The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Lemon Verbena and Merry Christmas!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey y'all, welcome this week's show. Today we're going to talk about an interesting herb. It's one that's often overlooked. Depending on your climate, you can probably go over this from the garden. You can certainly grow it indoors in pots, even if you live in a very cold environment. It's called Lemon Verbena. And it's not, I include in my book, The Encyclopedia of Bitter Herbs, but it's very mildly bitter. one of the least if not well it's not the least bitter herb in the book but

Starting point is 00:00:34 it's one of the least bitter it tastes more citrusy and you know how like a limes a little bitter and sweet I'm sorry a little bitter and sour well and a little sweet too lemon verbena to me kind of falls more into that category like lemon balm it's often just regarded as a tea herb it's one of those like if you went to the grocery store and you bought some celestial season tea with citrus it would probably have a little orange peel in it and a little lemon verbena and maybe a little lemon balm it just gives you a fuller a more full taste of that kind of limony flavor to your tea it's pleasant tasting it smells good and it's i'm not going to say it's the strongest

Starting point is 00:01:21 medicinal but it's really good to have around because it does have its own specific actions It's also really good used colonarily, so I think it's one that is definitely worth looking into. Plants for a future even said that lemon verbena is too often overlooked for its medicinal properties. They said that it is an undervalued medicinal herb.

Starting point is 00:01:47 Lemon verbena contains a strong lemon-scented essential oil that has a calming and also has calming and digestive qualities. The plant has a gentle sedative action and is reputed for soothing abdominal discomfort. It has a mild tonic effect upon the nervous system and helps to lift the spirits and counter depression. So it's a good one for this time of year. A lot of people have issues with the weather and seasonal affective disorder, less sunlight. This is a good one to include.

Starting point is 00:02:18 I did a show on... I'm sorry, I lost my train of thought. there. I did a show recently on herbs for mood support, for depression, for all kinds of stuff like that. And I failed to mention this one. So I wanted to make sure to mention it today. The other herb I failed to mention, why I got sidetracked, was Borage. Borage is a really interesting herb. You can grow again in the gardens or in pots. It's very cold tolerant. What an interesting history it has. The flowers of Borage are what we use and they have a cucumber like scent and flavor so that you can throw them in a salad, you can throw them in anything. The Middle Ages and

Starting point is 00:03:07 probably long before that actually what people would use Borage flowers for, they would infuse them in wine and this wine was not only used to increase mood, elevate mood. It was used when people were grieving, but one of the main uses, this is something every night would drink before he went into battle, because they said it increased courage. Very interesting. It's one of those effects of an herb that I can't explain. But to the best of my knowledge, no clinical research has ever been done on the psychological effects of herbs like borage and lemon verbena. I think they're really good to have around. for obvious reasons but there was a very popular infused wine they i think it was called a claret

Starting point is 00:04:00 cup or something but you know literally middle ages those guys going out with swords and long bows and maces and all that stuff um they'd have a big serving of wine infused with borage now lim and bravina would not have been included because it comes from a different part of the of the world, but it has a, let's see, well, I just said it lifts spirits and counters depression. The leaves and flowering tops are antispasmodic. It means it can help with anything from muscle cramping to menstrual cramping to, especially in this case, intestinal cramping. Another reason to have it on hand.

Starting point is 00:04:39 It's febri fused, which means it can help break a fever, sedative, and stomatic. A tea made from the leaves has a deliciously refreshing lemon flavor. and is used mainly in treating digestive disorders, such as flatulets, indigestion, and acidity. You may not think it's a big deal, but you've ever been in the woods, and something you ate just didn't sit right, and you've got either a lot of gas on your stomach. I'm not talking to diarrhea here. I'm talking like indigestion or a very acid stomach. I try to make a point of whenever I'm going out camping, hunting, you know, anytime I'm going to be more than overnight,

Starting point is 00:05:19 the woods or even overnight stick some tombs in my pocket some roll lights something like that because you know sometimes my stomach just gets off and it's really unpleasant makes it impossible to sleep burping all the time with acid indigestion never know what's going to happen never know what's going to cause it there doesn't seem to be one food that does it i have no idea sometimes like i'll get maybe a little congested i start coughing i get like an acid reflux and that'll just set it off and it can stay that way for days if you don't take care of it and you know that can actually become a serious issue that can actually you know if you're out there you know 10 mile hike into the woods and you're planning on staying a couple of nights and you can't

