China Bayles' Book of Days (17 page)

In the
Herbal
or
General History of Plants
(1597), John Gerard describes several important medicinal uses of the three-leaf clover, which he called trefoil. “The leaves boiled with a little barrowes grease [the fat of a neutered male pig], and used as a poultice, take away hot swellings and inflammations.” To treat the eyes: “Trefoile (especially that with the black halfe Moon upon the leafe) stamped with a little honie, takes away the pin and web in the eies, ceaseth the paine and inflammation thereof. . . .”

In
The English Physician
(1652), the astrological herbalist Nicholas Culpeper says that the plant is ruled by Mercury, and adds: “Country people do also in many places drink the juice thereof against the biting of an adder; and having boiled the herb in water, they first wash the place with the decoction, and then lay some of the herb also to the hurt place.”

Read more about Irish herbs:

The Irish Herb Basket: An Illustrated Companion to Herbs
, by Hazel Evans

Four-leaf clovers were good luck. Children saved these to take home and press in a book or they put them in their shoe:
Four leaf clover in my shoe, Please to make my wish come true
—JEANNÉ R. CHESANOW, HONEYSUCKLE SIPPING: THE PLANT

LORE OF CHILDHOOD

MARCH 18

Years ago, I was very impatient with anyone using a long Latin name to designate a common, ordinary plant. . . . I think it was the Pigweed, more than anything else, that cured me of this attitude.

—EUELL GIBBONS, STALKING THE WILD ASPARAGUS

Good King Henry

Seems like a strange name for a plant, doesn’t it? But the stories behind the various names of this popular European herb are even stranger. (Or, as China Bayles would say, there’s a mystery here.)

The name came to England from Germany, where the same herb was called
Guter Heinrich
, “Good Heinrich.” (The name Heinrich was used to refer to a shrewd or knavish sprite, like the English Robin Good-fellow, or Puck.) Some people say that the herb was called “good Heinrich” to distinguish it from a similar poisonous plant called “bad Heinrich.” In Latin, this plant is called
Chenopodium bonus-henricus
. Its folk name “smearwort” refers to its use as an ointment, and to poultices made of the leaves to cleanse and heal chronic sores, which, John Gerard tells us in his 1597
Herbal
, “they do scour and mundify.” The roots were given to sheep as a remedy for cough. The plant was fed to chickens in Germany and was called there
Fette Henne
—or perhaps the leaves were eaten as a vegetable with butter or bacon (“fat”). In any event, it’s often referred to in the northern English counties as “fat hen.”

PIGWEED, GOOSEFOOT, AND LAMB’S QUARTERS

In North America, we have our own variety of this useful plant,
Chenopodium album
, which also has a great many common names, among them lamb’s quarters, goosefoot, pigweed, and wild spinach. Raw or cooked, it’s a tasty spring vegetable. The flower spikes can be eaten like broccoli and the new shoots like asparagus, tossed in butter, while the dried seeds, ground and mixed with wheat flour, make delicious pancakes. The seeds produce a green dye and were also used in the production of untanned leather. Of greater importance, the
Chenopodium
family is used medicinally throughout the world, primarily to treat gastrointestinal ailments.

What’s in a name? A little bit of everything!

Read more about Good King Henry, or whatever name you know it by:

A Modern Herbal
, by Mrs. Maud Grieve, 1931
Stalking the Wild Asparagus
, by Euell Gibbons

I use lamb’s quarters all summer long to add green to a meal, whether cooked or in a salad. I stir-fry onions, garlic, and lamb’s quarters into an omelet for breakfast . . . [It] can even grace an elegant dish like quiche [as a substitute for spinach].

—SUSAN TYLER HITCHCOCK, GATHER YE WILD THINGS

MARCH 19

In the Celtic Tree Calendar, yesterday began the Month of the Alder (March 18-April 14).

In Irish legend the first human male was created from alder, as the first female was created from rowan. Alder was anciently regarded as a “faerie tree” able to grant access to faerie realms.

—JACQUELINE MEMORY PATERSON, TREE WISDOM

The Legendary Alder

According to legend, the fertility gods were holding a feast, and all the plants and trees were invited to join in the party. The alder and the willow, however, stood by themselves, looking out over the water. This annoyed the party’s host, who told them that if that’s what they wanted to do, they could do it forever. Which is why you will still find the alder and the willow, growing together along the riverside.

THE MAGICAL ALDER

When an alder tree is cut (it is said), the white inner fibers turn reddish-pink, appearing to bleed. To early people, this made the tree seem magically human. Welsh heroes stained their faces red with the “blood” of the alder, in honor of the god Bran, to whom the tree was sacred. Alder twigs made excellent pipes and whistles, used to call the ravens, Bran’s sacred birds, or to “whistle up the wind,” as it was said. Druid priests used alder wands to measure the dead; hence, to handle an alder wand invited death, and an alder branch could be used to curse your enemies. The fairies found the alder useful, as well, making a green dye from the flowers for their fairy smocks and breeches.

THE HEALING ALDER

Thomas Culpeper, the seventeenth-century herbalist, prescribed alder tea as a wash for burns, inflammations, and skin irritations. The leaves were used as a poultice, and the inner root bark as an emetic.

THE PRACTICAL ALDER

The wood, which resists decay in water, has been much used to build jetties and piles. Easy to work, it was used in cabinetry and to make spinning wheels and cart wheels and wooden clogs. It has been burned to produce charcoal for gunpowder. The bark yielded red and black dye; the leaves green. The leaves were used to tan leather.

