Useful properties of thyme

Recently, the cultivation of medicinal plants in summer cottages has become more and more popular, because not everyone has the opportunity to collect herbs in places of their natural growth. When choosing such plants, thyme is often preferred. And, it is no coincidence, because thyme contains a huge amount of useful substances that help to cope with diseases, strengthen our body and charge it with energy.

Thyme tea is a great remedy for a sore throat

Decoctions with thyme are used for severe coughs as an expectorant and anti-inflammatory agent. Its bronchodilator effect is also recognized by official medicine. Thyme extract is the main component of pertussin, familiar to many from childhood.

Infusions help with stomatitis and other inflammatory processes of the oral cavity. Thyme tea has a sedative effect, helping to restore the nervous system. Thyme-based essential oils are used to prevent colds.

The plant is also used in cooking, where it is better known as thyme. This spice is added to marinades, pickles, and is used in the preparation of various dishes.

Its decorativeness makes thyme quite popular in landscape design. Thyme is a low-growing shrub plant with oblong leaves and many pale pink or purple inflorescences, which will perfectly complement, for example, an alpine slide.

When and how to harvest thyme

Both herbal medicine and cooking use the leaves, flowers and stems of the plant. The leafy stems are harvested during the flowering period. And thyme blooms from May to September

Our ancestors, who greatly appreciated the healing properties of thyme, had a belief that it was necessary to collect herbs for the Trinity and the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. It was believed that it was on these days that the plant has the greatest healing power. By the way, this tradition gave another name to the plant - Bogorodskaya grass.

It is better to pick thyme in warm, sunny and dry weather, when the dew has already dried on the plant.

The stems with inflorescences are carefully cut using a knife, secateurs, scissors. By cutting and breaking them off, you can easily pull out the plant, and it will be difficult for it to grow back.

For cutting, it is better to choose young stems, and you should not cut off lignified and close to the ground branches.

Also, it is recommended to alternate cutting branches from different bushes to give the plant an opportunity to recuperate.

Drying and storage of thyme

Proper drying of thyme excludes direct exposure to sunlight, which destroys nutrients.

The collected grass must be spread out, or gathered in small bunches to hang in a well-ventilated room, for example, on a veranda, attic or attic. Do this, preferably as soon as possible after collection.

It is advisable to dry the thyme, having previously collected it in small bunches

Drying thyme in a dryer is not recommended, in order to avoid evaporation of beneficial essential oils. For the same reason, it is better not to allow the air temperature to rise above +35 degrees at the place where the thyme is dried. With a cold snap and increased humidity, it is better to bring containers with grass into the room. Otherwise, it will absorb moisture and start to rot.

For uniform drying, the raw material must be constantly mixed, turned over.

Drying time for thyme is, on average, three to five days. If the raw material is properly dried, the stems will break easily. The leaves will become closely green in color, the inflorescences will darken and will crumble well even with little effort. As a result of drying, the grass will lose up to 60% in mass.

The dried raw material must be sorted out, removing the blackened and blotted stems. Some people practice sifting the grass through a coarse sieve, for example, to separate the stems from the finished mass if they are not going to use them. At the same time, experts note that the healing properties and essential oils are preserved better and longer if the thyme is not crushed.

You can store dried grass in glass jars, paper bags, cloth bags. If you plan to store thyme for a long time (more than a year), it is better to use glass containers. At the same time, for optimal storage, the layer of grass should be no more than 7 cm. When storing dried thyme in fabric bags, they should be placed in a dry room, which should be periodically ventilated. By the way, by placing a bag of dry thyme in the closet, you will prevent the appearance of moths.

Dry thyme is recommended to be used throughout the year, because, with longer storage, the beneficial properties in it become much less.

And it is unlikely that it will be possible to store it longer, with so many options for brewing tea with thyme alone. Here are just a few of them:

In equal amounts we take St. John's wort, thyme, lingonberry, pour a glass of boiling water (250 ml), leave for 15 minutes and drink several times a day;

Add dried thyme (2 tablespoons), dried mint (2 teaspoons), black currant leaves (4 pcs) to black tea (1 tablespoon), pour boiling water, leave for 10 minutes, pour into a cup and drink with pleasure ...