Herbs stories reflect the thinking of ancient times, people’s beliefs and superstitions, and how they linked with their history.   Herbs were used for different reasons and over time many of them became reliable ways to treat illness or promote health.   The  subject that one does not read much about is the nutritional value of herbs.  That is something that we have been able to analyse and understand in modern times.  The following stories about parsley are both fact and legend.  They are our history. Enjoy!
Germinating parlsey seeds is a hit or miss affair as any gardener will tell you.  In the mid 17th century there was a belief that when you planted parsley seeds  they would have to travel to the devil nine times before they would germinate. The seeds that did not germinate belonged to the devil.  Now that is an interesting way of saying that  germinating parsley seeds is a real gardening challenge!

Several  herbs were connected with death.  Parlsey was no exception. The ancient Greeks believed that parsley was sacred.  It was used for decorating  the tombs of the deceased  but  this was only one way it became  associated with death.

Ancient Greek mythology tells the story of Opheltes, the child of the Nemean king who was left in the charge of his nurse.  One day whilst they were out in the field, the nurse was asked the way to a water supply by some travelling warriors known as the Seven.  She left the child to direct the travellers and he was killed by a dragon. The travellers then buried the body and the name of the child was changed to Archemorus which meant Forerunner of Death. The Nemean games were started in his memory and were held every third year.  It was common in those days to hold games at funerals.   Winners were often crowned with wreaths of parsley.   There are other legends around Archemorus.  One is that he was slain by snakes and the parsley sprouted from his spilled blood.

Another myth is that the Greeks  dedicated the parsley plant to Persephone the Greek goddess of spring and, paradoxically,  the underworld.

With all these stories going on it is not surprising that the Greeks never ate parsley but they did feed it to their war horses.

‘To be in need of parsley’  is an ancient way of saying that  a person was so sick they were not expected to recover.

Another Greek saying was “Oh! we are only at the Parsley and Rue” arose from the fact that Greek gardens often had borders of parsley and rue. The meaning of the saying was that a project had not reached completion.

The Romans had different ideas about parsley.  Wreaths of parsley were used at weddings to protect against evil spirits.   The Romans also believed that parsley protected them from intoxification. They used it at meals as a breath freshener.

Charlemagne was a herb enthusiast. He is partly responsible for parsley becoming more popular in the kitchen.   One of his favorite foods was cheese flavored with parsley seeds.

One of  the greatest European botanist of his time was a man called Joseph Pitton de Tournefort who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries. He somehow got a crazy idea that  parsley contained an acrid and corrosive salt.  He believed  that when parsley became wet and was left in contact with a glass,  the glass became extremely fragile and  broke easily.  It would be interesting to know how he arrived at that conclusion!

Philip Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden in England and contemporary of Tournefort.  His claim to fame lay in the fact that he built the Chelsea Garden to a standard the it apparently outranked  all the gardens of Europe for its amazing variety of plants of different spcies and from different parts of the world.  Referring to parsley, Miller said  that not only could it could prove fatal to small birds, but in humans it could damage eyesight  and aggrevate or even cause epilepsy.  There must be an interesting story behind that observation.

On the other hand, Pliny (23 – 79 AD) said that  parsley was a cure for ailing fish.  (Depends what ails them I would say!)

Fact. During the Hebrew celebration of the Passover a vegetable is   dipped into salt water and eaten.  It is a reminder of new life, of spring, and the salt is a reminder of the slavery that Jews in history underwent.   Parsley is one of the plants used for this ceremony.

Fact.  Parsley used to be  used by the Romans as a breath freshener especially after eating raw garlic and onions.  As there was no dentistry up until fairly recently, historically speaking, bad teeth must have been common.   Parsley must have been much appreciated for this quality.

I love this story.   Parsley  was once planted by farmers as a crop for sheep in the belief that it would keep them healthy.  The story goes that the local rabbit and hare populations thought this was a great idea and made heavy inroads into the crop.  Farmers had to fence their fields.  Realising this, gardeners decided to plant carnations in their parsley crops as an alternative.  The leporidae population (fancy name for hares and rabbits) merely trampled the carnations to get to the parsley.

