HERB OF THE MONTH
Lemon Balm
Melissa officinalis
How to identify: The easiest way to identify lemon balm is by gently touching the lemony scented leaves allowing the volatile oils to be on your finger tips, then inhaling the aroma. Lemon balm looks like spearmint and other mints but can be distinguished by simply touching the leaves.
Plant part used: leaves, flowering tops
How to grow: Lemon balm is an easy to grow perennial that seems to do well anywhere. I dig up the starts and establish them in a designated section of the gardens. I share the new starts with students and clients each year. I have even offered them free on Craigslist to get this valuable herb into people’s gardens.
How to gather: I take several cuttings of lemon balm each year before it freezes. When the plant is 12-18” tall, I trim the whole plant down to about 10” from the base. It will easily grow back providing more leaves to gather for tea.
Edible portion: A small handful, about ¼ cup of fresh lemon balm leaves can be chopped into small pieces and added to salad, or any meal as a garnish. Chewing on a fresh leaf can ease an upset stomach.
Home remedy: Make a tea by steeping 1 teaspoon of dried herbs per cup of water or 1 Tablespoon of fresh herbs per cup of water. Steep for 20 minutes. To make a sun tea, place a handful, about 1 cup of herbs in a quart jar. Fill to the top with water and let sit in the hot sun for about ½ hour or until the water turns slightly green. Drink 1 cup of tea a day. You can drink it hot or cold. You can even blend it with your favorite juice.
Physical Health benefits: Lemon balm contains antiviral terpenes. Studies show lemon balm products to be useful against the Herpes 1 virus. A tea or tincture of Lemon Balm can relax stomach spasms. When we hold our feelings in we can get a stomach ache. Reach for Lemon Balm to help sort and process challenging emotions. The light lemony flavor of Lemon Balm makes it a soothing tea before or after eating. It is a safe remedy useful for morning sickness and painful menstrual periods.
Psychological Health benefits: One of my favorite things about lemon balm is that each time you stroke the leaves a refreshing lemony scent is released. The soothing fragrance provides an immediate aromatherapy pick-me-up. Reach for lemon balm to improve your mood. Lemon balm helps us to relax when we feel emotionally overwhelmed or sad. Life’s lessons bring us many things that we do not have any control over. Our own feelings like frustration, anger, sadness, jealousy, even revenge can make us be mean to other people. When this happens and we don’t have anyone to listen to us, our own unhappiness and disappointment can make us feel pain in our hearts. Then we can be unkind to other people. Drinking Lemon Balm tea can help us to relax and choose the right thing to do. We can have a calm mind and open heart. We can have fun and feel good about ourselves. This helps us to make choices that encourage kindness and supporting each other during hard times. Lemon Balm products support integration of what you think , how you feel and the actions you take.
