A New Crop?

   The canebrake cleaning chore got a bit sidetracked today as I decided it was better to trim up the Small Gardens a bit.  Son was not able to help me so pulling bamboo can wait.  As I was trimming around the shrubs and citrus trees, I came across the most beautiful patch of lyre-leaf sage.  Yep, that "weed" that grows along roadsides in just about every place imaginable has decided that the space under the peach trees is a nice place to live.  I knew the plants were there and usually have them mowed by this time but one thing or another got in the way.  Now, I have a "grove" of purple blooms!  Lovely, lovely purple blooms are everywhere

  No, I did not have the heart to mow them today.  I figured since I use the roots in tisanes, it cannot be all bad to let the plants go to seed and multiply.  If ever the need arises that I wish for a cup of lyre-leaf root tisane, I shall have plenty to dig.  So...those are not weeds!  That is my new "garden" and it is growing well!  Ok...so I promise to not be so lackadaisical and get to mowing again...maybe tomorrow...maybe Monday...maybe after the blooms fade.  

There Comes A Time

  While I love the wild look about the place, there comes a time when things need a bit of tidying.  Back behind the house where the remnants of the old peach orchard stands, I was a happy camper to find the lyre-leaf sage doing so well.  I thought to myself..."All is good.  The plants cannot take over too much back here and I shall have a ready source of the root if the need arises."  I was wrong.  The entire area is/was a  sea of purple.  The plants truly did take over the orchard.  In just one week's time, I went from a carpet of flat leaves to knee-deep purple blooms!  

  Son and I both cranked up the lawnmowers and gave the place a good trimming.  I went to the south side of the house while he cut on the north.  It never occurred to me that he would cut the sage.  He did.  In fact, he cut it all.  Now, the orchard is neat and trim.  It is no longer purple!  This is all good, however, as it takes more than a lawnmower to kill the sage.  It can be trimmed every week and still pop up with blooms.  And...I have to admit, it sure looks nice where he cut.

  Most folks find it strange that I say my medicine cabinet is in the yard but it seems that the wild herbs do a far better job at healing my ailments that most medicines.  While I am thankful for my doctors and their knowledge, for minor illnesses, I prefer to go the herbal route.  There comes the time, however, when I have to part with a few plants.  I guess that time was today.

Lyre-leaf Sage....Bane or Blessing?

  Today being St. Patrick's Day, I decided to "go green".  No, I did not don the green shirt nor cutesy up myself with shamrocks.  Instead, I went outside to work in the garden.  That was green enough for me.   I am not being stuffy here about those who do participate in the traditions.  It was just the fact that there was not much reason to do anything since I was the only one to appreciate it.  I did, however, have a grand time working the plot of ground set aside as my vegetable garden.  The tomato plants are doing fine so there was little tending to do to them but the potatoes were in dire need of fertilizer and hilling.  Once that was done, I started hunting for any volunteer herbs that may be sprouting through the ground.  The oregano was already spilling out of the container and the purple basil had hundreds of tiny plants where seeds had fallen.  I was not lucky enough to find any sweet basil, fennel nor mint up yet.  Wait and see.  Wait and see. I will follow the advice of Son.

  I did find an entire patch of lyre-leaf sage in bloom and that made me happy.  Most folks will recognize this herb as the "weed growing on the side of the road".  It is not a weed, folks!  It is a medicinal herb!  The whole plant can be used.  The leaves have a slightly minty taste (sage is in the mint family, by the way) and can be added to salads and soups.  It is the root that is important to me, though.  That root has pulled me through one cold after another in the past.  The cleaned root made into a tisane is supremely helpful in calming a sore throat.  The tisane can be used as a tea or as a warm gargle.  A wee touch of honey makes the tisane even more delectable.

  I find it humorous that recently, the lyre leaf-sage (Salvia lyrata) can be found at plant nurseries.  For years, it was deemed to be a nuisance plant or weed.  People who desired the well manicured yard (which is actually a waste of land, in my humble opinion), dumped gallons of weed killer to eradicate the plant.  The lyre-leaf sage was adamant about staying and that created headaches for those who are compulsive about such things.  Everything in the book was thrown at the hardy little plant but it was all to no avail.  The plant survived, regardless.  I guess some folks now see this as a plant "they cannot kill" so there is a demand for it.
  
