Fresh Herbs

Zlatibor Mountain (Serbia) and the surrounding area have great choices of interesting, rare and medicinal herbs. Some of them are:

- Gentiana lutea (lincura) is good for stomach problems

- Teuricium montanum (trava iva, ivica, gorski cmilj) is an antiseptic which is good for stomach and intestine diseases.

- Achillea millefolium (hajducka trava) is medicinal and good for honey

- Thymus serpyllum (majcina dusica) has a calming and salutary effect

- Centarium erythraea (kicica) improves digestion

- Symphytum officiale (gaves) is for healing wounds and bone fractures

- Sorbus aucuparia (jarebika) is a nice decorative bush or tree

- Narcissus poeticus (narcis, zelenkada) is decorative meadow flowers, and many more ...

You don’t need to live on the mountain to be able to have fresh herbs. Most people have a sunny spot on their deck or patio for a pot of homegrown herbs. Use the natural benefits of these plants by creating a kitchen garden. They look good, smell good and herbs can also do you good. Anyone with a container and a bag of soil can grow herbs. Follow these simple steps:

- Sow seeds in a seed-starting mix in early spring. After the danger of frost is past, transplant seedlings outdoors to pots (with drainage holes) filled with all-purpose potting soil.

- Plant herbs where they’ll receive 6 or more hours of full sun each day. Indoors, a south or west facing window is best.

- Allow soil to dry between waterings. Most herbs dislike wet feet.

- Before the first fall frost, bring tender perennials, such as rosemary, oregano, thyme and marjoram - indoors for the winter. Use or freeze all annual herbs such as lemon basil.

You can have herbs every season: fresh, dried and frozen.

- Fresh: Just-picked herbs offer superior flavor. Chop fresh leaves, such a parsley, chives, dill and mint as you need them. Refrigerate leftover leaves in green plastic produce bags - these allow ethylene gas (which hastens decay) to escape.

- Dried: To dry herbs with essential oils, such as lavender, sage, thyme and rosemary, hang bunches secured with rubber bands upside down in a dry place. Store dried leaves in jars for up to a year.

- Frozen: Preserve the fresh flavors of herbs, such as parsley, basil and chives for later use by freezing them in ice cube trays. Place several leaves (or a spoonful of chopped leaves) in each cell, add water and freeze. Pop out cubes as needed for recipes.

The closer herbs are to the kitchen, the more you’ll use them. There are many ways to use them, such as:

- Adding herbs to salads. They give a better taste to a salad and  helps to stimulate digestion.  Some of them are also good for healthy skin, hair and nails.

- Making a herbal tea. Use either a sprig of fresh leaves or 2 tsp dried herbs. Add boiled water, cover and leave to brew for 5 minutes. Strain if necessary. Try rosemary to help boost your memory and mood.

- Fragrance your home with relaxing herbal scents. The easiest way is to add herbs such as mint, for example, to flower arrangements. Stand them on a sunny windowsill as the sun helps bring essential oils to the surface of the leaves.

More about herbs and spices.

Nature is medicine

Pančić Spruce
(Serbian: Pančićeva omorika)
is a living fossil of the plant kingdom

No one can go back and change his start ... but anyone can start today and change his finish! Caring about and maintaining our health is very important. We only have one body, so it's our job to keep it running in the best way we can, by paying attention to and working to improve our mental and physical health. Serbia has 5 national parks and 22 nature reserves. Over 31% of Serbia is covered by forest. National parks take up 10% of the country's territory.

Nature is medicine. The natural environment offers many benefits for health and well-being. Taking a walk or a hike to enjoy the scenery in the fresh air can help in calming and clearing the mind. It can manage stress and depression and improve one's overall health. It can prevent disease and help people recover from illness. Experiencing nature can help tackle obesity, coronary heart disease and mental health problems. People live longer if they live near areas of green space. It gives you the feeling of being energized and having more vitality.

Being in nature helps people improve their focus and memory. Memory can be improved by walking, or even just by looking at an image of a natural scene. A walk in the woods can be very calming and relaxing, a fantastic stress-reliever. It can also be an opportunity to challenge yourself physically. Using the trails or hills will give you more intense workout. Nature walking takes you away from the traffic and pollution and let's you slow down and breathe clean air. Where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man, you will find beauty everywhere.

Serbian Green Market - Pijaca

The tomato originates from Peru where it grew wild. There still are 8 species of wild tomatoes in the Andes. After colonization of the continent, tomatoes came to Europe. In Europe, it was thought that its fruit was toxic and used only as an ornamental plant. The Serbian word for tomato is “paradajz”. It was believed that tomatoes lead to your death so the tomato plant was called paradajz (paradise). It is roughly pronounced “paradise” and when you taste one that is what it tastes like. The Mediterranean climate proved to be ideal for this plant. The tomatoes bought in North America at a supermarket have a plastic taste even when they are “organic”. They look lovely but lack the taste of a garden grown with love and care.

Tomatoes on our balcony

We decided to have our own tomato garden on our balcony in a heart of downtown Vancouver, Canada. We bought the seeds, pots, soil, tools and were looking forward to “the back breaking labor of gardening.”  It took a long time before the flowers came out indicating we should get the tomatoes soon but it seemed like forever before we saw the first tomato .We had nice tall plants, the tomatoes looked good and they smelled good when they finally arrived in August after planting them in March. We were hoping that our tomatoes will have a more natural taste but they were was exactly like from the store - tasteless. Maybe this is just not the right climate for this plant.

In Serbia, every town has a green market (pijaca) with real organic products. Products are often grown in the area immediately around the city. Open air markets are a tradition but also an everyday necessity for many. The variety of goods for sale at the average market is always impressive. It is possible to get a great bargain on most products, if you’re a shrewd negotiator. Pijaca is a vibrant and exciting place to explore even if you aren't looking to buy.

If you’re in Serbia you have to eat a šopska salata. It’s great salad, with nothing but tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and hot peppers, topped with a Serbian cheese that tastes similar to grated feta. In Serbia, one šopska is large enough to be dinner, but actually it is just an appetizer.