on the cob, it’s great for decorating your home. And it tastes wonderful when popped (the kernels turn white, though).
It’s the leisure hours, happily used, that have opened up a new world to many a person.
—George M. Adams
Red-Hot Antioxidants
If you like spicy food, consider growing a variety of hot peppers in the summer. Recently, scientists have found the substance that creates the heat in peppers. It’s called capsaicin, an antioxidant that gives chilies their bite and, like all antioxidants, may help prevent cancer.
Some chili peppers, rated from low to high capsaicin content (and therefore amount of heat), are:
•New Mexico red: (rated 2–3)
•Jalapeno: 5
•Serrano: 6
•Tabasco: 8
•Thai: 9
•Scotch Bonnet: 10
•Savina: 10+
There’s something about sun and soil that heals broken bodies and jangled nerves.
—Nature Magazine
Garden in a Jar
The very first garden I remember was a sweet potato in a jar. My mama planted it when we were living in three tiny rooms behind our dress shop. There was no yard, no room outside even for a flowerpot. But Mama filled a Mason jar with water, propped the long, skinny sweet potato up in the glass with a trio of toothpicks, and told my brother and me to watch. By summer, the kitchen window was curtained with graceful vines and big curving leaves. And somehow that window garden made our shabby little kitchen into a special place. Even the light seemed different—more restful, more alive. That was when I first realized I needed a garden in my life.
What I know of the divine sciences and the holy scriptures, I learned in the woods and fields. I have no other masters than the beeches and the oaks.
—St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Comfrey for Comfort
Comfrey is beloved by healers and is one of the best-known healing herbs of all time. It has even been referred to as “a one-herb pharmacy” for its inherent curative powers. Well-known and widely used by early Greeks and Romans, its very name, symphytum, from the Greek symphyo, means to “make grow together,” referring to its traditional use of healing fractures. Comfrey relieves pain and inflammation. Comfrey salve will be a mainstay of your home first-aid kit. Use it on cuts, scrapes, rashes, sunburn, and almost any skin irritation. Comfrey salve can also bring comfort to aching arthritic joints and sore muscles.
Coconut-Comfrey Cure-All Salve
•¾ cup comfrey-infused oil
•¼ cup coconut oil
•4 tablespoons beeswax
•10 drops lavender essential oil
Combine comfrey and coconut oils. Heat the oil and wax together until the wax melts completely. Pour into a clean, dry jar. When the mixture has cooled a little, but has not yet set, add 10 drops of lavender essential oil, which is also an antiseptic. Seal the jar and store in a cabinet to use any time you scratch yourself working in the garden or want to renew and soften your hands and feet after a lot of house and yard work. One note: use it on the surface of your skin and it will work wonders, but, if a cut is deep, don’t get it inside the wound. Let your physician handle that. Comfrey is a miracle plant for healing; in combination with the lavender, this power duo will restore your spirit along with your skin.
Emotional Rescue Remedy
Why does every day seem like it is weeklong nowadays? Unplugging from cable news and constant social media feeds will help, as will this time-tested aromatherapy healing potion. This remedy is an excellent way to recharge and refresh after a hectic week.
In a small ceramic or glass bowl, gently mix together the following essential oils with a small amount of base/carrier oil:
•2 drops bergamot
•4 drops carrier oil (apricot or sesame, ideally)
•2 drops vanilla
•1 drop amber
•2 drops lavender
Gently rub one drop of Calm Emotion Potion on each pulse point: on both wrists, behind your earlobes, on the base of your neck, and behind your knees. As the oil surrounds you with its warm scent, you will be filled with a quiet strength.
Beautifying Your Home
Now the earth with many flowers puts on her spring embroidery.
—Sappho
Shabby Chic in the Garden
To add a distinctive look to outdoor plants pots and planters, try this simple trick. Create a mixture containing one part garden soil, two parts peat moss, and one part water—the mixture should be gooey and thick in consistency. Using a garden trowel or your hand, spread the exterior of a terra-cotta pot or planter with the mixture, and allow to dry. Sow seeds or outdoor plants plantings as desired in the pots, and water normally. Within a few weeks, the peat moss mixture will have blossomed with a variety of mosses and lichens, giving your pots a verdant, natural patina.
Growing a garden and staying out in the fresh air after office hours seemed to give me the strength to meet all problems with greater courage.
—Jim G. Brown
Mintcense
One thing you can do, if you decide to grow a variety of mint, is to make mint potpourri. Originally made in colonial times, when it was believed to “clear the head,” it is an excellent natural room freshener.
•¼ cup orris root
•1 tablespoon oil of lavender or pennyroyal
•2 cups dried orange mint
•2 cups dried spearmint
•2 cups dried peppermint
•1 cup dried thyme
•1 cup dried rosemary
Combine the orris root and essential oil. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine gently, taking care not to crush the leaves too much. Store it in a covered jar. To use, shake and open.
Mother Nature’s Moth Repellents
If you want to avoid using mothballs for your woolens this coming summer, try dried branches of rue, tansy, mint, lavender, rosemary, pennyroyal, and wormwood, either by themselves or in combination. Tie them together and, to keep them from flaking onto your closet floor, wrap them lightly in cheesecloth
