When I hear something repeated by chance or over hear the same word more than twice a day, I listen up carefully because it’s life’s way of telling you what you need. I found these pretty wild flowers on our walk and took a photo
A friend told me, that’s Borage, the flowers and leaves are edible and medicinal! Another friend asked me that same day, what is the French translation for Borage because she had a sun burn and wanted a natural remedy for it. It is a cooling herb which is why I made them into these ice cubes to drink on a hot summer days.
Heal-yourself month of April is still going strong. (Healing myself, my relations and Mother Earth) My back is feeling better with a couple of nightly pains mostly when I am really tired and have been lifting the baby all day. I have had an intense headache since my barge trip, could be a giant hangover from drinking so much wine when I very rarely drink at all. Just the ticket for that is Borage—the Roman cure for hangovers. And I had a plentiful supply from our walking area.
Also an anti-inflammatory to help with pain, swelling, fever reducing, bruising and a myriad of other ailments including increasing lactation, heart disease and depression or melancholy.
According to the US Department of Agricultural, Borage contains:
• macronutrients such as carbohydrates, protein, fats, fiber, glucose and galactose, and gamma-linolenic acid (an essential fatty acid)
• vitamins such as ascorbic acid (vitamin C), beta carotene (pro-vitamin A), and choline, niacin, riboflavin and thiamine (elements of the B complex)
• minerals including calcium, cobalt, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc
• other plant compounds including allantoin, lactic acid, malic acid, mucilage,
rosmarinic acid, and tannin (Warkinton 2002)
I uprooted some Borage and planted them in my garden, they are a perfect companion plant for strawberries and tomatoes as their spiky stalks keep aphids and critters away and their flowers bring bees. It is an excellent source of minerals for plants for a boost of growth and will enhance flavors of plants near them. While gardening, I got some bug bites and it was borage again to the rescue, making a poultice from the hairy leaves. At night we had a lovely fennel, chive and borage flower salad. For more recipes, I like this Herbal site
Tags: depression, pain, protein
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