What to do with lemon balm?

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is one of those herbs about which gardeners grumble. I remember my aunt complaining that once you have it in the garden you will never get rid of it as it self-seeds everywhere and can flourish in both shady and bright conditions. People new to herbs really like it because it provides a delicious, easily produced tea when other herbs might not seem so palatable.

At first it appears to be a delicate herb. You are advised to freeze it because the shelf life is so short (around six months or longer if you are growing and drying your own). This may seem frustrating for the dried herb not to last longer until you realise that it lasts exactly the right length of time until fresh leaves are available again.

In most conditions it is perennial and will grow wherever it can. It has been with us in the UK since the ubiquitous Romans brought it to flavour their meals and provide their medicines. The new leaf clusters appear in January or early February depending on the weather. They grow to their most profuse around May or June. Bees love the tiny pink flowers which appear on long stalks over the summer hence the name ‘melissa’ but by the time the flowers appear, you have missed the most potent harvest. If you do harvest the leaves in May there will be a second harvest later in the year as the leaves grow back.

The more you work with this plant, the greater respect you have for it. The subtle lemon flavour of the tea appears less strong than the aroma produced when you crush the leaves to release the volatile oil but is nevertheless bright and appealing. You can extract it using any medium you choose – honey, tincture, vinegar, elixir, liqueur and they will all taste delightful. What you don’t realise is how strong the medicinal ability of plant really is.

General information

Those of you with a scientific bent will want to know what the constituents of lemon balm are. It contains volatile oils (including citronella, geraniol and linalool), polyphenols, tannins, flavonoids (including isoquercetrin), rosmarinic acid and triterpenoids. Its actions include, diaphoretic, carminative, nervine, antispasmodic, antihistamine, antimicrobial, sedative, antiviral, partus praeparator, antioxidant and decongestant.

If we look at its uses for the various systems in the body, the benefits can be described in the following way.

For digestion, lemon balm reduces pain and spasm. It soothes stress-related problems and stimulates the liver and gall bladder.

For circulation it calms nervous palpitations and arrhythmias and reduces hypertension.

For mental and emotional uses it is both sedative and analgesic, reducing tension, anxiety and agitation. It has been found useful in dementia and insomnia. It also relieves headaches, migraine, vertigo and tinnitus. It elevates mood, improves memory and concentration so can be thought of as a helpful herb for students of all ages, especially when faced with stressful situations such as exams or interviews.

With the respiratory system, lemon balm is a relaxant, antimicrobial and decongestant. It helps resolve colds, flu, catarrh, chest infections, coughs and asthma.

With the immune system, lemon balm is a specific antivirus against herpes simplex, mumps and possibly HIV. Its volatile oils are antibacterial, antifungal and antihistamine; helpful in hayfever and allergic rhinitis. Rosmarinic acid is antioxidant and anti-inflammatory and influences complement activity.

With the urinary system, lemon balm is antispasmodic and diuretic.

With the reproductive system, lemon balm is helpful in irregular and painful periods, PMS and menopausal depression. It eases and speeds childbirth when taken prior to and during labour.

Externally, lemon balm can be used as an antiseptic wash for cuts and wounds. Dilute oils of lemon balm can be used in massage for period pains, neuralgia, joint and muscle pain and cold sores. Eardrops can be used for infections.

After such a list of positive attributes, you must also be aware that lemon balm does inhibit the thyroid and most herbalists will advise anyone who suffers with an under-active thyroid not to use this herb. It can be used in the management of hyperthyroidism where the thyroid is over-active.

So, what do I do with lemon balm?

Tea

I love to make the tea in summer from fresh leaves. Although the taste is not as strong as the smell, it is pleasant, refreshing and soothing. A tea which makes you sit down while you drink it out in the fresh air, noticing everything around you. I also recommend it, along with chamomile, for those who can’t sleep. It’s second on my list of “Sleep herbs.”