Starting point is 00:06:08 eat or sleep you can have a rough time so I always do try to carry a few antacids with me um maybe other herbalists would say well you should use something for the wild well um yeah there are plenty of plants i can find the wild that help um you know mints and different different things but really nothing beats tombs and rollates peptobismol um milk of magnesium you know that kind of stuff's pretty darn good to have on hand really and uh it's not something you want to use long term obviously. A few years ago, there were popular products, something inhibitors. Essentially, they would reduce the amount of stomach acid in your stomach. Yeah, I can't remember the name of it. Long-term use was found to cause cancer and all kinds of big problems. I think there's been

Starting point is 00:07:08 mostly pulled from the market. There was a big class action lawsuit. say with any of your over-the-counter products, even if it's something is safe, basically as Tom's a Roll-Aid, which is essentially just a form of calcium, a very base essentially to counter the acid. If you're popping them every day, you've got a problem you've got to look into. You don't want to just live on something like that because it could have a long-term negative effect. I don't know. I don't have contradictions pulled up in front of me. But for emergency use, Yeah, I put them in my pack I mean, I've been

Starting point is 00:07:44 I've definitely been a few times without him And it was not pleasant Not pleasant at all You know, they say that Napoleon's army was defeated Not because he ran into the Russians He couldn't really Outnumber them

Starting point is 00:08:02 Because who outnumbers the Russian When it comes to a war But because he had a bad piece of mutton A piece of meat that was It was badly cooked, and it caused severe indigestion, and he was distracted by that, was, you know, without sleep, couldn't command his army, and, you know, he was a great tactician for better or for worse. I am not a fan of Napoleon whatsoever, but he was a very good military tactician. You know, like, we might think in the Civil War history of somebody like Jeb Stewart, when the South lost Jeb Stewart, the war was over. There was no coming back from that.

Starting point is 00:08:44 There were great generals. I mean, there was Robert Lee. It was considered the very best general in the entire United States. You know, Lincoln asked him to lead the Union Army, and he said, no, my loyalties to Virginia first. I'm going to protect my family and my friends and all that. Even though he was essentially an abolitionist, he had no fondness for slavery, he was more opposed to slavery than General Grant. Lincoln told his union officers they could keep their slaves. You know, it was not about slavery, especially for the upper classes.

Starting point is 00:09:21 Jeb Stewart was the essential man, I think you could say, in the Confederate Army. I mean, Nathan Bedford Forrest certainly had his place, and there were many good ones. But when Stewart was killed by accident, It was actually General Purdy from Eastern North Carolina, who was probably in that position more due to family money and influence than competence. Mistook Stewart's forces for Union Army in a thick fog and charged. Stewart was killed, and that was essentially the turning point of the Civil War. I know people will talk about these great battles where, you know, I can name them off.

Starting point is 00:10:10 We won't get into all that. but really it was losing their top tactician their their man who could was a strategist and that was true of napoleon and you think the entire thing came down to a piece of poorly cooked meat that's according to legend i don't know what's true or not but uh what if he had had some an acids what i mean world history would probably have been quite different if he had some man acids. I mean, I'm not saying for better or for worse. I'm not, as I said, I'm not a fan at all of Napoleon.

Starting point is 00:10:44 But you have to acknowledge that sometimes those little things, you know, what's the old saying for one of a nail the kingdom was lost or something, I mean, those little tiny things that people don't really think about can be absolutely essential. So continuing here with Lemonbaum. some caution is advised since prolonged use or large internal doses can cause gastric irritation. So we're talking medicinal doses again. We're not talking a little bit of lemon balm in your tea or using it occasionally. We're talking large doses over a long period of time.

Starting point is 00:11:20 The herb is also useful as a stimulant for treating lethargy or depression and is used to treat feverish colds. The essential oils used in aromatherapy for the aromotherapy for the treatment of nervous and digestive problems, and also for acne boils and cysts. It has some, the essential oil especially has some anti-microbial properties, antibiotic properties, essentially.

