B is for Borage is part of the Alphabet Project, begun by edible office/Zoey Kroll. I’ve picked her challenge up and am embarking on the Alphabet Garden: the Herbal Set an A-Z compendium of medicinal herbs largely growing in the san francisco/ channel watershed/ salmon run nation (with occasional shots from maine! because it calls to me, and when it calls, i return). We’re tincturing, harvesting, planting, mapping and eating our way through the alphabet, leading up to 350.org‘s 10-10-10 global day of action. see also the larger alphabet garden set.
see also: alphabet remedies
B is for borage, a much loved plant, not only for its lovely action on the adrenals, but for its beauty and value in the garden.
For the past two years, I’ve harvested borage from the garden, dried it on a rack in a dark, dry room, and the bottled it in a jar for use in tea. I use the all the arial parts of the plant: the flowers, stem, and leaves. This is good medicine for grief and depression, especially when it’s come from overtaxed adrenals – basically exhaustion. Anne McIntyre notes that borage is especially good when the adrenals are compromised from the use of steroids.
Folklore has borage as the herb of courage; many note that it’s signature is marked by the shy, heavy, downward facing blossoms — indicating that through the principle of “like treats like,” borage will help a person to lift their head up to face their circumstances.
Borage is a beautiful plant. At the 18th and Rhode Island garden run by David Cody and the SF Permaculture Guild, the borage grows in beautiful thick clumps. The flowers are also edible!
Borage is known to be a great asset to the garden. It is rich in calcium and potassium, so can be “chopped and dropped,” cut up and added to the soil to increase nutrients.
very cool – thanks for introducing me to borage!