Archive for the 'Wild Crafting' Category

Blackberry Leaf Tea for Diarrhea

tammy August 18th, 2008

When hubby asked me to go to the store and get him some Immodium, I started wracking my brain for a suitable herbal alternative. He was feeling pretty bad and needed quick relief, so whatever I came up with needed to be effective. I remembered that blackberry is a specific for this condition so off I went to pick some bright green, prickly leaves from the numerous bushes we have on our property.

I’ve read that all parts of the blackberry plant are good for intestinal troubles, but this was the first time I ever attempted to use it. My understanding is that the berries and/or their juice are best for constipation because of the fiber and moistening properties, while the leaf and root are best for diarrhea, due in large part to their astringency, with the root being the strongest in this regard. All parts of this plant have an affinity for the digestive tract and are especially healing to its tissues.

I’m noticing more and more that I am selecting medicinal herbs based on a combination of my reading of other herbalists along side a growing awareness of the plant’s particular personalities and a deeper intuitive understanding of their energetic properties as related to what’s going on in the body.

Here is what I was thinking as I prepared this medicine. When diarrhea occurs, the tissues are leaky and may be inflamed and irritated. Astringent herbs like blackberry tighten up the tissues. A rose family plant, blackberry is also cooling to inflamed tissues. I’m sure there are many other nutrients and active components working in synergy to produce its healing effect, but just this simple energetic framework was enough to help me be able to use it more confidently and intentionally.

If I had had blackberry root, I would have used that, since I wanted a strong, fast acting remedy. But no time to dig! Instead, I boiled the leaves I had gathered into a strong decoction. I took a sip myself and confirmed that it was indeed very astringent. I could feel the tissues in my mouth tighten and become drier on contact. There was no bitterness or sweetness, just a mild, green, astringent taste.

I felt hubby needed some mucilage to help heal the mucous lining of his stripped gut, so I threw in some dried linden leaf and flower (very mucilaginous and healing to the gut). I also added some dried yarrow to help deal with any creepy crawly bacteria that may be causing trouble, and to help clear some of the heat I saw flushing his face and neck (yarrow is great for addressing bacterial infections and fevers and for purifying the blood). I poured the boiling decoction over the linden and yarrow and let it steep for a few minutes before adding some honey. The yarrow added a bit of bitterness to the brew, also good for the gut.

“Here, drink this,” I said to hubby. ” I don’t care if you don’t like it. Just drink it. It is medicine.”

He did… and no more diarrhea since! Plus, I saved a trip to the store and the cost of Immodium, which would have just paralyzed his poor intestines and done nothing to heal them. I’ve been watching carefully to see if he needed a repeat dose, but so far, all is well. He feels great, no more heat in the face, and no more stomach cramping or diarrhea. Yay!

I’m picking more leaf to dry for winter use. I suspect the leaf tea may also be a good remedy for nausea and vomitting. This fall, when the energy of the plant has gone underground, I will dig a root and make some tincture. I believe the tincture will be even stronger and fast acting, and a little will go a long way.

Everybody needs a good diarrhea remedy in the cupboard. So far, I’m convinced this one can’t be beat.

First Tastes of Goldenrod

tammy July 31st, 2008

For the July blog party on the topic of “bitters,” hosted by Kiva at Medicine Woman’s Roots.

I’ve had a love affair with Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) for the past year, since I first discovered its intoxicating scent and made an oil of it. So far, I’ve only enjoyed it as aroma therapy (not in any official sense; I just like to smell it!) and as a bath & massage oil. Now it’s time to take it to the next level and taste its medicine internally.

According to my book research, Goldenrod is considered a bitter. “The root, leaf, and flower of the Solidago is predominately bitter and pungent…” - Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants

Many tend to think of bitters as digestive tonics, and they do have a wonderful reputation for that, but bitter also can be associated with other kinds of medicine, too. I know that “alteratives,” those herbs that can have a beneficial effect on almost every system of the body, often have a bitter component. Some of my most beloved herbal medicines are at least partly bitter. Burdock, dandelion, yarrow, sage, angelica… there are more… These are the plants that ease my “achy all over” symptoms, clear congestion in the lymphatics, improve overall circulation, among other wonderful things.

I don’t yet have a full picture in my mind of the mechanisms at work when these plants do their magical thing in the body (just a partial picture getting clearer all the time), but bitter definitely equals medicine in my mind. When I taste bitter in a plant, I intuitively know that there is strong medicine there.

The bitterness of Goldenrod tells me it has good medicine also. Below are my impressions from my first tastes of it. I sampled each of these different parts and preparations on different days so they wouldn’t all blend together and I could get a better sense of each form individually.

Chew a fresh flower - Slightly numbing on tip of tongue; bitter sparkles on the back. Sharp heat that diffuses and rises into nasal cavity and sinuses. Tongue slightly puckers indicating astringency. Lingering bitter aftertaste mixed with fragrant licorice-like flavor.

Chew a fresh leaf - Sharp and slightly numbing on entire tongue, diffusive (tingly). Less bitter, sharpness fades as you hold it in your mouth, leaving a slight buzz on the tongue and a pleasant taste.

Sip some fresh leaf and blossom tea - Taste is mildly the same as the fresh plant aroma, pleasant. Not very much bitterness (maybe more if left to steep longer). Lovely green-yellow color, which grew deeper the longer the tea sat. A few sips and a few minutes later, marked relaxation in shoulders and upper back. Sleepiness washes over, just want to take a nap, eyes gritty, heavy.

Sip dried leaf and blossom tea - Much, much stronger taste and smell of licorice. While the fresh plant is very complex with a strong note of licorice, the dried plant loses some of that complexity I think, but the result is a very concentrated licorice-ness. The tea turned the beautiful green-yellow color much quicker than with the fresh plant. Slight astringent pucker on the tongue. Sharp, sparkly, licorice heat rises, filling the nose and sinus; lingers pleasantly. Cannot taste any bitterness, primarily tastes of sweet licorice. Very, very slightly tingly/ diffusive on the tongue, much less than with chewing the fresh plant. Mildly relaxing to upper body, but not as pronounced as with the fresh tea.

Other notes and comparisons - The oil of Goldenrod is a darker shade of the the unique green-yellowness, the color of its medicine. I think I would use the fresh plant and/or the dried tea for cold nasal/sinus congestion. Headaches, colds, allergies, etc.

Tincture - I have also made a tincture of fresh leaf and blossoms, which I’ll report on as soon as I’ve had occassion to use it. I’m anxious to see how it compares.

In a future post, I’ll compile all my research on the traditional medicinal uses of Goldenrod as a reference for my ongoing experiments. I would love to hear your experiences with this plant also, so please leave a comment if you’ve worked with it at all.

Seaweed Facial & Magic Lotion

tammy July 24th, 2008

Today is happy birthday to me! I’m celebrating with friends and family later this weekend, but today I treated myself to a spa right here in my Witchen Kitchen.

First, I whipped up some amazing, skin softening lotion. Remember that diaper rash balm I made and wrote about a few weeks ago? Well, I began using that on my elbows and feet not long after I made it, and I was so impressed with it that I soon started using it as an all over moisturizer after every bath.

It is miraculous in the way it softens my skin and makes it so fresh and dewy. At the risk of sounding like a gimmicky commercial, I have to say that my skin literally looks years younger and is exceptionally soft and smooth since I’ve been using it. We’ve also used it to heal bug bites and scrapes, as well as the original diaper rash. It is good for just about any minor skin irritation.

I’m no longer calling it diaper rash balm. It is now Mimi’s Magic Balm.

The balm was made of infused oils of yarrow, plantain, and cottonwood buds (balm of Gilead). I soon ran out of that initial batch I had made for Jelani’s bottom, so I made fresh batches of the three oils separately last week, using fresh yarrow picked from a neighbor’s field, plantain from my yard, and dried cottonwood buds I had ordered from Mountain Rose Herbs.