We enjoy many herbs from the mint family.  However there is one plant that is literally death. It is called Poison Hemlock  or Fool’s parsley because it strongly resembles the flat leaf parsley. or. Apparently in the Middle Ages people preferred to grow curly leaf parsley so that they knew exactly what they were eating.    If you are up to date with your ancient Greek history you will remember that Socrates, the Greek philosopher,  was poisoned with a heavy dose of hemlock for upsetting local Important People!

England is always a good source of myths and legends and old wives tales.

If you cut  parsley  you  will be crossed in love so if you dont want to be crossed in love, do not cut parsley.  Apparently dreaming about parsley was another significantly bad idea which lead to more problems in your love life.

‘Welsh parsley is a good physic’.    ‘Welsh parsley’ was polite speak for  the gallows rope.

Peasants in Hampshire, England would not give away any parsley because it would bring them bad luck.  I am not sure what happened in other parts of England!

Parsley grows better if you are pregnant when sowing it.   Sorry guys! Parsley grows better if the woman of the house “wears the pants”  Again, sorry guys!!

Again from Suffolk in the south of  England.  Sew parsley on Good Friday and it will come up double.   (I wonder what happens to the devil that has to be visited nine times?)

(The English again) Where parsley’s grown in the garden, there’ll be a death before the year’s out.

In Devonshire, England,  transplanting parsley apparently offended the guardian of parsley beds, and the transgressor would be punished within the year.

Since the Tudor era parsley was thought to be a remedy for baldness so when you have tried everything else try parsley.  (Do you drink parsley  infusion tea or rub it on?)

Parsley was once thought to be effective against poisons. One of our sources suggested that parsley’s ability to counteract the strong smell of garlic as a possible source for this belief and usage.

Apparently it can be used to get rid of head lice. Simply infuse the parsley in hot water and allow to cool. Apply to the head after usual shampooing and wrap your head in a towel for 30 minutes and allow to dry naturally.   (First get head lice……Let me know how it goes.)

Good herbs gardening!

The well known rosemary bush which we see in many gardens is valued for its medicinal and culinary uses among other things.  It has a long and fascinating history of facts, beliefs, legends and stories.  Those stories are part of our history. Here are some of them.  Enjoy!

Rosemary is for remembrance.  From ancient times, rosemary was was associated with death  and was thought to assist with the entrance of the deceased into the land of the dead.  Often a sprig of rosemary would be placed in the hands of the deceased at a funeral or thrown into the grave.  This tradition of rosemary as a funeral flower signifying remembrance  was used in England until the 19th century.   However, from a practical perspective,  rosemary might also have been one of a number of aromatic herbs used at funerals to diminish the stench from the dead body.

Both Shakespeare and Thomas More wrote about the herb referring to its association with remembrance and therefore friendship, and as a plant to be used at funerals as a remembrance of the dead.

Carrying on with the remembrance theme,  rosemary had many associations with weddings and love. Several centuries ago both bride and groom would carry rosemary to the wedding ceremony.  It would be woven into the bride’s bouquet or head-wreath.  The plant was there as a reminder to the groom and bride of their vows and as a symbol of loyalty, love and happiness.   The guests too would wear a sprig of rosemary.   From this idea rosemary became a love charm.  Newly married couples would plant a rosemary branch on their wedding day.  If the plant prospered it was a good omen for the marriage.

Rosemary was associated with falling in love.  If one person tapped another with a rosemary sprig which contained an open flower, the couple would fall in love.   If a person was confused as to a choice of suitor they could plant several different plants in pots and name each one for a potential lover.  The plant that grew fastest and strongest signified who would become that person’s lover.

About a thousand years ago in England the custom was to stuff  rosemary inside a  doll called a poppet.  The poppet became a surrogate for the person and whatever intentions were transferred to the poppet would be effective on the person it represented.   It was used to attract a lover, to attract healthy vibrations and also to cure illness.

Rosemary has long been associated with the Virgin Mary.  It is said that the plant had white flowers until one day, on her flight to Eqypt she placed her cloak on a rosemary bush and the flowers turned blue. The name rosemary was supposed to have associations with the name of Mary.  However this is not true.  Rosemary grows in dry rocky areas of the Mediterranean and the sailors name it ros and marinus which translated into dew of the sea.

