June
2005
My
original thyme plant is still going strong, and is a delightful
addition to my herb garden. Fresh cuttings make cooking so
pleasant. Thyme is great in bean, egg and
vegetable dishes, and along
with fresh sprigs of parsley and bay leaves, thyme is included
in "bouquet garni", a French combination of herbs used to
season stock, stews and soups.
I also love to use it in stuffing. growing thyme inmy garden
lets me use fresh
thyme innstead of the dried form of the herb, since it is
superior in flavor. Thyme,
either in its fresh or dried form, should be added toward
the end of the cooking process since heat can easily cause
a loss of its delicate flavor.
The
name Thyme, in its Greek form, may first have been given
to the plant as a derivative of a word which meant 'to fumigate,'
possibly because it was used as incense. The hills of Greece
are covered with wild thyme, and ancient residents would
enjoy the aromatic honey reaped from the tiny pink and lavender
blossoms that are in bloom from May through about August.
The Greeks also applied thyme medically, in massage and
bath oils, and used it as incense in the temples
and as an aphrodisiac. In fact,even as far back as
3000 BC, long before the phrase "bouquet
garni" was in popular cooking lingo, back when the
people of Provence were living in small clans on those
Mediterranean hillsides worrying more about survival
than about the souffle falling, the Sumerians were using
thyme as an antiseptic. The early Egyptians even used
it as as one of the ingredients in their mummification
process.
However,
there is also the Greek word "thymon" meaning "courage." The
Romans also associated thyme with courage and vigor, and
would bathe in thyme-scented water as part of their pre-battle
rituals. The Scottish highlanders of old would prepare a
tea of wild thyme for the same purpose, or to ward off nightmares.
During the Middle Ages, as a token of courage, European ladies
often embroidered a bee hovering over a sprig of thyme on
tunics for their knights. Thyme even made it into the World
Literature Hall of Fame when Shakespeare had "A Midsummer's
Night Dream" where Oberon, King of the Faeries, speaks
of knowing "...where the wild thyme grows" and
notes that Titania sleeps there amongst the ox-lips, musk-roses,
violets, and eglantine. Maybe this is the reason thyme was
used as one of the main ingredients in a 17th century recipe
which supposedly would enable one to see faeries and nymphs. Maybe
you'll see some
faeries flying in the flower garden. You just never know.
Go ahead--invite them into your garden space--a glint of
gossamer is a bit of magic every garden benefits from. Faeries
are the night workers of the garden, washing the day's dirt
from leaves, herding insects, painting flowers beautiful
colors and just generally tidying up the plants to be ready
for the next day's garden spectacle. (They do not, however,
pull weeds.)
Current
medical research indicates that thyme is very effective in
relaxing smooth muscles, and that it should be useful in
asthma and hypertension. Thymol is a strong antiseptic which
should be useful for bacterial and fungal infections. It
has also been mentioned as having anti-aging properties,
as Eriodicytol, a flavonoid in thyme was found to be antioxidative.
Essence of Thyme is used for cosmetics and rice powder, and
also for embalming corpses. (seems like the ancient Egyptians
nailed that one!) Dried flowers have been often used in the
same way as lavender, to preserve linen from insects.
I
really don't know why I waited so long to grow thyme. It's
another one of the herbs I would buy at the market, hoping
I would use it all before it went bad, and rarely having
that happen. The tiny, delicate bunches of dark green leaves
really offset the flowers that are next to it (orange daisies
in my case), making this an excellent plant to use for landscaping,
and if you get the right kind (T. vulgaris), it can even
be used as part of an edible landscaping plan! It only grows
about 6-12 in high, where there is sun and good drainage.
Keepoing the plant a bit on the drier side will concentrate
the oils. Thyme, quite simply, is a great plant to touch!
Cut off a branch, and the smell left on your hands is just
unbelievable and the flavor of fresh thyme in my opinion
does not even compare with the sensations you get from using
dried thyme instead. I planted this in my garden right before
Christmas 2001, and was so delighted I was able to put together
an herb bunch just perfect to take to my friend who was busy
doing day ahead prep for Christmas dinner. Added to the organic
turkey we got from the local co-op, the results were outstanding.
If the wise men were to do it all again, no doubt they would
add some of this stuff to their gift package!!
Seek
out Faery
Wood
Return to Herb
Index
|
