February Tea Party

Did you know that people in Turkey drink more tea than anywhere? I learned that yesterday at the tea party put on my the Rocky Mountain unit of the Herb Society of America. This annual tradition is typically the last weekend of February; when we have the urge to get out and garden but know that its too early. And this year the Rocky Mountain unit is celebrating 20 years as a unit!

scones and more

Candles we took home

 I've been a member of the HSA-RMU most of that time and have thoroughly enjoyed the educational opportunities as well as socializing with people who love gardening and using herbs for all kinds of reasons. Many of the members of HSA-RMU have become friends of mine and it was great to see everyone this weekend.

The tea was held at the Denver Tea Room which I'd never been to but you can read more about here. There were 20 or so of us there and they served the best scones and clotted cream I think I've ever had. We enjoyed a black tea with vanilla and cinnamon as well as a chamomile tea. They gave us a presentation on tea customs around the world which was quite enlightening to learn the difference between high tea and low tea - referring simply to the height of the table!

Springtide Face Cream got a photo shot because it uses green tea as an ingredient.

tea service and Springtide

Touring Celestial Seasonings

Touring Celestial Seasonings is a great thing to do if in the Boulder, Colorado area. This herbal tea company has been around since the 1970's and I have been drinking their teas almost since their inception. I've taken out of town visitors their several times and when our Rocky Mountain Unit of the Herb Society of America decided to have our annual tea party there last week, I jumped at the chance to do another tour.

Our Herb Society Unit planted the initial herb garden at Celestial Seasonings sometime in the 1990's, but none of us could come up with an exact year. When we toured it was all under snow so we didn't get a chance to see how its held up.

Our tour guide had been with the company for over 30 years so we got to relive a lot of the history of the company. Remember Mo's 36, which later became Mo's 24? I remember buying that at the local health food coop. This initial tea blend was made from herbs gathered by founders Mo Siegel, John Hay, Peggy Clute, and Lucinda Ziesings in the Rocky Mountain area around Boulder. Apparently, no one thought it tasted good and they dropped that initial tea blend.

Their first tea blend that became quite popular was Sleepy Time and the beautiful artwork of the Sleepy Time Bear certainly helped. Celestial Seasonings made herbal teas mainstream and when they were bought by Kraft they were sold in grocery stores instead of just health food stores. Now of course, Hain Celestial owns the tea company. They have 87 different blends now. The Morning Thunder was my favorite in college for late night study groups, now I like the Zingers.

I'm of course concerned that most of their herbs are purchased overseas, in face from 35 different countries, but apparently alfalfa, orange peel, and mint do come from the US. We need to have more large herbs farms in the US to support our businesses.

Here is some of the artwork from the packages that they display in the lobby. Part of their values are 'Beauty and Truth' which makes its way over to the beautiful and original artwork on all the packages.

I am always mesmerized by the robotic equipment that folds the boxes and liners, and stuffs them etc. Another robotic arm stacks boxes on a pallet for shipping. But my favorite part of the Celestial Seasonings tour is the mint room. Yes, an entire room of bags of peppermint. A few minutes standing in there smelling that menthol and I feel like a new person, great for the sinuses too.

You can learn about taking a tour here. Have you been on their tour?

Catechin and Epicatechin

Catechin

Epicatechin

We’ve all heard of these two phytochemicals as beneficial components of our favorite foods: tea, wine and chocolate! These molecules are part of a large family called flavonoids. Notice the 3 ring structures in the diagram; this is what makes these two molecules a flavonoid. More specifically, they are flavanols. The -ol just refers to OH group that you see on the lower right portion of the molecule. Anything that has an OH group is considered an alcohol and the name of the molecule typically ends with –ol as does flavanol. The most common alcohol, ethanol, also ends with –ol and catechin can more correctly be called catechol.

Catechin and epicatechin are isomers which mean they have the same molecular formula (count the number of carbons, hydrogens and oxygens!) but have a different structure or arrangement of those atoms. With catechin and epicatechin the difference lies in the OH group we just spoke of. It is below the plane in epicatechin and above the plane in catechin which is indicated by either the dashed or solid line.

