An Adventure in Herb Use

Yesterday we had a little adventure in using one of the herbs in our garden. DH only knows the Danish word for it, which is Malurt. He seems to recall it being used in sauces and schnapps. So last night when he was making dinner -- you don't even want to know what this dish is called -- it seemed to need something and I suggested he try a little of that. We've taken some of it up to his mother at one point and she used a little bit in goulash and it tasted fine. DH went out and got three sprigs of it and put that into the meal.

Taste testing in a few moments after revealed an extremely nasty aftertaste. He made excessive attempts to get rid of the taste. He made it somewhat edible but not very appetizing. Obviously, it was my fault for suggesting this herb. In any case, we managed to eat one portion of it each.

Because of this dramatic failure, we decided we better look up this herb and find out what it was and what we're supposed to use it for. It isn't in our herb book, so I tried online. It turns out that the English word for is wormwood, primarily because it has been found effective in eliminating internal parasites. So I guess DH and I don't need worry about having worms.

It isn't recommended for use in food other than schnapps. It is also the herbs that was used to make absinthe.

The Danish word is actually a variant of a word meaning moth plant. People used to put bunches of it in cabinets to keep the moths away. As some of you already know, we have a moth problem. The kind of moths that get into food. DH won some kind of bird seed a few years ago from work and it brought a moth infestation in the house. Before we realized it, it had infested the dog food. At this point, the dog food and at least the majority of our human food is stored in jars and plastic containers to try to prevent moth infestation. However we still have moths in the house and no idea what they are living in. Sometimes I find them in the laundry detergent. But anyway, we now have several bunches of this herb hanging in the house in the hopes that it will keep the moths away.

We also read that people used to put in their beds to keep the fleas and lice away. So now we have pieces of it in the girls beds. They don't have fleas, but do occasionally get ticks. This will also help prevent a flea problem from developing.

We are considering whether we could dry it and use it as an extra dewormer for the horses and dogs. I did get the girls to eat two bits of the fresh herb last night and they got all the leftover dinner.

My reading also suggested making an extract of it and using that to wash dogs and other animals. So we think we might try that to see if it can help prevent ticks. It would be a whole lot cheaper than frontline. Even if it only extends how long a frontline treatment works. We are also wondering if that might help with the lice problem that the horses get every spring and fall. We have already had to use a chemical treatment on Queenie, because she was scratching so much from the lice. The ponies have more problems than the other horses because they have such thick manes and heavy winter coats. It is impossible to eliminate the lice completely, so I think deer must bring them back every year.

So that was yesterday's adventure in using our herbs. In future, we'll be doing more research into herbs before we use them.