. . . and wild chamomile
Chamomile is a common name for a range of several daisy-like plants from the Asteraceae family, so if you’ve been confused, its okay. The one you’re most likely to come across in Alberta is the common German Chamomile. Then of course there is what is commonly called “wild chamomile” (pineapple plant). I know. Relax, we don’t need to over complicate it. Chamomile is really just a simple down-home herb that grows well in poor soil. It is an annual plant and can grow up to three feet in height with hundreds of lovely bright and cheery daisy-like flowers. Its a weed. But don’t be one of those bigots who think that ‘weed’ is a bad word.
The plant is most commonly used as a tea (the correct term is INFUSION* – see below) for it’s calming properties which come from its daisy-like flowers. The flowers contain volatile oils (including bisabolol, bisabolol oxides A and B, and matricin) as well as flavonoids (particularly a compound called apigenin) and other therapeutic substances.
The flowers of a chamomile plant are very similar to those of a feverfew plant, and if looking at the flowers only, confusion can be understandable. The difference in in the plants themselves.
Observe the leaves.
Chamomile ‘Tea’
First of all, let’s get the whole ‘tea’ thing out of the way. I always thought everyone knew the difference between ‘tea’ and herbal ‘tea’. I’ve had people ask why it is that as a Latter-day Saint, I drink herbal tea but I don’t drink ‘regular’ tea. answer: They’re not the same. Not by a long shot. And no, it is not splitting hairs.
*TEA is an aromatic (usually hot) drink made from the cured leaves of a ‘Tea’ plant. It originated in China centuries ago and spread to the rest of Asia as a medicinal and recreational drink. Early European explorers, missionaries and merchants introduced it to Europe in the 16th century where it became very fashionable, especially among the English aristocracy. The English took their ‘tea’ so seriously, they began large scale production of it in India, where it is still a very important export. In fact, over 60% of the world’s tea comes from either China or India. It is an actual PLANT. Called “Tea”.
Contrast this to what we call “herbal teas“. We call them’teas’ not because they ARE ‘tea’ (which comes from an entirely unique plant remember) but because of how we ‘prepare’ them. Herbal teas are made from flowers, leaves, or roots of herbs – fresh or dried. They are prepared by pouring boiling water through them and letting the drink steep as it cools. Like regular tea they are drunk hot or chilled. They taste nothing like the original ‘tea‘, and have their own unique properties depending on the plant. If one wanted to be precise, one would not call them ‘tea’ at all, they are actually INFUSIONS. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may choose not to drink TEA (according to our counsel), but often will drink herbal teas. Now you know why.
There. Now that we’ve got that outta the way, lets talk about ‘Chamomile Tea’. As with all herbs, it is safest to start with a weak tea (low dose) till you know how you deal with it. You can work up to stronger tea (larger dose) for more therapeutic value slowly. Chamomile contains chemicals called flavonoids. These flavonoids are a type of nutrient present in many plants, and they play a significant role in chamomile’s medicinal effects.
To make a tea, start with a small handful of fresh flowers or a tablespoon of dried flowers and pour boiling water over top. Let steep for a few minutes and strain as you pour into a cup.
The strength of the tea will depend on the quantity of herb you add of course, but also how long you let it steep. I begin pouring the tea thru the strainer withing two or three minutes of having poured the boiling water over it, leaving some in the pot. The first pouring will be mild, the second pouring will be stronger. As it gets stronger, I often add more hot water to dilute it. Don’t throw left over tea away. Put it in the fridge for a very nice chilled tea tomorrow.
Chamomile has been used for centuries in teas as a mild, relaxing sleep aid, to calm an upset stomach and to soothe heartburn, as well as other ailments. While I know some use the oil of chamomile, I prefer to use the herb in a simple home-friendly herbal infusion – “tea”. Something I can easily harvest and use. I have heard of chamomile being used as a mouth rinse for cankers and mouth sores. I filed this away in my brain for when or if I am ever in need of trying it, but I have no experience at this point.
Without being too wild with claims it is fair to say chamomile is helpful on many levels. It is often used to reduce anxiety and distress, and I’ve read some interesting studies that it helps with the severity of menstrual cramps as well as anxiety and moodiness connected. I’m not confident the studies I read are too scientific, but it is a logical connection so I suggest making one’s own study. Claims have been made that chamomile reduces inflammation and that applying directly to a wound assists in healing. Also, worth experimenting. I’m paranoid about infections with open wounds,
I highly suggest trying chamomile tea as in regular does of one or two cups a day. At the very least, it will simply be an enjoyable and relaxing hot tea, or a refreshing iced tea. At the best, it could offer improvement in your overall health by adding the valuable components with which nature has endowed it.
