Tea Tuesdays

For some reason, this post did not publish last week as planned, so without further ado: the introduction for Tea Tuesdays!

Copious amounts of teas are consumed regularly at my house, so I thought it might be fun to start a weekly feature with some of my infusion related adventures.

Making herbal tea is a great way to add nourishing variety to your daily fare. Herbal teas, also known as tisanes or infusions, can be created purely for taste, or with a specific health supporting goal in mind.

One of the things I enjoy most about blending teas at home is being spontaneous and creative with what I have on hand. Therefore, I encourage you to experiment with improvisations of your own. Granted, I do have a spectacular amount of herbal material in my cabinet of curiosities, and my teas reflect that abundance. If you would prefer to replicate my concoctions exactly rather than develop wild experiments of your own, the ingredients should be easily available and very inexpensive either online or at your local health food store.

So, cozy up with your tea kettle and follow along on our tisane escapades every week!

Herbal Mischief Reading List

So, last month I wrote a little post about all the herbal mischief I am planning for this year. Part of that post referred to a reading list I was putting together. Here it is! My reading list for the year:

Herbalism in America (excluding Native traditions, which I would like to focus on next year)

The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism, by Matthew Woods
Medical Protestants: The Eclectics in American Medicine, by John S Haller
The People's Doctor: Samuel Thomson and the American Botanical Movement, by John S. Haller
and possibly
Kindly Medicine: physio-medicalism in America, by John S. Haller

I wish I could find a few other authors as well, but this will be a good start.

Herbals and European Herbal History
Medieval Herbals: the Illustrative Traditions, by Minta Collins
The Old English Herbals, by Eleanour Sinclair Rhode
Herbals: their origin and evolution, by Agnes Arber

And I would like to at least browse through the following:

Gerard's Herbal, by John Gerard
Culpeper's Complete Herbal, by Nicholas Culpeper
A modern herbal, by Maude Grieve

I think I will probably purchase them one or two at a time, some of them are a bit on the pricey side. Well, at least for me, the expert at dredging up $2.oo herbal books at the local used bookshops :) 

Herbal Mischief for the New Year!

I have lots of incredible herbal mischief planned for the next few months! I want to 'play with my herbs' this year, rather than focus only on the theory and science side of things. However, I'd still like an overall focus or theme for what I'm doing. So, this year, my themes are Historical Herbalism and The Herbal Household. My free time will be full of the two things I like best: reading; and cramming my little condo full of useful, delightful, herbal creations.

As far as Historical Herbalism goes, I am very interested in the history of herbalism in the west, especially from the middle ages onward. I would love to focus on the herbalism of Britain and North America during that time span. In general, I would like to gain an overall picture of the ways herbalism has changed over time, and brush up on important names and dates. Still need to do some initial research, but should be putting together a tentative reading list over the next week or so. Also picking out which herbs I would like to study in depth this year alongside western herbalism. 

One of the things I would like to do with the Herbal Household theme is: Eat More Herbs! There is quite a collection of intriguing recipes in my herbal notebook, and a rather large portion of my kitchen is being overtaken by interesting oils, vinegars, herbal sprinkles, and teas. I would like to add herbal motifs to my home decorating and wardrobe, too, which is going to be even  more fun!

The Apothecary got inventoried today, so I can put together a shopping list for the ingredients needed in my culinary experiments and replenish my herbal must-haves. There is something immensely satisfying about opening up my herbal cupboard and having plenty of supplies to play with whenever the mood strikes. . .

A shelf or two in my cabinet of curiosities. .

"Geez lady, you and your dried plants!
You know you should be feeding me, right?"

I think it's going to be a very entertaining and exciting year here at the Indie Herbalist!