  On the Bayou, the lyre-leaf sage can grow where it wishes.  When it blooms, the place is dotted with blue.  Then, when the blooms fade, I simply mow over the plants.  The base leaves are a great ground cover that can take a beating and still look great.  It is also mighty handy to have that sore throat cure just outside the door.  Lyre-leaf sage...the plant that creates headaches for some but cures sore throats for others.  

A Heaping Helping of Herbs!

  I have long used herbs and spices in place of most over the counter medicines.  I feel that there are just too many other things in those pills and liquids.  This is not to say that I never take medicines.  I do...occasionally...when a doctor tells me I should but that is a rare thing.  At least with my home-grown and wildcrafted herbs, I know what I am getting.  Granted, sometimes it takes a bit longer to cure things this way, but I feel safer.  Then, again, here lately, it seems as if the herbs are doing a far better job than are the "store bought" cure-alls.  Just recently, the dreaded flu bug hit the Little Bayou House in full force.  Mark was the first to come down sick.  For weeks, he stayed ill despite visits to the doctor, lots of prescribed pills, tons of pain killers, over the counter medicines and bed rest.  Two days after his first symptoms, Son and I both contracted the mess.  He and I used herbs and downed bottles of the Bayou Fire Brew.  Our bouts of the mess only lasted three days.  Maybe ours was not full fledged flu but neither of us had the lingering cough and congestion that normally comes with this type of illness.  In fact, we never were congested at all nor had a cough.  

  With the first symptoms  of headache, fever and body aches, I started my regimen. This included me slipping outside in a slight misty rain to find MY "cure-all"....Lyre-leaf Sage.  Since my garden had gone the wayside with the onset of winter, I had to depend on this wild herb to pull me through.  Sage is wonderful for most cold/flu symptoms when used as a tisane and gargle.  The Lyre-leaf Sage has a bit weaker medicinal properties but it is not nearly as strong tasting as the other sages.  When I found the few purplish leaves that had withstood the low temperatures, I snatched them up and added them to my sage blend tisane.  Ahhh, relief from all of those nasty symptoms!  Laugh if you wish but I figure that a three day bout of illness sure beats two weeks in bed feeling miserable!

  Today, Mr. PJ (the old dog) and I found ourselves in the midst of a virtual grove of Lyre-leaf Sage!  I plopped myself down among the plants and started to nibble a leaf. (I felt like a rabbit!)  When I looked at the old dog, he, too, was munching the plants.  Ha!  I think this dog is an herbalist!  He knows a good thing when he smells it! 

Pretty in Purple!

  Today, storms shook the Little Bayou House as they roared through the area.  High winds blasted from the southeast, changed to coming from the southwest, turned to being a north wind and are now back from the south. We caught it from all angles.  With the winds, came torrential rains complete with waterspouts dancing about the Bay.  All in all, it was a rough day weather wise but satisfying in a weird sort of way.  The weather did keep me indoors, though.

  Yesterday, however, was a different story.  Knowing that a storm was brewing to our west, I was busy trying to prepare.  The plants in the greenhouse needed watering, the fishing gear needed storing and the last of the squash seeds needed to be put into the ground.  So much to do...so little time!  After gathering the fishing gear from the pier, I noticed a rather interesting plant in the board path.  How could I not notice it?  It was a gorgeous purple and hairy!  Aha!  Lyreleaf Sage! I love this plant. It is one of those neat little herbs that grows wild yet should be in every garden.  There are just so many uses for it in herbal medicines and even on the supper table. (It can be used just as any other garden green.)  Lyreleaf Sage has milder flavor than other sages but still has all of the good properties of the others.  Sage is in the mint family and there are over 900 different types of sage!

  Sage leaves can be brewed to make a tisane that relieves sore throats and mouth ulcers.  Lyreleaf Sage works as well as the others.  This is one of those herbal home remedies that actually works.  Granted, you have to drink several cups of the tisane or gargle with it numerous times but it does relieve the pain and has no side effects.   This is my "go to" remedy for sore throats and I, personally, never have one longer than a few hours.  Warm sage tisane soothes the body as it treats the throat.   Sage, in general, is being studied as a possibly treatment for Alzheimer's Disease, as an aid in restoring memory, as a treatment for high cholesterol and controlling blood sugar.  Hopefully, these studies will find that the plant does indeed help in these areas.  

