Reiki

Reiki is helpful in promoting relaxation, reducing stress, restoring energy, and can also help the body to heal when there is disease.

Simply translated, Reiki means universal life energy, the life force that exists in all things. In practice, Reiki is the channelling this universal life energy, to promote spiritual, mental, and physical well-being.

For a Reiki  treatment the recipient simply lies down fully clothed and relaxes. The practitioner gently places their hands non-intrusively in a sequence of positions over the whole body. A full treatment usually takes about an hour with each position held for several minutes.

Reiki is just one of the holistic healing therapies offered by Herb Sanctuary

this week in the herb garden

Another week where it has been too wet to do much in the way of gardening! So - time to get creative with the harvest. The rowan berries, picked earlier this month, have been made into rowan jelly and it was this that I chose to add a taste of the countryside to tonight's dinner.
Rowans are quite bitter, so even with the sugar added to make the jelly it is not too sweet. It is therefore ideal to accompany meat. In this dish it has been added to chunks of tender lamb and stir fried organic vegetables to make a simple, but delicious sauce. A memorable and healthy meal!
(must write this one down for future use!)

this week in the herb garden

Some rowan berries were picked. 
The rowan, or mountain ash tree (Sorbus aucuparia) bears heads of cream flowers, similar to elderflowers, in spring and clusters of bright red berries in Autumn. The birds love these berries and it is always a race to get some for the kitchen before they are gone. This year the crop was heavy so there were plenty to share. I use the berries to make a tart jelly which is superb with game and other meats. It is good to have a supply in the cupboard to last through the winter

This is my recipe...  

1kg rowan berries
1 lemon
sugar

Strip the berries from the stems and wash.
Add the chopped lemon and 425ml water. Simmer until soft - you can use a potato masher to help this process! Tip the pulp into a jelly bag and strain overnight into a container. Put the juice into a large pan and add 450g sugar for each 600ml of juice. Bring to the boil and once setting point is reached, skim and pour into warmed jars.

a summer of discontent...

I heard on the news this morning that this has been our wettest summer for 100 years! I was not surprised at the announcement, as I have lived through the weeks of unrelenting rain which caused the weeds to grow unchecked among the herbs and turned many of the vegetables to mush. The wet weather has also led to an upsurge in the number of slugs and snails which have laid waste to the vegetables not flattened by the rain! The hens will make short work of those when they are let loose in the garden at the end of next month, but in the meantime they march on...
A few late frosts at the end of April meant that much of the fruit blossom was killed and therefore there are very few apples, blackcurrants and cherries to be had. Only the redcurrants, raspberries and rowans survived to provide any harvest.
I am now hoping for a relatively dry autumn, so that I may clear the herb garden of weeds as plant growth subsides and prune the fruit trees in the hope of a better harvest next year.
It is hard sometimes, not to get despondent when looking out at grey skies and persistent rain, but I am determined to pick this garden up out of the mud and give it the best possible chance of productivity next year...

this week in the herb garden

Today I took advantage of a rare dry day to harvest some St John's Wort flowers to make an infused oil. The flowers were loosely packed into a jar which was then filled with a light olive oil. It will now be left on a window sill for 4 - 6 weeks and by the end of this time the oil will have taken on a deep red colour. It will then be strained through cheese cloth to remove the plant matter and stored in a dark, cool dark place.
I will use the oil, which has anti inflammatory properties, in the making of creams to treat sprains and bruises.

red currant jelly

The redcurrant harvest was a little late this year, but the yield was good and it has now been made into jelly which will last through the winter and into next year. There may even be enough to give some away!
Here is my recipe...




For 4 lbs (1.8 kg) redcurrants you will need
3 pints (1.8 litres) water
1 lb (450 g) sugar per pint of juice obtained.


Wash and drain the redcurrants.
Pick over to remove any unsound fruit but there is no need to remove the stalks.Put the fruit into a pan with the water and stew until the fruit is pulpy. Tip it all into a jelly bag and leave to strain for at least 6 hours. (I leave mine overnight) Measure the juice and heat in a pan. Add 1 lb (450 g) warmed sugar for each pint of juice, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 10 - 15 minutes, until the jelly sets when tested. Remove the scum. Pot and seal whilst still hot.

this week in the herb garden...

The angelica has been cut and the seed heads have been removed, placed in a paper bag and hung up to dry.Since Angelica seeds have a low germination rate and the seed is comparatively short lived, sowing of the seeds for new plants should take place as soon as possible. Remaining seeds can be kept in sealed packs, in the fridge until late summer. The seeds should be planted in a seed tray which should then be stored in the fridge for around 30 days and then moved to an area where the temperature is about 18c for germination. Seeds may be also be sown directly where the plants are to grow in the Autumn.Seeds are used commercially to flavour drinks, including gin and absinthe.

this week in the herb garden...

Angelica (Angelica archangelica) is an ancient herb and member of the carrot family. My angelica is huge this year and was strong enough to withstand the high winds we had a few weeks ago! It is presently flowering and will soon set seed.
It is a useful herb to have in the garden as all parts can be used. Young leaves can be added to salads and young stems can be candied in syrup and used as cake decorations or chopped into ice-creams. Both the stems and roots can be cooked as vegetables. Oil can be distilled from the seeds and roots and is used in flavouring drinks, including gin, benedictine and chartreuse.
Angelica also has medicinal uses. An infusion can be made for treating bronchial problems from the bruised root, and a cough syrup made by combining a decoction of the root with honey. A cup of angelica tea after dinner will aid digestion and is also said to ease the pain of arthritis.  
Seed harvest will take place in a week or so.