Lemon balm is specific for the herpes virus so can be used to treat shingles. When I was training to be a counsellor, one of my elderly clients developed shingles. Since she was too distraught with the pain to benefit from a counselling session, I gave her some healing and at the next session brought her some lemon balm and St John’s wort oil. I told her make a pot of tea three times a day and to drink half of it and use the other half to soak a flannel with before she tied it around her head covering the red shingles inflammation. She loathed the tea but drank it and used it on her forehead religiously. Her pain was soon gone and she was left without a mark on her skin.

Syrup

The first time I ever made cough syrup, I added a large amount of lemon balm to the mix of herbs to hide the flavour of some of the less palatable herbs. This was the same time my teenage daughter was having extreme problems at school. We discovered that if she took some cough mixture with her and made it into a warm drink, it helped her with panic attacks and enabled her to stay at school.

I use Non Shaw and Chris Hedley’s method of syrup making – choosing my herb mix then decocting a strong tea for 20minutes. I then strain and measure the liquid then reduce by 7/8ths. I add sugar or honey in the ratio of 1UK pint to 1 lb sugar or honey.  If I were making a teenage anxiety syrup again I’d probably use equal parts of lemon balm and hyssop since I’m sure those were the two active ingredients for my daughter.

Tincture

I make lemon balm tincture from fresh leaves. It’s one of the herbs I add to my stress or bereavement medicines when people need soothing or are in the throes of adrenal meltdown or need holding for a while so they can process their grief.

When I was working in the NHS and was fairly new to herbs, I had a client in his eighties who had lost his wife to a useless GP after caring for her devotedly for ten years or more. He was called to give evidence at the GP’s complaint hearing. I had begged the Primary Care Trust to be careful of the date of the hearing but of course they paid no attention and the hearing was held on her birthday. My client was an old sailor and liked his tot of rum or brandy. I knew the hearing was going to be very difficult for him so I made him some lemon balm brandy and gave it to him while we waited. He said he would have preferred rum but I knew he and his family appreciated the gesture.

Liqueur

Melissa Liqueur (Christina Stapley)

1 75cl bottle of vodka

1/2 cup of lemon balm leaves

1 teaspoon of cloves

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp carraway seeds

2 tsps grated lemon rind

3 tsps marjoram leaves

Method:

Wash and chop the herb leaves, adding the spirit with the pounded seeds and cloves and grated lemon rind. The cloves should be measured whole, but ground before adding. Leave to steep in a tightly closed jar in a warm dark place, swirling daily for 6-7 weeks. Filter and sweeten to taste with approximately 1/2-1 cup of sugar before labelling in the original bottle and maturing for at least a year.

Christina call this “a soothing liqueur for troubled spirits.” I’ve made it many times as it produces the smoothest liqueur I know. I didn't have any lemons the first time, so I used orange peel. I also reduced the amount of cloves because someone said it tasted like something you'd use for tooth ache!

  

Honey

As lemon balm is a very aromatic plant with lots of volatile oils, it makes a wonderful infused honey.

Elixirs

Sean Donoghue once described using diluted lemon balm elixir as a rehydration mix for overheated festival goers who had drunk too much the night before and spent too much time in their sunlit tents the next morning. I immediately made some. It tastes wonderful and can be used as a nervine, but I haven’t had a chance to try it out for the purpose it was intended.

Lemon balm is always a large component of my “Uplifting elixir” when I wander around my garden on a summer evening and collect all the flowers and leafy parts which can be considered nervines or generally uplifting. They make a delightful elixir to sip in very small quantities when you need to lighten or brighten your mood.

Scent bags

If you have a surfeit of lemon balm and wish to make a soothing scent bag, dry lemon balm and marjoram and mix them together with some orris root so the scent is fixed before decanting into cloth bags. These can then be hung on door handles or taken with you to sniff during the day.

 

Lemon balm as a “strengthening herb”

One of the properties of lemon balm talked about by herbalists but which hasn’t really made it into books yet is the way it affects other herbs. Using it alongside another herb subtly changes and strengthens the mixture in a way which is not yet fully understood.

David Winston was perhaps the first herbalist I noticed who mentioned this when he talked about using lemon balm with St John’s wort to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). I’ve made an effective syrup using the two herbs which people have found helpful but you could also take it as a tea or a combined tincture. (I would not use lemon balm leaves or tincture with SJW standardised extract tablets.)

