Herbs for health

A few months ago the children helped me plant out some more herbs from seed. We have plenty of thyme, lemon verbena, rosemary and oregano. The basil is struggling with the cooler weather, even with seaweed tonic, but I'm hoping it will hold in there and we can harvest some in late spring. We also have a large bay tree in the front yard and several bushes of rose geranium and English lavender. Parsley is missing from our supplies, so we'll have to get on and plant some of that soon, too.

I'm trying to be mindful of teaching the children as much about the natural benefits of plants as I'm able. This is a huge job, especially since my own knowledge is quite limited. I recently added a copy of Walking the World in Wonder by Ellen Evert Hopman to our book collection. It's set out in seasonal sections, and a double page opens to show a photograph and description per plant. So, before unleashing this on the children, I'm going to do some more studying and see if we can find a few new herbs to discuss, or even look for in the nursery.

Around a year ago, my friend Louise told me about this great site: Herbmentor. Now, I really need to get into gear and research more of their back newsletters, especially as our seasons are reversed, and see what I can apply there on a regular basis. You can sign up for regular free newletters here. The latest newsletter has a wonderful looking Rose Elixer recipe (instructional video included) which I know the children will enjoy making. We'll just have to wait a couple months until our roses are blooming again. :)