Starting point is 00:11:48 So the plant citradora was named by French botanist Philip Comerson 1767 who discovered it in Buenos Aires. See, this is a New World plant, and it is more of a

Starting point is 00:12:04 a hot weather plant the miss greve says the shrub was introduced into England in 1784 reaching a height of 15 feet on the isle of white and other sheltered locality so it can be grown in more maritime mild climates but would have to be so I could grow in the mountains where I live I'll just put it that way let's see all species of Lippia That's the family, bound in volatile oil, medicinal uses, according to her, Faberfusion, sedative. The uses of lemon balm are similar to those of mint, orange flowers, or Melissa.

Starting point is 00:12:46 We talked about Melissa recently. That's lemon balm. I think I just said lemon balm. We're talking about lemon verbena here. Somewhat interchangeable with lemon balm. As a spasmodic and stomatic and antispasmodic, useful in dyspepsia ingestion. That's what they used to call ingestion was dyspepsia. and flagellants and also stimulating to the skin and stomach now one thing that's

Starting point is 00:13:09 really nice about lemon verbena is it can be combined with lemon balm not only to get the medicinal benefits of both but the flavors really complement each other lemon verbena has a stronger lemon-like flavor it's almost more like lemon grass if you know if you've ever had like Vietnamese or Thai food you probably had lemon grass or even citronella which I think is, never mind. We won't get into that right now. But the lemon verbena has a stronger lemon flavor,

Starting point is 00:13:41 but the essential oils of lemon balm make it more aromatic and flavor enhancing. And together, especially combined with members of the mint family, they make a really nice tea. I mean, that's one of the main uses, but they make a nicer lemon pepper chicken. I'm telling you, if you want to make, like, the most outstanding lemon pepper chicken,

Starting point is 00:14:02 yeah you can use that like spice blend on the shelf lemon pepper i do that sometimes you know again especially if we're going to the woods and i just want something to throw in there i think i might catch some trout um trout of course is very mild in flavor it to my taste needs some help you know and lemon pepper you just fillet that trout sprinkle a little on there give it a fry in the pan maybe with a little bacon grease or you know whatever you got or cook it over the coals i mean you can do that um really delicious i mean that's one of way I can eat trout like by the pound I mean I can really get excited about trout when it's got the lemon pepper on there but you can absolutely make your

Starting point is 00:14:42 own get a little lemon zest that's just the outer of the yellow part not the pith which is the white part of the peel okay so you want to take a microplane like you might have from your wood shop or just a really sharp vegetable peeler a greater will work there are many things you you can use just try to take off a little bit of that outside zest combine of a little salt and pepper and essentially you've got a basic lemon pepper you want to make that really fantastic i would actually just probably skip zesting the lemon i'd cut it into slices and use that by laying it on the fish but first of all i put down some

Starting point is 00:15:24 salt and pepper and then some lemon verbena and some lemon balm put your lemon slices on there, maybe a little white wine in the pan, never hurts, and garlic. I think garlic goes really well with that. It's really very good. Most folks, though, will use it, I mean, I'm just going to say it's going to give you a much more complex flavor. It's definitely worth the effort. You know, mild fish like trout, you know, definitely good. But for a chicken where it's going to be in there roasting in the oven for a while, it's really going to get that flavor. What I would do in that case is called spatchcocking the chicken, cut out the backbone, break the breast, lay it flat. Then I'd season it up with my herbs and spices, put the

Starting point is 00:16:12 lemon on top. Definitely a little wine on this one. It's going to combine with the chicken fat. It's going to make a wonderful sauce, like a gravy type sauce. You're just going to drizzle over there. A pan sauce, I guess is a proper word for it. Pop that in the oven at $3.50. Let it rust. Maybe even turn the broiler on for the last few minutes. Crisp. Put up the skin if you want to. You know, you would have to take these lemon slices and herbs off at that point. Let the skin dry out under the broiler. Totally up to you.

Starting point is 00:16:40 Make everything to your taste. I would say that's probably in my top five ways to cook chicken. Definitely in my top three ways to cook fish. I really like it that way. So, I mean, I'm one of those people. I don't eat seafood and left since I have some lemon. You know, I grew up a lot of time at the coast. We have a Calabash-style seafood.

Starting point is 00:17:05 That's what North Carolina is known for. There's a little tiny town that used to be one of the most important fishing villages in North Carolina called Calabash. A Calabash is a type of gourd, which has a uniquely curved stem in, I guess, is the way you'd say it. And the bay that goes in there was shaped that way, so it was called Calabash. I think the Indians had called that before white folks settled there. and it's famous for deep-fried, you know, English-style fish-and-chips type deep-fried, flounder, shrimp, oysters, scallops, clams, usually cut into strips, and deviled crab. And even the deviled crab is deep-fried. It's really delicious.

Starting point is 00:17:50 You take the year of that crab meat out and you chop it up. You combine it with celery and peppers, you know, salt and pepper, onion, definitely. some breadcrumbs, stuff it back into the shell, just the body part of the shell, and then let it sit in the fridge overnight, so it's nice and firm, drop that into the deep friar along with everything else, and, I mean, it comes out crispy. It's like the best crab cake in the world. I mean, I know they have good crab cakes in Virginia and Maryland and all up the coast. A real Calabash-style deviled crab is phenomenal, and unfortunately you can't get them anymore because, to my knowledge, every single restaurant in Calabash, North Carolina, now

Starting point is 00:18:31 uses Cisco or U.S. foods, frozen seafood from China, Asia, wherever. I'm not saying it's coming from China. I shouldn't say that. But from Asia and Argentina, well, yeah, maybe Argentina, chili. I can't remember. There's a few South American companies who have sourced from, mainly Asia, and it's put most North Carolina fishermen out of business, but tourists, flock there every year to eat so-called Calabash-style seafood. Y'all, I don't think pre-frozen, pre-bredded cooked seafood, often like those crab cakes are like actually pre-cooked and they just go in the oven and come out and they're served.

Starting point is 00:19:16 To me, it's certainly lacks the flavor of fresh seafood. I won't, I don't eat in Calabash, North Carolina anymore. I have it in, well, since I have the last restaurant that had its own shrimping fleet closed, I guess, 10, 15 years ago, almost 20 now. They were friends of mine, I knew, and they're the ones that told me what was going on. They said, you know, we just can't compete anymore. We can't hire a crew and send them out fishing when everybody else is buying from Cisco and U.S. foods and just basically reheating frozen food. and you know they just they couldn't compete anymore and they went out so that was a real shame the place had an amazing history if you remember the old singer jimmy deranny you know he did that

Starting point is 00:20:04 classic version of when you're smiling i had a real real gravely voice and a big nose he was called the schnazola you know he had this huge nose and he had a habit of closing every concert or television show he said good night mrs calabash wherever you are. Well, that's because back in, like, the 40s or even 30s, I mean, Durrani was around really from the 20s. And you can imagine Calabash, North Carolina was this tiny fishing village on a back road. I mean, nothing like interstate travel, okay?

Starting point is 00:20:40 This is a real winding back road that went from every little fishing village up the coast. Now we would think, okay, Calabash is like north of Myrtle Beach, because it's like literally like the first town after you cross state line back then myrtle beach was nothing i mean there was nothing out there so they're en route from somewhere probably savannah and wilmington and it's like 11 o'clock at night and there's nowhere to get food it's not we they did not have fast food restaurants and all kind of stuff like that so his his vans and one of those big old touring sedans that were so awesome i wish we'd bring those things back and they go through and they see a light on and they go to the light and Miss Calabash, her real name was Miss Coleman,

Starting point is 00:21:24 if I remember correctly, was closing up the restaurant. They had shut down. It was just a little place where locals would come and, you know, just grab a bite. And he pulled in and knocked on the door and she said, well, we're closed and he said, well, you know, we haven't had food in hours and we're not going to be a fine food tonight. So she opened up the kitchen and she fed the band. And that's the story of Mrs. Calabash. And that's been speculated about for years. People still dispute it. But I believe it to be true.

Starting point is 00:21:53 Anyway, that wonderful fried, fresh seafood, which I grew up on, like literally hours from being caught. The flounder was caught the night before. The shrimp was caught that morning in the nets. I mean, everything was just processed right on the back of the, you know, big dock on the back of the restaurant, which was like literally right over the water. and so they would come in they come off the boats locals would come up and buy fresh seafood the crew was out there cleaning everything up it would go straight there from the kitchen and it was on the table within hours of being caught and then it would be breaded in there's another secret cake flour cake flour is not sweetened it doesn't have sugar in it but it's a super fine flour if you ever wonder why cake has a different texture than bread it's because it's a super fine flour So it would be breaded in cake flour. I can't remember the name brand they used.

