Borage tea became so popular in Europe. Many herbalists used borage tea to restore strength during convalescence. Our Borage is truly magnificent with one of the best colors and textures that we have ever sampled.
Introduction
Get a full one quarter pound of the freshest organic borage around! Packed in our super flavor saver foil bags for ease of use over and over again. We offer the purest herbs at the most attractive prices online. Borage is a native plant of the Middle East that has become naturalized in Europe and the United States. ItÍs fair to say borage "grows like a weed." This useful herb grows abundantly in abandoned lawns and garbage dumps.
Borage is an annual plant more common to European and Mediterranean countries than it is here, but is cultivated in some places and pretty well known by many North American herbalists. Strangely enough, an herb with such marvelous healing properties grows well in junkyards and waste places, but is much more difficult to grow in tidy gardens and "perfect" nurseries. To handle the plant, gloves are a requirement because of the white, stiff, prickly hairs covering both leaves and stems. Borage gets about two feet tall and bears blue or purplish, star-shaped flowers during the summer months. The original common name for this herb was "burrage" or "llanwenlys" from the Welsh, which signifies "Herb of Gladness." One ancient Welsh herbalist informs us of "those of our time who do use the flowers in salets to exhilerate and make glad the minde when depressed. There be also many things made of them, used everywhere for the comfort of the harte, for driving away sorrows and increasing the joie of the mind and spirit."
Since ancient times, borage has had a reputation for dispelling melancholy and fostering courage. Its name may come from a corruption of corago, "I bring courage." Or it may derive from another Latin word, burra, which means "a flock of wool"- perhaps reference to the plant's hairy leaves and stems. Some plant historians feel that the herb's name may have originated from the Celtic word barrach meaning "a man of courage." The Welsh call borage the "herb of gladness." The Romans made borage flowers into an elixir which Pliny said had the power to lighten spirits, and in Elizabethan England borage was prescribed for melancholy. Borage, a hardy annual, is also nicknamed "bee's bread" because of the bees that pollinate it and love to hover around its flowers. The actual color of borage stems and leaves is dark blue-green, but prickly white hairs covering the whole plant give it a silvery cast. The stems are hollow and succulent; the leaves are alternate, wrinkled, and about 3 inches long. Its beautiful blue, star like flowers are accented with black anthers. Borage is a lovely plant which usually grows to about 1 1/2 feet high. Its branches can extend out to a width of about 3 feet, creating a wonderful rounded shape. Borage, which likes to grow with strawberries and looks attractive planted among other herbs and flowers, is thought to help discourage insects from attacking nearby plants.
The herb is believed to have originated in northwestern Syria, but now borage grows in many parts of Europe and the United States, both in gardens and marginal areas. Borage can be planted from seed when the danger of frost is past. After the first seeding, it will self-sow abundantly, and the new plants can be thinned or transplanted. Transplant borage carefully when it is still quite young. A single plant will spread over a 4-foot-square area, so allow borage transplants plenty of room to expand. With enough soil undisturbed around its roots, and careful handling, borage will flourish in a new place in the garden. Borage prefers a loose, well-aerated soil that is moist and fairly rich, although it will grow in less favored soils, too. Composted manure should be added to the soil where borage grows. Mulching the borage bed when the young plants are a few weeks old will provide the moist environment this herb prefers. You can gather selected leaves and flowers for fresh use throughout borage's growing season. To harvest leaves for medicinal use, gather them before the plant flowers and dry them, taking care not to expose them to heat. Borage leaves discolor and lose their viable healing qualities unless they are dried in a place that is warm with plenty of circulating air. You can gather flowers at blooming time, and dry them in the same way. Medicinally, borage has a calming and cooling effect and can help break fevers. In Europe, borage tea has been used traditionally as a strengthening tonic for convalescing patients. American herbalist William LeSassier suggests that borage is a good herb for people with high blood pressure, or those who are apprehensive or worry a lot.
Versatile borage has a gastronomical dimension to it, too. The plant was enjoyed In the Middle Ages and centuries later as a popular salad herb. Even today; savvy cooks know that the young leaves and flowers lend a refreshing flavor to salads. An infusion of borage leaves can be served cold as a beverage tea, decorated with the gorgeous, sky blue flowers. Borage flowers can also be candied and used to decorate special desserts and confections. Borage is often described as having a cucumber like taste. This is somewhat true, but it's much the same as describing something as tasting "like chicken." Borage is a cooling, cleansing herb used for detoxifying the system and for any condition associated with heat and congestion. Borage increases sweat production, and has a diuretic action, hastening excretion of toxins via the skin and the urinary system. Borage tea can be taken to clear skin problems, such as boils and rashes, for arthritis and rheumatism, during infections and to bring down a fever. Borage is also good for clearing children's eruptive diseases such as measles and chickenpox, and for feverish colds, coughs and flu. Borage has a decongestant and expectorant action in the respiratory system and makes an excellent remedy for catarrh, sore throats and chest infections. The mucilage in borage soothes any sore, irritated condition of the throat and chest. It has the same action in the urinary system and the digestive system, making it useful for gastritis and irritable bowel syndrome. The leaves and seeds increase milk supply in nursing mothers.
Borage has an ancient reputation as a heart tonic; it calms palpitations and revitalizes the system during convalescence and exhaustion. Borage has a relaxing effect and is said to give courage and help relieve grief and sadness. Borage stimulates the adrenal glands which can prove valuable in countering the effects of steroids and helpful when weaning off steroid therapy to encourage the adrenal glands to produce their own steroid hormones. Borage is also useful during the menopause when the adrenal glands take over estrogen production. These properties are also present in the seeds which contain gamma linoleic acid.
Summary
Borage tea is also used as an anti-inflammatory for chronic conditions, notably arthritis, but also asthma, chronic bronchitis, eczema, psoriasis, and other skin conditions. Borage flower, stems, and leaves are used in diuretics to support treatment of urinary tract conditions and weak hearts as well as to support circulation to treat varicose veins. The herb, but not the seed oil, induces sweating and sedates.
Precautions
None. Reports that borage seed oil contains toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids have been found to be false. It is recommended that you do not use if pregnant.
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