Diary, May 11. Herbal internship in the Drôme

Diary May 11: Roses, elder and the town of Die

Wednesday market in the French town of Die. The classic fruit and fruit stalls are of course present, but here in the Drôme region there are also many herbalists who want to bring their artisanal goods to men and women. So is Claire van Solaure who offers essential oil, hydrolates and homemade cosmetics. She has good news for us, we can see the distillation of Thymus linalol tomorrow. Claire also has a bag of rose petals. She'll let us smell, in the afternoon she'll distil rose water out of it.

Rosa gallica

Rose de Provins is a Rosa gallica species with large red flowers, which is not only a very old medicinal plant (formerly called R. officinalis), but also a cultural plant, which has accompanied man from the earliest antiquity. The Rosa gallica is the ancestor of a large number of cultivated rose bushes including the rose of Provins, Puteaux, La reine Bourbon, the woody rose and much more. The number of different cultivars ran already in the hundreds in the second half of the 19th century.

Dodonaeus in his CruydtBoeck also describes the Rosa gallica 'In Hoochduytsch Liebfarbighe Rosen/ de dese sijn by aventueren die van Pliny Prenestinae Rosae gheeten.
And among many other applications, he also mentions'Die wijn daer drooghe Roosen in ghesoden are es goet to the pains of the head/ eyes/ ears/ tantvleesch/ blase/ ersderm/ ende van den vrouwelijcken lid daer aen ghestreken'.

Rose syrup

A very simple rose syrup can be made by letting a layer of petals of the wrinkle rose over and around the sprinkle with sugar, infuse in a glass jar at room temperature for about 1 week and then sift out. You will get a very aromatic, but rather liquid syrup, which has a slightly disinfecting and astringent effect and is therefore effective against sore throat and hoarseness. But of course it can also be used as a delicacy on pancakes or in desserts.

Hiking and driving

But we are still in the French Drôme and the town of Die. And for variety we take a short walk on the edge of the city. An arable and rampart walk, where we find the very rare field weeds Mirrorbell and Needlechervel.

And we don't know about stopping. We drive with the whole group in the motorhome to the Marignac and Quint Valley. Instead of ordinary corn or beets, cornflower, lemon catchwort, lemon balm and thyme are grown here to later make essential oil and hydrolate. At the end of the valley we visit the herb garden of Ste Croix. The plants were a bit pathetic. Too dry, too carelessly transplanted, even the comfrey was seriously flabby. Fortunately, there were some beautiful pink roses like Rosa gallica and Rose de Provins in bloom. And a sturdy Arbutus unedo, strawberry tree and old Vitex. As far as herbs are concerned, that's enough information for today.

Elderblossom

Although, we're picking some elderflower to make evening herbal tea. As a tea, the blossom has a strange smell and taste, some lemon and a little sugar or honey added could improve the taste. Still, it's not really tasty unlike elderberry syrup or elderberry lemonade. Cause? The warm water, the fresh elderflower or the French elderberry?

After such a day of intense nature and an abundance of information, I can retire to my moving cottage. #kruiden #kruidenstage