Read more about the alder:

Tree Wisdom
, by Jacqueline Memory Paterson

Cold March, wet April and hot May,
Will make a fruitful year they say.
—BOKE OF FORTUNE 1575

MARCH 20

Today is National Fragrance Day. The March theme garden: A Fragrance Garden.

The walled square contained five gardens, one in each corner and one in the middle. The corner to the right was the kitchen garden, bordered by sprawling thyme, with clumps of marjoram and parsley and sage in the center and a handsome rosemary at the back. One of the back corners was a fragrance garden, with old roses climbing against the stone wall . . .

—RUEFUL DEATH: A CHINA BAYLES MYSTERY

A Fragrance Garden

A garden’s fragrance gives me enormous pleasure, making the difference between a pleasant garden experience and one that lingers in my mind and my heart. If you’re planning to create a new space in your garden this year, think about creating a fragrance garden—or if you’ve run out of garden room, consider adding a few pots of fragrant herbs and flowers to your deck or sunny porch, preferably near a window, so that the magic of scent can fill your home.

Herbs for a Fragrance Garden: A Baker’s Dozen

ANNUALS AND TENDER PERENNIALS

Sweet alyssum (
Lobularia maritima
)

Sweet pea (
Lathyrus odoratus
)

Pineapple sage (
Salvia elegans
)

Rosemary (
Rosmarinus officinalis
)

PERENNIALS

Southernwood (
Artemisia abrotanum
)

Dianthus (
Dianthus caryophyllus
)

Day lily (
Hemerocallis sp.
)

Lavender (
Lavandula sp
.)

Thyme (
Thymus vulgaris
)

Violet (
Viola odorata
)

VINES AND SHRUBS

Honeysuckle (
Lonicera sp
.)

Passionflower (
Passiflora incarnata
)

Rose (
Rosa sp
.)

Read more about the fragrant herbs and about creating a theme garden:

Herbs and the Fragrant Garden
, by Margaret E. Brown-low

Theme Gardens
, by Barbara Damrosch

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.

—MARGARET ATWOOD

MARCH 21

Zodiac: Today, the Sun enters the astrological sign of Aries. It is also the Spring Equinox.

Aries, the Ram, the first sign of the Zodiac, is a masculine sign ruled by the warrior planet Mars. A cardinal sign—suggesting creativity and inventiveness, Aries governs leadership and initiative. Aries people are bold, self-confident, and often impulsive, although they may have a tendency to look before they leap.

—RUBY WILCOX, “ASTROLOGICAL SIGNS”

Aries Herbs

Mars-ruled Aries is assertive, energetic, fearless. According to astrologers, Mars rules the circulation of the blood, the muscles, and metabolic processes, as well as the motor nerves and the head. Astrological herbalists assigned “assertive” herbs to Mars: plants that are thorny or prickly, or have a strong, biting taste, or have a red color, to match the planet. Here are three examples:

• Garlic (
Allium sativum
). Garlic has traditionally been used to reduce blood pressure and blood cholesterol, as well as to destroy harmful bacteria. Nicholas Culpeper (
The English Physician
, 1652) cautions that Aries-ruled people with fiery dispositions should be careful how they use garlic.

• Mustard (
Brassica alba
or
nigra
). This favorite Mars-ruled spice is used to stimulate circulation and, in a poultice, to relieve muscle pain. Culpeper and others of his day also used mustard as a cleansing emetic or poultice: “It resists the force of poison, the malignity of mushrooms, and venom of scorpions, or other venomous creatures, if it be taken in time.”

• Nettles (
Urtica diocia
). Nettles are rich in Mars-ruled iron and are covered with stinging prickles. As an astringent, nettle is used to relieve nosebleeds or reduce hemorrhage (especially excessive menstrual flow). It has also been used to treat the discomforts of an enlarged prostate.

• Other Mars-ruled herbs: Cayenne stimulates the circulation. Red clover, hops, radish, rhubarb, and sassafras are used to purify the blood. Ginger is a powerful circulatory stimulant and may be used as a poultice to treat muscle sprains.

Read more about herbs and astrology:

Earth Mother Astrology: Ancient Healing Wisdom
, by Marcia Starck

It [Nicholas Culpeper’s herbal] resorts for every mode of cure to that infallible source prepared by God and Nature in the vegetable system; whence flows spontaneously the genuine virtues of medicine diffused universally over the face of the earth, where nothing grows in vain.

—PREFACE, THE ENGLISH PHYSICIAN, BY NICHOLAS CULPEPER,

1789 EDITION

MARCH 22

Mesquite Spring: From Susan’s Journal

The leaves are coming out on the mesquite trees, a sure sign of spring. Ranchers in this part of the country hate mesquite with nearly the same passion that they hate prickly pear cactus. The trees (
Prosopis glandulosa
) are deep-rooted and compete with grass for the limited water. And, back in the days when cows were rounded up by real cowboys on real horses, you could lose half your herd in a thorny mesquite thicket. In fact, mesquite is on the Texas list of invasive species, for like most native plants, it is highly adaptable, and when it finds a place it likes, it settles down, makes itself at home, and begins populating the neighborhood with others of its kind.

However, there’s not a lot of cattle ranching around here now, and it’s harder than it used to be to object to mesquite. The bees adore the flowers, and the mesquite honey they produce is a finger-lickin’ favorite. The tree is perfect for Xeriscaping (as long as you don’t let the kids go barefoot where they can step on the thorns). The wood is popular for barbecue (I hear that they love it in New York), and the beans (gathered when they’re green) make a delicious jelly. Native Americans processed the dried beans into flour, which was in turn made into flatbread and booze. The leaves and bark are astringent and antibacterial; a tea was used to treat bladder infections and diarrhea. The gum became a glue to mend pottery and a black dye used in weaving.