Elizabeth L'Abate

Jean Valnet in his aromatherapy book, gives a recipe for Chartreuse, a liquor traditionally  made by monks, that includes lemon balm.   Only the expensive monk version in a wooden box, that looks like it glows in the dark,  is good.  One drop under the tongue, a "Wood" dose named after herbalist Matthew Wood, can, possibly only for regular meditators, put one in a very deep meditative state.

I take handfuls of lots of different herbs from my garden, including lemon balm,  and throw them in the cuisinart or Vitamix  to make an herbal dip, which can also be drunk as a smoothie.  it's great served with fresh veggies to dip in it...You can add olive oil, or a few drops of toasted sesame oil, or avocado or walnut oil if you want, or soaked raw nuts, or garlic, or spring onions.   You can use fresh lemon or lime juice to further heighten the already very alive flavor....It's addictive!  

In England they ferment comfrey outside in a container of water (closed for mosquitoes)   for 2 -3 weeks, (in warm weather) and for the sake of your neighbors, because of the smell, dilute 10 to 1..  And foliar feed plants, since the allantoin helps heal them and helps cell production.   Biodynamic folks do the same with nettles....which is really good for curing or preventing fungal infections like powdery mildew and black spot.   Both are good general nutritives as well...for PLANTS....

Stephen Harrod Buhner wrote a book, "Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers," obviously a topic he was passionate about, because he waxes poetic in it more than in his other herbal books,. Before knowing about sterilization, almost everyone in Europe and the US drank beer instead of water, because it was safer from disease.   Buhner researched to find all the herbs which were used to enhance the flavor or health benefits of beer.

Herbal vinegars are another way of fermenting herbs..Use unpasteurized organic apple cider vinegar...

Sandor Katz, in his book Wild Fermentation, mentions using Kefir culture in GATORADE. Wondering what he and other folks have as favorites for Kefir culture. If I puree the very moist meat of young coconuts and then Kefir it, I find it has the texture and sweet taste of whipped cream. If I Kefir coconut water, I get a bubbly brew. WF is one of my favorite books in the world, not only for the fermenting info, but for the politics and anthropology that inform it, and the whole notion of "culture" it so widely explores. I'm looking forward to his not-so-new newer book, and hope to win it!

I THINK it was him I worked with briefly while I was there, digging potatoes! We were studying with someone named Reshad Feild...

Anyone else hear about this?
A Georgia company sells it i capsules for that purpose...

Thank you Aranya, Burra, and Diane! I'm interested in the herbal teas Biodynamics recommends for bees, too! And their ideas about when to open the hives....

The Warre? We have plain white boxes, with inserts of plastic honeycombs for honey...though some folks who've kept bees for generations swear by color-coding them...

We have an organic farm, and would occasionally loose a hive, due to a queen dying, or hives re-locating...But this year we lost 3 of our six, at least one, maybe two, from colony collapse. The early spring that made usual blooms available for nectar bloom early, and not later when needed, and 106 degree temperatures also placed extra stress on our bees, and we have been supplementing them with sugar water, though I'd rather give them honey water....Any permaculture bee-hive health solutions? I know permaculturists tend to put hives in the middle of the farm, so that they get most of the bee poop distributed around crops...THANK YOU!

For Wardeh: How does your book differ or improve upon the two books on fermentation by Sandor Katz now out, including Wild Fermentation, and the new one that is getting so much press? Do you have any added folklore about Kefir cultures? And how do you stand on the issue of whether or not to use salt when fermenting cabbage into sauerkraut? I love fermenting, and would love your book! THANKS!

dandelions help tomatoes.

Calendula roots help deter bad nematodes (there are GOOD nematodes, unless in your body) that love tomato roots.

Rose geraniums, even in pots, near rose plants, help keep june bugs/Japanese beetles away.

Elder trees supposedly "elder " other herbs, and teach them.

Too much nitrogen decreases essential oils in herbs...so don't plant near high nitrogen-feeding plants.

lavender and rosemary enjoy each others company.

Yellow dock's deep roots bring iron closer to the surface, and make iron more available in the soil around it.

Mints are good interspersed with squash--perhaps to deter the dreaded squash bugs with their yellow larvae.

These are off the top of my head without consulting my many herb books, most of which don't mention companion planting anyway...

Mints are good inter