Arts, Environment and the Child: Walking the Wheel of the Seasons

Plant Study

Lemon Balm (Sweet Balm)
                                                                                                                                                           

Family Name: Melissa officinalis
Family Name: Labiatae/Lamiaceve Mint Family

Latin Name:   Genus species  (Please always italicize or underline the Genus & species!)
            (Also Known As):  Genus species          

Common Names: Bee Balm, Lemon Balsam, Melissa, Sweet Balm, Sweet Melissa, Tourengane, Oghoul

Related Species: Genus species Bergbalm

 

Body System Affiliations:
1.  Nervous System:  mild form of Valium, calmative, sedative, depression, tension, fevers
2.  Digestive System; calms stomach from worry or anxiety
3.  First Aid:  inhibits virus and bacteria and insect bites and sores and swelling

 

Botanical Description:
            Habit: Herb, perennial and loosely branched.
            Size:  Up to 3 feet tall and spreads up to 2 feet.
            Arrangement:  Opposite leaves, and stems are square in shape.
Leaves: Soft green in color and 2 to 3 inches long, spade shaped with a scalloped  edge and heavily veined with a quilt like appearance, creating a softness in texture.
Flowers: Small tubular clusters of two lipped white or yellow ½ inch flowers with 4 stamens, at leaf axils.
            Fruit: Smooth nutlets
            Twigs: Branches are square in shape.
            Underground Parts:  Fibrous root

Ecology:
Habitat: Prefers well drained soil and moist soil with a ph 5 to 7.5 (add sand to the soil to help contain the plant from spreading), hardiest in Zone 3.  Thrives in full sun however will produce in moderate shade but will be spindly.  Recommend that the plant be watered overhead it tends to like a humid environment.
Range:  This plant is now cultivated all over the world.
Native Where: Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa.
Ecological Relationships: None.


Places/Dates Observed/Description:  We grow Lemon Balm here on the farm for sale at the Farmers Market and in Community Supported Agriculture boxes (CSA’s) as well as for our own uses.  It is planted out in the field in the perennial garden in rows with other herbs and along side of the Artichoke’s. I also have several plants intermingled with other herbs such as Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Winter and Summer Savory, Catnip and Tarragon in the Rose garden which currently also serves as the kitchen herb garden, located on each side of the walk way coming up to the front porch of the house.  I observe the plant on an on going basis while using it for culinary, medicinal and magical purposes.

 Western (European-American) Uses/Relationships:

Food:  Lemon Balm is used as a culinary herb: for fish, shellfish, chicken, lamb; and vegetable dishes such as; corn, broccoli and asparagus; it is also used fresh as a salad green; when preserving fruits such as Pears and fruit drinks; as a Tisane or Tea; and is often used in the production of commercial Wines and as an ingredient of the liqueurs Benedictine and Chartreuse.

Recipes include:

 

           
Medicine:  The Complete Medicinal Herbal-Penelope Ody; Home Herbal-Penelope Ody;  NutraSanus.com; Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of herbs; A kids herb Book-Lesley Tierra,
Part Used:   Fresh Aerial parts and dried Leaves
Medicinal Actions: Sedative, antidepressant, digestive stimulant, relaxes peripheral blood vessels, promotes sweating, relaxing restorative for nervous system, antiviral (possibly due to polyphones and tannins), antibacterial, carminative, antispasmodic.
Indications: Depression, tension, anxiety, digestive upsets, indigestion, heartburn, feverish colds, restlessness, insomnia, food intolerance, whining, crying, colic, teething, sadness, antiviral, antibacterial, sores and painful swelling, as well as overall spirit lifting.
                        Body System Associations: Same as on first page
Constituents:   The volatile oil contains: citral, citronellal, eugenol acetate and gernaniol, polyphenols, tannins, bitter principle, flavanoids, and rosmarinic acid.
Applications: The leaves can be used as an Infusion, Tincture, Compress, Ointment, Infused Oil; The Essential Oil can be used as an Ointment and/or Massage Oil.
Preparation:

 Pharmacy:

  Cautions:  None found.