Another explanation of the name comes from the legend  It was thought that the rosy “dew” was the blood and semen of Poseidon /Neptune who was apparently castrated, his  parts being thrown into the sea impregnating the waves and from which Aphrodite emerged.  Alternatively, the testicles of Uranus who as castrated by his son were thrown into the sea and Aphrodite arose out of the sea from the testicles. Aphrodite became the the mythical goddess of love, beauty and raw sexuality.    When she emerged from the sea, the local nymphs or naiads covered her body with the myrtle plant however pictures portray rosemary being used as well.  The associations with the castration led to the belief that rosemary is also a  symbol of virility and fertility making it even more appropriate at a wedding ceremony.

One ancient story is that the balm that was used for the corpse of Jesus has miraculous healing powers for whoever drank it.    The “hero” of Miguel de Cervantes’ book, Don Quixote de la Mancha, told his sidekick, Sancho Panza, that he had found the recipe.   The ingredients were oil, wine, salt and rosemary.  The mad knight made the concoction and while boiling the ingredients intones the Our Father 80 times plus the Hail Mary and the Creed.  On drinking the potion both men became very ill but recovered.
As so often in folklore, witches come into the picture.  Placed outside a home, rosemary would discourage witches and placed under a pillow, warded off evil spirits and allowed the sleeper a peaceful night’s sleep without the horrors of nightmares.  Apparently for this to work, the person must not be a “sinner”.  This tradition became common in Spain.

In the 14th century people’s  belief in the powers of rosemary to ward of bad things was so great that they placed on the door of a house, to prevent them from  catching the black plague

The legend later was extended to the belief that in households where rosemary grew well, the woman obvious ruled the household.  Men in the 16th century used to remove rosemary bushes thus indicating that their wives were not dominating the roost!

I suppose the wedding associations of loyalty were extended to honesty.  In the 14th century, rosemary could be used to cure a thief from his evil ways by washing his feet in a basin of water and rosemary.

In England, garlands of rosemary were wound around Church pillars, sprigs were strewn on floors and branches were placed on altars.
Rosemary also has associations with ancient Jewish folklore.

Apparently Charlemagne, called the father of Europe, was a keen herb enthusiast and grew the rosemary herb in his royal gardens.

Rosemary  became a cologne  used by Napoleon Bonaparte

The association of rosemary with memory led to Greek scholars wearing head garlands of the plant to assist them in their studies and in examinations. .

These are just some of the stories surrounding the rosemary plant which has been used by people for thousands of years.  Today we still regard it as a basic herb for flavoring food, use it in potpourris and, well, it might help us to remember things too.

It is a simple and easy plant to grow and has many uses medicinally and in the kitchen.    Definitely a plant worth growing in your home herb garden.

Good herbs gardening!

Herbs plants in olden days often provided the only medicines available to mankind and animals. The incredible story here is that planet Earth not only provided us with food but created plants that could actually cure whatever ails us. Although many drugs today are man-made, often the essential knowledge comes from understanding essential properties of plants.

Can you imagine for a moment that you are living perhaps 500 or a thousand or even three thousand years ago? You get sick and there are no doctors, no hospitals, no pharmacies down the road. What would YOU do?

Well you would send someone out into the countryside to pick a certain medicinal herbs plant. And then you probably brew an infusion tea and drink it.  And you started to get well again.

Over time people discovered which plants worked and over hundreds of years the wisdom of herb healing grew until it became  a truly remarkable fund of knowledge.  Eventually  a few hundred years ago people began to develop their own home herb gardens.  Herbs on tap so to speak.

Herbs served mankind in other ways to.  Living hundreds of years ago could be scary. I mean all those dragons and devils and serpents and scorpions and other things that go bump in the night. So the right herbs plant did a second duty by protecting you from these evils.

Herbs plants have been part of the history of the human race for many centuries. The stories that have come down through history, some fact and many legend, are part of our understanding of ourselves and of our past.  Herbs plants were the first global pharmacy and for 80% of the world’s population they might still be the only pharmacy they can afford.

