During the hot June week, I was sitting in my garden enjoying my lunch pondering on which herb to feature in this month’s blog. Starring me in the face was and still is the beautiful Lemon Melissa, a calming herb commonly known as Lemon Balm, or by Melissa officinalis, its Latin name. “Melissa” comes from the Greek for bee and refers to the great attraction the plant holds for bees during its short flowering season.
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11
May
2022 Total views: 154 Comment count: 0 
May
2022 Total views: 154 Comment count: 0
Foeniculum vulgare is a member of the Apiaceae family. It is a warm, spicy sweet herb that has affinity to the liver, kidneys, spleen – the seat of the immune system as well as the stomach. The main actions are to regulate Qi or Chi (depending on your spelling). Qi is the seat of energy within the body.
"Tossing doughnuts, fritters or fried dumplings in fennel sugar adds grown-up complexity without diminishing the indulgence factor”
Yotam Ottolenghi
Fennel is a rich source of vitamin C, potassium and dietary fibre as well as folic acid and phosphorous. It is also a good source of minerals including manganese, iron, calcium, magnesium and molybdenum.
12
Apr
2022 Total views: 238 Comment count: 0 
Apr
2022 Total views: 238 Comment count: 0
Walking around the Oxfordshire countryside last week, I couldn't help notice the many fields of yellow at different stages of flowering. Of course, a very familiar sight at this time of year, not only in Oxfordshire, but across the country. Rape has many benefits to the farmer, firstly it controls blackgrass through stale seedbeds and then because of the earliness of maturity it provides an early entry for winter wheat, helping to spread the workload, free up storage as well as the farmer’s cash flow. Rape seed is grown for animal feed, vegetable seed oil and biodiesel.
9
Mar
2022 Total views: 210 Comment count: 0 
Mar
2022 Total views: 210 Comment count: 0
With the onset of spring comes one of our most common and prolific weeds, the stinging nettle. Many of us can relate to the nettle as mostly an unpleasant experience when inadvertently coming into contact and receiving a tingling, itching sensation to the skin for hours to come. Often the itching and tingling is joined by heat and becomes more active at night when you are trying to sleep. The more nettles that manage to sting you the longer it lasts and the more intensive the tingling. It is this very stinging that has the ability to stimulate circulation and relieve pain and swelling.
10
Feb
2022 Total views: 194 Comment count: 0 
Feb
2022 Total views: 194 Comment count: 0
Marriage is not just for one special day, your wedding day. It is for a lifetime. As Dr Joe Dispenza said, “In a marriage work on yourself instead of turning the relationship into work.” Why is it that so much planning and preparation go into one special day, with limited thought and preparation for making the rest of your lives together literally the happiest time of your life?
21
Jan
2022 Total views: 226 Comment count: 0 
Jan
2022 Total views: 226 Comment count: 0
New year is a time of excitement for many as we embrace the new year coming in, letting go of the old year and whatever that encompassed. Let’s face it 2021 was a difficult year for most unless you happen to be a food supplier, PPE or vaccine manufacturer, or delivery company, and even they had their fair share of issues.
Did you set some New Year resolutions, as you did last year and the year before that? Do you usually fulfil your resolutions, or are you like many full of vim and vigour in the first month, perhaps two months and then with life’s pressure it all falls apart, leaving you feeling demotivated, annoyed or even angry at yourself and perhaps even despondent as the resolution that you have just given up on has been the same for the last 2 or 3 years?
5
Dec
2021 Total views: 382 Comment count: 0 
Dec
2021 Total views: 382 Comment count: 0
Cinnamon* (Cinnamomum zeylanicum, cassia and several other species) is a well recognised spice, and one of the oldest spices. Cinnamon is one of the seasonings in “Five Spice Powder”, together with anise, star anise, cloves and fennel seeds. In the colder months, especially at Christmas, cinnamon is one of the many go-to herbs for bringing about that warm “Christmassy feeling”. Used in seasonal cooking, it is liberally added to mulled wine, Christmas cakes, mincemeat in mince pies and many other seasonal delicacies. Personally, I love adding it to my morning porridge, often together with turmeric powder. Cinnamon provides that sweetness and warmth so often craved when the weather is cold.
16
Nov
2021 Total views: 409 Comment count: 0 
Nov
2021 Total views: 409 Comment count: 0
“Interoception” is not a new concept, it was already receiving attention over 10 years ago. However, with rising numbers of people suffering from mental health illnesses, often emotion and mood related is triggered by external factors that lead to internalising negative thoughts and feelings frequently to a point of “no control.” Consequently, “interoception” as a concept takes the stage more noticeably.
16
Oct
2021 Total views: 1,896 Comment count: 0 
Oct
2021 Total views: 1,896 Comment count: 0
Pumpkin belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, genus Cucurbita and is grown primarily as a vegetable or ornamental plant. It is extensively grown throughout tropical and subtropical countries, with the most common types worldwide being Cucurbita maxima, Cucurbita moschata, and Cucurbita pepo. The name pumpkin comes from a Greek word ‘pepon’, meaning a large melon. Pumpkins come in different shapes & colour, usually orange but can be yellow, white, green or red.
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Sep
2021 Total views: 615 Comment count: 0 
Sep
2021 Total views: 615 Comment count: 0
Guest post by Naga Sanapally
Elderberry or Sambucus nigra, the Latin name, is one of the most versatile herbs closely tied to human health and healing. The history of Elderberry dates all the way back to 400 BC, and Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine,” called the Elder tree his “medicine chest”, for it seemed to cure a wide variety of ailments.