Indigenous and Non-Western Use/Significance/Relationships: None found.

 Propagation:
Technique:  The plant can be sown from seed, cuttings-with 3 to 4 buds, root divisions and layering.
Timing:  Seeds should be sown in doors and should germinate within 10 to 20 days and are ready for transplanting within 12 weeks.  If allowed to self sow they will take over the garden.  Seedlings should be planted in late spring/early summer ideally but can be transplanted until late fall.  Cuttings can be planted at the same time and divisions should be planted when they are done.  If grown for production the spacing should be 12 to 18 inches apart and 24 to 30 inches between.

Harvest:
Plant Part:  The stem or leaves are harvested, dependent upon the intent or purpose and or packaging if growing for resale.
Season of Harvest:  It is possible to harvest 3 to 4 times per season.  Harvesting should be done between 10:00am and 12:00pm, after the nights dew has evaporated, reducing the risk of mold.  Harvesting should begin when the plant begins to bloom in early summer and then again in late summer and once again before the first frost.
Method of Harvest:  Traditionally by hand to prevent bruising either at the stem or at the individual leaf.
Ecological Considerations of Harvest:  This is traditionally a cultivated plant therefore no known ecological considerations are available.
Cultural Considerations of Harvest:  No cultural considerations of harvest are available.
Cautions:  The plant is a favorite of Honey Bees and care should be taken to not get stung.         

Personal Experience:
Food:  We use lemon balm as a green in salads, as a culinary herb in fish dishes and as a garnish in drinks.
            Materials/Technology:  None known.
            Medicine:
Part Used:  Leaves
Desired Medicinal Actions: Use as an expectorant, digestive stimulant, and sedative.
Targeted Indications:  Congestion, bronchial inflammation, irritable stomach, anxiety and irritability.
                        Harvest: If plant was not harvested, see Procurement below
Site Location:  Here at the farm, from both the Rose Garden and the perennial garden.
Site Description: We live in Lewis County in the Boistfort Valley in the town (Post Office) of Curtis. My partner and I looked for almost 3 years for land with water rights and soils that would support farming, specifically that of vegetables and herbs for production.  We live on the South Fork of the Chehalis river where the soils are well drained and fertile.  Sometimes you can actually hear the water draining through the soil.  Our land has a gentle slop with Southern exposure.  The plants in the Rose Garden catch the morning sun and are shaded by about 2:00pm.  Other plants in this garden include; sage, catnip, thyme, winter and summer savory, tarragon and rosemary as well as 16 pink heirloom roses which are about 50 years old. The plants in the perennial garden receive direct sunlight from sunrise to sunset.  Other plants in this garden include (in rows for production): thyme, winter and summer savory, catnip, sage, tarragon, sage, rosemary, love age, Echinacea and Artichokes.
                                    Technique:  We harvest by hand before noon.
Processing:  Often times the herb is clean enough that it does not require washing prior to packing or to being laid on screens and stacked up in the open trusses of the Old House where we cure herbs and put up vegetables.
Storage:  When used fresh I will often pick herbs and keep them in the kitchen in a vase.  Once the herbs are dried we will store them in sealed 5 gallon buckets, taking out what we need and keeping them in lidded glass canning jars in the kitchen.
                                   
                                               
                        Application/Preparation/Pharmacy:
Applications:  Most recently I have made a salad with fresh leaves (the crown of the plant is still producing despite the heavy frost), a tea including chamomile, an inhalation with rosemary and sage and an ingredient in a sachet for success.
Preparation:  For the salad I plucked a handful of leaves to add to the tossed green salad, for the tea I added some crushed lemon balm to chamomile in a tea ball, the inhalation I added the fresh herbs to a pot of boiling water and moved it to the table for my son to inhale under a large towel.
Pharmacy:  The salad was served with dinner, the tea was served by cup, the inhalation was performed over the course of 30 minutes and the sachet was carried with other objects on my person until the goal was attained.
Reason/Purpose:  As for the salad we enjoy exotic tastes in our greens, the tea was to calm me down it had been one of those high anxiety days, the inhalation was for my son who was experiencing a lot of bronchial inflammation and congestion, the sachet was to help me out with a career development issue.
Experience:  Each of the experiences listed above were positive. The salad was delicious, the tea was tasty and did produce a more comfortable evening for me and the family, the inhalation did help out as an expectorant without producing the “Yucky taste” my son is 17 years old and refuses to take anything that he considers to taste “Yucky” this was a painless way to help him with some congestion relief in his recent battle with a winter cold.  I carried the sachet with me until I met my goal.
Cautions based on experience: None.  Other than when using as a culinary a little bit goes a long way.  If you use to much the balm may become over bearing.


