Epazote is a herb that’s easy to grow in warm weather, and can be very useful in cooking. It’s primary use is to help predigest the “gassy” bean compounds. What’s in the Name? Epazote is basically pronounced “eh-pa-zo-tee.” There. Now you know a word in Nahuatl, […]
Category: Herbs
Epazote – Predigest Beans
You might want some epazote to help celebrate this July. July is National Baked Bean Month. It is also National Hot Dog Month, and a few others – but I digress. Why epazote with beans? Because this interesting herb has been proven to help predigest […]
Herbs as Medicine
The topic is herbs because July is National Herbal Prescription Awareness Month. Since there are a number of articles about uses of herbs on our site, this is a great opportunity to discuss using herbs for health. Herbs as a Cure All? As many of […]
Make Lavender Infused Honey
National Lavender Day is June 29. In honor of this widely celebrated and universally beloved holiday, we deemed it time to share a timely tip on one way to use lovely lavender. Why is it Called Lavender? The name of the plant is derived from […]
Yerba Mansa – An Anti-bacterial Herb
Yerba mansa is a native Southwest herb that has some proven anti-bacterial properties. An Unusual Herb This lovely herb is in the Lizard Tail Family (Saururaceae), an unusual plant family with only seven species in it, grouped into four genera. Yerba mansa is known more […]
Mesquite – Forage for Food & Medicine
Tall stately mesquite trees are not what most people think of as a herb! But this graceful tree with durable wood was used as a medicinal herb as well as a source of food, tools, and building materials. Mesquite Pods The seed pods of mesquite […]
Seven Plants to Forage for Iced Tea
The tea industry has declared June “National Iced Tea Month.” So today we will look at seven common regional plants that make tasty tea. Many of these can be grown as landscape plants – so foraging could be as close as your own yard. Let’s […]
Poreleaf for Flavor
Forage the poreleaf flowers starting to bloom now in the sandy areas of the Sonoran Desert. You can use the leaves too, but our native species is slender poreleaf – meaning they are fairly slight! There are many other things you can forage in this […]
Turmeric
The Great Columbian Interchange brought turmeric to our shores, and it is now found in a number of Southwest dishes, including to give a lovely golden color to Christmas tamales. We just were gifted some of these tasty golden tamales – bringing this handy spice […]
Vegan Pesto – and A Tale of Two Pestos
Traditional Pesto & Pesto for Vegans Summer time is basil time in the Southwest. As the nights stay warm, the sun shines for hours on end and the soil temperatures rise – all these are conditions that basil loves to grow in, and here are […]