The more correct name for catechin is: 3,3’,4’,5,7-pentahydroxyflavan. Another example of why the phrase 'if you can’t pronounce something it isn’t good for you' just isn't true!
Oftentimes catechins will be attached to a sugar molecule and are referred to as O-glycosides. Products that are high in catechins and epicatechins have been found to have protective effects toward heart disease. Newer research has shown that these compounds are protective for the skin, providing photoprotection and improving the appearance and hydration of skin. Tea, both green and black, may also protect against skin cancer. Apparently, flavonoids have the ability to absorb UV light which may make them a useful ingredient in sun screens and other skin care products. These chemicals are a great addition to a skin care product to protect skin.

Winter Indoor Fun

As winter drags on here in Colorado it can make one a little anxious. Here are some things to help pass the time and entertain! Have you ever had a 'blooming tea'? This is a centuries old form of art from China. Put this small bundle of hand tied tea leaves into a clear glass teapot. After you pour hot water over the tea it begins to unfurl to reveal a secret flower hidden inside. The flowers inside vary from jasmine, chrysanthemum, globe amaranth flower, osmanthus, and others. These are wonderfully entertaining to watch and beautiful, inexpensive entertainment for yourself and children. And of course you are aware of the many health benefits of green tea both internally and topically. Do a google search for blooming teas and you'll be surprised how many sites there are and they are not expensive.

Also, although I have not read the original research on this; here is a link to a news article that says green tea can inhibit the H1N1 virus! Drink up.
http://www.worldteanews.com/index.php/20091229841/Health-/-Wellness/Ito-En-Study-Green-Tea-Inhibits-Swine-Flu.html

Nuts are a great wintertime treat and often given as gifts during the Holiday season. I love trying to crack the walnuts open while trying to keep the halves perfectly in tact. There are many crafts you can do with walnut shell halves. If you put a cotton ball in there you have a small fairy bed. You can cut tiny paper ears and glue a yarn tail on to make a tiny mouse. But my favorite is to make candle boats to float in a bowl. Just use birthday candles, drip a little wax from them in the bottom of the walnut half to stabilize them and carefully set in the water. In this picture I have also floated some rose petals. Have each person in the household make a boat and see which one lasts the longest if you are competitive. But do enjoy the candlelight given off from your boats. And eat those walnuts, they contain omega 3 fatty acids that are good for your skin, heart and your brain!

Do you have fun activities you like to do in your house to while the cold winter away?

Animals don't mind the cold like we do

Although I love having animals it can be rough in temperatures below zero such as today. After experiencing temperatures in the 60’s last week, today’s temperature of -10 is hard to take. But that is the way weather is here in Colorado, always changing. We will have cold temperatures for at least a week and also had a few inches of snow yesterday. It has been so dry here that any precipitation is appreciated.

Below freezing temperatures means that I have to haul buckets of water from the house to the barn because the well freezes up. Just spending time outside in when it's this cold requires time; time to put on the long underwear, wrap the scarves, put on gloves, boots, coat and so on. I do appreciate what my animals do for me though; eggs from the chickens, manure from the horse and the chickens, bug eating by the chickens, mohair from the goats, riding the horse in the summer as well as companionship – they never complain about what I give them for dinner (hay)! They do seem to fair better than I do in this weather though.

I am getting a fire started in the wood stove in my shop so that I can get to work today. I save all my stems from herbs after stripping the leaves off and use these to start my fires in the winter. So the sweet scent of lavender is wafting through the shop now. I’ll pour myself a cup of tea; maybe black Assam tea spiked with a little Earl Grey. Or maybe a cold day like this is perfect for a pu-erh, yes that's what I'll have! I hope everyone else stays warm today.

Look in the next few days for my give away as part of the One World One Heart blog event. http://oneworldoneheart.typepad.com/one_worldone_heart/page/2/
I want to spend some time coming up with a perfect gift (or two) for readers.

Moisturizers linked to Skin Cancer?

