aromatic
Often herbs have a strong fragrance, which will scent the garden. Many are
used in the manufacture of perfume, the oils are extracted for use in
aromatherapy, they can be added to potpourri and some have fragrances which
deter insects.
Companion Planting
Some herbs give a distinct benefit when planted near other plants, for example
basil is often planted near tomatoes, and as well as growing well together,
tomatoes and basil go very well together in cooking too. Chamomile, on the
other hand, is known as the plant doctor, because anything planted near it will
thrive - even sickly plants.
Cosmetic
Many herbs have cosmetic uses. The word lavender comes from the Latin lavre
meaning to wash, because the Romans added it to their baths. Evening
Primrose is also known to be good for the skin. Another example is
chamomile, which lightens the hair, or rosemary which makes a wonderful hair
tonic and conditioner.
Culinary
Herbs are perhaps best known for their ability to flavour and enhance food.
Without them much food would be bland and uninteresting and French Cuisine would
not exist.
Medicinal
Much of the medicinal use of herbs is covered in the
History of Herbs section.
Ornamental
Far from just being “green things” many herbs are attractive plants, which
can enhance the appearance of a garden. Many have stunning flowers or
attractive foliage
Other Uses
Obviously with such a wide range of plants, there are many other uses to which
they can be put, both commercially and individually. An example is Comfrey which makes an excellent compost
activator or an exceptional, if rather smelly liquid fertiliser. In fact
comfrey liquid has such a stench that if you have problems with someone nicking
your watering can, just leave some comfrey juice in the bottom, they won’t go
within 10 feet of it!