I bought Goldenrod seeds today. I am hoping to get personal with it
next year.

I tried both a tea from the aerial parts (leaf and flower) and a tea from the chopped up root.

I tried the aerial parts early on in my cold, and I didn’t realize that most herbalists didn’t use that part!! It wasn’t very effective, other than being a nice warm drink, soothing in and of itself. It reminded me a lot of goldenrod flower tea.

After I did more research, I realized that it was the root that was most active. I so I dug up a couple of entire plants to get the roots. I just washed them really well and chopped them up. I let them sit for a little while to dry out, then used my mortar and pestle to crush them more. Matt Wood recommended 1/2 to 1 teaspoon per cup of water, so that’s the amount I used.

Rebecca, I second Sarah’s elderberry suggestion. And the usual advice to drink plenty of fluids. Better if those fluids are also chocked full of vitamins and minerals. Think orange juice, herbal infusions, chicken soup. You can put the sage and thyme in your soup if you make it yourself, or even if you don’t, you can add some to canned soup you buy. I really stand by chickweed for chest congestion, too, especially in children. It clears up my 5 yo grandson every single time he gets a cold that settles in his chest. I think its better, though, where the chest congestion is wet and not dry like mine was, ya know, where they’re coughing up lots of thick gunk, and you can hear it in their chest when they breathe.

Rebecca, I would go for an elderberry cordial for your son. You can get it commerncially in the healthfood store under “Sambucus niger” but it’s expensive, better if you can make your own. It tastes good too. You can also do the 1tsp dried sage, 1tsp dried thyme infused for three minutes and poured over the juice of half a lemon and honey to taste. Depending on the age of your son, I would probably dilute it by half. Don’t use thyme for under 2s, their liver can’t tolerate it.