I just came across this alarming news; 4 separate lotions were tested in mice and found to increase the occurrence and growth of skin cancer following exposure to UV light. The moisturizers used and their ingredients (as well as I could find) are:

Dermabase - water, petrolatum, mineral oil, cetostearyl alcohol, propylene glycol, sodium laurel sulfate, isopropyl palmitate, imidazolidinyl urea, methylparaben and propylparaben.

Dermovan is a wholesale product used as a base or vehicle for other ingredients by compounding pharmacists. It apparently has not been available since 2006 but contains water, glyceryl stearate and stearamidoethyl diethylamine, glycerin, mineral oil, cetyl esters, cetyl alcohol, butylparaben, methylparaben, and propylparaben.

Eucerin (original) – Water, Petrolatum, Mineral Oil, Ceresin, Lanolin Alcohol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone

Vanicream - Water Purified, White Petrolatum, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth 20, Sorbitol Solution, Propylene Glycol, Simethicone, Glyceryl Monostearate, Polyethylene Glycol Monostearate, Sorbic Acid, BHT

All four creams are emollients that are recommended by dermatologists for dry, rough, scaly and itchy skins.


The initial purpose of this study was to investigate if caffeine added to a skin cream could inhibit the formation of cancer after UV exposure. Preliminary evidence has found that this is true. These four creams were chosen as the bases to add caffeine to and were undergoing testing to confirm that they were suitable as negative controls. The research however suggested they were not negative controls but actually increased the growth of two types of non-melanoma skin cancer in mice. Dermovan had the highest results.

Because of these results the researchers asked Johnson & Johnson to make a custom blend to test. The ingredients of this blend were: purified water, propylene glycol, stearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, polysorbate 20, isopropyl myristate, C12-15 alkyl benzoate, benzoic acid, glycerin, and sodium hydroxide. Although this cream did not show evidence of increasing skin cancer in mice more human research on this and other moisturizers will certainly be required.

It is difficult to pinpoint a possible ingredient in these creams that may be at the root of promoting skin cancer. Looking at the ingredients list however one can see that petrolatum (mineral oil) is found in the creams contributing to skin cancer but not in the custom blend that tested negative. According to the National Toxicology Program, mineral oil is related to skin cancer in mice at least.
Sodium lauryl sulphate found in at least one of the creams is considered an irritant by some. There are several other ingredients found in these products that would never find their way into creams and lotions made by Sagescript Institute. Possibly ingredients that are not tumorigenic by themselves can act synergistically with UV light to be more tumorigenic. It is of course too early to relate these results to humans though but you can be sure that more testing will be done in this area. In the meantime keep in mind that certain herbs have been found to decrease skin damage caused by UV light including green and black tea, rosemary and raspberry seed oil.

Yao-Ping Lu, You-Rong Lou, Jian-Guo Xie, Qingyun Peng, Weichung J Shih, Yong Lin and Allan H Conney. Tumorigenic Effect of Some Commonly Used Moisturizing Creams when Applied Topically to UVB-Pretreated High-Risk Mice. Journal of Investigative Dermatology advance online publication 14 August 2008; doi: 10.1038/jid.2008.241

Roses Roses

Roses are blooming and nothing could be prettier. I have several large rose bushes shown here on my property line. I have no idea what they are but they are slightly aromatic with beautiful buds on them. I also have several somewhat aromatic roses in front of my house. Their color is a beautiful pinkish red. I am cutting flowers and buds from both of these roses to dry for later use. Because I am interested in distilling roses I just bought several roses that I am told are very aromatic. One is the Kasinlik rose that is grown in Bulgaria for oil. Another is a David Austin Golden Celebration. This one and a Mr. Lincoln I planted right off of my deck so that I can enjoy the aroma with my morning coffee or evening dinner. A fourth one I bought unfortunately the clerk at the nusery pulled out the tag so I don't remember what it is. I resisted the pressure at the nursery to buy their super duper organic fertilizer. I'll fertilize these roses with manure from my chickens instead. Using what we have on the farm is important to me.