Herbs stories reflect the thinking of ancient times, people’s beliefs and superstitions, and how they linked with their history.   Herbs were used for different reasons and over time many of them became reliable ways to treat illness or promote health.   The  subject that one does not read much about is the nutritional value of herbs.  That is something that we have been able to analyze and understand in recent times.  Many herbs are full of vitamins and minerals we require daily.

Herbs have made an invaluable contribution to the welfare of the human race in other ways  as well.  Lemon grass and burdock have fascinating stories attached to them.

This section relates some of the stories of these magnificent plants.  Their stories have everything.  Some are amazing, some scary, some inspirational and some funny.

I hope you enjoy them!

Basil is reputed to have been cultivated Iran and India and Asian countries  for more than 5000 years.  It is one of the most commonly used herbs worldwide and over the centuries more than 60 different basils have evolved.

Legend has it that Alexander the Great brought it to Greece in the third century BCE (BC)

It is mentioned in a very famous book  by Dioscorides called De Materia Medica (Latin for Regarding Medical Matters). Written in the first century BCE, this is the earliest modern pharmacopeia and one of the most influential books about herbs that has ever been written.

Religious significance
Holy Basil, is used to prepare holy water in the  Greek Orthodox Church.    The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church, Macedonian Orthodox Church and Romanian Orthodox Church use basil to prepare holy water and pots of basil are often placed below church altars.

It was used an  an embalming and preserving herb, proof of which is that it has been  found in mummies of ancient Egypt.

Basil was also a symbol of mourning in Greece

The basil plant is  known as tulsi in India and has been  deeply connected to the  Hindu  religion  for  centuries.  The name tulsi originates from a story about the goddess Tulasi and is said to have grown from her ashes.   Another version says that the girl was called  Vrinda. she   threw herself onto her husband’s funeral pyre and was burned to death.  The Hindu gods rewarded her act of devoted love by creating from her burnt hair  a sweet smelling plant called tulsi or basil.
A widely accepted version of the story relates how Tulasi was tricked into betraying her husband when she was seduced by the god Vishnu who pretended to be her husband. Devastated, the tormented woman killed herself.  The god  Vishnu was  impressed and declared that Tulasi  would be “worshiped by women for her faithfulness” and would prevent women from becoming widows.

Tulsi means “incomparable one” and is important in maintaining the health of the household.   For at least 3000 years, Hindu homes have been considered incomplete without tulsi plants.  In fact in many homes a shrine is built and here the tulsi plants are kept. The shrine is decorated with images of the gods .   Some families may group many plants which is called called a “tulsi-van” or “tulsivrindavan”.  For millions of Hindus this is the place for daily prayers.  Then at night a lamp is left burning beside it. The tulsi plant represents the  Hindu symbol for love, protection, purification and eternal life.   Tulsi is the way to get into heaven and thus Hindus are buried with a tulsi leaf placed on the chest.

There could be a practical aspect to having basil in the house.  Tulsi was used as a remedy for  malarial fever. It has qualities as a disinfectant, and also has properties  as a repellent for mosquitoes, flies and other  insects.    Allied to that belief, is the story about the Mumbai Victoria Gardens.  When they were being established the gardeners were plagued with mosquitoes and became sick.   The Hindu  managers, recommended planting  tulsi plants all around the property.   This seems to have removed the mosquitoes and the gardeners  recovered.

The basil plant is also associated with stories about Lord Krishna.  Tulsi was a princess who fell in love with Lord Krishna, much to the chagrin of his consort.  However It appears that Tulsi’s love for Lord Krishna was returned.   Every year, on a certain date in the month of Karttika on the lunar calendar, the ritual of Tulsi Vivaha takes plance.   Tulsi is ceremonially married to Lord Vishnu.  Celebrations of this marriage go on for  five days timed to end on the day of the full moon in October which is  the beginning of  the annual marriage season in India.
Yet another story says that Vishnu’s wife, Tulasi, took the form of basil when she came to earth and so believers are very careful not to damage tulsi plants and even ask for  forgiveness if they touch the plant unnecessarily.

