Historical Perspective on Herbs

The continued popularity of herbs and herbs in the garden amazes me. Few trends in gardening have lasted so long. The Chia Pet comes and goes, aqua globes have outlived their appeal and yes even some day soon the upside tomato planer, a.k.a. Topsy Turvy, will fade from the garden scene. One blast from the past this spring took a little detective work to discover it’s comeback. Dozens of gardeners new and experienced have been requesting large bags of vermiculite to use in their outdoor gardens. I could not figure out for the life of me why all of a sudden gardeners were using 4 cubic foot bags of mica in their planting beds. It finally dawned on me when a brand new gardener approached me and asked for large bags of vermiculite and FIVE different kinds of compost! Compost is such a generic term for anything organic and rotted these days that finding a good source of one kind of compost is difficult let alone five different ones!

This request brought forth a look of bewilderment to myself and seasoned garden industry veteran Jim Howard. We looked at each other and said almost at the same time “Square foot gardening”?The customer said, “Yes, how did you know”? I answered the vermiculite and five different composts gave it away. A ne w organic version of Square Foot Gardening has been released and sales of vermiculite have soared ever sense.

This to shall come to pass since books like Square Foot Gardening are the source of the joke about the $7 per pound home grown tomato. But herbs and herb gardening will never go away as they have entrenched in gardening history and folklore for eternity. The newly rediscovered health benefits of herbs and their ease of growing will see to that their longevity continues unabated.

The first recorded use of herbs is found upon the stone tablets of the Sumerians dating back almost 6,000 years. They managed to experiment with and tabulate the properties of some 250 varieties of herbs. Amongst their writings were poppies, which even then was used fr it’s narcotic and tranquilizing tendencies.

Garlic and onions were used by Egyptians around 2000 BC. These potent herbs were fed to the builders of the pyramids. An ancient Egyptian document written on papyrus lists hundreds of medical prescriptions for herbs. In addition herbs were used by Egyptians in the embalming process as well as fumigation and cosmetic uses. This document known as the Ebers Papyrus dates back to 1500 BC. This writing was discovered in the 1870's by archaeologists.

The Ancient Greeks were also important recorders of herbs beneficial uses. Greek herbals were written by experts on the sub ject about 300 BC. These writings contained information on some 500 species of herbs from information written down by Aristotle himself.

The standard herbal for the last 1500 years was written by Discorides in the first century AD. His treatise entitled “De Materia Medica” has been the basis for national pharmacopeias ever since. In fact much of the information contained in De Materia Medica still holds true today. In detailed writing Discorides describes the method of use for over 600 different plants having medicinal or curative properties.

However after the Roman Empire fell and the world entered the Dark Ages little additional research was done on discovering the benefits of these wonderful plants we call herbs. It was not until the reformation that science began to gain respectability and studies of herbs returned to the forefront.While Europe was muddling through these dark times scholars in the Arab world began translating the Greek manuscripts into Latin.

The first use of herbs in formal garden settings were gathered from the wild. They were then grown in and around temples and used in religious ceremonies. The Benedictine Monks in St. Gall Switzerland had detailed plans for a monastery herb garden as early as the 10th century.

Using herbs for household and culinary uses did not begin until the 1200's. Before gaining popularity as culinary20delights the scents of various herbs played an important role in the home. Highly scented herbs, sure to include lavender, were hung in bunches around homes in old times to discourage vermin such as rats and mice from taking up shop. Rich folks carried around sachets filled with aromatic herbal mixtures to ward off bad smells and reduce the risk of infection. Personal hygiene was highly lacking in those days.

Herbs began to be used in culinary form as a way to bring back flavor to foods preserved heavily with salt. At first most herbs used for cooking and flavoring were those only grown locally. As explorers opened up the world to more markets they returned with herbs and spices that ignited an insatiable hunt for the secret passage to India. In history class we revere these explorers for bringing back to their homes wonderful new products and foods. Yet at the same time we want nothing but food grown locally and close to home. How many of you could go without that morning cup of coffee with beans grown in the far flung reaches of the world?

While lacking in conventional wisdom the Dark Ages did have wide range of uses for herbs. Religious rituals were not the only ones herbs. Witches , magicians and sorcerers were also fond of conjuring up the burning smells of dried herbs when practicing their rituals. Mandrake is a feared herb of old. Resembling a human form beneath the surface of the ground it was said to emit shrieks of fatal terror when dug up that dogs were used to unearth the root.

Herbs have shown up in all forms of literature as well. Even in the Bible. “Better a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith” says Proverbs. Shakespeare, never at a loss of descriptive verbiage, wrote in The Winters’ Tale, or you there’s rosemary and rue, these keep seeming and savor all the winter long”.

So there you have strong evidence regarding the staying power of herbs. There is a new breed of snake oil salesman on Sunday afternoon talk radio and the endless info-mercials touting an herbal medley for your digestive tract. While their pitch may be venomous there are thousands of well documented studies proving herbs deserve a place in our dietary rotation.