Mad About Herbs

New Herb Forum

I'm pleased to say that the Mad About Herbs Forum has now been set up, ready for you to join in, make friends, ask for or share information and have fun.  Most herb forums are mixed in with fruit and vegetable topics or mix all the different aspects of herbs, so this forum has been created to focus solely on herbs but split between the different areas so that it is easier for you to find the information you are looking for.

On this forum you can:

• ask your herb related questions on the appropriate forums
• share your knowledge of herb gardening, cooking, crafts, making skincare products, using herbs for health
• arrange herb seed swaps
• share recipes
• let us know your favourite herb related books, products, suppliers
• let me know what information you are looking for, what you like and don't like about the website/blog/newsletter
• just drop in for a chat off topic in the 'Fancy a chat?' forum
• and lots more....

You are welcome to view the forums but will need to register to post on them and to view member profiles.  The forum provider has  a security feature that can block bots from capturing member's email addresses, so you can use the board without having to worry about getting more email spam.

Almost forgot to include the link!  Click here to access the forum.

I hope you find it useful.

We made our own perfume...

                                ..a nice one I hasten to add.  My daughter wanted to try this set out.  It's a 'Make Your Own Natural Perfume' set from Woodland Herbs in Scotland.  They also sell a lip balm set, bath scrub and herbal tea, insect repellent and herbal infused oil set.  The perfume set arrived very quickly and it was also very quick to make!  All we needed to do was add between 10 and 20 drops of essential oil into the bottle, top up with the grapeseed oil.  Push on the roller ball lid, cap it and shake.  The essential oil included in this set is an organic geranium one which is lovely.

I could have bought the individual bottles, oil etc separately but it would have cost only slightly less than this set.  You could add any single essential oil or experiment with a mixture.

Feel free to let me know if you've come up with any good combinations.

Herb of the Year 2008

The herb of the year 2008 is Calendula officinalis which is a pretty and very precious plant otherwise known as Pot Marigold, Common Marigold, Marybud, Bulls Eye, Garden Marigold, Holligold or Souci!  The botanical name comes from the Latin 'calendae', meaning the first day of the month.

Calendula flowers are a lovely cheerful colour which brighten any area in which they grow.  They also have fantastic skin healing properties when added to skincare products.  It has the following properties: antiseptic, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory.

A poultice of the flowers can be used to help relieve stings, eczema, impetigo, burns, scalds, varicose veins, bruises, sores, boils, pulled muscles and more. If you look at some of the skin healing creams or balms in the shops, you will see that many of them contain an extract of calendula.

Plant Description

A hardy annual with daisy-like, single or double yellow or orange flowers from June to October.  Leaves are light green and aromatic.

Site:  Any free draining soil, prefers a sunny position

Height and Spread: 50cm to 70cm

How to grow, harvest and use calendula

Sow seeds either in pots under cover in the autumn then plant out in late spring after the risk of frost has gone, spacing them out approximately 30 cm apart.  Alternatively, sow seeds outside in late spring, but protect from slugs - they love the tender leaves!

Parts used

Flower petals with white 'heel' removed, young tender leaves.

Harvesting

Pick flowers as soon as they open during the summer.  Pick leaves when young and tender for use in salads.

Household and skincare uses

Dry flowers at a low temperature for use in