Gardening: Finding flavor and healing in growing and using herbs

“Sometimes convenience breeds complacency. If every herb is readily available to us without the need to learn its lifecycle, walk the trails or till the fields, then its far too easy to think of them as nothing more than ingredients.”

In his new book, “Herbs in Every Season” (Timber Press), Bevin Cohen goes beyond a list of herbs and how to grow them to include seeking out wild plants and trees and the holistic joy found in searching for them. The book is packed with how-to instructions, medicinal and culinary recipes and resources on growing and using herbs.

The book is broken into seasonal sections, beginning with spring and the revival of nature followed by chapters on summer, fall and winter herbs including some trees. Each seasonal section begins with practical and detailed advice on preparing seeds, planting and growing herbs, followed by a list of 12 domesticated and wild herbs and descriptions on their growing and medicinal and culinary uses.

In the spring chapter, Cohen writes about chickweed, dandelion and parsley, saying that chickweed and dandelion leaves are edible and that the entire dandelion plant has medicinal qualities. Parsley tinctures can serve as a wash for itchy skin and as a source of several vitamins. As a culinary herb, its leaves and roots make delicious salads.

In the summer chapter, Cohen lists lemon balm, oxeye daisy, linden tree and the weed plantain. Lemon balm and oxeye daisy can be combined into a cough suppressant. Linden flowers and leaves can be made into tonics and the leaves can be added to salads. Plantain makes an anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial salve, and the young leaves can be used like spinach.

The fall chapter talks about seed saving and features plants such as coriander, ginkgo and goldenrod. Coriander is a familiar culinary herb in our kitchens and medicinally is a digestive remedy. Ginkgo leaf tea supports brain health and goldenrod tea can relieve allergy symptoms.

In the winter chapter, Cohen focuses on how to dry and process herbs for storage so they retain their color, flavor and nutritional value. He also shares that winter is the season for planning for next year’s gathering and growing.

Hastily scribbled notes from foraging hikes and garden success and failures need to be cleaned up and plans of action developed. The herbs he profiles in this chapter include cinnamon, garlic and marshmallow.

Cinnamon is a culinary spice and medicinally serves as a digestive aid. Beyond its culinary uses, garlic supports cardiovascular health and has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Marshmallow, as it sounds like, is the source of the familiar campfire treat as well as a treatment for coughs and indigestion. A recipe for making home-made marshmallows is included in the book.

With all this said, the book comes with a wise disclaimer that when foraging, you need to be able to accurately identify the plants you are harvesting as there are toxic look-alikes.

Also, when foraging in the wild, always ask permission of the landowner to enter their property.