Melissa tea

Melissa Officinalis, also known as lemon balm, has a natural appeal to me as a herb, due to our shared name! I found it growing wild in our garden, and as you may know (if you also have it in your garden) it tends to find a way to keep going, if it is happy there! Now, if you do NOT want it there, you would then call it a weed. However, in the case of this particular herb, I would suggest a different approach: Use it! Do yank it out of silly places (we had some deciding it wanted to grow in the middle of our terrace – not the best place!). Whether carefully picked, or yanked out of silly places - do use it!! It has a wonderful lemony aroma, and is very good for you. In our garden it can be found from late Spring until early autumn, so you should have plenty of time to make use of it.

Melissa Officinalis has wonderful properties: it is thought to reduce stress and anxiety (might help you deal with it growing everywhere), it is thought to be beneficial for our digestive system (good if you suffer IBS or indigestion), and is good for our skin. It can also be rubbed on insect bites, to alleviate the discomfort.

One wonderful and very easy way to use it is by making a tea. Simply trim a few sprigs, and pour boiling water on them! The fresher the sprigs, the more of their wonderful oils they still contain, so you get the most benefits from them – including their lemony flavour.

It appeals to me to use what we have already been given for free. In this case from our garden. Anyone who has visited us for tea will know I have a large selection to choose from. But that does not mean I cannot supplement from the garden! It is a wonderful way to be sustainable both for nature and for our own health.

Per person:

4-6 fresh sprigs of Melissa Officinalis (of a length suitable for your tea cup!!)

Boiling water (enough for you cup)

Place the fresh sprigs inside your cup, pour over the boiling water, and leave to infuse for at least 5 min. Enjoy!

Note 1: You can add more boiling water once or twice, to top up you cup, if you like.

Note 2: It is still fine to use the sprigs for this plant, even if they have started flowering.

References:

Sarah Hollis: The Country Diary Herbal, 1990

Mo Siegel and Nancy Burke: Herbs for Health and Happiness, 1999