People who have a history of allergies particularly to pollen should probably avoid chamomile, or experiment in weak infusions at first. People with weakened, compromised or undeveloped immune systems (such as infants), who it is advisable to avoid honey, should also avoid chamomile and many other herbs.
growing German Chamomile
The plants you’ll find growing wild on the side of the road or in the alley will likely flower mid to late July or early August. I’ve tried to grow chamomile in my garden with limited success but I noticed a volunteer plant this year that seems to be doing well. Perhaps the birds helped me. I have no problem foraging for chamomile, but I’m a bit of a control freak and if I can grown anything in the safety of own backyard, I’m always happier.
German chamomile grows from seeds sown directly in the garden. The seeds are very tiny (almost dust like). They can be scattered on the soil’s surface, then gently tamped down with the flat side of a hoe. Plant early in the spring, about the same time you would plant peas. The young seedlings will withstand a mild frost. The seeds generally germinate in a week to ten days, growing slowly at first, and need to be kept well weeded. I know, this seems counter intuitive when we’re talking about a weed after all. I think that’s why I had limited success in my earlier attempts.
Wild Chamomile or Pineapple Weed
Now this is an herb most of us are familiar with – even though we don’t know much about it. …. Pineapple Weed. The next time you see it, don’t be so quick to just pluck it out and throw it away. Remember: a weed is just a plant growing where it doesn’t belong. Once you understand it, and want it to be there, you can be friends.
Native to North America, pineapple weed is hardy and grows in poor, compacted soils; so you’ll usually see it growing on the side of roads, in cracks of sidewalks and other inhospitable places. The plant grows from 2 to 16 inches in height, and flowers from early spring through September. Although it is called Pineapple ‘Weed’, it is actually considered a wildflower. When foraging for this weed, be mindful to not pick it from an area that’s been contaminated by pollutants. This is something to consider since it grows so well on the sides of roads.
Native Americans used it for a variety of medicinal and culinary purposes. (I don’t know what they called it – probably not pineapple weed – lol). It is not only edible – its pretty tasty. Similar to pineapple. Could be the taste where it got its name, or could be that the yellow green cone shaped flower head resembles a pineapple. Take note of the obvious lack of petals on the flowers. Since it looks so similar to chamomile, this is a good indicator that it is what it is. Also, if you crush the flower head between your fingers, you’ll notice a sweet pineapple-y smell. Another good indicator.
Pineapple Weed makes a good herbal tea! Reminiscent of chamomile tea (same family), but slightly sweeter. Steep a small handful of young flower heads in hot water for 5 to 10 minutes. Delicious! Can also use the leaves or even whole plants to make tea, but the leaves have it a slightly more bitter flavour. Add it to your next garden salad. It is nutritious as well as delicious. As with most garden produce, the younger the plant the sweeter, it gets more bitter as it gets older. If you already have allergies to certain plants and weeds, you might want to keep that in mind when experimenting with this one.
It has a mild sedative property similar to chamomile – and is soothing to the tummy. I am told that the entire plant was used as a insect repellent by the native people, but I do not know how. Maybe just having it around?
It is an annual plant which means it doesn’t over winter, but comes back from seed every year. If you want to grow more, allow the flower to dry out and go to seed (still in the ground). Crush in your fingers and broadcast the seed all around the space you’d like it to grow next year. I do this with lots of seeds. Then the next spring, I just pull out the ones growing in spots I don’t want them.
Remember, pineapple weed does well in lousy soil, so put it in your least desirable spots. It wants sun though. Both of these plants are easy to forage in most disturbed ground. They are ‘people plants’ as they are wherever people are. But they deserve a place in my garden so that I can ensure they’re clean and green. However you harvest them, I highly recommend you do so. Another good friend from the plant world.
Enjoy!
I’d love to hear your experience with these different chamomiles.
Cindy Suelzle
but it was usually too early and a late spring frost or big wind or something else we couldn’t control would eliminate any serious promise of the blossoms fruiting out. Until one year. The stars all lined up I guess. Beautiful blossoms. No late frost. No big wind. We were surprised to see cute little green apricots form. Still we had no expectations out of them. No sense putting our hope in unrealistic places. …. But they continued to grow, and they ripened into that beautiful apricot-orange we’re so familiar with. Being the eternal skeptics, we figured they’d be lousy because … well, EDMONTON! Hello! You don’t grow apricots in Edmonton.
