You can grow Mexican mint marigold in any average garden soil. Even in the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks, ‘French’ tarragon suffers with the heat, but Mexican mint marigold thrives in hot climates. For example, French tarragon doesn’t thrive in the hotter southern states. Mexican mint marigold does well in regions where French tarragon struggles. Traditionally, the leaves were an important flavoring for chocolatl, the foamy, stimulating cocoa drink of the ancient Aztecs. There are reports from various parts of Mexico and the southern United States of message-carrying long-distance runners using especially strong mint marigold tea to give them strength and stamina the robust tea acting similar to the caffeine in strong coffee. Medicinal uses include treatment for upset stomach, for stimulating the appetite, as a diuretic and stimulating beverage. However, its best flavor is from the fresh leaves, chopped and used in dishes such as chicken salad, tossed green salads and even fresh pesto sauces over tacos. Unlike French tarragon, it doesn’t retain its best flavor when dried, ‘mint’ marigold dries quite well. Dried leaves are used in soups, sauces and main dishes. The flavor is anise-like, a bit sweeter than ‘French’ tarragon, but used in some of the same ways as that herb. Mint marigold is a perennial, native to Central and South America and has been used as a seasoning herb, tea plant and medicinal in native cultures for more than a thousand years.
The previous version incorrectly gave Berkshire as John Shaw’s place of birth.The Latin name, Tagetes lucida, refers to its other Tagetes relatives, the marigolds. This piece was amended on 4 October 2021. He is survived by me, our daughters, Catharine and Rosalind, and our grandchildren, James and Holly. Many friends have commented on John’s enthusiasm and musicality, his good humour, and his ability to encourage and inspire others. John sang and played in a duo with the singer-songwriter Alan Kirkpatrick and made several CDs with him. John was also playing bass guitar with a ceilidh band, and became musical director of a West Gallery choir.
He was described after his death as a “mountain dulcimer giant”.Īt the same time John and I were performing with the Hotwells Howlers, which has produced several CDs and four multimedia folk shows about local history, including the first world war. He became a key member of the national Nonsuch Dulcimer Club, and ran many workshops, as well as playing in the US on various trips. John’s musicality enabled him to create sophisticated, complex arrangements of tunes from all around the world. John had heard Jean Ritchie, an American dulcimer player, at Oxford, and in the 80s developed a passion for this deceptively simple instrument. John Shaw, in purple jumper, with other members of the Hotwells Howlers, performing at Stourhead Gardens in Wiltshire On one occasion we arrived at Heathrow with about 40 Hungarian LPs. In the 1980s, when our daughters were teenagers, we hosted about 40 young people from all round the world, and John began to pursue a deep interest in world, and especially mid-European, music. He was a member of the Bristol Shantymen, a popular group that performed at the Krakow shanty festival to great acclaim. John left Elecampane in 1980, and immediately started a three-person group, Bare Bones, returning to a simpler approach to folk music. The gentlest of men, John enjoyed the transgressive exuberance of Punch and Judy, and in the Queen’s jubilee year of 1977 set himself up as Professor Shaw’s Jubilee Theatre, performing for several years at fetes and parties regionally. The group also presented several folk dramas, including The Further Adventures of Mr Punch. He co-founded the electric folk-rock group Elecampane, and they produced several LPs including When God’s on the Water. John loved the British folk tradition, but was always open to other influences. We quickly became active members of the Folk Tradition Club. He and I met there, moving to Bristol, and marrying, in 1968. My husband, John Shaw, who has died suddenly aged 77 of a rare cancer, was a folk musician with a deep love of the British tradition.īorn in Birkenhead, to Harry Shaw, an ambulance driver, and Edna (nee Llewellyn), a teacher, John attended Calday grammar school in Cheshire.Ī fan of Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers, he discovered folk music at Oxford University, where he gained a first in English in the 1960s.