Other:  In the early spring I often add it to flower arrangements and leave fresh sprigs around the house.  I also place dried sprigs in the bottom of the beds to keep the bugs (spiders) out of the beds.  I have also noticed that it helps to keep bugs off of the roses as well.

Other Notes of Interest: This research paper has introduced uses of the herb that I would have never thought of.  I have several food allergies and have found one recipe that uses Lemon Balm to help calm the intolerance.  I’ll be trying out the recipe.  I often miss dairy products such as cheese, milk and ice cream. There are so many more uses of Lemon Balm beyond that of Culinary and Medicinal such as: is a typical component of potpourris, air freshener, ornamental’s along walkways, a food for bees and to attract them, cosmetics to cleanses the skin, lemon balm steams or facials for persons with acne, furniture polish, a symbolic plant of lovers, and an ingredient in natural insect repellents.

There are also many uses for the herb under investigation such as;  improved memory and lengthened attention span among patients who suffer form Alzheimer’s disease; the use of aromatherapy by applying or inhaling fragrances was effective in calming over excited individuals specifically those suffering from dementia, and for those with increasing deficiency in thought processes caused by brain damage; it may also benefit those suffering from Grave’s disease (Hyper thoirod); and conditions involving herpes and viruses, creams and ointments that include Lemon Balm have resulted in speedy recoveries from outbreaks of the herpes simplex virus.

I also enjoyed all of the historical information and quotes such as:  may be one of the plants mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey, the Roman scholar Pliny noted that bees preferred lemon balm to other plants, the Greek physician Dioscorides put the plant on bites both scorpion and dog and then would drop some more into wine for the patient to drink, the Arabs used it for lifting spirits.  It was grown by Thomas Jefferson in Old Williamsburg where recipes called for it.  From the British herbalist Nicholas Culpeper of the mid seventeenth century “Lemon balm”…causeth the mind and heart to become merry,…and driveth away all troublesome cares and thoughts out of the min, arising form melancholy and black choler..”  Londoners of the Elizabethan times would carry small bouquets called Tussie Mussies, filled with aromatic herbs and flowers which they would frequently sniff to disguise the horrible stench of the unsanitary conditions of the day.  In medieval days it would be strewn around the floors and kitchens to help with foul odors of the days.

 

Cautions: None have been found.

 

Drawings, Photographs or Pressings [on separate pages]:
(NOTE: ONE ORIGINAL DRAWING IS REQUIRED)

Drawings: Include name of artist and source of image drawn (i.e., location of live plant, or citation for photograph). Include scale (1/2x or 2x, etc.).

Photographs, copies: Include name of photographer or original artist and source of image (as with drawings).

Pressings: Include name of person pressing the plant and location of live plant.  Include multiple parts if possible.

Always include the date.

 

 

References Cited: 

 

Valerie Gore Arts the Environment and the Child-Walking the Wheel of the Season   Winter Quarter 2006

 I have chosen Lemon Balm for all of it’s varieties of uses.  I have it planted in the garden next to the artichokes and also in a pattern with other herbs in my Rose Garden.  We use Lemon Balm for many purposes here at home: Medicinal, Culinary, Magical, and often as a insect repellent, when the spiders and other creatures begin to hatch here at the farm I typically sprinkle some of the dried herb in our bedding, I have also noticed that it and spearmint keep the bugs off of the rose’s.


The Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA