Rosemary (dew of the sea)

Dew of the sea (Rosemary) - Rosmarinus officinalis.
The legendary plant, sung in myths, is a great find for creating a southern accent in your garden.
Plants are about 1-1.5 m high. The leaves are numerous, opposite, leathery above, and pubescent below. The flowers are small and collected in dense purple inflorescences. Blooms in spring. In the conditions of Estonia in the open ground in summer they are used in container culture (with wintering in a cool, bright room at above zero temperatures).
Agricultural technology.
The plant prefers sunny places and limed, well-drained soils. Seeds are sown in February-March in boxes with light soil, covered with a layer of earth 0.3-0.4 cm. At a temperature of +12..+22 °C, shoots appear in a month. Seedlings are picked one by one into pots.

Flowers: Summer
Height: 4 feet
Hardiness Rating: 8 9 10
Its powerful fragrance goes well with lamb and chicken. Add tomato soup, stews and, finely chopped, freshly cooked peas. The tea is said to help with headaches, colic and colds.
Sowing Instructions: Sow from late winter to early summer in John Innes Seed Compost. Do not cover the seed with compost. Make sure that the compost is moist but not wet and seal it in a polythene bag until after germination which usually takes 12-40 days at +16°C.
Growing Instructions: Transplant when large enough to handle into 8 cm pots. Later plant out 60 cm apart into well-drained soil in a sunny sheltered site.

* Externally, a rosemary sprig resembles a spruce branch with many small leaves that look like flat needles. While they are fresh, they are soft, and when they dry out, they become prickly like spruce needles.
Rosemary leaves are two percent essential oils, which are an excellent sedative, as they improve mood and help to calm down and relax. It is no coincidence that a few drops of rosemary are added when taking baths, which also has a therapeutic effect.
In addition, it helps improve memory, so rosemary is prescribed to students, which helps during the session and exams, as well as to schoolchildren during the school year.
Rosemary has antibacterial properties, has a beneficial effect on the body during colds. Its volatile substances disinfect the air, get rid of streptococcus, staphylococcus, yeast fungi, E. coli. Dry flowers or sprigs of rosemary can be placed in a sachet and hung in the room. It will exude a pleasant aroma for several months.
The aroma emanating from rosemary is similar to the smell of pine. It is very rich, pronounced, with a predominance of sweet notes.
The taste of rosemary is spicy and pungent, so it is not surprising that it is very loved by fans of spicy food and smells. Rosemary has found a very wide application in folk medicine: it helps with various disorders of the nervous system, as well as with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. A useful infusion is prepared from rosemary leaves, which is recommended for asthma, as well as for various diseases of the upper respiratory tract. For inflammatory diseases of the throat, this infusion should be used for gargling.
In cooking, young rosemary leaves are used as a spice, collected from the upper third of the branches of the plant and dried (most often, rosemary is used in crushed form).
Rosemary is added to second and first courses, vegetable stews, salads, appetizers and side dishes, pates and minced meat as a classic spice - this piquant spice goes well with lamb, pork, poultry and rabbit (rosemary gives them an appetizing aroma of game).
Vegetables with rosemary acquire a light and subtle aroma. In restaurants, potatoes are often cooked with this spice: baked, fried, stewed.
Rosemary is also used as a flavoring agent for oils and salt, it is included in the composition of complex spices for meat.
It is not recommended to use rosemary together with bay leaf.
Rosemary is completely inappropriate in fish dishes, since the thick camphor note of the spice "interrupts" the smell of fish and becomes dominant, as a result, the taste of the finished dish acquires a noticeable flavor of medicinal herbs.
Remember that rosemary is one of the strongest spicy seasonings, so you should not abuse it.
Attention!
Rosemary is contraindicated for pregnant women, since it has an abortive effect. It is also not recommended for patients with hypertension, since it contributes to high blood pressure and for people prone to convulsions. If the oil of this plant gets on the skin, a burning sensation and even a feeling of dizziness are very likely (this applies to people with increased skin sensitivity).

Rosemary, dew of the sea. Pharm.: folia anthos, folia roris marini.