(from beta-carotene). When my kids were little, dried apricots were a real treat, and apricot nectar (though pricey) was the fruit juice that I bought for whoever happened to be sick at any given time. The sick person got to drink a whole container apricot nectar all to themselves. It was their special food-medicine because it is so rich in infection fighting and immune enhancing vitamins A and C as well as minerals and so many antioxidants that are known to fight free radicals in the body, and protect us from disease. When appetite is minimal anyway, it never made any sense wasting it on anything that wasn’t going to help heal.
For eleven months of the year, I choose to eat FREEZE DRIED Apricots. After tree-ripened ‘FRESH’ – which lets face it, doesn’t happen too often in Alberta, freeze dried is the MOST nutritious source of apricots. Of course nutrition is optimised when care and attention are given to the ‘quickness’ of the process, ensuring fruit was tree-ripened and that time between harvest and flash freezing is measured in hours rather than days. Although the method of freeze drying is standard, the care of beginning with the best possible fruit varies from company to company. There are many different brands of Freeze Dried fruits. Do your investigation and find the one that guarantees best nutrition. A good source of freeze dried apricots could yield up to 95% of the original food value. And bonus: if packed properly in an oxygen free can, the shelf life could exceed twenty five years. This is a pretty impressive and stable way to keep apricots on hand for everyday use all year long.
Pineapples – those wonderful tropical fruits that are so gorgeously delicious – are even more nutritious than you may have believed. I live in Canada, so the pineapple I grew up on was the same as what my parents had available – canned. Dole or Del Monte. We thought that was delicious enough – imagine my delight when I discovered “fresh” pineapple in the produce department when I was all grown up and buying my own groceries! Oh My!
We all know that fruits and vegetables are at their peak of perfection in every way – including nutritionally when they are picked fully ripe – having ripened ON the plant. Harvesting before ripe means of course that the nutrients have not had a chance to fully develop, and so are sadly lacking right from the beginning. Since fruits like pineapples and bananas have to travel half way across the world to reach us, taking two to three weeks minimally before we see them on the grocery store shelf we cannot hope to have them picked ripe. But wait a minute, must they always be less than they should be for those of us who don’t live in tropical countries?
Most fruits and vegetables are an excellent source of dietary fibre, and pineapple is particularly fibrous – which is essential in keeping our intestines clean and healthy. But pineapple is also known as a wonderful source of digestive enzymes, perhaps the most important one being BROMELAIN, an enzyme that breaks down protein, being particularly beneficial in aiding in digestion.
Since it is so perishable, it was not only a rarity in the early days, but many attempts have been made over the centuries to preserve it so that those of us not living in tropical climates can enjoy it. For centuries it was glazed in a sugar coating and dried as a luxurious treat for those who could afford it.
Although the process of 
This tough, leafy green is loaded with vitamins A, C and K as well as immune-system booster beta carotene and bone-building calcium. It is a virtual powerhouse of antioxidants as well as having anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. We all know ‘raw and fresh’ is best, so add it into a coleslaw. But don’t stop there. Lightly saute it with olive oil and red wine vinegar, just till the colour is that gorgeous bright green and it becomes tender to the fork. Add Kale to stir fries, omelettes and many other vegetable-friendly dishes toward the end of the cooking process. Think outside the box. Be creative.
Sprouted in nature and packed with nutrients, 
Broccoli is probably the best known and most commonly used cruciferous vegetable in Canada and the United States, but make no mistake broccoli is not to be underestimated. There is nothing ‘common’ about it.
Like the whole butter vs margarine debate of the 80’s – which apparently we’re still debating ….. and of course the fat vs no-fat debate. etc.
‘vegetable’, and the meaning quite literally is – any edible plant in or on the ground, that dies back to soil level at the end of the growing season. So modernizing the line – “Every [vegetable] in the season thereof and every fruit in the season thereof” – simplifies our discussion.
shelf twelve months a year. Lets face it, when we eat an apple in May – we KNOW it had to have been picked eight or nine months ago. At the very least. Lets think about that ‘fresh’ apple. Is it reasonable to expect it to be as nutritious as it was in the days after it was harvested? No! That is completely not reasonable. So if you want to eat an apple for your lunch in June, then reduce your nutritional expectation out of it.
I would shine them up with a damp cloth for the table. To this day there is nothing to compare with those deliciously crispy autumn apples. sigh ……
Within weeks from harvest the natural process of deterioration will continue to break down an apple. According to the US Department of Agriculture, apples stored in temperature controlled, low humidity conditions with low levels of oxygen and high levels of carbon dioxide can be stored for months before being consumed. To extend the fruit’s post-storage quality it is sprayed with an ethylene blocking colourless gaseous compound called 1-methylcyclopropene. This same chemical is used to lessen the “de-greening of broccoli, browning of lettuce and bitterness of carrots” says USDA.