Superb Herbs

Medicinally, the aroma of Lavender is said to have soothing properties that relieve stress and help you sleep. A few drops of oil in a warm bath or rubbed on the temples can soothe the nerves and alleviate a headache. Fill a mask with lavender and put it over your eyes for relaxing. Drink lavender tea as a circulatory and uterine stimulant (AVOID IN PREGNANCY). Use it in salves as an analgesic for bug bites to relieve itching and reduce swelling and for mild burns.

Mix a few drops in water and spray on sunburn. Mix pulverized lavender with arrowroot and white clay for baby's rash.

Chives is a perennial native to the Orient. They have been used as food for 5,000 years, first by the Chinese and then the Greeks. Marco Polo brought them to Western attention and Europeans began cultivating them in the 16th century. Colonials brought them to the New World. Chives were supposed to have magical powers, so the colonists hung them in their houses to protect themselves from diseases and evil spirits. Medicinally, the leaves are mildly antiseptic as they contain a sulfur-rich oil found in all Allium.

When sprinkled on food, they stimulate the appetite and promote digestion. They are high in vitamin C.

Most mints (Mentha) are native to Europe and Asia. Some are native to North and South America, South Africa, and Australia. The Pharisees in Biblical times paid taxes with mint. The Greeks used it in medicine and in temple rituals. It was strewn to refresh the air in homes and hospitals. Because Philemon and Baucis rubbed the table with mint before serving a meal to Zeus and Hermes, who had been traveling incognito and who had been snubbed by villagers, it has become a symbol of hospitality.