Barbara herb – or also called winter cress – belongs to the cruciferous family. It is used as a vegetable or salad, but also has a blood purifying effect.
Occurrence and cultivation of the barbara herb
Barbara herb grows to a height of about 30 to 90 cm. In the first year, the plant forms its leaves, which are lyre-shaped and have several lateral lobes and a heart-shaped terminal lobe, respectively. Its flowers are yellow and four-petaled. Barbara weed grows about 30 to 90 cm high. In the first year, the plant forms its leaves, which are lyre-shaped and have several lateral lobes or a heart-shaped terminal lobe. Its flowers are yellow and quadrupinnate. They reach a diameter between 7 and 9 mm. On thin stems grow the pod fruits, which reach a length of about 15 to 25 mm. The barbara weed blooms from May to June and is found worldwide in the temperate zone. It grows in fields, roadsides, gravel pits or railroad embankments, and the plant prefers nitrogenous soils. Winter cress, of course, can be homegrown. The herb grows well in sunny places and likes loamy and sandy soil. The pH range should be between 4.8 and 7.5. The seeds are placed in the soil at a distance of about 5 centimeters. During germination, the area should be kept moist, and the first shoots will appear after about two to three weeks. The name of the Barbara herb is derived from St. Barbara, who is considered the patron saint of quarrymen and miners. Others believe that the name comes from the Latin term Carpentariorum berba, which can be translated as carpenter’s herb, since carpenters and joiners used to use the herb for wounds and injuries. Other names for the plant are: Common Watercress, True Barbary Weed, Spring Barbary Weed, Yellow Mugwort, Rapunzel or Mustard Weed.
Effect and application
Barbara herb can be used not only as a decoration in a bouquet, it also has a very high vitamin C content. For this reason, the plant finds use in cooking, where it can be prepared in the form of spinach, like sorrel, goutweed or nettle. For this purpose, the fresh leaves are harvested from October to May, these taste very spicy and are comparable to cress, so that the Barbara herb is also called winter cress. The pungent taste is due to the mustard oils it contains. However, barbara herb can be eaten not only cooked, but also raw. For example, it is used in winter salads but also in herbal curd. Before the plant begins to bloom, the leaves taste very good, as they are particularly tender. Then they can be chopped and added to a salad. The older leaves are usually bitter and harder, but can still be used as a vegetable. The bitterness is reduced if the cooking water is changed several times, but this also causes the herb to lose many nutrients. Therefore, it is recommended to use less of the barbara herb and add other vegetables. Very tasty is also a pesto from barbara herb, for which it is best to take the rosette leaves or the young shoots. Besides vitamin C, barbara herb also contains other ingredients that have a blood purifying effect. The bitter substances contained stimulate metabolism and promote the production of digestive juices in the liver, gall bladder, pancreas and stomach. In addition, the plant has a wound-healing effect and can be used in the form of tinctures, extracts or infusions. In addition, barbara herb was also a so-called anti-scurvy plant, a disease that developed due to a lack of vitamin C.
Importance for health, treatment and prevention.
Barbara herb is often taken as a preventive measure against colds. For this purpose, a tea is prepared from the leaves of the herb. To make a liter of tea, 25 grams of rosette leaves are needed. The tea must brew for about eight to twelve minutes, then two to three cups of it can be drunk throughout the day. It is also possible to use the tea in case of stomach acidity or in the course of alkaline fasting. For the prevention of infections in the kidney and bladder area, a tincture can also be prepared. For this, one needs the seeds of the herb, which are crushed with the help of a mortar and then mixed with wine. There they must infuse for about two weeks before being filtered off.The tincture has a diuretic effect, but no more than three teaspoons should be taken per day. For better wound healing, barbara herb can also be used, although the treatment applies to minor cuts, because heavily soiled or deep wounds should always be treated by a doctor. If you want to treat an abrasion with barbara herb, take the crushed leaves of the herb and put them in olive oil for a day, then filter the oil and dab the wound with it. The oil can also be prepared in stock and stored in an airtight bottle in a cool place. In addition, a decoction with barbara herb is also effective in stone diseases. This refers to hardenings that normally dissolve in urine. Winter cress can be used for kidney and gallstones, in which case a tea is prepared from 30g of fresh barbara herb leaves, which is poured over with a liter of boiling water. The tea should brew for ten minutes, then three cups of it can be drunk daily. Since the tea also has a diuretic effect, it can also be used for gout. Gout is caused by too much uric acid in the body and as a result uric acid crystals are deposited in the joints. The tea leads to an improvement in uric acid excretion and has a diuretic and diaphoretic effect.
