the Witchen Kitchen Beginner Herbal

tammy July 5th, 2008

I almost forgot to show off the skullcap that I found and tinctured a few weeks ago. This has been a year of many first finds for me. Seems there is a new gift waiting for me every time I go outside!

Here she is. So beautiful!

And it is an effective pain reliever for many different kinds of pain. I’ve found it particularly useful for tension type headaches and tension related back pain. Kiva Rose has also written about it extensively as a nerve tonic. She calls it blisswort, so if you do a search for that word on her site you’ll pull up all sorts of information.

A sweet story… Hubby had seen me gathering the skullcap for medicine, and even helped me reach some that I couldn’t quite get to in the overgrowth with my bare feet (he was wearing boots).  Now, keep in mind, this man knows nothing about plants, and doesn’t particularly care one way or another, and he’s not particularly sentimental either.  If I let him, he would just mow all those “unsightly weeds” down every chance he got.  But he did remember this plant and the fact that it was important to me.  A few days later he came in from walking the dog with a bouquet of skullcap for me.  Is this the flower you were looking for?  Awwww… he’s learning his plants! And wasn’t that sweet of him to bring me such lovely flowers?

• Herbal Remedies , Wild Crafting
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tammy July 4th, 2008

They have arrived! Standing tall and strong all around the edge of the yard and all over the meadow, with tiny little flower buds just forming. I crushed a few of the buds this morning while I was out walking to sample the sweet, heady fragrance and be instantly reminded why I love this plant so much.

Even if I could find no medicinal uses, I would make oil with the flowers every year for no other reason than to be able to smell them all through winter. It has been described as an anise fragrance. I’m not sure what anise smells like; I just know I love the aroma of Goldenrod. I find it invigorating and expansive and intensely joyful. But it turns out that it has many uses besides just therapy for the olfactory senses.

I call the oil “summer in a bottle.” In addition to frequently opening the jar to smell, I also use it as a relaxing and pain relieving massage oil and bath oil. This year I want to experiment with some other creations. A honey, a tincture, a vinegar, a syrup… what else can I think of? Some dried for tea? I want to experience it in many different ways in order to understand its medicine better.

It has been used frequently by herbalists for bladder and kidney problems, as a diuretic, as an antisceptic and astringent wound wash or salve, as a fomentation for pain relief in arthritis and rheumatism, as a tea or tincture for relief of colds, sinus congestion, and related headaches, as a general tonic for exhaustion, as an anti-fungal for candida… there are probably other uses as well.

I still have about 3 or 4 ounces of the oil I made last year. It smells just as beautiful and potent as it did when I first made it. Since I’m going to be making fresh oil in a few weeks, I’d like to use up this batch. If you would like an ounce, email me. I will sell this batch for $5 per ounce including shipping.

I wish I could put one of those scratch and sniff cards here on the computer for you to sample it. But alas, you’ll have to either go out and find some growing and make your own, or email me if you’d like me to send you some of mine!

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tammy June 22nd, 2008

My new little grandson, barely 2 weeks old, has had his first minor diaper rash. ‘Cause he likes to poop in the middle of the night while he’s sleeping and nobody knows about it until the next morning! Here is a simple herbal balm I made that cleared it right up.

I used raw, organic coconut oil as the base, and infused some dried Balm of Gilead (poplar buds), dried yarrow, and fresh chopped plantain from the yard. Yarrow is known to be quite anti-bacterial and good for skin ailments. Plantain draws out infection or toxins and helps heals skin beautifully, and Balm of Gilead is well known as a skin healer and soother. the coconut oil itself is also anti-microbial and very nourishing to the skin. There are many, many other herbs adn oils that could have been used here, but these were the ones I had on hand and that came to mind when I started mixing.

Since I needed this balm immediately and didn’t want to wait weeks for it to infuse, I decided for the first time to use a heat infusion method. I followed Frances’ suggestion to use a crock pot set on low for a couple days.

I put the coconut oil in a small jar and immersed it in the warm water in the crock pot to melt it, then added the herbs, stirred it well, put the top on, and sat it back down in the warm water bath (along with a couple other infusing oils so as to get maximum use from having the crock pot on for so long). I let it infuse for two days, opening the cap to wipe away moisture condensation (from water in the fresh plantain) and to stir it occasionally.

When it had taken on a nice green color and I deemed it done, I strained the oil through a mesh strainer first, then strained it again through a clean cloth to get all the tiny little herb particles out.