I once had a student who was taking motherwort for pre-menapausal symptoms. She couldn’t tolerate the motherwort as a tea until she added lemon balm to it, then she said it tasted fine and she found it really helpful.

Herbalists sometimes talk about “the herb they throw into a mixture” for a client on gut instinct, not knowing exactly why they do it but knowing it needs to be there. I think lemon balm is one of those herbs. You think you’re adding it just for the taste but the reality may be some unknown herbal magic to meet a need.

References

McIntyre, A The Complete Herbal Tutor  2010 Gaia Books Ltd ISBN 9781856753180

Stapley, C Herbcraft Naturally 1994 Heartsease Books ISBN 0 9522336 1 4

Winston, D Differential Treatment of Depression and Anxiety With Botanical Medicines 2006

Practical Herbs 2 by Henriette Kress: A Review

When I heard the Finnish Herbalist,  Henriette Kress, was bringing out her second Practical Herbs book at the end of last year, I was excited. I’ve been a member of her medicinal herb email group for most of my herbal life. It’s been a major contributor to my herbal education and I know that any information Henriette contributes will be sound, sensible and based on personal experience peppered with a healthy dose of common sense. I knew I wanted a copy of the new book but was hesitant to buy it as my current income is virtually non-existent. I was therefore delighted to be offered a review copy by Henriette herself.

Practical Herbs 2 has not disappointed. The book is an easy size to take around and dip into. The information is laid out in a clear and simple format and the pictures are stunning, making it easy to identify plants and flowers in their natural habitat.

In Practical Herbs 2, Henriette has continued to include sections on how to make herbal products – oils and salves, honeys, salts, compresses and poultices plus a green powder which I had come across on an Oregonion blog but hadn’t seen elsewhere in the herbal community, She has also provided easy herbal treatments not only in the main Problems section but also in a series of “Quick Help for small problems” alongside the materia medica for individual plants. 

It made me smile when she described heartburn and baldness as “small problems” since both can have devastating effects on individuals but by showing how such ailments can be treated simply with herbs a profound change to quality of life can be effected.

Practical Herbs 2 also includes a short introduction to herbal energetics, a subject which becomes increasingly important the more you work with plants. It’s good to see a European herbalist follow in Christopher Hedley’s footsteps and add to the work done by the notable American contingent of community herbalists. I was also grateful for her approach to tackling an under-active digestion last Saturday when I ran a workshop on bitters as it made an “unknown-to-many” concept simple to explain.

I was very pleased to see common vegetables included amongst the plants and trees in the materia medica in this book. Whilst I am familiar with the properties of cabbages and onions, I learned new uses for potatoes and celeriac. Did you know celeriac can be used interchangeably with celery? This pleased me a great deal. 

Although I use celery in virtually all my savoury cooking, I loathe the taste of the medicinal seed. I learned that celeriac can increase pelvic blood flow and thus can be considered an aphrodisiac. I love Henriette’s wry sense of humour, apparent when she writes, “It helps if both partners know celeriac works.”

The Problems section deals mainly with issues concerning female health and fertility, highlighting the need for treating with vitamins and minerals as well as herbs. It would be good to see Henriette’s next book target men’s health which has a dearth of easily accessible literature.

I recommend Practical Herbs I to all my apprentices and mentees. Henriette’s second book will be a welcome addition to any herbal library, especially to newcomers to herbal lore. A sample of the book can be downloaded as a .pdf here  The entire book can be purchased from Henriette's Herbal for £20 which includes postage and packing.

What makes a good workshop?

Everyone will have their own ideas what contributes to an enjoyable workshop run for adults. I’ve been holding them now since 1998 and many things have changed since the first few years. Mine are held in two very different locations, my kitchen in the Midlands and my Sanctuary in the Cotswolds. 

During the coldest months we spend time using the hob and the contents of my herbal larder to create syrups, cordials, oils and salves whilst considering what we might need to fight winter ailments or bring our bodies back into balance using tonics or bitters to aid the digestive system.

