Dear Romanian family, it has been such a pleasure to prepare these aromatic herbs for you… Last year I

moved from a house in the village to a beautiful land, Vale Bacias, in Alentejo’s countryside, where I live in
a tent, a yurt, surrounded by a sea of wild herbs. When Iulia asked me if I could imagine creating a
meditterranean herb box, I thought of asking friends for their “left overs” of last year, have the pleasure of
visiting them and their lands, and gather all these bits with friend energy for you. Then I found out that
few of them had any leftovers… Many herbs can be picked almost all year round here in Portugal, almost
nobody keeps a herb stock!

So your herb box became a combination: some gifts of my friends, some things I bought from befriended
producers, and I started picking myself, getting drawn into the herb world. Over the last months, my yurt
has been decorated with herbs and full of their heart opening smells thanks to the quantities I have been
drying for you. Amazing how many branches of herbs “disappear” in a small package ;-). Every time the bus
transportation to Romania got cancelled, I had the opportunity to add another freshly picked and dried
herb to your box.

You will find some Meditterranean “classics” in your box and some less known plants. I am involved in bee
keeping and forest regeneration here, coming into closer contact with the plants who help to heal the land
(who many times also have medicinal qualities for us humans too) and what can be harvested from trees.

I got so enthusiastic to share with you that I was surpised when I saw everything packed together. May you
enjoy this feast of smells and taste, the friend energy and joy that comes with the herbs in your box and be
inspired to discover your own uses for these precious herbs.

I will present each herb that is in your box, followed by some general suggestions for how you can use
them. I do not advice any “cures”, I just give some qualities that can capture your interest to explore for
yourself. The medicinal and other powers of these herbs may be different for different persons in
different circumstances. I encourage you to come into closer contact with the herbs by using them in small
quantities, and discover what gifts they may bring you.

Gum Cistus (Cistus ladanifer L. var macalatus)

Vale Bacias
Imagine a sea of weaving, strongly scenting, bushes in spring, full of white, big, tender flowers and buzzing
with bees and other insects. When I step outside my yurt, it is like entering a “smell bath”. Gum Cistus
invites to breethe deeply. Every inhale, I feel refreshment and well being flowing through my body. This
smell originates from a sticky resin, laden, that covers stalks and leafs, especially during flowering in
spring.

This pioneer plant is one of the first to grow on a bare, desertified land. With its smells, it attracts loads of
insects who help plants to spread and install. Sometimes I find around 20 beatles on only one flower! With
its shade, it provides shelter for the first, vulnerable years of shrubs that need more protection to
establish themselves. With its healing powers, it strengthens the soil and supports the health of all beings
feeding from them. The bees in our region use their resin as a main ingredient for their propolis and it
gives a characteristic taste to the honey.

My hands became so sticky during the picking of the leaves, that I had to clean them in between to be able
to put them into the drying tray. A few leafs in a cup of hot water make an excelent tea (see tea making
temperature suggestions further on).

In earlier days, the branches of Gum Cistus were used in bread ovens in Alentejo to give the traditional,
firm, naturally fermented breads more taste and a crispy crust. I like to add one or few leaves in the “herb
balls” I add to soups and stews (see how to further on).

Wild lavender (Rosmaninho, Lavandula luisieri Rivas-Martinez)

Vale Bacias
The white sea of Gum Roses around my yurt is dotted with the violet flowers of lavender, their smells
alternating when I walk from my yurt to the road. In the flowering season, Lavender “transpires” higher
amounts of essential oils to attract pollinator insects. This is the time medicinal herbs are picked to make
essential oils. The evaporation of essential oils helps the plant to cool on hot summer days, and the oil
protects the leafs against frost in the morning on cold winter days (this is a strategy many meditterranean
plants use).

Compared to more cultivated varieties of lavender, the wild lavender has smaller leafs. It looses less
mosture through evaporation and does not need rain in summer to keep alive.
Gathering the lavender in your box, I pruned the bushes around my yurt, so they can start forming fresh,
new branches.