Tulsi, being  sacred to the Gods Krishna and Vishnu is still found  growing around temples.
It is thought that areas where many tulsi plants grow, are ideal places in which to concentrate and worship.  Other writers have noted the basil plants mood changing effect.  It was also thought to be a soother of tempers.  In modern aromatherapy, basil is used to cheer the heart and mind. The  aroma is said to relieve sadness and depression.
Tulsi is an important herb used in Ayurveda medicine.  Medical records show that it has been used for thousands of years.

Facts and legends
As with other herbs basil is associated with a couple of pretty gruesome legends.

In Sicilian folklore, basil is associated with both love and death. There was a lady called Lisbetta who had a lover.   Her brothers slay the lover.   He then appears to Lisbetta in a dream to show her where he is buried.   Lisbetta (and this is X rated!) digs up the body and cuts off the head which she then puts in a pot and grows the basil plant on top.   She waters the pot every day with her tears.  When the brothers discover the pot they remove it and the poor damsel dies shortly thereafter from grief.  And would you know that a basil plant sprouted from her hair!

In ancient Rome, it is thought that the Greek name basilicum was confused with another word basilisk (or basilicus).   This was a mythical serpent or scorpion whose one glance would kill.
A couple of really practical basil old wives’ tales follow. Carry it in your pocket and it brings money to your business.. Basil planted on your property will keep goats away and also prevent you from becoming inebriated…

In the language of flowers, popular in Victorian days, Basil means both hatred common basil) and best wishes (sweet basil)

The Greek word for basil means royal or kingly. It was believed that only the king himself should harvest this herb, and only with the use of a golden sickle.

In Italy, basil is associated with sympathy and compassion which is supposed to arise between those who wear sprigs of it.

In Tudor times, small pots of this were given by farmers’ wives to visitors as parting gifts.

Jewish folklore believes that basil is a source of strength when fasting.

Greeks  believed that basil would open the gates of heaven to someone dying. However at one time in ancient Greece basil represented hatred

In Romania, an engagement is signified when a boy accepts a sprig of basil from a girl. In Moldavian  it is slightly different.   If a man accepts a sprig of basil from a woman, he will fall in love with her.

In Greece today, basil represents a symbol of fertility in certain religious rituals.

In Haiti, basil is thought to belong to the goddess Erzulie the voodoo goddess of love and is used in love spells . .

An old European legend  claimed  that basil was a symbol of Satan.

Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that in order to have a good crop of basil, it was important for the gardener to plant the seed while  ranting and swearing especially cursing  the ground in which you are  sowing the basil.   There is a French idiom semer le baslic (sowing basil)  which means to rant. Another version of this need to rant and rave explains that  basil could cause insanity.  On the other hand, ranting also provided protection from the mythical “scorpion”  which killed with a glance.

In African folklore basil is a protection against scorpions. But the connection with scorpions was a belief held in many countries.  A French physician, Hilarius,  wrote that scorpions would breed inside the brain if someone smelled basil too much.

In medieval times, it was believed that scorpions were created from  basil. If you wanted your very own scorpion, then you needed to place a few basil leaves under a flowerpot and wait.
When the pot was lifted some time later a scorpion would be found underneath.

Another story involves a guy called Mizaldus, who said that if you threw basil into a pile of horse manure, the pile would then breed “venomous beasts” such as snakes. However, yet another writer, Culpepper said that if you applied basil to the area bitten by said venomous beasts  “it speedily draws the poison to it”

An English botanist, Parkinson tells us that ‘being gently handled it gave a pleasant smell but being hardly wrung and bruised would breed scorpions’.

To the ancient Romans, it was a symbol of hatred, yet basil eventually became a token of love in Italy. In some regions of Italy, sweet basil is known as “kiss-me-Nicholas or bacia-nicola.” It is thought to attract husbands to wives, and a pot of basil on a windowsill is meant to signal to a lover. Young maidens would wear a sprig of basil in their hair to profess their availability.
Pliny thought it was an aphrodisiac; his contemporaries fed it to horses during the breeding season.

