Today I Planted Curry Plants and Learned a LOT (Helichrysum italicum)
If you read my post from yesterday, I actually told a lie when I said I was going to slow down and take things easy yesterday.
It was not intentional, just ended up needing a few supplies from town and that lead to going into the garden centre which lead to buying MORE blueberry plants and then I FOUND CURRY PLANTS. Omg - I have three cute little curry plants hanging out in the garden!!
But are they really going to add a curry flavour to our food or did I fall victim to bad advertising or a companies lack of herbal expertise?
The tag had a photo of a delicious curry meal right on it and they were displayed with the edible herbs, and because of the picture (and the "for recipes visit their website" note on the tag) I totally thought I was buying some sort of edible curry plant. The back of the tag listed the name Helichrysum italicum and I looked it up as soon as I got home.
As I drove home my stomach was rumbling because the truck smelled like a delicious spicy curry!!!
Upon doing a bit of on-line investigating I found out that these are NOT recommended as an edible herb or spice.
it has a resinous, somewhat bitter aroma reminiscent of sage or wormwood. Its taste is also bitter and many plant sellers say that the plant is not edible and it is known to irritate the stomach when eaten. So, this herb it is not popular in the culinary world.
Not all is lost, they do have medicinal properties. Helichrysum italicum, also known as Everlasting or Immortelle Essential Oil which I have used in my home-made skin serum.
Helichrysum italicum is a flowering plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is sometimes called the curry plant because of the strong smell of its leaves. It soothes burns and raw chapped skin, helps to heal cuts, bruises, and all sorts of minor scrapes. It is one of the few essential oils that can be applied directly to the skin. The oils from the flowers is excellent for moisturising and topical skin care. source
Anyhow, I am going to call the company and let them know about this, I think they should be aware of the oversight. I assume they simply don't know the herbs that they grow on that personal level that perhaps they should.
I got most of what I planted and mulched, including my new curry plants and that lead to other things too. I mentioned to @goldenoakfarms that I think I am just an old stubborn work horse at heart. I can't help but push things past the limit and then keep going. Oh and the blackflies are back. I am so glad they only stick around for a few weeks because they make life miserable! I got so many bites on my forehead that I've been using a poultice of dandelion leaves to sooth it and hey - it works!
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Ah, from every failure comes a lesson! See, if you had a mobile phone you could have looked it up on the spot! However, you have landed another healing plant to your collection, so yay! @riverflows xx
It could be quite cool - I am very interested in seeing how they do. Mobile phones are digital leashes - I am allergic! :) :)
Well, no yummy meals, but you did get a good medicinal instead.
You should KNOW already to stay out of garden centers. LOL
I wanted a couple clematis to replace ones that died. I don't have a cell phone, just like you, and had to guess. Picked the ones with the best names. LOL When I got home it turns out I was 50-50, 1 I will love, the other not so much...
And, knock wood, we don't get those black flies much here....
so glad for you - black flies are the worst. Thankfully they don't last too long. funny how that temptation to adopt new plants is so irresistible. some people buy shoes some plants!
Shoes!! One can't eat shoes, and besides, I like barefoot best :))