China Bayles' Book of Days (42 page)

I chose herbs that have the same requirements for water and sun (with herbs, that’s fairly easy) and set the purchased plants or transplants into the half-filled wheelbarrow, putting the taller plants at the back, the shorter ones in front, and tilting the smaller plants in front so that they drape over the rim. I layered in a slow-release fertilizer and finished filling in the soil, then watered it well and stood back to admire. One important asset of this garden: you can wheel it into the sun, into the shade, or simply park it outside the kitchen door.

PLANTS IN MY WHEELBARROW HERB GARDEN

• Onions. I’ve chosen Egyptian Walking Onions, which are perennially green in my Texas garden.

• Sage doesn’t have much of a chance to grow tall, because I keep snipping off the top-most leaves!

• Dill. “Fernleaf” is slow to bolt (set seed) and fairly short, topping out at 18 inches. It has a long taproot, so I plant it in the deepest part of the barrow.

• Lemon thyme is planted at the front, where it can spill over the edge.

• Lemon balm, a favorite tea herb, basks in the middle.

• Chives. I grow them for their edible blossoms and spicy green leaves.

• Pansies, Johnny-jump-ups, and violas provide cool weather color, and are pretty in a spring salad.

• Nasturtiums. “Dwarf Jewel” is my favorite, a summery accent in my mostly green garden. I pickle the seeds.

Basil? It grows in pots on my deck. Parsley? In the border, along with the lavenders, fennel, marjoram, lemon verbena, chervil, coriander, and garlic. The bay tree and lemongrass live in a barrel, and the mint is magically multiplying under the cypress trees along Pecan Creek. But that wheelbarrow garden is overflowing with just about everything I need to make supper special.

I never had any other Desire so strong, and so like to Covetousness, as that one which I have had always, that I might be Master at last of a small House and large Garden, with very moderate Conveniences joined to them, and there dedicate the Remainder of my Life to the Culture of them, and study of Nature.

—ABRAHAM COWLEY, 1618-1667

JULY 21

I never set eyes on a clover-field now,
Er fool round a stable, er climb in the mow,
But my childhood comes back jest as clear and
as plane
As the smell of the clover I’m sniffin’ again . . .

And so I love clover—it seems like a part
Of the sacerdest sorrows and joys of my hart;
And wharever it blossoms; oh, thare let me bow
And thank the good God as I’m thankin’ Him
now. . . .
—JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY, “THE CLOVER,” 1901

“And So I Love Clover . . .”

The Indiana poet, James Whitcomb Riley, was one of my favorites when I was a child. I checked his books out of the Carnegie library in Danville, Illinois, and can remember reading “The Clover” aloud to myself, swinging with its Midwestern cadences and its familiar colloquial dialect. To this day, I think of Riley’s poem when I see clover—which is often, because we can hardly walk across the lawn or through a meadow without seeing one of the many
Trifolia
, all of which are much beloved by bees. Clover honey is one of the most popular honeys. And red clover (
Trifolia pratense
) is one of our most useful herbs.

Red clover has been used as a pot herb for eons; the young leaves and new flowers have appeared in both salads and soups; and the sprouted seeds add a crisp texture and robust flavor to salads. It has been used medicinally for centuries in many cultures. Recently, researchers from the National Cancer Institute have found that red clover contains four antitumor compounds, and it is being recommended as a complementary cancer treatment by some herbalists.

To make a medicinal tea, put a handful of clean red clover blossoms and leaves into a teapot, add two cups boiling water, cover and steep for 10 minutes. For additional flavor, add lemon balm or mint and sweeten with some of that delicious clover honey.

RED CLOVER REMEDY FOR CHAPPED LIPS

Combine 1 tablespoon dried red clover flowers, 2 teaspoons honey, and ¼ cup water. Bring to a boil and simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. Add ½ teaspoon cornstarch. Cool, stirring occasionally. Use to moisten lips.

Read more about clover and other wild herbs:

Herbal Remedies from the Wild: Finding and Using Medicinal Herbs
, by Corinne Martin

If the down flyeth off coltsfoot, dandelion and thistles when there is no winde, it is a signe of rain.

—SIXTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH WEATHER LORE

JULY 22

The marigold, whose courtier’s face
Echoes the sun, and doth unlace
Her at his rise, at his full stop
Packs and shuts up her gaudy shop.
—JOHN CLEVELAND, 1613-1658

The Calendula

The marigold of John Cleveland’s poem is the orange flowered
Calendula officinalis
, sometimes said to be named for the Virgin Mary. Here’s what Maud Grieve (an avid collector of herb tidbits) had to say about this in her
Modern Herbal
(1929):

The Common Marigold . . . is said to be in bloom on the calends of every month, hence its Latin name. It was not named after the Virgin, its name being a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon
merso-meargealla
, the Marsh Marigold. Old English authors called it Golds or Ruddes. It was, however, later associated with the Virgin Mary, and in the seventeenth century with Queen Mary.

