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With the first month
of 2009 already gone, please allow me to give you a bit of a belated
welcome to a new year. We also welcome you to our new look
newsletter! We hope that you have a most
exciting and rewarding year ahead and that we can continue to inspire
you to include more herbs in your daily life for 2009!
Just to
get everyone on the same level again and not to alienate our
HerbsOnline subscribers or our The Little Herb Cottage subscribers - with the closing down of
our physical shop, The Little Herb Cottage, things are changing a bit
with our company structure and how we are going to do things and name
things... But don't worry, our core
business is still to deliver you the best quality herbs and herbal
products and to be your reliable source of herbal information and we are still 100% committed to this! Simply put, although our old website for The Little Herb Cottage
still exists and our bank details are still for The Little Herb Cottage,
it features only as a publishing website and as a feed to www.herbsonline.co.za,
our online store where you can get everything you used to get at the
physical herb shop & herb nursery and so much more. All
publications, including this newsletter, which now becomes the official
herb newsletter for both the HerbsOnline subscribers and the old The
Little Herb Cottage's subscribers, as well as all the herbal
concoctions we come up with throughout the year, will fall under my
name and be marketed simply as Minette.
Now
that we've got the formalities over, let's have a look at what the
first newsletter for the year 2009 has to offer - After looking at some
herbs that made the news, we'll first have a quick look at
the Herb of the Year for 2009 and then saunter through some ideas
on how to include herbs in your life for the new year - for lack of a
better phrase - a herbal new year's resolutions list. As in all
previous newsletters we'll end off with our quiz, specials
and footnotes.
Enjoy!!
... any questions, suggestions, comments or just to share your herb experiences, please contact me.
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PRINCE OF WHALES HERBALSTelegraph.co.uk
reports that "Andrew Baker, Duchy Originals's chief executive, said:
"Duchy Originals' decision to launch these [herbal tincture] products
reflects The Prince of Wales's passion for integrated healthcare. We
hope that the Duchy Herbals range of herbal remedies will encourage
more people to adopt this integrated approach to their health.""
HERBS MORE AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE IN TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES
"With many Americans putting off
routine doctor visits and self-medicating to save money, use of
alternative treatments is on the rise" according to a report in Newburyportnews.comFRANKINCENSE SHOWS PROMISE FOR ARTHRITIS"Frankincense
has for centuries been treasured as a fragrance in perfumes and
incense. Now new research shows that concentrated frankincense extract
may reduce the pain and stiffness of osteoarthritis in the knee." ( Guardian.co.uk)
STUDY ON GINKGO & DEMENTIASays Guardian.co.uk:
"Research has already shown that the herbal remedy Gingko biloba may
help with symptoms like forgetfulness in people who have dementia. Now
researchers have carried out a study to look at whether Gingko could
help prevent dementia in the first place."
HERBS & SPICES IN FOOD PYRAMID
According Foodweek.com.au:
"Australian dietitian, Karen Inge, has applauded the decision by the US
creator of the international food pyramid to include herbs and spices
within the essential frame for good nutritional health."
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Bay laurel (Laurus nobilis)
is another of our more well-known herbs. Whether you know Bay from the
traditional wreaths at Olympic Games, or from tried and tested family
recipes, or simply love the ever popular "lollipop" shaped bay trees,
the noble laurel is a fabulous herb to add to your repertoire.
Description
Bay trees can range in height from 7.5m to over 18m
and may be anything from 9m to 12m wide, but can be kept smaller by
rigourous trimming.
The dark green shiny leaves can be up
to 7.5cm deep. Quite stiff and leathery, the leaves are strongly
pungeant when broken and is the main part used.
Propagation & Cultivation
Laurel
propagates easiest by taking cuttings of the new growth of the tree.
These cuttings should be sheltered from cold climates and kept well
watered.
As with all potted herbs, Bay plants in containers
require extra attention - make sure they are in a sunny position,
that the soil and pots allow for good drainage and that they are
fertilised every now and then. You can allow the soil to dry out
somewhat between waterings in well-established trees.
History, Myths & Legends
Olympians (athletes, poets and scholars of renown) were crowned with bay in Ancient Greece. The Latin Laurus nobilis means 'to praise the famous'. The bachelor's degree or Baccalaureate also stems from Bay, this time from the French baccae lauri.
In greek, the word for laurel is dhafni and stems from the myth of the nymph Daphne that was changed into a laurel tree by Gaea to escape Apollo's advances.
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