Drying Bay Leaves

A short while ago, another student at Sunnyside Herbal Medicine brought a big bag of bay leaves to class to share.

These were fresh green trimmings from her own bay laurel tree (Laurus nobilis, Lauraceae). How kind of her to share!

So I brought my trimmings home and discovered a problem: I don't live in my dream home with the little wood stove over which I can hang herbs to dry with ease.

(image from The Herb Companion)

Oh yeah. Tiny apartment, I remember now.

Worse yet, this tiny apartment has a bizarre ability to be humid ALL the time. Seriously, if someone walks in with glasses on, chances are good that the glasses will fog up simply by crossing the threshold. 

In the time I have lived here, I have found no way to alleviate this issue, especially not on cold nights that disallow proper ventilation.

Getting back to the bay leaves: a humid environment is the opposite of what is required for drying leaves.

The solution:

I hung the trimmings to my lamp! The lamp is next to the the floor heater in the front room, and perfectly situated to keep the trimmings in the dryest, hottest section of air in the apartment!

To strap the branches to the lamp, I used some scrap yarn sitting in an almost-forgotten section of my craft section (Acrylic yarn? Um, that is NOT suitable for knitting!) No real knots, just simple loops to keep them in place. 

I spaced the ends of the sticks as far apart as I could make them to better allow airflow among the leaves.

And it worked! It took a few weeks, maybe three, before it really got fully dry. Honestly, I could have taken it down quite some time ago, but I wanted to get them as dry as possible.

The only thing I could say didn't work so well was that the leaves at the top took much longer than those closer to the ground to dry. The leaves at the bottom have been ready for a WHILE.

So now I need to figure out what to do with all these leaves. Ha!

• Bay has astringent, carminative, diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, emetic, and stomachic properties.
• Making a poultice of bay leaves is supposed to help the discomfort of stinging nettles. 
• Similarly, the oil is used externally for bruises and sprains, and general aches and pain (especially that associated with rheumatoid arthritis).
• The lauric acid keeps moths, and other bugs away. Not so much an issue right now, but in summer, I'll see about hanging these again by the door to deter buggies from entering.
• Bay leaf helps the body process insulin. Good for high blood sugar and diabetes.
• Bay was used in the middle ages to help cause abortions. Need more info on this! Not planning on causing any abortions, but it would be good to know if bay is contraindicated during pregnancy.
• Bay helps headaches, including migraine headaches.
• According to Ayurveda, an upset stomach is helped by drinking bay tea after dinner. Make this tea by boiling 1/2 teaspoon of crushed or ground bay leave in a cup of water for 10 minutes, straining the leaves, and adding a pinch of cardamon. Recommended for all three dosha types.
• Bay is powerful against bacteria and is particularly good at preventing tooth decay. Toothpastes may have bay oil in it. I will have to research whether chewing the leaves will have a similar effect. Also, will having bay tea after a meal have similar effects? Or even cooking with it?
• Bay also have many bactericidal constituents and can be used in deodorant. I'll have to research more to see if my dried leaves can be used in a home-made deodorant.

What a wonderful herb to have my pantry!

While waiting to be used as medicine, these bay leaves will definitely lose some numbers to pots of delicious Split Pea Soup!  Ooh, that's the stuff.

Eggplant Starts

I am growing eggplants!

(image from Urban Farmer)

This is a big thing for me. The only vegetable plants that I have successfully grown before are tomatoes, already started. 

The last time I did starts, it was with carrots, and a few other things, and did NO research beforehand. It... did not work.

This time, though, I did my research. Found out how best to start eggplants, how to care for the seeds, the spouts, and the plant. I am starting six starts tonight, on April 2! Maybe a bit late, but hopefully not too much. By the middle of June I should have yummy mirza ghasemi. Mmmmm.... 

So what I did is this: 

Step one, mostly fill starting cube things with potting soil (is potting soil the best option? My intention is to have at least 1 or 2 of these plants be container plants.) Compact the soil lightly.

Step two, wet the soil with a mister. Make sure it is saturated to the bottom.

Step three, add about three seeds into the center of each square.

Step four, cover with about 1/4 inch of soil. Pat down and wet with mister.

Step five, put the tray into a clean plastic bag. This is to keep the moisture in the soil. Especially important considering these starts want to be kept by heat.

Now, eggplant starts like heat. It is suggested that starts be put on a warming tray, which causes them to germinate faster. I am le poor, so I'm gonna try something else. I put the starts, with bag, on the ledge of my bathtub, about 6 inches from the floor heater. My bathroom is quite small, and easy to heat with very little heat. So the next thing to do is...

Step six, turn on heat source. 

I am keeping this on the lowest possible setting, and that should provide ample heat for the little heat-loving starts. Keep the door closed, and with the bag around it, and I have the tiniest fake greenhouse! Yay!

Seeds should germinate in 7 to 14 days. Thank you soil, water, heat, and love for helping to create new life!

Only two and a half months until mirza ghasemi. *drool*

(image from how2heroes)

The Eventual Homestead

Eventually, I will have a homestead. These are big words from a girl with a little apartment and no land. 

So what can an apartment-dweller with a dream do until she gets her dreams realized? PRACTICE. 

This blog will help me remember all the lessons I learn about making clothes, growing herbs and gardening, medicine-making, saving money on this material things, cooking, and living sustainably.

So let's.

(photo from Urban Homestead)