Growing, Making “Brick through a Window” Tea

I make my calming and focusing stress relief tea from one or two leaves of garden grown Perilla frutescens - (L.)Britton shiso at a time. I add one or two large leaves, rolled together and finely chopped leaves, to a green tea bag and steep them in boiling water for a few minutes before drinking. I frequently add a leaf or two of garden grown lemon balm- another calming herb, as well.

At the end of the first summer in my new garden, my single nursery- acquired plant went to seed and browned. I did not think about it until the following spring when half a dozen young self sown plants sprang up. I made and drank the tea frequently- until once again- the plants died at the end of their season. The following season- my garden was rife with self-sown new seedlings. Initially I used entire young plants to thin the crop- and later harvested and dried the leaves of mature plants.

Aside from the plants which grew exponentially in my raised bed, it also seeded and grew under the shade of my loquat tree along with my other edible weed volunteers. I do not till, weed, amend soil, or fertilize there, or give it the extra water that my vegetable garden receives- so it is slower to mature and does not grow quite as large- but it voluntarily grows there.

Well into spring this year, I noticed that I seemed to be feeling generally down and depressed- so I stopped using the leaves. My mood returned to my normal sunny, optimistic self – last overwhelmingly prevalent about 10 years back. Although I am not consuming the balance of this year’s crop- (but I am drying and preserving it for future uses) my mood is persistently stable, calm and good natured.

I had been under unusual stress from change of life, change of location, change of career, money issues, taking care of my dying parents all within a 5-7 year period. This plant eased me through a spate of high blood pressure, stress, and kept me balanced and focused till I had a chance to heal and re-establish my own prevailing healthy mood controls.

This beneficial herb is not illegal, is highly adaptable to growth conditions, reseeds itself prolifically, has a long history of culinary and beneficial medicinal value, has had a noticeable positive impact on my emotional health, does not interfere with my ability to work or sleep, is not addictive, and presents no withdrawal problems when I feel it is no longer working to my personal advantage.

Different foodstuffs have different effects, depending on your biochemistry. Mine is very sensitive- to medicines, drugs, stimulants like coffee, and soporifics like alcohol. I have grown an abundance of herbs and perennial greens like chard in my newly acquired garden for the past three years. I have no doubt that the many positive lifestyle changes I made helped my healing. Nonetheless- the prolific, inexpensive easy to grow little perilla plant had an outstandingly positive effect on my mood at a time when I really needed safe, affordable, accessible help.

Amp Mellow Mood with Cheap, Easy Herb

I purchased my first edible britton shiso plant 3 years ago at a neighborhood nursery among the culinary and medicinal herbs. It was mismarked Holy Basil- or tulsi, which I was going to try for its medicinal properties. I brought home Perilla frutescens - (L.)Britton. It is also commonly known as beefsteak or rattlesnake plant, so-named for its purple under-foliage and spiky flowers that dry and resemble a rattlesnake tale. Perilla, aka britton shiso, is a “weed”, which grows wild throughout America, has been used medicinally for centuries, as well as a condiment.

Perilla is high in rosmarinic acid and Omega 3 oils which enhance mental clarity and functioning. It is commercially cultivated for the oil expressed from its seeds which serve as a replacement to fish oil supplements.

In Asia, centuries ago, ceremonies were conducted before harvesting the plant, it was considered to be alive and was held as sacred, sent by God as food and medicine to treat all ailments of man. Disrespect for the plant meant death, anyone caught stepping on the plant would himself be trampled to death.

Red and green shiso leaves are frequently served as a side to sushi, wrapped into a sushi roll or serve as coloring agent for pickles. Nonetheless- the leaf of the perilla is bumpy, a little fuzzy- and did not look particularly delectable to the tongue- so it grew unhampered and ignored in my garden for a number of months. One day I was preparing fish tacos- was out of coriander- and remembered I had a bunch of lightly aromatic, untried herbs growing in my raised bed garden. I cut a generous bunch, chopped it finely and added it to cover the red snapper I was sautéing. The result was delicious.

An hour later I noticed I was unusually calm, mellow and centered- like an amplifier with all sliders moved to mid-level. My fine motor skills, focus and reasoning skills were unimpaired. Since then I’ve done all sorts of intricate hand tasks, research, website, database, mathematical tasking with high accuracy and efficiency following a cup of shiso and green tea. All that was missing was the feelings of stress and fear emanating from the pit of my stomach.

I have frequently said that after consuming shiso tea made from a couple leaves, someone could pitch a brick through my living room window, and I would respond by immediately walking outside and speaking to them unemotionally about making reparations. I would not waste time on unfocused fears or dithering about the best course of action.