Coconut oil will stay solid at room temperature, about 76 degrees or less. In our air conditioned homes, this makes a perfect salve. If it were going to be stored in a warmer place, I would have melted some beeswax into the mixture to keep it solid at higher temps too.

While it was still warm and liquid, I put it in a squeeze bottle to keep fingers out of the mixture to avoid introducing bacteria so it will last longer. I have no idea what the shelf life is. Since there are no preservatives, we will keep a close eye on it for spoilage.

My daughter took the filled bottle with her before I took a pic, but here is an empty one.  I picked up a bunch of these at the discount store for about $. 50 a piece.

This balm has a lovely light coconut scent and feels really nice on the skin. In addition to diaper rash, it could be used for many other purposes. It could be really great for moisturizing elbows and feet, or soothing any minor skin abrasion.

I bought the dried herbs and raw coconut oil at Mountain Rose Herbs.

• Cosmetics, Body Care , Herbal Remedies , Wild Crafting
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tammy June 14th, 2008

If you suffer from insomnia, this common weed could be your best friend. It can provide deep relaxation and a delicious, gritty-eyed, cuddly sleepiness when you are wound up and your mind is racing and you find that you can’t get to sleep or stay asleep for long.

Last month I started a bunch of new things in my life. I changed my work schedule, started massage school, began doing some computer consulting work on the side… there were a lot of new things to absorb and a lot to juggle. I was quite wound up and often had trouble getting to sleep, and when I did, I slept lightly and woke just a few hours later to begin tossing and turning for the rest of the night.

Just when I was getting desperate, I found the prickly lettuce (Lactuca scariola) growing tall and strong right at the edge of the yard. To make sure I had the correct plant ID, I felt the row of prickles along the bottom mid-vein of its leaves, and then plucked off one to see the yellowy sap oozing out. Sap will ooze out of any part of the plant that you break off.  I ate about half a leaf, tasting its sweet, slightly bitter, flavor. The young leaves are often used in salads, though the older leaves can get much too bitter for eating.

After eating the leaf, I began gathering what I needed to make a quart of tincture. I felt super relaxed as I walked around the edge of the yard snipping the stalks. Not drugged at all, just calm and relaxed. I also began to feel pleasantly tired and sleepy. I hadn’t felt that in sooooo very long. Delicious.

After I chopped up my harvest and put it in a labeded jar with 100 proof vodka, it was time to get ready for bed. I went through my usual bedtime routine, tidying up, washing up, laying out clothes for the next day, etc, all the while feeling very calm, very relaxed, and knowing that I would have no problem falling asleep that night. I crawled into bed, went right to sleep, and slept soundly the entire night — the first time in over a month!

I have purchased wild lettuce tincture in the past and knew it could help me sleep, but that’s really all I knew about it. Last week I got my hot little hands on Matthew Wood’s new The Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants and have now learned a few more things about this plant.

According to the profile in Wood’s book, I can see why it works so well for me. “It is indicated for stiff sore persons with painful muscles, especially the lower back. The pulse is slow and hard… [which] indicates ‘cold blockage’ or ‘internal cold’… Sometimes there is slight evidence of the heat that is being blocked… it produces red margins of the eyelids, allergies, and facial acne.” (p. 307, 308)

I had been very, very cold this past winter, and very, very stiff and sore, especially in my lower back. After reading this I looked in the mirror and sure enough there were red margins around my eyelids also.

He goes on to write that Lactuca also addresses hormonal imbalances caused by excess of androgen — think teenage acne as a common manifestation of this. It has also been used to cure “dropsy” (water retention, edema). Acne and edema — two more conditions that I have dealt with in the past.  Seems I have a lot of affinity for this herb.

However, even if you don’t fit the profile completely, I think it would be beneficial to almost anyone who needs a little help relaxing and sleeping. It is very gentle and effective for that purpose, and unlike most pharmaceuticals on the market for that purpose, it is non-addictive.  I plan to make it a permanent part of my herbal medicine chest.

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tammy June 1st, 2008

When I first started my herbal journey, for some reason I thought harvesting and drying my own herbs would be terribly complicated. Maybe this had something to do with growing up in a family where dried up shriveled things were tossed straight into the trashcan, considered completely unsuitable for human consumption. Dried herbs are definitely dried up and shriveled!

