“Do you want to try lemon myrtle leaves?” P asked. “I ordered some and have more than I need. I’ll send them over to you.”
The leaves arrived through the mail and I crushed them to release the citral oils. Then I googled to find out more.
The web lauded the lemon myrtle as both a culinary and medicinal herb.
There were lots of recipes and a few caught my eye – lemon myrtle pancakes, lemon myrtle shortbread, Vietnamese lemon myrtle prawns, lemon myrtle assam laksa … the list goes on! Yummy!!!
As if that was not enough, the lemon myrtle is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and therapeutic to boot. The refreshing and lemony tea soothes sore dry throats and fights against infections.
Enough said. Now where can I get a pot?
It was sometime (and a few emails) before I got one, all thanks to a lovely aunt who heard my plaintive cries.
I treated it like a prized trophy and was content just to gaze at the herb. One of my friends thought I was insane. “You haven’t used the leaves? What on earth are you keeping them for?” I could visualize him shaking his head in despair as his words appeared fast and furious on chat.
It was a year later that I finally harvested the light green leaves. I had caught a flu bug and had a scratchy throat. When I ran out of the prescribed antiseptic mouth gargle and lozenges, I brewed some fresh lemon myrtle tea. Ahhh, lovely. Why didn’t I think of it earlier?
Come to think of it, I should brew more tomorrow …
Lemon myrtle tea: Steep a sprig of fresh lemon myrtle leaves in a mug of boiling water. After half an hour, add a teaspoon of honey. Beautiful!
Care and propagation: well drained soil, partial to full sun; water moderately; propagate using cuttings or seeds (neither is easy, with seeds having less than 5% success rate)
Have you thought of starting your own gift and floral service? Perhaps you can operate from home. The lady who did my wedding bouquet did just that. She had two industrial-size refrigerators at home and a lovely garden to boot. You already have the lovely garden… 🙂
I have thought about it, fern … what I need to do is to convert some of my thoughts into action. hahah. 🙂
Right you are! I planted some seeds but after 2 months, the pot remains empty – I have better luck planting 3 seeds from a lemon I bought at Giant hypermarket – all growing! You’re blessed!
thanks, ismail. i love the lemon myrtle plant and LM tea! 🙂
morning…. i love the lemon myrtle plant…