Did you know that lavender makes a pleasant, calming evening tea? You can also make an oil maceration
for massage (general recipe follows later) or mix it into a mediterranean herb salt (see also below).

Rosemary (Rosmaninus officinalis L.)

Bee Garden (Tamera), Jannis Elsaesser (Monte da Paz, Vale Rodrigo), Patrícia Caldeira (Poldreiras)
“Rosemary” translates to “Dew of the Sea” (Latin: Ros Marinus). With its needle shape, ever green leafs
and pretty violet-blue-ish flowers, it forms green “balls” or “carpets” in the landscape, protecting and
healing the soil. It comes in many, well adapted varieties all over the Meditterranean, in any soil type. In
your box, 3 types are mixed, from 3 different lands. An extremely resilient plant that has been and is highly
estimated and medicinal, with many uses in different cultures.

The main historical medicinal uses of Rosemary are as a gently cleansing liver medicine and as a tonic to
the brain (improving concentration and memory). Modern science attributes much of Rosemary’s action on
the nervous system to it’s potent antioxidant, rosmarinic acid.

If you are interested to find a substitute to coffee, you might want to experience what effects drinking
rosemary tea has on you.

I am one of the care takers of the Bee Garden in Tamera, a community dedicated to non violence and “love
without fear”. Rosemary is an important bee plant, as it provides nectar from its flowers almost all year
round. Its essential oils are used as a medicin by the bees, as an ingredient of their propolis (the “external
immune system” of bees). The essential oil vapors in the bee garden help the bees maintain their “fur
higiene”, so we have loads of rosemary and thyme planted around the hives.

It makes an excellent tincture to diminish irritation after insect bites (see below general recipe)

When you have some coals left over from roasting egg plants and peppers, you may take some inside the
house on a fire resistant plate and sprinkle some dried rosemary on them. Its smoke has a puryfying effect
(you can also do this with other aromatic herbs)

Oregano (Origanum virens Hoffmans. et. Link)

Clare Finlator, Monte da Vida (Amoreiras), Sr. Vergílio, Castelão, São Luís.
Oregano grows as a wild plant here all around, people go harvesting throughout the summer and store for
the whole year. Leafs get very small during flowering, most of what you find in your bag are the dried
flowers. With her whitish, small flowers and greenish protection leafs, she goes almost unnoticed between
the abundant yellows and pinks of late spring-early summer flowers and the flowering grasses.

Maybe this is the herb you are most aquainted with to use to flavour pizzas, sauces, soups and salads (and
now probably olives too ;-)). She has also uses based on her anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-
fungal effects.

Lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla (L’Herit.) Britt., Lippia citriodora (Ort.) HBK)
Milene Charneco, (Messejana)
One of the Portuguese name for this lemon-flavoured shrub is “Bela Luísa”, “Beautiful Louise”. It is a
favourite in many gardens, as her delicate smell fills the air and gives pleasure every time you walk past
her. I hope you have the opportunity to use her fresh leafs one day in a tea, they are even better then the
dried ones.

You will find rests of her small, white flowers in this bag, she is at her best when she flowers.

She helps digestion after a meal, especially when you ate things that make you produce gasses.

Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf)

Vale Bacias, Patrícia Caldeira (Poldreiras), Mónica Barbosa (Lisboa), Ervital (Mezio, Castro Daire)
Lemon grass has an even stronger lemon smell then Lemon Verbena. Her long, fibry leafs are more rigid,
she can grow with even less moisture.

She has a “royal” taste and smell, very well suited for tea. You can use her alone or mix her with other
herbs to give the mix a “zest”. I love a mix of Lemon Verbena and Lemon Grass. In winter I use lemon grass
to add to winter spices in teas. Both Lemon Grass and Lemon Verbena are good basic herbs for Iced Tea
(see recipe below).

In your bag you will find one or more thicker pieces. They are the stalks, and can be used to flavor warm
dishes, especially stews. Herbs with lemon flavor help to amplify the taste of dishes. The stalks need
longer to free their lemon taste and are easy to remove after cooking.