This morning, I mixed about a 1/4 cup of each infused oil along with about 1/2 - 3/4 ounce grated beeswax, and melted them together over a double boiler, then poured into a jar to set. As the mixture cooled, it firmed up nicely into a salve/ balm.

I also wanted to try making a lighter lotion out of these three herbal oils. Here’s what I did. I put a few tablespoons of the still warm, liquid balm into a pouring cup. Into a bowl I put about an equal amount of a strong infusion of chamomile, warmed also. Then I started whisking the chamomile infusion as I slowly dripped the oil into the bowl. By the time I had dripped and whisked in all the oil, it had emulsified into a lotion.

I, of course, tried it out right away. It is amazingly light and absorbs quickly with no greasy feeling at all, yet it feels just as nourishing and softening as the heavier balm. Seems a much better consistency for every day moisturizing, though I’ll continue to use the original balm for problem areas like heels and elbows, as well as for first aid for minor skin abrasions.

Okay, lotion ready, on with the spa treatment. Next I mixed up one of the best facial masks I’ve ever used. A nice hunk of kombu seaweed, ground to a powder using a coffee grinder to yield about a tablespoon, plus a tablespoon of cosmetic clay, and enough plain yogurt mixed in to make a nice paste.

Then I drew a nice warm bath, pouring in some rose petal vinegar to soften and balance the skin, and eased down into the delicious warmth for a nice long soak. I patted the seaweed mask all over my face and neck and put a couple cucumber slices over my eyes.

Lay head back. Go to daydreamland for almost an hour. Then rinse face to reveal radiant, baby soft skin, and nearly invisible pores. Wash, dry off, and apply Magic Lotion liberally to entire birthday suit.

Ahhh… what a nice day!

Crabapple Delight

tammy July 21st, 2008

I made the yummiest apple crisp for dessert last night, with crabapples. These little beauties taste like a cross between cherries and apples. So delicious! I got them from a tree in my mother-in-law’s yard. She didn’t know what they were and had been telling the kids not to eat them because they were poisonous! Somehow I had never seen this tree in her yard before, but I’m glad I finally discovered it.

(sorry the pics are a bit fuzzy… don’t know what is wrong with my camera)

First take out the seeds. The crabapples are small, so this part is quite tedious. The quickest way I found was to just cut the flesh from all around the sides. No way I was peeling them, though!

Then coat your baking dish with butter and drop in the cored crabapples.

Make a crumb topping from brown sugar, butter and flour. I didn’t have any regular wheat flour, so I ground some flax into flour instead. Sprinkle the mixture all over the top. Bake until lightly browned. Yum!

I spent the morning with my mother-in-law attempting to also make jelly from the recipe I found here: http://earthnotes.tripod.com/crabapple.htm, but alas it did not jell as it was supposed to. I now have liquid “jelly” — anyone know what I could do with this sweet, tasty liquid?

P.S. the chickens really loved the cores!

Skullcap too!

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?

Goldenrod Invasion

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!

St. John’s Wort on Summer Solstice

tammy June 22nd, 2008

I haven’t let hubby mow the meadow at all this year, just so I could see what would grow if we let it alone.  I’m glad we did this because yesterday, a beautiful Summer solstice day, I found St. John’s Wort, one of my first and very beloved herbal allies, growing in a corner of the field. 

Although my friend Sue sent me some baby plants this year that I planted early this spring in another spot, this is the first time I’ve seen it on the property growing wild, and I am very excited!

St. John’s Wort usually blooms on or around the Summer solstice.  See the little buds?

I don’t know if there are enough to really harvest them this year.  I think I may let them go to seed so there will be more next year.  We live in a very rural area with many pastures and open fields.  I’ll definitely be scouting out the neighbors property to see if I can find some more that I CAN harvest!

 

Herbal Coconut Diaper Rash Balm

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.

Wild Lettuce Anyone?

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.

 

Some Thoughts About Drying Herbs

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.

Plantain

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 :-)

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