I also thought you had to have special equipment and string your plants up in just the right way so that your herbs would dry properly. I didn’t want to end up with a bunch of dried up shriveled stuff that I would have to throw out, so for a long time I just didn’t go there. Instead, I bought all my dried herbs.

Then recently I happened to see Phyllis Light in a video calmly talking about bringing in a branch of some herb she had picked and left on the kitchen table for a couple of days to dry. She picked up what looked to me like something for the compost pile, crumbled a few leaves between her fingers, and declared it as having “dried nicely” and that it was ready to use as a tea.

Wow, what an epiphany for me. Huh? That’s all there is to it? Hey, I could do that!

And so began my first drying experiments.

I’ve learned that in some cases, with especially juicy plants, you do have to be careful so that you don’t get mold or fermenting going on, but really even that is not nearly so complicated as I thought it would be.

Most herbs really can just be laid somewhere convenient on the kitchen table or counter for a couple days and they dry beautifully, keeping their fragrance and color. As soon as you detach an herb from the living plant, the dehydration begins. As long as you keep it out of especially humid places and give it lots of circulating air, it will dry just fine with no other effort.

Here’s some plantain I dried in just that way.

Some flowers and plants may need a little more help because of high moisture content. For example, red clover blossoms can ferment if the moisture in them evaporates too slowly, causing them to develop potentially dangerous blood thinning properties.

The answer for these is to dry them more quickly by putting them in a hotter environment with lots and lots of air circulation. To accomplish this, I’ve heard of some using the oven set on a low temp, turning them frequently, or hanging their herbs to dry in a hot attic with good air flow, even using fans if it is too humid.

You can also use a dehydrator. I was recently gifted one of these handy little contraptions, and I have to say it is a totally awesome tool. Mine has seven trays that you can fill and stack to dry quite a bit of herb all at once. Lay the herbs on the trays, flip the switch on, and just a couple hours later you have perfectly dried herbs. Then just crumble them into a quart canning jar and cap it tightly.

For the first time this year, I’m filling my cupboard with self-harvested, home-dried herbs. So far, I’ve got honeysuckle leaf and flower, tarragon, sage, rosemary. And the season is early yet, so that’s just the beginning.

What are you drying? Do you use different methods? I’d love to hear what you do

• Herbal Remedies , Wild Crafting
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tammy May 13th, 2008

I repeat, Dandelion flower oil provides INSTANT pain relief for sore muscles in the back and neck.  I already wrote how it helped me so well the first time I used it, but tonight I decided to test it to see if it would work again in the same miraculous way, secretly thinking that maybe it wouldn’t. 

If I had any doubts, I assure you I don’t anymore.  Sore cramping muscles and joint in my left hip, rub in some Dandelion flower oil, and literally 10 seconds later I have absolutely NO pain!!  Same thing in my neck and shoulder.  A dab of oil, rub, rub, rub… Pain gone.  The end.

I asked my husband if he had any soreness in his back so I could see if it would work just as well for him.  He said his lower back and sciatica through the glutes were bothering him… perfect specimen for my experiments, hahaha! 

To my amazement, a quick massage with the Dandelion oil and he also experienced instant pain relief in the muscles of his back and buttocks.  It did not completely take care of the sciatic pain, though, so I used St. John’s Wort oil (specific for nerve pain) to sooth that last little bit of discomfort.  He was completely pain free when I finished.  He said he has been feeling stiff and sore for months and now his back feels completey loose and pain free. 

To say the least, we are both very impressed and in awe of this magic sunshine medicine.  I just want to go outside and kiss my dandelions!  (It’s dark now, so I think I’ll wait till tomorrow )

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tammy May 13th, 2008

Several of you readers warned me about how easily Dandelion blossoms in oil can mold.  Armed with that information I was very careful to check my brewing infusion the last few weeks and stir out air bubbles every single day.  I just knew mine was going to be the exception!  But alas, about three weeks into the brew time, I noticed several brown spots along the side of the jar of my lovely Dandelion oil infusion.  Thankfully, I was able to save most of it anyway.

I went ahead and strained the flowers out as soon as I saw the first bit of mold.  It didn’t appear to be throughout the batch, but only along the side of the jar, so most of the obvious mold was left behind when I poured it out.  Then I put the strained oil into a fresh, clean, dry jar and left it to sit for a couple days. 

The mold is attached to any water in the oil (originally from the fresh blossoms) and the water is heavier than the oil, so all of the yucky part settled to the bottom of the jar after a day or two.  Then I just carefully poured off the clean top layer leaving behind the part where all the mold had gathered.

