Exploring garden's gift to health

THIS month's Stratford Herb Group meeting was a quiet affair, with just eight of us going out to Hollard Gardens for a shared lunch, and a wander around the gardens.
The lunch was enjoyable,  taken in the comfort of the pavilion.
The weather was obliging. Although overcast, the rain held off, enabling us to do all that we wanted to do.
This was not the first time I have been to the gardens and been escorted around looking at the various plants, but each time I go out it is with different people.
Because of that there is different speciality of knowledge, and I learn something new.
If you have the opportunity to go to Hollard Gardens and have a look around, it is well worth the time, especially if you can go with someone else, or on a guided tour.
Of interest to us, of course, were those plants that have beneficial properties. Not all of these beneficial plants were herbs. There was a rose bush with big fat hips on it, suitable for making rose hip syrup. Rose hip syrup has lots of nutritional goodies in it that help to keep our immune system healthy over winter. There was also a lemon verbena, which we used some of for  herbal tea. Lemon verbena grows in a shrub/tree form.
There is also lace bark, horseradish and yarrow, which are three of the herbs highlighted for Herb Awareness Week, which is in March. Horseradish is also the International Herb of the Year as decided by the International Herb Association.
Horseradish is from the brassicaceae family. It can be used as a stimulant, diuretic, antibiotic, for lung and urinary infections and to treat worms. It can be used as a companion plant for potatoes and to make a spray against brown rot in apple trees.
Horseradish Sauce
4 tablespoons of grated root
1 teaspoon pounded sugar
1 teaspoon salt
 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons ready-made mustard
Vinegar
Mix together. Enjoy with fish, meat and vegetable dishes.
For more information about any of the herbs chosen for the Herb Awareness Week refer to the Herb Federation of New Zealand website.
I also enjoyed checking out the home gardens, as I have been along to many of the workshops that have been held over the  past few years. I am encouraged by the fact that if you have a bad summer,  there is always next year. Along with the selection of a variety of pumpkins and veges, there is also a large variety of herbs.
Our next herb group meeting will be on Monday,  April 4 at the Methodist Church Hall. The doors open at 1pm and we will be looking at aromatherapy.