In the Garden - Infuse Your Life!

This week In the Garden we focused on Infusing Your Life with nutritional herbal infusions. 

What is a nutritional herbal infusion, you ask? Simply, it is a long brewed tea made with more-than-typical dried plant matter. I usually toss a handful of dried herb into a large jar, over which is poured a quart of boiling water, then covered and allowed t steep several hours, often over night. Then, strain a drink.

We explored herbs that are common, free-at-best, inexpensive-at-worst and super nutrient-rich, just loaded with vitamins and minerals that support and sustain us in many ways. We discussed nettle leaf (Urtica dioica), alfalfa leaf (Medicago sativa), oatstraw (Avena sativa), red clover blossoms (Trifolium pretense) and red raspberry leaf (Rubus ideaus) and we touched on the roasted brew you see pictured here, dandelion leaf (Taraxicum officinalis).

Why Herbal Infusions you ask? Well, as far as I'm concerned, because they are so simple, so abundant, so cost effective and so usable by our bodies. Ingesting added nutrients in this way decreases your perceived dependency on manufactured nutritional supplements and can save you a boat-load of money. Using common herbs in this way delivers nutritional components, especially minerals, in ways that are actually usable/absorbable by the body. Not only that, but drinking nutritional herbal infusions in this way offers you direct control of the quality of your nutritional supplementation - in the form of fresh, organic plant matter, grown with love, even! And, as I often mention, infusing your life in this way offers yet another way to support your local community and economy by buying herbs from a small, independent local growers or suppliers.

All that aside, it is a fun and healthy way to develop and nurture an intimate relationship with, and understanding of the simple foods that benefit us!

To learn more about the nutritional information that I shared during our show, please email me (bhrinthegarden@att.net) for my simple herb "cheat-sheet" and check out these few starter resources:

• The Food Doctor - Healing Foods for Mind and Body by Vicki Edgson and Ian Marber ISBN 1-85585-682-4
  
• Healing Foods by Miriam Polunin ISBN 0-7894-7247-7
  
• Healing Wise by Susun S. Weed ISBN 0-9614620-2-7

Happy reading and sipping! Be sure to join us again next Thursday at 11:30 AM, ET In the Garden when we'll be exploring some common Colonial American (Elizabethan) kitchen plants.

Thanks and be well be Nature!

~ rose

Host of In the Garden