Gin in the Garden
Gordon’s Gin and the National Trust for England have together recreated the original juniper walk at Ham House in Surrey as part of an ongoing project to replicate the seventeenth century gardens using original drawings. This unlikely partnership of distillery and heritage preserving organization is planning to plant more of the berry-producing strain of juniper rather than the current non-berry producing plants; in this way, visitors can then enjoy the fragrance of juniper berries on the bush and not berries placed in pots, as at present.
Gin is distilled from grain and then re-distilled with or over juniper berries, citrus peels, cassia bark, angelica root, coriander seeds, and other botanicals which give it its distinctive fragrance. First used as a medicine in Europe of the 1500's, gin (and tonic) is now one of Britain’s favourite beverages, having overcome its notorious image as the sinful balm to the gin-soaked, poverty-stricken residents (including children) of London’s slums during the industrial revolution.
At Ham House, the juniper walk of the 1700's was reserved for the privileged aristocracy only, and as such was the site of intrigue and seduction. It is said that Lady Dysart, mistress of Ham House, not only acted as a double-agent for Charles II but actually seduced Oliver Cromwell among the scented juniper bushes!
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In mid-nineteenth century Ontario, the household garden played a major role in the daily life of the pioneer. The plants found growing in the gardens, orchards, and fields of Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto, Ontario, are representative of those grown by the early settlers for food, medicine, and other domestic uses.
Creating beautiful herb gardens with a few tricks of the trade!
Herb gardening is all about the gardener's own personality and taste. Herb gardens can be as wild as the deepest jungles of Africa to the most formal designs of precision and form. Herbs lend themselves to many garden designs and no two herb gardens are alike. Just as the stately wild mullein is at home in a naturalized garden, so too is the garden variety found strategically placed, dominating the English castle wall.
Herbs comprise a group of several thousand plants with widely varying actions. Some are nourishers, some tonifiers, some stimulants and sedatives, and some are potential poisons. To use them wisely and well, we need to understand each category, its uses, best manner of preparation, and usual dosage range.
Viable Herbal Solutions understands today's issues regarding better health and well-being, and we offer you the benefit of our personal, technical & professional experience through the various products we provide. This brief overview is designed as an introduction to the historical benefits of common herbs and plants which are used to produce Kidney Care Kidney & Bladder Support Formula.
“Recipes would be exchanged over a cup of herbal tea and people who could cut a fine quill for writing were much in demand.”
- Dorothy Banks
With summer’s labours over, in autumn Canadian settlers looked forward to craft-making, when they finally had a little time to take pleasure in the fragrant leaves and petals which they had so carefully collected from their gardens and fields.
To enjoy fresh herbs throughout the coming season, you may want to consider growing herbs such as basil, parsley and cilantro, much the way you would lettuce in the garden. Sow a new row every two weeks and remember to pinch back for optimum fullness. You can continue to start seeds right into the first of July and any remaining plants can always be lifted and brought indoors at the end of the season. You will be amazed at the speed in which your herbs will grow once the soil is heated up and the days are at their longest.
Plants were probably man's first source of medicine. The Chinese were said to have compiled a catalogue of medicinal herbs as early as 3000 B.c. Egyptian apothecaries, in 1500 B.C., knew how to compound herbs, mineral salts, and animal substances into salves, gargles, powders and purgatives.
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