Normally, this is one of the most easy herbs to harvest and process, only cutting, drying and clipping her
long leaves. And as she grows almost all year round, nobody has stocks. This winter we had so much frost
that only the roots survived in the soil. Then it stayed cold for so long, that she only started growing some
weeks ago. So I decided to buy most from a befriended organic herb company, Ervital, to complete the bag
in your box. This autumn I will harvest for next year ;-)

Bay leaf (Laurus Nobilis L.)

Jannis Elsaesser (Monte da Paz, Vale Rodrigo), Patrícia Caldeira (Poldreiros, São Luís), Michael Gerstel
(Casa dos Amigos, Pereiro Grande)
In many kitchens here you will find a branche of dried Bay leaf hanging in the kitchen, to use in whatever
soup or meat dish. This shrub can become so old and big, that it looks like a tree. Close to where Patrícia
lives, there is a majestic “father” of more then 100 years old, with quite some smaller shrubs of varied ages
all around him. I gathered different types from different lands for the bag in your box, all from the forest.

The taste is intense, be careful not to use too much. Mostly, one or two leafs are enough for a whole pot
of stew, soup or meat dish.

Olive leaf (Olea europaea L. var. europaea)

Sam Rosenthal (108 community, Vale Rodrigo)
The Olive tree is considered the Queen of trees in Portugal, one of the oldest tree species we have in
Europe. Her fruits and their oil are well known and appreciated, less known are the qualities of her leafs.
Through the extensive root systems of trees, many valuable minerals, salts, vitamins and other substances
are gathered in leafs. A much richer variety then in the annual plants we use to eat. Many tree leafs are too
fibrous to eat. Nutritional qualities can be extracted by soaking in water or oil. Most common is through
making macerates or teas (see below).

With soils depleting and our food getting more poor in nutrients, it gets more interesting to explore what
variety of locally available tree leafs we could add to our diet that can provide us with a rich, basic health
“cocktail”. One interesting tree to explore that grows in Romania is Freixo (Fraxinus, many varieties). She is
considered an almost holy tree, so many are her gifts to support human existence and well being. You are
privileged to have so much mature, native forest in Romania and a strong tradition of herbalism!

Olive leafs are used as a tea in Portugal by people with high blood pressure to support regulation. They
are hardly used on their own. They do not have an interesting taste, and can even be too bitter, due to the
tannins they contain (see tea making temperature suggestions below). You can mix them with Romanian
goodies like Linden (Tilia) or Elderflower (Sambucus) for an attractive taste, both of them also with
medicinal value.

Orange blossom (Citrus Sinensis (L.)) Osbeck)

Milene Charneco’s mom (Messejana)
The intoxicating smell of the blossom fills the orange orchards in spring, when the last fruits are still
ripening in the tree. It is a tedious work to harvest and dry the small, white flowers.

When dried, it has a more subtle aroma. I love to add a few petals to a tea to give it a touch of citrus (black
tea, rooibos tea, lemon verbena...). Or use it as a main ingredient at night, for its calming effects. When
you use a glass tea pot or cup, flower petals give beauty to your drink.

Carqueja (Chamaspartium tridentanum (L.)-Gibbs)

Sr. Vergílio (Castelão, São Luís)
I couldn’t resist presenting you the precious flower of this forest plant, highly appreciated in herbal
medicin in Portugal. It is a potent cleanser for the digestive, urinary and respiratory system, the blood, and
has anti inflamatory qualities.

This prickly, nitrogen fixing plant comes after the Gum Cistus, offering nutrients and protection to the first
trees in a Meditteranean forest. I don’t think its is a coincidence that pioneer plants have so many
nutritional and medicinal qualities ;-)
Maybe the best use for the small quantity in your box is to mix it in a tea with elderberries, excellent when
you have a cold.