During the remainder of the year the learning happens mostly outside looking at plants, identifying them, sowing, growing and harvesting. We take fresh plant matter to make teas, vinegars, tinctures, honeys or elixirs using the simpler method. Thanks to a slow cooker there is usually the opportunity to make a double infused oil from whatever is abundant at the time.

When I first started offering workshops there were closely defined titles and I wore myself out doing most of the talking, trying to share as much herbal knowledge as I could in a short time. What I discovered was that whatever the subject advertised, participants would ask questions about something else, often leading everyone off down a different path for the majority of the allotted time. This worried me until I discussed it with other experienced facilitators and decided to radically change how I approached the whole experience.

Adults learn best through sharing experiences in small groups. This is not to decry the “chalk and talk” methods, which are superb at delivering large amounts of information to large numbers of people when delivered by skilled educators but whilst such information may well be retained and understood, the individual may not have the confidence to put what they have learned into practice.

Understanding is most easily assimilated when all the five senses can be employed. If people can see, touch, smell and taste a herb in its many forms they will remember more. If they can do something themselves rather than rely on others they will both understand the process and have confidence to do it again in their own environment.

It helps if you have a group of mixed experience so newcomers can benefit from someone who has either been before and feels comfortable in the environment or who knows basic procedures and can share expertise. As a facilitator, I try to assign tasks and explain the overall aims for the workshop early on in the proceedings so people can start doing something, feeling engaged and useful.

The aim of each workshop is to make one or more herbal items for participants to take home with them. During the activities there will be conversations about the purpose of these items, why it is being made in this form rather than another, who you would make it for, how you apply it, what other ways you could do the same thing and which herbs you might combine or interchange to achieve a similar result.

There will be stories about herbs and herbal products. There may be feedback about items made in previous workshops. Have they been strained if they were taken home to infuse? What dosage to use? Were they effective? What else could have achieved the same or a similar effect? For example, last month someone asked to make a muscle relaxing salve for his partner. We combined St John’s wort and agrimony oils with beeswax and everyone took home a sample. It had proved extremely effective for two different types of muscular cramps. When asked if there was anything else that could be used we talked about using a chamomile fomentation introducing a new word, process and concept into the conversation.

As workshop facilitator, I am there for three main purposes, to discover what each participant would like to achieve during the workshop, to support them in carrying out the tasks and answering questions to the best of my ability and to ensure they return home having experienced and learned something new.

When I had access to a photocopier, I would provide paper handouts for everyone. This isn’t possible anymore, so I  may provide one paper copy on the day and either email it to everyone afterwards or, occasionally beforehand. Participants are encouraged to bring notebooks and write notes during the workshop.

In the winter, we finish with a shared lunch where everyone can chat and share experiences. At the Sanctuary we finish later, but I always try to end the experience by asking people to identify and share one new thing they have learned discovered. Yesterday there were a group of three who played with vervain tea as well as making their tonic wine to take home.

“When I came here,” said one, “I was really worried. It’s all gone away and I feel perfectly calm.”

“It tasted like chocolate,” commented another of a tannin-rich bitter vervain tincture made from a twelve month infusion. “I’m sitting here happily away with the fairies.”

Two very new apprentices arrived late for their first workshop after a long journey. They admitted to feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all the ingredients on the table in front of them.

“I spent a while just looking at everything and seeing what I was drawn to. After that it was easy and I realised I could do this! It was so exciting.”

I try to make my workshops financially accessible to everyone, which is why I ask for donations rather than set a price. Participants bring their own alcohol, vinegar or honey and I provide home-grown herbs in different forms. Empty jam jars and bottles are shared. No-one goes home empty handed.

Here are some of the points I have found to help provide a happy experience for everyone.

