Nova Scotia stretches 500 kilometres on a southwest-northeast axis from Cape Sable to Cape North, the shape of the province is often compared to that native delicacy, the lobster, with Cape Breton Island representing the outstretched claws, preparing to nip unsuspecting Newfoundland across the Cabot Strait.
The coastline of the uplands region is deeply indented, forming many good harbours, some of which are considered outstanding. Hundreds of islands dot the landscape along the entire Atlantic coast, most notably at St. Margarets Bay and Mahone Bay. Reefs and shoals abound, accounting for the many lighthouses erected along this coast. In many ways the Atlantic uplands coast epitomizes the North Atlantic coastline with its bare granite sheets plunging headlong into the raging surf to produce an awesome cataclysm between land and sea. When people think of Nova Scotia, they usually envisage the rocky granite shores of the uplands. Herbs
Culinary herbs, which are available fresh or dried, include basil, bay leaf, chervil, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, tarragon and thyme. Used for their aromatic properties, flavor and texture.
Herbs are also used in medication, including most of the world’s traditional remedies for disease. Herbal remedies are not limited to products sold over-the-counter as supplements, many over-the-counter and prescription drugs are based on ingredients originally derived from plants, including aspirin and digoxin.
Modern herbal doctors, aware of the general limitations of their field, are eager to cooperate with the more orthodox physicians. Despite the fact that many medical doctors - and laymen as well - ally herbalism with superstition, plant medicines are having a tremendous revival today. George Sartori, Harvard professor and author of An Introduction to the History of Science, sums up:
The remembrance of these astounding folk discoveries… should sober our thoughts when we criticise too freely the old pharmacopoeias. It is easy to make fun of medieval recipes: it is more difficult and may be wiser to investigate them. Instead of assuming that the medieval pharmacist was a benighted foot we might wonder whether there was not sometimes a justification for his strange procedure.
For those who believe in the cyclic nature of all things, as does the author, this brings us full circle. A balanced viewpoint now follows… the study of medicinal plants of our country and the world.