Bush Tea

All week I have found myself gathering herbs for bush tea. I grew up on bush teas! I don't know about you but growing up I hardly ever visited a doctor outside of vaccine schedules. Bush teas were our cleansers, healers, tonics, nourishment and much more. They were also a part of our culture. When we had colds we were instructed to pick cerasee, mosquito bush, soursop and pear (avocado) leafs. For stomach aches, we had ginger, bayleaf, aloes or sweet basil. Heads were wrapped in oil leafs (castor oil plant) for headaches or rubbed with coconut oil for head colds. We drank fitweed, flower fence, lemongrass and a host of other "cooling teas".
With development, a lot of our local bushes are all but gone and very hard to find, so when I come across an old familiar bush I make a point of bringing cuttings or saplings home to transplant. Today I am so happy to have a few essential Bajan bushes in my yard.

 

 Cerasee is definitely a must have bush despite its super bitter taste. Its uses are quite varied: blood purifier, skin cleanser for outbreaks, rashes, eczema, cold & flu medicine, culinary purposes and more. We even eat the ripe fruit and the green are cooked in Indian cuisine.

 Lemongrass is definitely one of my favourite bushes. The smell is so invigorating and uplifting. When I make soap, this is one of my best sellers. I absolutely love it in tea with bayleaf on a rainy day and I always add root cuttings to curry. Also used for cold and flus, it is the secret sweet smell ingredient in my normal hair oil.

 The fact that I go by the name wonderworld bush should tell you how fond I am of this bush.At the first sign of a cold, gather a few leaves, crush them in a garlic crusher and drink the juice. Next day you will be just fine. Excellent for strains and sprains as poultices, when heated they take away the pain of headaches and remove styes. Ever since finding a leaf growing in a book, I have been in awe of this plant!

Sweet basil

I grow a few varieties of basil: Genovese or what we call sweet basil, cinnamon basil and tulsi basil better known to Bajans as mosquito bush. Basils are great at cleaning the stomach, removing blemishes, clearing the skin and simmered in a pot the scent relieves stress gently. I also hang cuttings to rid the kitchen of flies.

Mosquito bush and tumeric

 Here is another bush we have seen all of our lives, blue vervain. I think this is Dr. Sebi's favourite herb, and for good reason. It alkalizes the system, calms nerves and anxiety, moves mucous from the lungs and frankly is a general cure-all. Another must have. The purple flowers lure so many butterflies and bees to the yard.

 Aloes is so common place around Barbados that I think we forget it has medicinal value. I always have aloe juice in the refrigerator for burns and skin aliments.It makes a great skin softening mask, benefits stomach trouble and rids the body of mucous and infections.

There are a few herbs which I keep handy that are not indigenous to Barbados but I find have great value.

EchinaceaImmune booster

RosemaryUsed a lot in my cooking, teas ( for memory boosting) and hair products.

Fennel
Excellent for digestion.

This morning, I also headed out to harvest some Moringa. I can't say enough about this miracle tree, so I'll direct you to http://leafpower.wordpress.com/moringa-benefits/. Over the last year, moringa has taken over this little island and everyone and their mother has a healing tale to tell. I just love it. 

But which herbs made it into today's bush teas? .

Echinacea

Cinnamon Basil

Blue Vervain

Fennel

Moringa

Cerasee

Ginger, Cloves, Shepherds purse,yellow dock root, nettle and slippery elm.

 To the pot to just simmer, I never boil herbs...simmer then leave to steep.

                   And then a super concentrated batch of healthiness ready to heal the world :)

                                         

Before I go, please let me apologise for not posting yesterday. My laptop was "bugging out" and refused to upload pics properly. Happy to back up and running. Night all.