Jasmine the fragrant medicine

Fragrant jasmine has healing properties, according to 17th century herbalist Nicholas Culpepper.

Sharon loves the smell of jasmine and there are large areas of it along the fences of her huerta, or garden. As she does her walking practice each day she knows she is reaching the turnaround point when she smells the jasmine in a neighbour´s garden. With her sight problems, which are long standing and nothing to do with her stroke, she loves fragrances. Her favourite oil for the burner in near to her chair in the lounge is jasmine.

Culpepper is not alone in recognizing the healing talents of jasmine or, Jessamine as he calls it.

“Jessamine is a warm, cordial plant, government by Jupiter in the sign Cancer. The flowers only are used. It warms the womb, and heals schirrithi therin, and facilitates the birth; it is useful for cough, difficulty of breathing, &c. The oil made by infusion of flowers, is used for perfumes. It disperses crude humours, and is good for cold and catarrhous constitutions, but not for the hot. The oil is good also for hard and contracted limbs, it opens, warms, and softens the nerves and tendons, if used as a liniment to the parts, or taken in drink, or clysters. It removes diseases of the uterus, and is of service in pituitous colics. A poultice of the leaves, boiled in wine, dissolves cold swelling and hard tumours.”

The reference to beneficial effects on “hard and contracted limbs” is of obvious interest in view of the problems experienced by people recovering from strokes. The search is now on for some cream with jasmine for Sharon to rub on her left hand, which can curl up painfully. If anyone hears where we can find any please let us know.

Common jasmine, such as that in Sharon´s huerta, is native to Iran but there are more than 300 tropical and subtropical species. The genus is part of the olive family.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Poppies scatter the fields

The fields and roadside verges in the countryside around Cartagena, Spain, are splashed with red as poppies wave in the breeze.

The beautiful poppies are the brightest and deepest red and stand out strongly against the other wild flowers which are nearly all yellow, with a few purples thrown in. The poppies appear now, just before the heat of summer and are a gorgeous splash of new colour.

For many people, poppies are associated with remembrance, even though we are in April and Remembrance Day falls on the second Sunday of November. Originally it was celebrated at the 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th month, and was known as Armistice Day, as that was the day the armistice ending the First World War was signed.

John McCrae, then a Major, of the Canadian Army, was a surgeon attached to the First Field Artillery Brigade at the Battle of Ypres in the spring of 1915. In a break from treating wounded soldiers, he sat exhausted on the back of an ambulance. The day before, May 2, he had buried his friend and former student, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer who was killed by a shell burst.

Major McCrae spent five minutes writing on his pad the following poem, In Flanders Field.

In Flanders Fields the poppies bow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up or quarrel with the foe:
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders field.

Not satisfied with his words Major McCrae threw his poem away but it was picked up by another officer and published in Punch on December 8, 1915.

Who can look at a poppy without remembering?

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Orange blossom blooming

Sharon´s huerta, or garden, is busy these days. The orange trees are in bloom with their blossom attracting lots of attention from the bees. The branches will be heavy with oranges later in the year and Sharon will be busy, we hope, with marmalade making.

Marmalade is easy to make and particularly delicious when you use oranges that you have grown yourself. Plenty of stirring is required as the mixture thickens in the big pot on the stove, so that should provide lots of exercise for her.

She continues to plug away at her walking. Yesterday, she did two trips up to the tree along the track, without a crutch but holding on tightly to me with her good arm. The first trip was an out and back circuit of 290 steps, with a rest at the half way point under the tree where Sam the Labrador enjoyed a good brushing. Sharon says: “He knows perfectly well when we are going. He seems to know when we are getting ready to set off and definitely gets excited. He knows he´s going to have a good brush. He obviously loves a good scratch session.” In the evening, she did another stretch, just up to the tree this time with the luxury of a wheelchair return.

Oranges were brought to Spain from the Middle East by the Arabs who ruled most of the country for centuries. Oranges are very popular in China, where the Mandarin Orange originated. At the Lunar New Year pots of miniature orange trees are as essential to celebrations as Christmas trees in the West. Sharon says: “I´ve got a mandarin tree in my huerta, although nothing seems to be happening this year which is disappointing after last year´s great crop.” On the Island of Corfu you will find a small distillery producing an excellent orange liqueur. It is thought that oranges originated in the tropical parts of Asia, particularly around Malaysia and Indonesia. They were probably brought from there to India, Africa and the Middle East by Arab traders.

Orange trees produce steadily for 50 to 80 years but some trees are hundreds of years old and still going strong.

The trees in Sharon´s huerta are decades old and this year it looks as if they are really going to produce a bumper crop.

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c. Phillip Bruce 2009.

Figs and flowers

The figs are now forming on the trees as the flowers of winter enjoy a last glorious burst of colour.

In countries with hot climates, such as southern Spain, the flowers flourish during what are the winter months in northern countries. When the burning sun beats down all the plants have died off leaving their seeds ready for the cooler, wetter, weather.

The Campo is filled with flowers now, nearly all of them yellow, and the bees are very busy. Rich red poppies appear amongst the seas of yellow.

The gnarled old fig trees have been bare but are now sprouting bright green new leaves and tiny figs are forming. As the months go by these will swell and ripen in the sunshine. Then they will be carefully picked and eaten fresh. Delicious. We make chutney with some of the fresh figs, as there are so many they can’t all be eaten when ripe, and will give the recipe when the time is right.

Sharon says: “The torrential rains that we have been having lately have been so good for the fig trees and will give us lovely big juicy figs. The thing that I think about when it is raining is what nice juicy plump figs we are going to get. As they are so good for you we just eat them straight from the trees.”

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.