Now, how many of you remember having horehound candy for your coughs when you where younger! This herb has been growing in my garden for three years now, waiting for me to give it a shot at making the candy! One visitor to my page wrote me and said hers didn't turn out like what she remembered the candy tasting like. So, if any of you have a tried and true recipe for horehound candy, please, share it with me, to be passed on to others. In the meantime, if you need a clear head, make a tea from it and have a cup or two. It is said to gaurd you from sorcery and is used as an exorcism herb, that when boiled in water in a sickroom, it releases all bad vibrations.
It was used long ago for a remedy to dog bites, and now-a-days for remedies to coughs and colds. It still can be made into a syrup by boiling 1 cup of horehound in 1 cup of water, strain, and add 1 cup of honey and 1 tabls. lemon juice. (Keep refrigerated) It was also used at the time of passover.
It has a 'real' name: Marrubium vulgare. It grows to be about 18-24" tall, likes just about any type of soil, and full or partly shaded areas. It has a silvery grey , kinda hairy roundish leaf, and flowers in the second year. It should be clipped quite a bit in the spring to keep plant from becoming leggy. You want to harvest before flowering, and to harvest, hang them upside-down in a brown paper bag (keeps dust off) for about two weeks. The branches of horehound look nice in a vase of flowers since the leaves are such a different color! Leaves of the plant can be eaten to releive sore throats and coughs, and the tea can be use to get rid of intestinal worms, and to releive heartburn and indigestion.