Starting point is 00:22:47 They told me one time. And then it would go into fresh hot oil. If you walk into a seafood restaurant, I don't care if it is one of those Cisco places, and you smell old oil, walk out. If you order your food and they bring it to you and it's dark and greasy, walk out. Don't even pay for it. Tell them, I don't eat at a place that doesn't respect its customers enough to change the oil regularly. fried food it should not actually be greasy

Starting point is 00:23:15 it goes in the moisture from the inside of the fish or whatever you're frying chicken whatever it is actually pushes out that's why it was that bubbling and sizzling is happening it forms a steam barrier essentially around the outside of the food that keeps the oil from soaking in

Starting point is 00:23:31 that only happens at a specific temperature range every time you reheat the oil the smoke point of the oil lowers so if you're using the same thing of oil all day or even for a couple of days, which some people do. It has to be cooked at a lower temperature each time, which means the food absorbs more heat. Now, meanwhile, there's chemical changes going into that oil.

Starting point is 00:23:53 It's getting dark, and it's actually becoming very unhealthy for you. You can fry in almost any kind of oil if you do it right. So anyway, these giant platters of seafood, this is my entire life, I loved it. We'd fry our own at home. we'd go to Calabash to the places we knew and another local place it was really good they had they specialized in oyster roast you know every year they'd bring in just bushels of oysters and they put them in these big trays and pop them in the big um well they used to have wood ovens and then it was just you know big commercial ovens they'd bring them out of the table I was uh my grandfather

Starting point is 00:24:33 basically get his raw I'd have mine just like barely cooked regardless the first thing you do Whether it's the fried seafood, whether it was the roasted oysters, grab a couple of lemons or even a bottle of lemon juice and splash on lemon. It makes seafood so much better. I do not eat seafood without lemon and coleslaw. That's the North Carolina way. That's the way I'll always do it. But anyway, most people, though, will think of lemon verbena when it comes to cooking in terms of sweets, faking. And the way you do it in that way is you take those leaves of lemon vervina and you put them in a bag or

Starting point is 00:25:09 jar of sugar and the sugar becomes lemon flavored it works far better than a lemon extract or even just the rinds of lemon and makes some really nice cookies and such some people like to put lemon verbena and cocktails to give it that lemon flavor because it you know it's got a good airmanic scent certainly whipped cream lemon flavored whipped cream is really nice with lemon verbena but you know of course My taste is going more toward the savory, so this is my favorite way to use it, okay? The place I used to go fishing just about every year, say, between some, I'd usually go for a couple weeks between November and February.

Starting point is 00:25:57 Down on the coast, North Carolina, Lemon Verbena was actually growing in the backyard. And I liked to surf fish. I like to fish the shallows and the creeks. all that I love to surf fish so I'd get out there cold day the you know wind blowing the rain just nasty nobody else around I love that that's my favorite time pure quiet nobody but you and the eagles are flying all around at that time and they will steal your fish if you let them so anyway one of the main fish I would catch is blue fish now blue fish is more popular up north because it's a fattier fish it has some higher oil content the fish itself is

Starting point is 00:26:39 basically blue. The meat, though, when you cut into it, when it's fresh, is like blue. I mean, it's like the finest tuna. And tuna is also an oily fish. As they migrate south, the water gets warmer. They spoil very quickly, or they can be a little mushy if it's a hot day. I mean, they literally have that much fat to them. So what you have to do when you catch bluefish is immediately, when you catch them, cut the throat, bleed them out, gut them, put them on ice. you want to cool that fish down just as quickly as possible and a lot of people

Starting point is 00:27:11 just throw them back because they don't think they're good eating fish I think they're fantastic I think they're one of the best fish you can get and I mean I'm sure if you're like in

Starting point is 00:27:20 New Jersey and northward you agree with me because much more popular up there you've got to handle them properly but what's so great about him is they run in these big schools and I mean these things have teeth like razors

Starting point is 00:27:34 they're like piranhas you take about you know, a piece of a minnow, a half of shrimp. You can put it on like a double rig like you might use for spot fishing. Cast it out there because you'll see the school coming. Suddenly all the minnows are jumping out of the water because they just plow into there like piranus. And so you see all these little fish jumping out of the water cast right in front of them. And boom, you'll reel in two big bluefish.