Pots of the basil herb are often seen in sidewalk restaurants in France – there  to act as an insect repellent and deter flies and mosquitoes.

Today, as well as being used as a culinary herb, basil is also used  in perfumery, incense, and herbal holistic remedies.

These are only some of the many tales about basil. Which is not really surprising when you remember that it has been part of various human cultures for thousands and thousands of years.

Forget the scorpions. Today the basil plant  is used largely for culinary purposes and also as a medicinal herb. It is an important herb for many dishes and therefore deserves a place in   your home herb garden.

Good herbs gardening!

Known in the herbal world for its culinary and medical qualities, burdock has earned itself a name forever in history.  In fact it was part of the space mission. And all because a man took his dog out hunting.

One day in the early 1940’s a man called George de Mestral took his dog out on a hunting trip.  On their return both he and the dog had burdock seeds attached to his clothing and the dog’s fur.   De Mestral was a Swiss inventor and he became curious as to how these seeds stuck to both him and the dog.

When he looked at the seeds through a microscope, he saw that the seeds were covered in tiny hooks which would latch on to anything that looked like a loop.  Thus the hooks caught on to fur and hair and certain clothing of passers by and thus were spread over long distances. No wonder this herbs plant was so prolific.

De Mestral was intrigued by this hook and loop system and decided that it could be manufactured and applied to man-made materials as a means of joining things together. All he had to do was work out how to make the hooks and then the loops.   To begin with he received no encouragement whatsoever. Eventually a weaver in Lyons agreed to help him and made two cotton strips which worked in principle.  However the cotton did not last very long.  De Mestral decided to investigate synthetic fibers.  Nylon then was a brand new, state of the art material, and after some research, de Mestral discovered that if sewn under a hot infrared light, ideal nylon hooks resulted.

The loops were also made from nylon.  The process he developed consisted of heat-treating the loops which made them tough and resilient -necessary for repeated opening and closing the fastening.  However the fastener did not work well until after a long time of disappointment he finally found that if the loops were cut, the fastener worked perfectly.

From beginning to end, creating the fastener and then working out a satisfactory manufacturing process took 10 years.  In 1951, de Mestral submitted his idea to the patent office in Switzerland.  The patent was granted in 1955.  The name of the invention was Velcro, coined from the two French words, “velours” which means velvet and “crochet” which means hook.

The  ‘zipperless zipper’
Velcro was patented in many countries around the world.    A journalist in America  nicknamed it the “zipperless zipper” and said it was even more sensational than the invention of the zipper 25 years previously.

Fame did not follow immediately.  The early Velcro was certainly not attractive to the fashion industry.  Velcro’s acceptance began with NASA saw the benefits it could provide in helping spacemen to get in and out of their bulky spacesuits.   In the weightless environment of a spaceship, spacemen could store food pouches on the wall, and even stand upright with the aid of velcro.  It was the publicity that NASA received that made people assume that Velcro was a NASA creation.    Then scientists began to think “outside the box”.

NASA uses Velcro in space shuttles in many different ways to combat the difficulties of being in a weightless environment.   It is a great way to anchor objects such as helping to keeping a meal tray steady in one place.  Apparently it has also been used as a nose scratcher inside an astronauts’ helmet! Once that concept of Velcro was accepted, other possible uses began to appear.  Skiers came next, again because Velcro made it easier to get into and out of their skiing gear.  This was followed by scuba divers and it became part of marine gear.

At last the benefits of Velcro fasteners began to be realized in more and more ways. It is fascinating to think that only a few years before people did not think that Velcro had any really useful advantages. How wrong they were.  Today many other uses for Velcro have been found. It is ideal for sticking badges on to uniforms.  The shoe industry uses Velcro fastenings.  The are numerous uses in the industry of children’s clothing, including Velcro fasteners on disposable diapers.  It has proved invaluable to people with certain disabilities.  It fastens bags and backpacks.  It is used in the upholstery industry for loose covers.  The auto industry uses it to secure mats.  It stops carpets from slipping.  It closes pockets securely.    It is used in medicine for orthopedic  braces.  People are inventing new uses for Velcro every day.

