Lemon Balm on Left; Lemon Thyme on Right
Vitamin C is essential for good health and especially helpful during cold and flu season. Winter, when we need good vitamin intake the most, is often the season when we cut back on fresh fruits and vegetables that contain Vitamin C. The two herbs above are a great way to keep this vitamin in your diet and they taste delicious.
Red Rose Hips and Pine Needles
Two other natural sources are rose hips and pine needles. For full benefits, crush the rose hips and brew fresh tea. The hips can also be dried and crushed. Collect fresh pine needles for tea all year long. Who knew our decorative landscaping could be healthy? The particular pine above, a conifer with very small cones, is also used to treat radiation poisoning.
All of these sources make delicious teas and deliver the benefits hot and fresh. Add any lemon herb to your cooking for a boost of flavor, especially chicken and fish. Try creating your own lemon seasoning mix for gift giving by grinding the herbs with sea salt and other condiments and herbs.
Lemon balm, roses that produce hips, and thyme can be grown in your own garden then harvested and dried and crushed into air tight canning jars for herb tea or condiments all season. Lemon balm is also a natural virus fighter. Lemon thyme or English thyme are natural antibacterial herbs. Lemon herbs are effective in treating headache and fever.
An herbal medicine garden takes up little space and is a wonderful organic addition to your healthy lifestyle. Lemon balm is one of the easiest herbs to grow because it is a hardy perennial herb in the mint family; give it some room to spread out. Lemon thyme is a tender perennial that must be brought inside in a pot to winter-over in Zone 5 or grow it annually. English thyme, however, is a hardy perennial that will come back next season but it does not have the lemony benefits of its more tender cousin. English thyme is excellent for savory dishes like pasta, meat, chicken and fish.
NEXT TIME–WHO KNEW CURRY POWDER WAS SO HEALTHY?