Starting point is 00:28:01 Good size, you know, at least a foot or longer. Eight inches or longer. We'll say that, right? rebate throw it in there boom I mean you just start pulling them out as fast as you can bake your hooks and as fast as you can catch you can fill up a cooler of blue fish so what do I do after do that run back to the house put more ice on them put them in the fridge any way I can keep them cold but then oil up the grill get it good and hot put the blue fish on there with a little lemon verbina salt and pepper and some slices of lemon and it's one of the five

Starting point is 00:28:35 finest meals in the world. I mean, I'll take, you know, four nice big ones. Season them up, herb them up, grill them, you know, make sure put the skin side down. The skin's going to stick to the grill. I mean, duh, you can't get around that. It makes a mess. But, you know, then you just kind of take the meat right off. And usually I'll just lay it on a bed of wild greens or a fresh salad because the fatteness of the fish almost makes its own salad dressing. Definitely a fish you could also just put in with some lemon and salt and let it cure and eat it more like a shishimi. There's another word for it. Savachi.

Starting point is 00:29:18 I mean, yeah, it has a good flavor for that. You could eat it any way you like tuna. It's fantastic and often overlooked. I like to go for the fish that most people don't target. I mean, when, you know, I'm down to the coast, a lot of people catch puffer fish, and they literally just throw them away. And I don't mean they throw them back. They throw them in the trash can to die. I find that to be immoral.

Starting point is 00:29:39 I will go around to the fisherman. At first it was uncomfortable. I was like embarrassed to do it, but I thought, you know, this isn't right. I'm going to go ask them if I can have their pufferfish. And you may think, oh, well, pufferfish is poisonous. Well, it is in some places, and it depends on the sub-variety of the species. The ones here on the coast of the Carolinas have a very low toxicity. That toxicity is mostly found in the skin.

Starting point is 00:30:04 skin and some say the liver and that's a shame because it has a really nice liver it looks like foie gras I've never had the guts to try it but right along the spine are two pieces two little filets that are like chicken tenders and they are some of the finest fish you can eat and I've eaten plenty of them never gotten sick but you make your own decisions on that people do the same with sharks they don't know how to handle shark meat shark has to be skinned because it has an ammonia like scent saltwater catfish very similar, but also has poisonous spines. People literally throw them away as trash,

Starting point is 00:30:39 and I find that to be absolutely immoral. That's one of the reasons I wrote the Omnibor's Guide to Home Cooking. I tell you how to cook every fish, at least that I've encountered. What else do they? Skates and Rays. People get all freaked out about them. It's actually some of the best fish there is. It tastes very much like scallops,

Starting point is 00:30:56 and then there's some that tastes like a cross between scallops and beef. And, I mean, again, people throw them away. Now, it used to be, back when Calabash was doing their own fishing and other restaurants on the coast, people would take those skates and they would kind of punch circular stamps out of the wings that go right beside the center of the body. That's where your meat is. It tastes so much like scallops. They would actually sell them in restaurants as scallops, and that became a big controversy for a while. maybe one of the reasons they switch to not doing their own fishing anymore.

Starting point is 00:31:35 I don't know, but that's one that I absolutely love. And if I see somebody catch a skate or a ray, I mean, they can be very big. If they're not putting it in, they're cooler, I run over there just as fast as I can get there. I'm like, I will take that. And they're like, what, are you crazy? I'm like, have you ever tried it? I would never eat that. Well, okay, I'm sorry.

Starting point is 00:31:58 You're missing out. I you know this is really good and I have convinced a few people to try what they call trash fish and yeah they've become devotees the same is true in freshwater especially in the south with carp and different fish you know both in that's a hard one both in is a very hard fish to cook palatibly but you know again it's just it's I think it is literally sinful to waste food Especially if you're killing something. If you're going to kill it, you're going to eat it. That's the way I was raised.

Starting point is 00:32:35 I don't care what it is. If you kill it, you eat it. So I don't shoot anything I'm not going to eat. And if I catch something on a hook, I'm going to eat it. Oh, the other big one that I love is eel. I mean, I absolutely love eel. Most people in North Carolina have not ever eaten an eel and would never eat an eel and absolutely scream and cuss when they catch an eel.

