This One’s For You, @sumatranate.

Yesterday I read a post, @sumatranate/motivation-better-health, and @sumatranate mentioned that he was battling a sinus infection and asked for any tips for getting rid of it. I mentioned in a comment that lemon balm has worked miracles in our house. He asked for more information, and I was inspired to write my first article about lemon balm.

Lemon Balm: An Absolute Must Have In My Home

Around here we just don’t get sick. We are blessed with unreasonably good health. But we all have fall allergies. Occasionally those allergies try to turn into something ugly in the sinuses or try to settle in the chest. So before an infection or bronchitis can take hold, I break out the lemon balm.
It not only stops infections from taking hold. About 5 years ago I had a full blown, coughing, hacking, whining, case of broncitis. It came out of nowhere. I was fine when I went to bed, woke up sick.
It was so bad, that half way through the day I had completely lost my voice, and that’s when I knew I had to take action. I will not cannot just not talk. The thought is inconceivable.

I had just started growing and learning about medicinal uses for herbs, and lemon balm is really easy to grow, it’s a perennial herb, it grows incredibly fast, and it smells ahhh-mazing. So it was one of the first medicinal herbs that I added to my garden. I had some dried and stored, so I gave it a try. Mi-ra-cle. With in 24 hours, the cough was almost completely gone. In 36 hours I was as good as new.

For a steam inhalation, I boil about a cup of the loosely packed, dry leaves in about a quart of water. If I’m using fresh leaves a just grab a hand ful and bruise them a little befoore putting them in the water. As soon as it starts to boil, I remove it from the heat. It’s a good idea to pour it into another pan or bowl to prevent burns from the hot pan. (Don’t pour hot water into a room temperature glass bowl. It can cause the glass to expand rapidly and unevenly, causing the glass to crack or break!!) I ‘tent’ my head by draping a towl over my head and the hot liquid, trapping in most of the steam. Holding my face a few inches from the water, I breathe fairly deeply for a few minutes, usually 3-5.

I keep the balm in the refrigerator between uses and reboil it when I need it again. I wouldn’t keep it in the fridge for more than a couple days, and I would throw it out and start fresh when the aroma fades off.

I also try to keep my eyes closed, the lemon balm steam can make them burn a little. My daughter, however, says it doesn’t bother her eyes at all. Maybe I’m just sensitive. But I recommend trying to keep your eyes closed.

Seed

Over the last few years, I’ve noticed that lemon balm seed is becoming more common to see on the big seed displays at garden centers and places like Wal-Mart. But I’m partial to heirloom seeds and I’m a huge supporter of small businesses, so order mine from an heirloom seed company called Baker Creek located in Mansfield, MO. (Ya know, I’d love to do an article about Baker Creek! Maybe if I become a Steemit rock star, they’d agree to an interview and tour!) I’ve more recently been seeing heirloom seeds on fancier displays in old fashioned looking packaging marketed as a specialty product, but they’re sometimes pretty pricy, and I don’t know where they’re from.

If you don’t have any experience starting and growing herbs, there are tons of how to’s and tips avaible online and at the library. There are probably some right here on Steemit! So, I won’t go into all that.

Harvesting

Lemon balm is related to mint. So, like mint, as it grows and goes dormant and then grows again the next season, it can start to get some real woody, thick stalks in the middle and the new growth comes out around the edges leaving an ugly dead spot in the middle. I usually cut mine down to an inch or two in mid to late October. It allows the new growth to come in all the way across the pot.
I would love to post a picture of the full, thick plant, but I cut it down about 5 weeks ago for the winter. But here’s a picture of what’s already trying to grow back. This plant doesn’t know it’s winter.

I almost forgot! The pot! I grow lemon balm in pot. It can become invasive in a hurry. Gram, my grandmother, finds it popping up in all her garden and flower beds every year. I love the stuff, but there’s such a thing as too much of a good thing. And Gram has too much!

When I cut it down, I hang bouquets of it from the ceiling of my laundry room. It’s dark and it doesn’t get too dusty in there. If you do have a problem with your hanging herbs getting too dusty, you can cover them with a paper bag while they dry. Like this...

Once the lemon balm is dry, I pull the leaves from the stems and store it in a dark, airtight container and put it up in a cool place.

Now My Thoughts About a Giveaway

I’ve gone on and on about how much I’ve gained in the few days since I joined SteemNation, and how much I look forward to the information and perspective and inspiration I hope to gain in the future. But something else I’ve noticed is how generous some of the gifted people here are with actual, physical gifts to one another.

I don’t count myself among the ‘gifted’, but I’m a creator and crafter and I love sharing my work. I’m super interested in giving some of it away to members of this community. I love pay-it-forward kind of things.

I have a few questions and maybe some of y’all could help me out with some answers. I’m not sure at all about how to go about.

• What’s a fair way of choosing who to send a gift to?
• How does one go about aquiring the address to which the gift should be sent without advertising it for all to see?
• Do you have any thoughts on this that I may not have thought of?

That’s About It!

Thanks for investing your time in my article! If I left anything out, or if you have any questions, let me know in the comments!