Calendula (also called pot marigold
⁴
) was used as a stimulant and wound treatment. An infusion of dried petals was said to raise the spirits and to “bring out” measles and chickenpox. In the kitchen, the leaves and petals were added to salads and soups for flavor, and baked goods, puddings, butter, and cheeses were colored with the dried petals. Hence, Marigold Custard, in
Gardening with Herbs for Flavor and Fragrance
, by Helen Morgenthau Fox.

MARIGOLD CUSTARD

1 pint milk
1 cup of marigold petals
⁴
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons of sugar
small piece of vanilla bean
3 egg yolks
teaspoon nutmeg
teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon rose water

Pound the marigold petals in a mortar, or crush them with a spoon, and scald with the milk and vanilla bean. Remove the vanilla bean, and add slightly beaten yolks of eggs, salt, and sugar mixed with the spice. Cook until the mixture coats the spoon. Add rose water and cool. This makes a good sauce for a blanc mange [white pudding]. It may be poured into a dish without cooking, and then baked like a custard. Serve with beaten cream, and garnish with marigold blossoms.

JULY 23

Today, the Sun enters the sign of Leo.

The fifth sign of the zodiac, the masculine sign Leo (the Lion) is ruled by the Sun. A cardinal sign, Leo is associated with creativity, authority, achievement, and executive ability. It is a fire sign, suggesting that Leo people are energetic, commanding, self-assertive. They may also be occasionally blind to the effect their energies have on others.

—RUBY WILCOX, “ASTROLOGICAL SIGNS”

Leo Herbs

Traditionally, Sun-ruled Leo is associated with the cardiac system, but also with the spine, the thymus gland, and the eyes. Herbs related to Leo are said to strengthen and tone the heart, regulate blood pressure, and raise the spirits. Some plants and herbs have been traditionally associated with Leo because of their color (orange or bright yellow) their shape (radiating, like the sunflower), or their association with victory (bay laurel). Some of the Leo herbs:

• Rosemary (
Rosmarinus officinalis
). Rosemary is one of the most beloved herbs, and is sacred to the Sun. During the Middle Ages, a twig of blossoming rosemary given to a sweetheart preserved love. Now, we know that the powerful antioxidants in the herb make it a preservative. Drunk as a tea, it is also a pleasant picker-upper. Enliven your solar spirit with a cup of hot rosemary tea each morning.

• Calendula (
Calendula officinalis
). This is not the French marigold, but the old-fashioned pot marigold found in cottage gardens. Antiseptic and antifungal, it is used in salves to heals wounds and in tinctures to treat athlete’s foot and ringworm, and cold sores. Internally, it has been used to treat digestive problems. (See July 22)

• Hawthorne (
Crataegus oxyacanthoides
). Perhaps the best and certainly the safest tonic remedy for the heart and circulatory system. The tea has been used to ease stress and insomnia.

• Other Leo herbs. Motherwort (
Leonurus cardiaca
) is another heart-toning herb whose Latin name suggests its connection to Leo. Saint-John’s-wort has a symbolic connection to the heart, perhaps because of its bloodred sap; to dream of your true love, pick it at Midsummer’s Eve and hang it over your bed. Angelica is used to make a stimulating, aromatic tea. Bay laurel is a symbol of victory and triumphant achievement.

It [
Angelica archangelica
] is an herb of the Sun in Leo; let it be gathered when he is there, the Moon applying to his good aspect; let it be gathered either in his hour or in the hour of Jupiter: let Sol be angular: observe the like in gathering the herbs of other planets, and you may happen to do wonders.

—NICHOLAS CULPEPER

JULY 24

Daylily Delights

The daylilies are blooming in my garden now, and on the sunny bank of Pecan Creek, where they mix and mingle with native grasses in sunny profusion. The garden is home to the colorful hybrids, but the daylilies along the creek are the old-fashioned orange ones—not so impressive as individual blooms, perhaps, but en masse, a delight.

THE MEDICINAL DAYLILY

This beautiful perennial has been valued for centuries in Chinese and Japanese medicine, where it is considered antibiotic and diuretic, and used to treat for urinary tract disorders, vaginal yeast infections. John Gerard (
The Herbal,
1597) was the first to mention the name
daylily
, which refers to the fact that the blooms stay open for a single day (although you’ll find as many as a dozen blooms on one stalk). Gerard recommended the plant’s use (like that of true lilies, with which it was confused) to cool inflammations.

THE CULINARY DAYLILY

But it’s in the kitchen that this plant shows its stuff. Sautéed or stir-fried, the buds taste something like asparagus; serve them with pasta, other vegetables, and poultry. Add the fresh flowers to salad, soups, or vegetables, or dip in batter and fry like a fritter. Stuffed with a delicate seafood salad, the flowers are nothing short of stunning. Dried, the flowers are used in stir-fries and soups; in Oriental markets, the dried buds are sold as “Golden Needles.” The fresh tubers are crisp and nutritious, with a nutty taste, and can be added raw to salads or boiled or stir-fried and served as a side dish. (Always check for possible allergies before you eat a new vegetable, and never consume anything that may have been sprayed.)

GINGERY DAYLILY BUDS WITH RICE