            Set a subject area and programme for the day

Be clear in your mind what your teaching objectives/outcomes are for the workshop

Know the subject area thoroughly before you try to share it with others

Have any handouts prepared and available but don’t give them out until needed

Deal with housekeeping issues and introductions at the beginning

Discover from each participant what their best hopes for the workshop are

Try to tailor the needs of each participant to what happens in the workshop

Be aware of what each participant is doing so you can step in if necessary

Be available to answer questions and queries

Make sure the workshop has a definite ending session

Make sure everyone takes something tangible away with them

Get everyone to help clear up before they leave

Holding workshops can be very tiring and sometimes can be very hard work. My philosophy is that the people who need to be there will attend. My biggest pleasure is to watch the people who arrived with the cares of the world on their shoulders begin to laugh and share stories. They leave with smiles, hugs and a desire to return.

Looking back and looking forward

January is always a two-faced month. It’s hard to do otherwise, given the nature of the god, Janus, from whom the month takes its name. There are two schools of thought when it comes to looking back. One philosophy teaches that you cannot move forward effectively without learning the lessons of the past, whilst the other recommends moving forwards and releasing what is left behind lest you carry it on your shoulders for eternity. Both ways of thinking have their merits and, like everything in life, a balanced approach to both of them should support an onward journey.

For me, 2013 felt as if my life had been put on hold because of my mother’s continuing deterioration. For the first six months she had two hospital admissions, each time becoming more debilitated. Then in July she suffered another ischaemic episode and became bedridden. Thankfully there have been carers brought in to manage her physical care four times a day which my father has to pay for. I provide the majority of their food so they can continue with a diet they enjoy and we visit at least once a fortnight to enable my father to leave the premises if he wishes.

This has meant there has been no time to physically tend the Sanctuary since my time at the farm is taken up with cooking, feeding, washing clothes and sitting with my mother. The workshops have continued once a month and they have been my only opportunity to spend time with my herbs. The 2013 apprentices all started off with great enthusiasm in January but had all disappeared to lead their own lives by the end of June, apart from one, who is a continuing joy to have around. Their lack of physical commitment to the Sanctuary was a great disappointment and as a result none of the herb beds were properly weeded or managed and the field plants have begun to take back the land wrestled from them over the past years.

It’s not all been doom and gloom. New people have emerged and given their time to help cut down trees and overhanging branches. Although the festival in September was poorly attended, new friendships were forged and those who came were deeply moved by the experience and are looking forward to this coming year. For me, the most positive issue to emerge from the festival was the request from a local beekeeper to keep her new hives at the Sanctuary something I have been trying to achieve for ten years!

So, what new things happened during 2013?

Flower essence

I was asked to write an article for Herb Geek on favourite summer recipes and as a result, I created two new cordials, rose and mint, which have been very popular at family celebrations and social gatherings and there are still bottles in my freezer. This inspired me to create further hot winter cordials using the surfeit of cooking apples on my garden tree – spiced apple and apple and rosehip, which were both a great success.

Some of you will be aware of my writing exploits. I belong both to my local Solihull Writers’ Workshop, which has a set annual programme and to the Pub Club sub-group where we read and critique newly emerging novels. Writing is an emotional task, full of peaks and valleys. Sometimes the dark times are hard to break through when the creative spark is missing.

One of our members was going through a bad patch when I read about the properties of peppermint flower essence which has a specific relationship with improving stuck mental creativity. This was in early September when most of my mints were flowering. It seemed the ideal time to make the essence which was subsequently given to group members as Christmas gifts.

Herbal Ally

My ally this year was Agrimony but I was very lax in getting to know this plant properly. I did move all the plants in my home garden into a designated bed and made my first double infused oil from their aerial parts at the end of summer. Although the plant appears to have no identifiable scent, the oil had a significant fragrance which really surprised me. Matthew Wood uses goldenseal and agrimony together for pain due to tightness, so I extrapolated his use to create a salve for constricting muscles by joining the agrimony oil with St John’s wort. I am waiting to hear how the recipient got on with her remedy.

I also used agrimony tincture as part of a personal tonic to try and clear up some bowel issues associated with stress. Things did improve but I should really have tried the plant alone rather than mixing it with other nervines. It’s hard to make your own medicines and take them when you’re suffering with overwhelming stress!

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha was the subject of my last blog post but is included here because I have been able to undertake several new plant products this year, notably a ground root honey, a root tincture and a cordial with nettle and rose.