With these four highly aromatic roses I am hoping for enough blossoms for distilling next summer. Until then I will be collecting petals and buds for crafts. Last year I strung small rose buds on a string that I draped over a table lamp so the heat from the light released the aroma of the roses. This year I will dry petals for potpouri. Dried rose petals add a nice flavor to black tea. You can also make a strong tea from the petals to use to wipe the face clean at night. Rose can be very hydrating for the skin. Two things I've not done with roses is make wreaths or rose beads. These are crafts I might try during the winter months when I am longing for the aroma of roses. Until then I will enjoy cutting and drying fresh roses!

Cold Sores

As if one weren’t enough, I have two huge cold sores on my lip. My normal procedure for cold sores is to take vitamin C, vitamin B and apply a lip balm that I made that contains lemon balm infused oil. Although I did that yesterday it has gotten worse. Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus. This virus will reside in a dormant state in the nerve tissue. In the case of cold sores on the lips the virus is typically in the trigeminal nerve ganglion (a collection of nerve cell bodies). For some unknown reasons this virus will travel down the nerve to the skin and start to replicate there cause fluid filled vesicles. Things that trigger these outbreaks include stress, sunshine, menstruation, injury or an immune deficiency. In my case it is typically stress that causes a cold sore. In the past few weeks I have been busy planting Nanking cherries, choke cherries, roses, lavender, cedar trees, roses, raspberries and some miscellaneous herbs. I am also finishing up teaching for the semester and getting grades done. Then the normal animal care and family activities that increase towards the end of the school year. Together, these and unnamed things have caused me a little stress.

Since this cold sore has gotten worse overnight I think I will have to do more than my normal regimen. Although there are antiviral drugs available to treat herpes, there have also been an increasing number of resistant viruses as a result of this. I would hate to think that virus’s will develop this life threatening condition that has occurred in bacteria due to overuse of antibiotics. I will pass on the antiviral drugs and try some other herbal treatments I don’t normally use. Perhaps I will apply lavender oil to the sore or Echinacea extract. I might also drink lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) tea or sage tea and have some garlic toast (my favorite cold remedy). I may use myrrh essential oil to relieve the pain as well. And what about relaxing a little? It’s a somewhat rainy day today which decreases what I can do outside so maybe I’ll sit around with my cup of lemon balm/sage tea for awhile.

Herb Society Tea Party

I can’t think of a better way to spend a blustery Sunday in February than with fellow herbies at our annual Herb Society of AmericaRocky Mountain Unit)tea party. This year’s theme was Mardis Gras.The pot luck dishes included gumbo, pecan pie bars, spicy spinach balls and of course King Cake with a tiny plastic baby hidden in inside for someone to find. My contribution was Vegetarian Jambalaya (see recipe below). A commemorative herb tea was designed to mark the occasion.

This year’s tea was held at the Denver Botanical Gardens as it often is. Attendees came dressed for the occasion wearing purple, blue and green and dawning feathered masks. In addition to the feathered masks a demonstration on fresh facial masks was given by Tonja Reichley of MoonDance Botanicals and we all went home with a sample of chocolate rose face mask to try in the privacy of our home! Our Herb Society group meets once a month at theDenver Botanical Gardens for a business meeting and an herbal presentation. I believe our next presentation will be on chocolate (one of my favorite herbs)! Do stop by.

Vegetarian Jambalaya (adapted from: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/Jambalaya.htm)

Saute:

1 chopped onion

3 cloves minced garlic

2 ribs chopped celery

1 chopped green bell pepper

1 chopped red bell pepper

1 cup sliced mushrooms

Add:

2 cups brown rice

6 cups vegetable broth

Cook for 15 minutes

Add:

2 sliced zuchinnis

1 large can chopped tomatoes

2 cups sliced vegetarian sausages (Morning Star links)

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp paprika

½ tsp cayenne pepper (more to taste)

3 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sage

1 tsp dried marjoram

Cook 20 more minutes or until rice is done. Eat up and enjoy!