Making your own herb salt

• 1 part meditterranean herbs (for example mainly oregano, some rosemary and a tiny bit of wild
lavender leafs). Or a bigger percentage if you prefer to eat less salty.
• 2 parts of untreated, coarse salt

The herbs need to be very dry, and it works best if you make pieces of around 2mm of each ingredient you
add. You can also add very dry, small pieces of spices, lemon peal and/or dried tomatoe.
Put your mixture in a salt/pepper mill and use in the kitchen or directly on the table.

You can also grind the herbs and the salt together in a blender. In this case you can experiment using
relatively more herbs in the salt. It results in a tasty “powder” that you can sprinkle on slices of bread, to
give some more taste to any dish when it is already on your plate…

Loads of space for blending in what you can find around, for example adding a bit of dried mint, lovage
(leuștean, levisticum officinale)...

Herb tea (tisane) making

In general, the harder a part of a plant, the more time and/or a higher temperature it needs to release its
aromas in water. Nutritional value and some medicinal qualities can deter with a higher temperature,
micro organisms die above 40ºC. Other medicinal qualities or taste components only become available at
higher temperatures or even after cooking the herbs a while. It is up to you to explore for your personal
needs. Here some general guidelines:

Water temperature Time of extraction

Flowers Up to 80º 2-3 minutes
Leafs Hot water, up to 80º when bitter, 3-5 minutes
up to 95º for rest
Berries and fruits Most taste in shortest time when 5-8 minutes
cooking, lower temperatures can
give richer aroma
Roots 100º, sometimes leaving in 8-15 minutes
cooked water for a while

When you are boiling water and it starts to form small air bubbles on the botttom of the pot it is around
80º.

If you are unfamilar with a herb, you can start with only that herb (no mixtures) and use the table to
choose your starting temperature and extraction time. Taste your tea after some time, and sense what it
tells you. Is it tasteless? Then maybe it needs a bit more time in the water or a higher starting
temperature. Is it bitter? With a lower starting temperature less bitterness might be extracted, surfacing
more of its other tastes.

Try to find out how little herbs you need for your tea, start with a very small quantity and take it from
there… For the light weight herbs it can be as little as 1 gram, for heavier ones like rosemary maybe a bit
more, but its taste is also intense, so 1 gram might also be enough for you.

I recommend to take out herbs when you reach the right taste, the taste may become too strong and there
might develop bitterness if you leave them in. If you want to cool your tea to make a cold drink or if you
want to keep it warm some time in a thermos, you can take herbs out a bit more early, as the liquid will still
gain some taste over time.

Iced Tea
Iced tea is basically tea that is cooled down poured over ice, mostly sweetened a bit. Especially the lemony
herbs in your box can make a great base for an iced tea. If you want a calming variety, you can try to make
a Lemon verbena-Lavender herb tea as a base. Add some lemon juice when the tea is coldd if you like…
Some alternative ideas to sweeten your iced tea: cook some dried apple or quince in your tea water. Or, for
the lavender tea, a mixture of dried apple and mulberry/blackberry, turning the tea violet. Another option
is a syrop, like elderflower syrop.

Or...try to add a bit of salt instead! It might surprise you how you will not miss sweetness.

Water melon, strawberry and peaches, in pieces or blended, are a festive addition to your summer drink...

Using herbs to season soups and stews

Many of the herbs in this box are excellent to give a richer taste to your soups, stews and other warm, salty
dishes. Use a big “tea egg” or a cloth closed with a piece of rope to make a seasoning mixture of herbs that
you don’t want to add directly to your food. I do this for Rosemary, Lemon grass, Lemon verbena and
smaller pieces of Bay leaf. I also prefer to use whole seeds or bits of roots/barks of spices over using their
powdered form: cilantro seeds, cardemom seed pods, cloves, pieces of cinnamon, ginger root... Another
world to explore is adding pieces of dried fruits and fruit skins. Some of my favourites: dried quince (its
acidity strengtens the taste of other ingredients and can substitute lemon), tangerine and lemon peal
from non treated fruits… Endless variety and combinations to play with...