Ashwagandha cherries are used as bitters. It makes sense for a plant which is renowned for its stress relieving properties to act upon the digestive system.  For other parts of the plant to also be bitter is not surprising. This was born out by the extreme bitterness of a tea made from stems. I may try making this again using less plant matter and see how much of a difference it makes.

Educational activities

Although there has been no income this year from herb-related articles, I have delivered two talks to new organisations. The first was Finstall and Coughton Hackett WI where the members enjoyed making and tasting hawthorn-related products as part of their Hedgerow Herbs talk. The second was just before Christmas when I talked about Herbs and Honey to the Solihull Beekeepers Association. The latter request came a discussion at my stall at the Solihull Go Green Faire in June (fairly disastrous in terms of general public interest since there were very few visitors!) which was situated opposite the Beekeepers’ exhibition. Again, members sampled infused honeys, herbal tea, oxymel and elixirs and several asked for the handout to be emailed to them later.

I also started a new part-time activity teaching singing to four and five year-olds in a nearby infant school. For three hours every Tuesday during term time we sing nursery rhymes and play circle games (60 nursery children in 4x 15min blocks) and sing seasonal songs and folk songs and practice rhythm (90 reception children in 3x 30 minute blocks).

Elixir

My elixirs are often unique productions because the herbs infused together always change. At the beginning of the year Chris suffered with a dreadful cough and the sage and thyme elixir was the only medicine which seemed to help. The original elixir was made in 2010 and the bottle was almost empty so by the end of October, it was time to create a new one from the remaining healthy gardenplants before the frost came. The new elixir comprised purple sage, lemon and flat-leafed thyme, marshmallow leaves and a few hyssop strands. Thankfully it has not been road tested yet but I hope it will be as effective as the last one.

International Mentorship Scheme

For several years I’ve been a member of the Down to Earth Forum where I’m known as a herbwife. Most of the members live in the southern hemisphere so could never become full apprentices. It seemed sensible to offer a long distance mentorship scheme to encourage people to learn more about herbs, especially those growing in their locality. There are currently twenty-one people from Europe, US, South America and Australia sharing their herbal experiences.

Family members

Our daughter, Kathryn, became engaged on Christmas Day 2012 so there has been great excitement choosing a wedding venue and her dress. The date is set for 6 May 2014 and our grandson, James, will be a pageboy.

James had a new brother on 7 November, Thomas Daniel. He slept through the entire home birth while Chris and I were hidden away in the upstairs bedroom until everything was cleared away and we could emerge for a cup of tea and cuddles. Their mother, Laura, is amazing and Thomas has gained over three pounds in his first seven weeks. He’s a very long, strong, happy baby.

Looking forward to 2014

Apprenticeship

Eight new women have joined the apprenticeship to make nine in total. Three have already been workshop attenders and understand the challenges of the Sanctuary. Several are making commitments to travel long distances to attend events and I hope it all works out for them. I am looking forward to watching them grow and develop.

Herb Festival

This year’s Celebrating Herb Festival has been brought forward to the last weekend of August. We are hoping this date change will enable more people to attend. For the first time we are offering a special creative writing intensive on the Friday afternoon where authors and poets can showcase their creations during the evening’s Open Mic session. The workshop will be led by the wonderful Charlie Jordan.

Herbal Ally

My ally for this coming year is ashwagandha. It amazes me how much there is to learn about this plant so I want to spend time increasing my knowledge and understanding.

Books

Henriette Kress very kindly sent me a copy of her Practical Herbs 2 Book which I am intending to read and review here shortly. I also received “Every day herbs in spiritual life” by  Michael J Caduto as a Christmas present so I’m looking forward to reading this and adding to my energetic and ritual knowledge. Then, of course, there is “The Herbwife’s Apprentice” which I started writing early last year and came to a complete halt about March. I fully intend to start it up again and have the first draft ready for the festival with frameworks for Years 2 and 3.

Workshops and workdays

We’re looking forward to welcoming both new friends and old to our monthly workshops held here in Solihull and at the Sanctuary in the Cotswolds. No matter what else happens in the world around us there will always be herbs to guide and support us.