  As I was hustling back up the hillside and spotted the Lyreleaf Sage, I made a mental note to transplant this one into the herb garden as soon as the storm passes.  Besides being a helpful plant, the thing is just too pretty to be cut down by my lawnmower!  

Leaf Flowers!

  Early this morning, Mark and I headed to the pier.  A slight mist was still falling after a night of heavy rains.  This was rather cooling and I did not mind getting a bit wet.  Just before we reached the first step of the pier, I noticed what appeared to be a green flower on the ground.  Well, not actually a flower but rather leaves shaped like the stereotypical flower shape.  Ahh, this is a young Lyre-leaf Sage!  Although most folks look at this sage as a weed,  I actually encourage it to grow in the yard.  There are even several that have taken up residence in the vegetable garden and I refuse to pull them.  They are there to stay right next to the Purple Basil.  Needless to say, the plant is a favorite.

  Folks have a tendency to believe Lyre-leaf Sage is a weed due to its habit of growing freely on the sides of roads, in open fields and unkempt yards.  Given a half of chance, the plant could prove these folks wrong. The plant is edible and has a slight minty flavor.  The young leaves can be eaten raw in salads or cooked as a pot herb much like collard greens or kale.  These same leaves can be brewed as a tisane to use in soothing sore throats.  I am more interested in using the plant as a medicinal herb rather than a food source.  Adding this sage to the larder could come in handy during the winter months that are often filled with colds and sore throats.  We just laid in a goodly amount of common sage to be used so a bit of Lyre-leaf will only supplement our supply.
  
  Sage tisane is not only useful in curing sore throats but is also a relaxant that helps during those sleepless nights that so often plague folks.  A warm cup of sage tisane will gently lull you into dreamland.  

  With all of these lovely attributes, who can blame me for leaving "weeds" in my yard?  Lyre-leaf Sage is a wildflower!  It is an herb!  It is....well, it is just a good plant to have growing in the yard!

Another Useful Weed..umm...Wildflower!

I am finding so many reasons to not weed the gardens nor cut the grass!  Today, I found another "weed" that  could possibly be helpful!  Most folks would call me a bit daft and, well, I suppose it would be futile to argue with them since sometimes I ponder the same thing.  While I was hauling some old boards down to the burn pile, I nearly stepped on a familiar weed that seems to be the bane of folks that desire the perfect lawn.  These things pop up seemingly overnight and will be a foot tall all the while waving their sparse flowers in the breeze.  I am talking about Lyre-leaf Sage.  Perhaps you..like me..do not recognize the name but you..like me..would definitely recognize the plant.

The Lyre-leaf Sage has a crown of leaves right at the ground and usually have a single stalk that shoots up in the middle.  This hairy stalk has whorls of tube-like flowers growing from it.  These blooms can be white, lavender, purple or blue.  A prolific seeder, the plant can be seen growing on the sides of most country lanes or out in pastures.  (I am one of those fortunate ones that has them growing right in my lawn!)  Actually, I have no problem with the Lyre-leaf Sage growing in my yard as I have always looked at them as wildflowers and not weeds.  The term sounds so much happier!  Wildflowers!  A person just cannot help but smile when thinking of open fields of wildflowers! (I cannot say the same about folks who think these are all weeds.  They probably do not do a lot of grinning when trying to eradicate them from their well-manicured lawns.)

The thing that I find interesting about the Lyre-leaf Sage is that for years it was believed to be a topical cure for cancer.  One of the common names for it is actually Cancerweed.  According to lore, Native Americans found many uses for the plant.  A few of these remedies have shown to have some credibility.  Personally, I have no clue if the weed..er..wildflower has any cancer-curing properties but it would sure be something to keep in mind.  The Native Americans are also said to have used the plant to heal sores and wounds.  A salve made from the root would be applied to the injury and a tea made from the whole plant was used to treat colds and coughs.

Now, see!  If this is not a perfectly legitimate reason to quit weeding the gardens, I do not know what would be!  Also, stop mowing that grass!  Think of how many potential cures are being shredded by those blades! Wildflowers!  Yep..beautiful wildflowers!  Medically useful wildflowers!