Tag: lemon-balm

  • Lemon Balm. 5 Uses For This Easy To Grow Herb.

    In southern Idaho the lemon balm is full and ready for harvest. If you’ve ever planted lemon balm you know how one tiny plant can quickly take over a large portion of your garden! Hint: Lemon Balm is a perennial. Plant lemon balm in a pot as it will spread (and take over your garden). The herb thrives in full sun, but can be grown in partial shade. Lemon Balm can be grown in most areas of the United States, US hardiness zones 4-9.

    This herb that not only attracts bees to the garden, but is also a great anti-viral with relaxing properties that are helpful for soothing frayed nerves and calming hyper children.

    Traditionally, it’s been used to gently treat colic and upset stomach in everyone from infants to elders. A leaf can be chewed to freshen the breath or crushed and placed on a bug bite to help ease the itch.

    Note: While it’s generally considered safe for most people, large amounts of lemon balm may inhibit thyroid function. If you have hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), are on thyroid medication, or are pregnant, nursing, or have any other questions or concerns, talk with a qualified health professional before use. 

    1. Lemon Balm Tea
    This is a delicious way to calm and relax everyone from children to adults!

    • Place about 3/4 cup lemon balm leaves into a small pot and add enough water to just cover the leaves.
    • Simmer, covered partially, until the liquid is reduced in half.
    • Strain out & compost the leaves.
    • While still quite warm, measure out about 1/2 cup of the concentrated tea and stir 1/4 cup raw honey into it.
    • Add more honey to taste, if you wish.
    • Store in the refrigerator for about 3 days.
    • Dose by the spoonful at night to help calm and relax. (Honey should not be used with children under 1 year old.)

    Note: You can make larger or smaller batches – keeping a ratio of about 2 parts lemon balm infusion to 1 part honey.

     2. Make a lemon balm bug spray:

    I’ve tried a lot of homemade bug spray recipes and this is my favorite one.

    The best part is that it’s yet another way to help use up some of my abundance of lemon balm and other herbs!

    You can find the full recipe and how to make it in this blog post, Lemon Balm Bug Spray.

     

    3. Chop fresh leaves and sprinkle on salads or in baked goods:

    Drizzle the salads with honey or a dressing made of yogurt and honey.

    Try adding finely chopped leaves (1 to 2 TBSP) and lemon zest (a pinch) to your favorite scone or muffin recipe.

    Fresh leaves can also be frozen in ice cubes to dress up a summer beverage.

    4. Make a lip balm for cold sores:

    This lip balm recipe was designed especially for my son who developed cold sores triggered by sunshine when he was young.

    It cleared his cold sores up within a few months and they stayed away!

    You can find the full recipe and how to make it in this blog post, Super Healing Cold Sore Lip Balm.

    5. Make a glycerite:

    Glycerites are a sweet way to dose herbal medicine without the alcohol that regular tinctures contain. Herbal infused glycerin can also be used as an ingredient in lotions, toners and aftershave recipes.

    To make a lemon balm glycerite:

    • Fill a jar with lemon balm leaves.
    • Cover with a mixture of 3 parts vegetable glycerine to 1 part water.
    • Cap and let this sit in a dark place for 3 to 4 weeks.
    • Strain.
    • Dose is 1/2 to 1 teaspoon as needed to relax and calm.
    • Store in your refrigerator for several months.

    (Adapted from Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs.)

    Lemon Balm is also a star ingredient in this trusted Favorite Cold & Flu Tincture.

    Find a Dozen Great Uses at thenerdyfarmwife.com

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  • A New Favorite Herb: Lemon Balm

    If you haven’t yet discovered lemon balm, let me introduce you to your new favorite herb. There are so many wonderful uses for lemon balm! Lemon balm is a powerful herb that can combat viruses in the body and powerfully reduce anxiety. Use lemon balm in the garden, for cleaning, and as a tasty addition to numerous recipes.

    Lemon Balm Benefits

    Heart palpitations, nervous tension, insomnia, and hyperactivity are all classic indications for lemon balm and these combined describe what some people experience when their thyroid becomes overactive, such as in Grave’s disease. In fact, lemon balm, bugleweed (Lycopus spp.) and motherwort (Leonorus cardiacus) is a classic western formula for a hyperactive thyroid. 

    Lemon balm is a member of the mint family and, like other mints, it has complicated energetics. Thermally it has been classified as both warming and cooling. This is explained partly by understanding different perspectives within the major living herbal traditions today. 

    Lemon balm has a sour taste. In Ayurveda sour is classified as hot and wet while in Traditional Chinese Medicine sour is thought to be cooling and moistening. In western herbalism sour is generally thought to be cooling. 

    Matthew Wood explains: 

    “Lemon balm has a sour taste, as its name indicates – it is one of the few sour mints. Like most sour plants, it is cooling and sedative. It combines this property with the typical nerve-calming powers of the mint family to make a strong, but safe and simple sedative. These powers are much more marked when the plant is tinctured fresh. A tincture of fresh melissa should be on the shelf in every household as a general sedative.”

    Lemon Balm been used as a mild emmenagogue to promote late menstruation as well as relieve menstrual cramping. 

    How to Identify The Lemon Balm Plant

    As mentioned, lemon balm is in the mint family and has many attributes or identifying features common to this family.
    It has square stems and leaves are in an opposite branching pattern.
    Lemon balm flowers are white and have the classic “lipped” look of the mint family. It typically flowers from June to September.
    This is a perennial plant that is easy to grow. Watch out! It will spread readily in your garden.
    If you crush a leaf in your fingers you’ll be introduced to the wonderful lemon scent of lemon balm. In the past it was considered a “strewing herb,” which is an herb hung in the rafters or strewed on the ground to emanate a pleasant scent.