The result is spectacular!  I let the clean oil sit for another week just to be sure I had gotten all the mold out, and it is perfect.  Next time I make this, I plan to dry the blossoms a bit before infusing. 

I used it for the first time a couple of nights ago, and I can hardly believe how wonderfully well it works.  My neck and hips and lower back were achy from a long day sitting at the computer, so I rubbed some of the oil into those areas.  Boy!  Instant relaxation!  The ache went right out of my muscles, and I got really sleepy.  Since I had the oil out, I decided to go ahead and do a breast massage with it also.  Then I fell right to sleep and slept better than I have all week.  A wonderful blessing for this peri-menopausal woman who often sleeps poorly these days!

This is one of my new favorite massage oils.  It doesn’t smell as heavenly as my other favorite, Goldenrod Oil, but it does have powerful healing magic.  I’m going to keep working with it to try to work out some of the chronic tension in my neck shoulders and back.  Lot’s of emotions stored there, ya know.  A few weeks ago I started massage school, so I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunity to use it in the coming  months!

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tammy April 13th, 2008

This morning my hands smell like wet spring dirt mixed with sunshine and a bit of sugar… ahhhhh!  It’s the lovely, sharp fragrance of dandelion sap.  I’ve been outside popping flowers from their springy stems all morning.  Before I began, I thanked the plant for all the help its roots and leaves gave me this past winter and asked if I could use its flower medicine (of course!).  Then I hooked my first two fingers just below the bud, pulled gently, and POP, off they snap.  I went all around the yard doing this, and gathered a quart of them to make dandelion flower oil. 

Dandelion is such an incredibly nourishing and healing herb, it is hard to figure out where to start listing its uses.  I’ve used the root and leaves extensively for things like indigestion and acid reflux, water retention, and just plain nourishment.  But I’ve not yet used the flowers specifically.  I’m making this oil to try it out as a breast massage oil, muscle tension reliever, and skin beautifier.  Here’s what a few of my favorite herbalists have to say about Dandelion flowers:

“Dandelion flowers steeped in olive oil are a wonderful moisturizer and a great tension relieving massage oil.  These beautiful golden blossoms possess the ability to help release emotions held in the muscles.”  -Gail Faith Edwards, Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs

“Make a dandelion flower oil and use wiz your Wise Woman touch to ease the pain and help heal those wiz stiff necks, arthritic joints, sinus headaches, back tension, and weepy, swollen skin sores.” - Susun Weed, Healing Wise (Wise Woman Herbal Series)

“The Dandelion is a plant of the sun and has been associated with the sun since very ancient times.  It’s color, disklike shape, and raylike florets resemble the sun in miniature, and the rising and setting of the sun influence the opening and closing of the flowers.” - Maida Silverman, A City Herbal

Since I carry almost all my emotional tension in the muscles of my back, shoulders, and neck I am quite anxious to see if Dandelion flower oil will be able to help me relieve some of that.  I also am attracted to the symbolism and historical lore of this plant.  In addition to being associated with the sun, the name of Dandelion means ”tooth of the lion” and its flower head has been compared to a lion’s mane.  As my sun sign is Leo the lion, I do feel a certain kinship there!

I first learned to make herbal oils by the simplers method: fill the jar with fresh herb, cover completely with olive oil, cap tightly, let sit for 6 weeks or more in a cool dark place.  I’m still following that for most of my herbal oils, however, I’m now reconsidering the “cool, dark” part of it in some cases.  I think some plants, especially those that contain sunshine medicine, like Dandelion, may be more potent if left to brew in the healing rays of the sun.  I’ve heard this over and over from different herbalists regarding St. John’s Wort (that fabulous red color of good SJW oil comes from brewing in the sunshine).  I’ve also discovered that pine oil brews best in the sunshine — the warmth helps pull out all those lovely aromatic resins into the oil much better.

So, since a big part of the medicine I am trying to capture with Dandelion is its living sunshine, I think I’ll sit this one in the window to brew.  I’ll let you know how it turns out!

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tammy March 2nd, 2008

Tiger Lilies waking up

Flowering Bittercress

The trees have new baby buds on them, the Tiger Lilies are pushing green shoots through the ground, and the Bittercress is flowering!!  We were blessed with a glorious gentle spring-like day yesterday and I spent several hours outside looking for signs of new life.  I was certainly not disappointed.