One of the amazing features of Velcro is its strength.  Given certain specifications as to how well the hooks are embedded and how much surface area is in contact with the hooks, a two inch square can support an 175 pounds (79kg) person.

One other fascinating fact about Velcro is that although it can stick a man to a wall, it is also very easy to pull the two pieces of Velcro apart.  How does that happen?  This is because when we undo Velcro we are doing it a little at a time.  However, if Velcro is applied to a rigid surface so it cannot be peeled apart, the bond is extremely strong and if the article is vibrating the bond even stronger.

As more and more uses are found for this amazing adaptation of nature.its worthwhile to ponder on the fact that this marvelous concept was there to discover from ancient times.   We just need to be able to see life in a different light and think “outside the box”.  When George de Mestral and his dog returned from an outing,  both with burdock burs on them, de Mestral was fascinated and wanted to know how that could happen.

Our story is not quite done.   There is now a science which is becoming more and more important as we look for better ways to run our planet.  It is called biomimicry and it means imitating life. One of the things these scientists do is to look at natural processes and work out how they can be copied for our use.  That is exactly what George de Mestral did.

And that is the origin of his quote,

“If any of your employees ask for a two-week holiday to go hunting, say yes.”

However the real hero of the story is not de Mestral, it is the humble burdock herb which has been trying to  show mankind a better way to fasten things for centuries.  Incredible!

Good herbs gardening!

However tucked into some of these herbs are amazing stories that don’t get told. And I think that affects our real appreciation of the invaluable bounty that nature provides us with.

So lets step away from today’s latest technological gizmo and spend a few minutes back in history.   This is a story which will make you look at the humble lemon grass herb with whole new eyes. We are going to step back a few centuries to southern Asia.  Let’s go there.

In ancient times there was no paper, or pens or worse still – even a system of recording information.   Information was passed on by word of mouth.   Possibly people had much better memories for passing on information verbally than they do today.  I don’t know. Ever played the game where people whisper messages down a line and by the end the message is totally distorted?   One thing was true was that obviously the system was open to malicious abuse.

Over time signs were devised and became alphabets which enabled the ancients  to record verbal information.    What an amazing invention!   Now the ancients needed a medium on which to write their information.

They began to find different materials on which to record their sign language. Metal was used and sheets made out of bronze even gold or silver, became the paper of their age.   However while durable the disadvantages were probably time and cost and even the threat of tablets being stolen for their metal value. People began to experiment with palm leaves and found that they could carefully print information on to specially prepared palm leaves,   They used a stylus very carefully to imprint their message and then treated the palm leaf manuscripts with tumeric or lampblack to make the script stand out.  However the sheets became brittle -until they discovered that if they treated the sheets with the essential oil from lemon grass, the sheets remained pliable, protected from damp as the oil repels moisture, and also from insects as the oil contains an insect repellent.

These documents treated with lemon grass could last three to four centuries.

Just imagine what a huge difference that made to societies of the time. For the first time information could be transmitted accurately between people living in different places.  It served politically because agreements could be written down.  More importantly the ancients began to record all their discoveries in the fields of medicine, anatomy, agriculture, art and architecture, carpentry, shipbuilding, metalwork, music, astrology, astronomy, martial arts, veterinary science,  yoga and others.  This was an enormous cultural leap forward.   The scribes were creating respositories of information.

These records give us huge insights into the life and times of our ancestors.  However in the 19th century when the printing press became widely used, the use of palm leaves fell away.

Many of the palm leaf documents were forgotten, abandoned or even destroyed.   Today scientists and historians are recovering these precious documents and their contents is being recorded  for posterity by modern methods.  Many of the documents are being restored and are becoming part of UNESCO’s  Memory of the World Programme which has been created to preserve valuable historical documents from diverse cultures and in diverse languages.  Already some of these palm leaf manuscripts have become part of the Memory of the World Register.

This has been possible because treating the palm leaves with lemon grass ensured that they would survive for centuries.   We owe a huge debt of gratitude to this simple herb.

Next time you enjoy a cup of lemon grass  tea from your home herb garden, perhaps think a little of those scribes writing out books on palm leaves so long ago.

Good herbs gardening!