Eclectic Herblore: Eclectic Herblore, #1

By K. B.

"Eclectic Herblore" is all about bringing together observations and superstitions, mythology and modern medicine,  culinary and gardening, folk magick, cosmetic and household uses of garden herbs. It's all in one place, allowing you to discover the whole picture of each herb, its importance and influence on human lives from ancient times into the future. Written to help you growing and using those herbs successfully.  

Borage, calendula, chamomile, coriander, dill, hyssop, lavender, lemon balm, lemongrass, marjoram, motherwort, oregano, parsley, peppermint, rosemary, sage, St. John's wort, thyme and wormwood - these 20 popular herbs from the kitchens and gardens from around the world have stories to tell. 

This short, yet comprehensive guide into the world of beloved garden herbs is for you if you want to grow, preserve and use your own herbs. It will help if you look for natural health support and remedies. You will enjoy it if you cook with herbs, but know almost nothing about them. It is for you if you want to discover traditional and potential uses of already known herbs. It is for you if you want to use herbs daily, you want to deepen your general knowledge of herb use or you want to do it all, but don't know where to start.  

Feed your curiosity. Raise your awareness. Grow your own. And keep this book at the fingertips to use those herbs with creativity and confidence. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: K.B.
• Release date: Nov 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386598817

Book preview

A Few Thoughts, Explanations and Suggestions

Eclectic Herblore is a book I wrote for myself while integrating my chaotic knowledge and understanding of herbs, organizing the information and searching for the missing pieces. I wanted it accessible in one place, organized at my fingertips - a comprehensive view to the beloved herbs that were, are and will be, a part of my life whenever I plant, harvest or use them. Learning herbs while growing, foraging and using them leads to many questions, and it also has brought many answers.

I’ve been interested in usage of herbs for folk medicinal and cosmetic purposes since childhood. My mother and the village where I grew up brought me into the world of herbs. Growing, foraging, learning and using herbs were a natural part of my life growing up. I used to walk in the meadows with a soviet book Wild Medicinal Plants from 1968 trying to identify the plants I didn’t know. I was foraging herbs to use them for tea and bringing them with me into the bath-house where they richly shared their aromas and created wonderful physical experiences with perceptible cosmetic and other kinds of physical benefits. It was interesting. It gave a broader view to small and simple things. It felt magickal. It was!

After 10 years in the city, regularly moving from one living place to another, and most of that time being a tired, creatively torn ghostwriter, I’m back to life in the countryside - surrounded by fields and forests.  My permaculture herb-garden has started to grow and take shape in Northern Europe, in the hardiness zone 4 (as defined by USDA) where I’ve tried growing and using each of the herbs described in this book. Eclectic Herblore is a collection of my observations, informational researches, common knowledge, personal experiences and experiences, researches and stories of others who lived long time ago and live now practicing all kinds of relationships with herbs. This book is a glimpse into the wide field of herb related folklore as of today. I hope it helps!

Learning Herbs & Using Knowledge

Discovering the power of mosquito repellent herbs has been tempting me for years. Plenty of herbs are described as insect repellents and theoretically, they really are. When it comes to time of action, my experience shows that most of those insect repellent herbs aren’t as effective as you might hope. A sprig of lemon balm won’t do the job. A pot of basil on a windowsill won’t always stop most of the insects from entering your home, although you will find in many written sources that it is exactly how it works. It’s a case for a loud and confident Herbs don’t work! But wait... Maybe you need a meadow of lemon balm to keep the mosquitoes away not just a sprig of it attached to your fancy hat? Maybe you need to crush the plant and rub the fresh juices of the plant on your skin? Maybe your potted basil on a windowsill isn’t strong and healthy enough? Maybe you need to use it in a form of extract? Maybe the key is into proper dosage or method of preparation? Maybe in another climate zone with other kind of mosquitoes that herb is working perfectly? Plants and many of their specific properties and effects on the surroundings and users are greatly affected by their growing conditions – geographical location, weather, soil condition and more. Safe experimentation with what you have whenever and wherever you are is the only way to get to some answers related to herb effectiveness.

When getting familiar with using herbs for cooking, medicinal or cosmetic purposes, it’s very tempting to mix plenty of herbs in your cup of tea, home-made skincare ointments, in bowls, pots and pans. The journey of discovering unusual combinations, new scents and flavors is exciting. Often, it’s done with hope for exceptional healing benefits as well. There is one problem: if you indulge in mixtures and blends of many herbs before you’ve got to know those herbs separately, it’s almost impossible to observe your reactions to those specific herbs. You are taking away from yourself the quality of personal observations. If you can’t distinguish how each of those herbs helps or harms your wellbeing, your journey into the herb world is slow and chaotic. Using one herb at a time you will discover what works as a tonic for you and which herbs calm you down, which flavors you enjoy the most, what makes your skin soft or dries it out. It will also allow you to discover what are those herbs that stop your nose bleeds, alleviate headaches, improve your focus, allow you to get restful sleep at night and so on. While learning, take it slow! Get to know one herb at a time. Read, enjoy the wide research options internet offers, talk about those herbs, listen to what others have to say about specific herbs and don’t take every folk suggestion as the ultimate truth. ‘Think before use’ should become your herb motto. When it comes to using herbs for medicinal, cleaning, cosmetic and other purposes, they work not because you want them to work, but because of chemistry and biology. They can deliver positive results, just like they can bring harm if used improperly.