There is not a lot happening on the ground yet, but the trees are waking up for sure.  Tree medicine was calling my name.  I went outside with intentions of locating a birch tree.  There were none of those that I could find, but I did see lots of Cottonwood, Beech, and Oaks, plus several others I couldn’t identify just yet.  I’ll have to wait for the leaves to come in to get some more clues to their identity. 

I also found numerous Alders growing along side the stream, which I’m particularly excited about since I was just reading about some of its healing properties on Kiva Rose’s herbal blog here and here. 

Alder catkins and cones

I’m going back out today to collect some of its catkins, cones, and twigs for an alcohol tincture and an oil.

While I was exploring, I also took along a rake and cleared a little trail through the forest down to the stream.  Last time I took a walk in the forest, I was very frightened of stepping on snakes because of all the leaf debris and fallen logs.  So now that I have a walking path, I can go all the way through to the stream without that worry.  I also plan to clear several other paths over the next few weeks.  One going from the stream to the creek, and another on the opposite side of the stream that will take me through to the other side of the wooded area that adjoins the meadow. 

Path through the forest

I also want to clear a small area right by the stream for a picnic table, and maybe a hammock.   I have visions of lazy summer afternoons with my nose buried in a book, swinging in the hammock.  Or fun picnics with the grandchildren, afterwards catching salamanders and ooohing and ahhing over all the fascinating gifts of nature.  What bliss! 

We’ve lived here a little over 2 years and I’ve never explored the forest yet.  My wildcrafting has been focused on the grassy meadows and lawn.  Now that I’ll have easier access, I’m very anxious to see what grows in the wooded areas this spring and summer.  

Yesterday all I saw were the usual trees and mosses, plus carpets upon carpets of Running Cedar.  Look for more posts on the forest flora and fauna as the season progresses!

Today will be another beautiful day so I’ll be working outside again getting my garden ready for colder weather vegetables, like peas and salad greens.  I’m trying a new (to me) method of gardening this year.  It’s called “no-till” and promises to be a less labor intensive, more sustainable, and better-for-the-soil way of growing vegetables.  More on that in my next post…

• Herbal Remedies , Wild Crafting
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tammy February 23rd, 2008

I will never ever eat anything heavy near bedtime again!  I had an extra couple of bites of our yummy dinner casserole as I was cleaning up the kitchen last night, and then had god awful indigestion the whole night.  Miserable.

My poor digestive system was pulling an all nighter trying to deal with that pasta, sausage, tomato sauce and cheese.  When it should have been resting and repairing, it was instead working.  It was not happy to say the least, and it was not very efficient either.  The food sat like a brick all night, causing bloating and pain.  I slept lightly, couldn’t relax my racing mind, had vivid anxious dreams when I did sleep.  Just an awful night.

Today I’m trying to undo some of the damage with gently nourishing foods and herbal allies, especially geared to sooth the tummy and aid digestion.

For breakfast, I’m having some chamomile tea with a little peppermint, along with some oatmeal with butter and cinnamon and a little brown sugar.  Both chamomile and peppermint are excellent digestive aids.  The oatmeal will provide good nourishment and plenty of mucilage to sooth and help the digestion along. 

I always add cinnamon when I eat this healthy high carb food because it lessens the effect on my blood sugars, as does the added butter.  Plus the cinnamon is warming and the oatmeal is moistening, both of which I seem to need right now.  I’ve been very cold and dry all over this winter, especially with regard to digestion. 

Later, I’ll have some wild greens with my lunch and dinner to help stimulate the digestive juices.  I saw a lovely patch of bittercress out in the yard earlier… think I’ll go get some of that for sure.  I’ll make a nice wild green salad with them the bright green chickweed growing nearby.  I’ll splash on some olive oil with dandlion leaf vinegar that I made last fall.

And about a half hour before my next meals, I’ll also take a dropperful of my dandelion root tincture.  It’s a bitter that stimulates digestive juices and is very helpful for indigestion, acid reflux and other stomach problems.  It also nourishes and tones the kidneys and liver.  Wish I had some fresh dandelion greens for my salad, but haven’t seen any new growth outside yet.

I’ll keep the meals a little lighter today, and drink lots of helpful herbal teas and infusions in between meals.  I think I’ll make oatstraw infusion to sip on today, with some marshmallow root added in for its moistening mucilage.  That should be nice.

Hopefully, all will be better by the end of the day. I hope so!

• Food as Medicine , Herbal Remedies
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