Infusions
An infusion is a large amount of herb brewed in water for a long time. The quantities of herbs in your box
are not big enough to use this method. If you are interested to explore the qualities of Romanian trees
and plants, I recommend you warmly to look for this method, as you can increase the amount of protein,
vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients in your diet substantuially without consuming extra calories, and at
no or low financial cost.

Macerations
When you use a cold liquid to extract plant qualities, it is called “maceration”. You can do this in water (for
example with fresh flowers). When you use oil or alcohol, the maceration keeps for a longer time.
Different qualities of the plant are absorbed by each fluid.

Extracting plant qualities in oil

When you add aromatic herbs to cold oil, their qualities will slowly infuse in the oil. This way, you can make
delicious aromatic oils to use in the kitchen or oils for your skin (care and/or massage).

Meditterranean herb oil

• Make a mixture of oregano and rosemary. Maybe add some garlic and some other herbs after
taste.
• Put this mixture in a sterilised glass container with a lid big enough to add oil and shake/stir.
• Add olive oil. All ingredients need to be completely covered with oil, so add at least 5 times as
much volume of oil to this mix, the dried herbs will absorb it. You can add more oil right now or
make a concentrated oil and add plain oil later, according to your taste.
• Leave this mixture for at least 24 hours up to some days, shake or stir once or twice a day.
• If you want to keep it longer then a week, or just not like to chew on fibrous herb pieces, you take
out all plant parts by straining it through a fine cloth.

You can use it for salads, on potatoes, to mix in with cooked vegetables, to season a grain...

Massage/skin care oil with meditterranean herbs

For making an oil for your skin, you choose one that is best suited for your skin type. For many people,
olive oil is too “smelly”. A good alternative in Romania is sunflower oil. You can also use sweet almond oil
or sesame oil. Make small quantities, oil can turn rancid.

Choose the herb that has the smell and qualities you would like to infuse in the oil. A stimulating option
could be to use Rosemary for your oil. A calming option could be Lavender. If you make oils of only one
herb, you can experiment mixing them afterwards.

• Use 1 volume of herbs for at least 3 and maybe 5 volumes of oil, herbs need to be completey
covered.
• Chop the herb you choose in fine pieces. Place in a large, sterilised, airtight glass container,
preferably amber or blue, and add the oil. Shake well.
• Leave in a warm, sunny place. If you use normal glass, put the jar in a paper bag to avoid direct
sunlight. The warmth will help the infusion of plant qualities in the oil. Let this mixture macerate
 for 3 to 6 weeks, shake at least once a week, more is better. Make sure all herbs are covered with
oil after each shake.
• Strain the mixture in a fine cloth and store your oil in a sterilised, small glass container (preferably
amber) in a dark, cool place. The less air above the oil the better.

Prepare well for the moments you are using it for massage, so you can fully receive its nourishment ;-)

Extracting plant qualities in alcohol: tincture

Tinctures preserve and concentrate the properties of the herb, making them more effective and longer
lasting. An alcohol based tincture can be kept for several years.

• Choose your herb. My suggestion: Rosemary, to make a tincture to soothe irritation after insect
bytes.
• Use a consumable alcohol with at least 40% alcohol. Maybe Țuică or Palincă, or Vodka, Gin….
• Cover herbs with alcohol in a clean glass jar with a lid (size counting with a 1 volume herb and 3-5
volumes alcohol ratio, and some space for stirring/shaking)
• Store the jar in a cool/dry place, shaking daily (ideally) for 3-6 weeks (can be up to six months)
• Strain through a fine cloth and store the tincture in colored dropper bottles or clean glass jars on a
cool, dry place.

Ah, and for all extracts you make: label your jars ;-) It is easy to forget what ingredients you used and when
you made it.

A big THANK YOU to all the friends that contributed to this box and the lands they care for. For herbs and
sharing knowledge, helping me to find bags and closing clips, the love and care involved in their
regeneration initiatives, and the inspiration that comes from so many people wanting a more healthy
ecology in all senses in our region!

Wishing you lots of pleasure with these herbs!

Annelieke van der Sluijs