MOTHER'S HERB GARDEN: BORAGE

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Once planted, the herb will—if given a chance—usually reseed itself over the years, and the selfsown plants are frequently even more glorious than the first year's crop. The flowers are also an excellent bee forage and yield a marvelous honey.

Some sources for borage seeds are George W. Park Seed Company (Dept. TMEN, Greenwood, South Carolina 24963), Hickory Hollow (Dept. TMEN, Route 1, Box 52, Peterstown, West Virginia 24963), Nichols Garden Nursery (Dept. TMEN, 1190 North Pacific Highway, Albany, Oregon 97321), and Borchelt Herb Garden (Dept. TMEN, 474 Carriage Shop Road, East Falmouth, Massachusetts 02536. (When ordering catalogs from the latter three companies, please enclose a postage stamp.)

POTHERBS TO CANDY

The tender young borage leaves (which lose their flavor when dried) have a cucumberlike taste and aroma and can be used in salads, herb vinegars, and pickling.

Borage leaves have also long been thought to have a cooling effect in beverages, and were once widely used as an addition to tankards of wine and cider. They're still commonly included in recipes for claret cup . . . a drink which consists of iced claret and a lit tle brandy seasoned with sugar, sliced lemon, and the herb leaves.

Whole flowers can be cut up to add color to potpourri or to decorate iced drinks, cakes, ice cream, and candy. When separated from their calyxes, the corollas can be floated in cold drinks like maraschino cherries or used to garnish salads.

To make a pot of borage tea, pour a pint of boiling water over an ounce of leaves and let 'em steep for 10 minutes . . . but drink only a wineglass full at a time, because the infusion has a diuretic action. Herbalists claim that borage will also sooth irritated or inflamed mucous membranes, reduce fever, and—when employed as a poultice—ease inflammatory swellings.

In France, the herb is valued for chest and throat complaints . . . and it can, of course, still be used as in ancient times to "make men and women merry and joyful and to drive away sadness".

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