Herb Of The Week - Myrtle - Butch Amongst The Myrtle

[Guest guest]

Hey Chris .. other good folks ..

 

> Ok, ok .. I won't hog all the myrtle picture glory

 

Thankee ma'am. ;-)

 

> Here is a page with links to some pics of Butch amongst the wild myrtle

> too! <grinz>

> http://www.av-at.com/stuff/aromaticplants.html

 

Same plants .. Red Myrtle (Myrtus communis) Cineole Type. We have Green

Myrtle growing wild in Turkey but not enough to make it economically

feasible to harvest and distill.

 

Turkey is, however, the world's ONLY source for the famous Origanum

dubium Linalool Type of Oregano. As most of you know, the Origanums are

characterized by their high percentage of Carvacrol .. which is a real

effective Big Bad Bug Butt Kicker .. but the Linalool type is in a class

of its own .. a superb odor and dual therapeutic value. It's very high

in Linalool, as is the Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), and high in

Carvacrol, as are the Oreganos. It has healing properties of Oregano

and Lavender .. the common name in Turkey is Lavanta Kekik (Lavender

Oregano.) As I said, it's endemic to Turkey - not found elsewhere and

even here it's only found in a very small corner of the Southeast.

 

I have lost my beer gut (17 lbs) since that photo was taken. I still

love my beer and raki but I started running again each morning and I

work out in the gym across from my house daily .. got real lazy after

retiring from the Army but the Spirit done moved this ol' boy again.

Wearing clothes size I haven't worn in 7-8 years and have no intentions

of ever, ever getting a belly hang-over again. Tough it is though

cause life here can be fun. But now .. when folks ask me how old I am I

look'em in the eye and tell'em .. " Not as old as I used to be. " ;-)

 

Regarding the Laurel Leaf (Laurus nobilis) I'll also mention that its

written in more than one source that over 90% of the Laurel Leaf and EO

in the world comes from the Mediterranean Coast of Turkey. I have a

friend who distills but also sells herbs/spices .. he has a temporary

crew of 40-50 folks each Fall that sit at long tables and size Laurel

Leaves for packaging .. they are graded according to the size. He has a

standing order of 4 each 40 foot containers per month to Greece and more

than that is sold to the McCormick's Spice factory here in Turkey.

 

In times before .. the Laurus nobilis (Wild Bay Laurel Leaf) was known

throughout Europe as Turkish Bay.

 

Finally .. I'll comment on the camel. We have no camels here in Turkey

now except for those that are used for the purpose shown in the photo ..

to earn money letting tourists sit on them. ;-) We have no sand dunes

except at the sea shore .. have no covered wimmens and mens do not wear

a fez .. no multiple wives, etc. either .. all of this has been illegal

for more than 82 years now. The wimmens in Turkey are finer'n frog hair

split six ways .. a man walking down Tunali Street in Ankara can fall in

love every 10-12 seconds .. the ladies dress as they do in New York City

or any other modern area (is NYC modern?). ;-)

 

The feller to the rear of the camel is well fed for sure .. and the

mountains in the background are the Toros (Taurus) Mountains .. the

entire Mediterranean Coast is bordered by this mountain range and a

drive through them is both knuckle whitening and beautiful cause there

is some fantastic greenery there .. all kinds of evergreen species,

origanums, salvias and such. The Rosemary, Cineole grows within 10-15

kilometers of the sea .. and it prefers growing even closer.

 

> *Smile*

> Chris (list mom)

>

> Myrtle Oil, Myrtle Hydrosol

> And Lots Of Other Goodies!

> http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

Wholesale/Retail GC Tested EO, Rose Otto, Tested Hydrosols and other

goodies shipped from my store/warehouse in Friendsville, MD. Pop: 597