Starting point is 00:32:56 Because the slime gets all over you if you try to take it off. the hook. They'll just cut the line, drop it in with the hooks to it's mouth. I don't like that. Now, I know that hook will eventually rust. The eel will be fine. It's better than throwing them in the trash can. But, I mean, I go out purposely trying to catch eel because grilled or smoked eel is one of the very finest foods that can come out of the ocean. In many places, it's been, in Europe especially, it's endangered because people have so obsessively, harvested eel every year that they've almost wiped out the populations. I love eel. Really very, very good. But anyway, I gave you my favorite bluefish recipe. You absolutely have

Starting point is 00:33:43 to taste it. But even if you don't have access to something like that, try it with any fish or fowl. Works really nice in soups. Any dish that calls for lemongrass, like I said, somewhat similar flavor not identical excuse me oh I need a sip of water here very hard to get lemon grass where I live you got to go to an Asian grocery store about two hours away I'm not gonna do that so lemon verbina is when I'm in a substitute if I'm making a you know a Thai dish or you know a Vietnamese dish or something that calls for lemon grass and it is something I like and if I lived in a warmer climate I would definitely grow a lot of lemon grass because it helps keep mosquitoes away as well.

Starting point is 00:34:29 I have read that lemon verbena can also help keep mosquitoes away, but I haven't, you know, haven't experimented with that. We actually don't get a lot of mosquitoes where I live, which is a nice thing. But, yeah, anyway. So, in the words of Hippocrates, let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. And actually right now, if you can get down the coast, you're probably going to catch some bluefish. This is really about the best time of year to get down there. And at least, you know, it's not only, the fishing's better in the cold weather because of the way the fish migrate, but also the tourists migrate.

Starting point is 00:35:08 They leave. And our coast is just so covered up. I mean, if you go up to the northeastern part of the state, you get a lot more opportunity just to kind of be out there by yourself fishing. anything near Wilmington South Myrtle Beach is a nightmare I won't even drive through there anymore I loathe Myrtle Beach honestly if it were if I was giving someone advice where to fish on the southeast coast I would say between Chesapeake Virginia and I don't even know maybe Jacksonville I don't think I'd come any further south than that you know look at

Starting point is 00:35:52 at the sounds. We have these great bodies of salt water that are more inland. So you've got the outer banks outside and you got the sounds on the inside. That's paradise. I mean like alligator National Wildlife Refuge. If you want to be alone and you want to really practice your bushcraft while you're out fishing, definitely look somewhere like that. Okay. The duck hunting and such is also just legendary up that way. It used to be only the very wealthiest people went there to hunt ducks every year and to go catch a marlin or something.

Starting point is 00:36:30 Now it's, you know, thanks to NAFTA, everybody went out of business and there's still a lot of real open, desolate swamps and great coastal fishing. In the wintertime, the Outer Banks are fantastic and you're not going to get the crowds at all, really. I mean, there may be a few people who come up to duck or something, but, I mean, Cape Hatteras, I mean, you know, you're going to have it pretty much to yourself with the locals

Starting point is 00:36:58 and the real diehard sportsman. In fact, I think Eric Trump, he likes to go there in the wintertime. He was going to buy the huge amount of land at one point. I don't think that ever happened, though. South of, say, Wilmington, well, and really an hour north of Wilmington, just say south of say newburn it's kind of pretty crowded um i would probably skip most everything um down to georgetown south carolina excellent fishing around georgetown old mill town old fishing town um never um not since the civil war has it been a place that

Starting point is 00:37:47 really people wanted to live. It used to be great rice plantations around there. Excellent fishing. So that would be below Merle's Inlet, go down toward Georgetown. Stay away from Charleston. Charleston's a nightmare. I wouldn't go anywhere near Charleston. Buford is getting it just about as bad. I'd probably keep going after Georgetown. And I know I'm skipping a lot of really great places to fish and hunt because there's some great places in South Carolina. especially. South Carolina has less than a fourth of the population of North Carolina. So there's a more elbow room. But a lot of people, a lot of very blue state people have moved into Charleston and Beaufort and all that. I'd probably, and Myrtle Beach is a nightmare. It's just, it's a

Starting point is 00:38:39 pox. It's, it's a, it's a hell. And if you don't believe me, I mean, just check the crime rate. You got a better chance of getting killed in Myrtle Beach than you have in Chicago on some weekends. So anyway, I just keep going down to, like, south of Savannah. I mean, Savannah's pretty cool. I mean, it's a great old town. Again, it's got its issues with a lot of people who've moved in from Blue States. But it's, you know, it's not overbuilt. It always keeps its kind of charm to it, I would say.

