Yerba Buena

One of the ingredients for a watermelon salad I made was Mint leaves. The minute I smelled it, memories began rushing in and making me remember those Yerba Buena (hierbabuena) moments.

My grandmother would put two mint leaves on her temples to ease a headache. I remember when she would hug me I would smell the pungent sweet odor.

My mother would make a tea that tasted like mint. I do not know if she boiled the leaves to make the tea or if she just added the leaves later. However she did it, the smell was over bearing.

I remember plants growing like weeds along a fence by our home and I liked to rub the leaves and smell my hands.

When someone had a cold, Yerba Buena was given to us to drink. Upset stomachs could be helped with Yerba Buena.

Who would have thought that in English, Yerba Buena is called Mint. A friend from Mexico commented on my Facebook page that Mint and hierbabuena are two different herbs. I checked on the Internet and she is right but in the United States the green plant is put under the category of Mint.

An article about  Mint in the Internet I read that: " A bouquet of fresh mint can scent the kitchen when you pluck fresh leaves for teas and cooking." Sounds like a handy herb to have around this plant called Yerba Buena.