If you are a gardener, a cook, an avid digger for new or long-forgotten flavors, modern witch or seeker of health, change or harmony through the use of herbs, don’t leave the knowledge within the pages of this book – let it help you. Seek your special ingredients, tools and remedies applying the knowledge in your life, and keep in mind the 3 keys to successful usage of herbs: knowledge, quality of herbs and personal observations.

Quality Herbs

Quality starts from the beginning. Quality of seeds and soil, in which those seeds end up, ensures healthy development from the very beginning of the growth. The herb quality depends on the growing conditions as well. If the plant gets everything it needs for successful growth, it grows stronger, more fragrant and can offer stronger culinary and medicinal properties.

Organically grown herbs will always offer more quality than those treated with pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. You might not pour them directly on the herb plants, but if you use them near your beloved herbs on other plants in your garden, your herbs still will get affected. For the sake of your own health, care for the microorganisms and fertile soil in your garden in the long term – just don’t use any of that in your garden. Nature already has it all to help you get the most of your garden. Many plants help each other to grow or keep away the harmful insects from each other, and simple extracts of some plants can be used in the garden to help other plants. If you need advice for growing your garden organically, look into permaculture. Setting your eyes on companion planting, natural herbicides and pest control methods is a good point to start.

The herb quality is affected during the harvesting as well. Harvest at the right time and in a proper manner. Right time depends on the plant and part of the plant that is harvested. Many leafy plants are harvested before flowering when they hold the highest content of essential oils – they are most fragrant and rich in their natural chemical content then. Flowers are mostly harvested in full bloom, but some plants can be harvested the whole growing season. All plants are not the same.

Biodynamic agriculture – a well-established form of agriculture including several esoteric concepts – suggests following lunar phases when harvesting and sowing or planting herbs: harvest the leaves and all above ground parts in waxing moon, the tops and flowers in full moon and the roots in waning and last quarter moon to ensure you get the most of your herbs and can store them successfully. Another esoteric concept tells that during the waxing and full moon plants generously share their powers, but in waning moon they take the energy from a person consuming or using them in other ways. When harvesting herbs, I firstly value the readiness of the plant to be harvested. If it is full moon, but calendula in my garden is just starting to open the bright flowers, I will leave them and harvest when they are ready. I harvest herbs for using them fresh the whole growing season without paying attention to moon phases, but I consider the correlation between moon phases, weather conditions and plant development when harvesting bigger amounts to dry or store in other ways for using later.

Yes, weather conditions matter as well. Dry, sunny days after the morning dew has drained and before the evening dew has set down is the best time for harvesting most of the herbs. Humid or steaming hot days won’t be the right time. It is also harder to dry successfully plants that are harvested moist. They dry slowly, losing more of their culinary and medicinal properties, and have higher risk of getting affected by mold. When it comes to drying and storing herbs – mold is your enemy.

The next step to ensure herb quality is proper preparation for the storage. It’s clear with freezing herbs. Most of the herbs to use for cooking, herbal tea and all kinds of remedies are stored dried. Most of us don’t have a special kiln with controllable temperature for drying herbs, but it doesn’t mean we can’t do it in a proper way. Twigs are dried tied in small bundles, leaves and flowers – spread out on natural fabric, organic paper and other screens. Perfect place for drying herbs is warm, well ventilated and the one that keeps the herbs out of the direct sunlight. Any shed, outdoors, well ventilated rooms and attics work well. Drying herbs displayed on sunny windowsills is pretty popular, although not the best option. The warm, sunny windowsill is not the problem. The problem is direct sunlight. But this problem also has a solution:  put your drying herbs into paper bags or cover the spread-out herbs with paper. It allows you to dry herbs fast and safely even in the brightest sunlight without losing any of the herb aromatic and healing properties. Remember that the main goal is to dry your herbs as fast as possible, but without losing the valuable properties, and you can easily do it using the forces of nature.

The last thing that ensures the quality of herbs is proper storage. Firstly, the herbs have to be dried well before you transfer them to storage containers. Moist herbs will invite the enemy – mold. Some herbs are also very prone to capturing moisture after being dried – those that are can be mostly stored in glass, ceramic or metal containers that don’t let the moisture in. Most of the herbs will be good enough stored in paper bags or cardboard containers that also would allow the moisture to escape, if there is any left when you put away the herbs for storage. Wooden and bark boxes can be used as herb containers as well. Stored in transparent glass jars proudly displayed on open shelves, herbs add to the homely aura of a magickal home. If the herbs are well dried and are stored away from the direct sunlight - go for it! It serves the purpose and looks great as well. If your herbs are not dried well before putting inside the jars with tight fitting lids, you are again inviting the enemy – mold. And remember – the transparent glass jars filled with your valuable herbs has no place where the direct sunshine can touch them – the sunlight strips away the valuable properties your dried herbs offer. 

Finally, if you want to work with quality herbs, don’t harvest or buy and store herbs to use in the time of 5 years. Herbs lose their many properties over time. The longer your herb sits in storage, the less it has to offer.  1-2 years is fine for most herbs, but only roots and barks don’t lose their quality if stored for longer. All this talk about gaining quality herbs might sound a lot if you’ve never dealt with any of this, but, trust me, jump in and it won’t be difficult. You don’t do it all at once. Herbs give you time to find the best solutions and you will learn as you go. The quality herbs will thank you, sharing with you whatever they can give.

Healing with Herbs

Plenty of people are arguing against each other over the medicinal potential and properties of herbs. There are people who swear that herbs have nothing to do with healing and simple herbal remedies like tea or tincture can’t be used to support human health in any way. If we look back to where modern Western medicine came from, we clearly see it growing from the forests and meadows, herb gardens of