HERB SEEDS

Our long and intimate association with seeds is revealed in archaeological digs which show seeds both in the digestive tract of our ancestors and in the culinary and craft debris of their living quarters. Seeds have always been an important dietary source of protein, minerals and trace elements and the seeds of fat hen (Chenopodium album), a common weed and reasonable salad herb, were found among the stomach contents of the mud-preserved Iron Age Tolland Man in Sweden. Another seed from prehistoric finds is that of marsh mallow or the wild hollyhock (Althaeas Officinal is). These grow encased in a ring called a cheese and if picked at their plumpest and sprinkled on a salad, they will add a mildly flavored nutty texture.

Mustard seed has also been in use for thousands of years both as a condiment and as a medicine. Ancient Greek physicians held this seed in such high esteem for its ability to relieve respiratory congestion and pain that they attributed its discovery to the legendary healer Asclepius. The Greek philosopher and botanist writing in the first century AD, paid tribute to mustard as well as aniseed and dill seed. In the same century in Rome the loquacious Pliny, in his 37 volumes of Natural History, noted 40 remedies with mustard as chief ingredient.