Starting point is 00:39:11 But really, more like Brunswick, Georgia, between Brunswick and St. Mary's. Fantastic. You could not ask for better. You know, East Coast of Florida is crowded. It's touristy. It's maybe not as bad as Myrtle Beach, but in the cities it's probably worse. St. Mary's, Brunswick, that area, that's about as rural as you get. And, yeah, that's really pretty nice. They have some great islands out there, too. I mean, you can go see the wild horses and, yeah, it's really nice. So that's my little fisherman's guide to the southeast coast. Yeah, I mean, there's some good places in Virginia, too, but it's been a long time.

Starting point is 00:39:57 I'm not going to, I can't even imagine how much those places have built up since I lived there around 25 years ago. So I'm not even going to speculate on that. You know, James could probably tell you a lot better about Virginia than I could. so anyway y'all if you can grow a lemon verbena in the garden I highly recommend it if not get some going in some pots

Starting point is 00:40:20 but remember it is a shrub you're going to want like at least a five-gallon container 10 or 20 would be better so you're going to pick a sunny spot like in a you know a sunny window of sunroom somewhere it's going to be protected and you can kind of leave it because it's going to be heavy

Starting point is 00:40:36 unless you want to go dragging heavy potted plants around which I hate doing put them on a rolling pat palette actually if you have to do that save your back you'll thank me later on that one so have a good one and I guess this is December 19th I guess I need to go ahead and wish you a Merry Christmas I'm yeah I guess my next show will be after Christmas so I wish everybody an absolutely wonderful Christmas I hope you get to share it with friends family and loved ones I hope you eat too much If you drink too much, don't drive.

Starting point is 00:41:13 Go to church, without a doubt. The church of your choice, obviously being Catholic, we have just beautiful Christmas Masses. It's, you know, a 2,000-year tradition of going to midnight mass and the singing and the candles. And it's just amazing. It's profound. If you're not Catholic, if you have, you're certainly welcome to go to our Christmas

Starting point is 00:41:41 masses and experience them and see what Christians have done for 2,000 years and yes, it's a mix of traditions as Christianity spread throughout the world. I'm not saying this is like going to mass in 300 AD, but it's probably not a whole lot different than say 800 AD or 1,000 AD or 1500 years ago or whatever you want to say. And it's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. and other churches, like the Anglicans, have continued that tradition. Some of your Lutherans still do a lot of the same Christmas traditions. It's beautiful, and I hope you get to participate in it.

Starting point is 00:42:25 Don't make the mistake I did a few years ago. Being from the mountains of North Carolina down long dirt roads, I had never encountered carolers before. Yeah, this was a new concept for me. I'd seen it on TV. Never once happened. so I'm down at my aunt's place in a city not a city more like a suburb you know and in the middle of the night there's a knock on the door well what do I do I grab a shotgun that's what you do in the mountains

Starting point is 00:42:54 somebody starts banging at your door in the middle of the night you grab a shotgun so I greeted the carolers with a shotgun and yeah that didn't go ever well anyway y'all have a good one and I'll talk to you next time The information of this podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. Nothing I say or write has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I'm not a doctor. The U.S. government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine, and there is no governing body regulating herbless. Therefore, I'm really just a guy who studies herbs. I'm not offering any advice.

Starting point is 00:43:33 I won't even claim that anything I write or say is accurate or true. I can tell you what herbs have been traditionally used for. I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb has helped me. I cannot nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use an herb anyone recommends, you are treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you.

Starting point is 00:43:57 You may have an allergy, a sensitivity, an underlying condition that no one else even shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health. By continuing to listen to my podcast or read my blog, you agree to be responsible for yourself to your own research, make your own choices, and not to blame me for anything ever.

The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Lemon Verbena and Merry Christmas!

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