It's November, and there are only a few dry leaves left on the trees, the mellow golds and bright reds turned to burnt orange and brown. I can hear geese overhead, their calls echoing down through the forest as they fly south. The wind is picking up. There will be a frost tonight.
I pull cloves off my garlic bulbs and push them into the earth, covering them with soil.
Planting garlic as fall turns to winter has become a tradition to me, my own way of marking the end of one growing season and declaring my hope for the next. Planting seeds just as the earth goes dormant requires optimism. One, that those seeds will survive all the harsh, unforgiving weather to come. And two, that you'll be there next spring to see them grow, harvest them, and enjoy them.
Garlic is actually one the easiest and most satisfying things to grow; all it really requires is good, rich soil and time.
Hardneck vs. Softneck
There are two main types of garlic - hardneck vs softneck. Knowing the climate and conditions where you live will help you choose the best kind for you.
Hardneck garlic is the more cold hardy type, which means it may be a better choice in very cold, harsh climates. They require a period of cold to do their best, which means planting them just before winter.
Hardneck grows a thick, hardy stem down the middle, around which the cloves form. This means fewer cloves than softneck - but the bigger cloves and more intense flavor of hardneck make up for that!
In early summer hardneck garlic also produces an edible flower stalk called a scape - these are delicious in their own right, and harvesting them redirects the energy in the plant to the bulbs, meaning bigger cloves at harvest time. So, it's sort of like you're getting an extra food crop out of them.
Softneck garlic is more suited to milder, warmer climates. It doesn't need a long period of cold to do well and matures much faster, meaning you can plant it right at the end of winter or in the spring.
It produces more cloves than hardneck varieties, but they are smaller and have a milder flavor (which some people may prefer!). They also store a bit better than hardneck because the cloves are packed in so tightly - they will keep well for a year, whereas hardnecks may only have three to six months before they start to dry out and lose vibrancy.
I prefer hardneck, just because they tend to grow very well in the cold environment where I am, and I like the reliably large, spicy cloves they produce. My favorite hardneck variety is called "Music" - I always get great results, and regretted the years when I strayed to other varieties!
Where to Grow
Like many plants, garlic likes as much sun as it can get. But, it will thrive in part shade, though the cloves might not grow quite as large. My rocky mountain top garden still manages to produce respectable cloves, even with the approximately 4 hours of full sunlight a day my garlic patch gets.
I also want to note that you don't need a tremendous amount of space to grow garlic - I have a very small patch, about 4'X4', and I'm able to grow enough garlic to last me well into winter. If you only have a sunny deck or balcony, go for it! It does just fine in planters as long as you give it good soil and enough water.
And because none of our animal friends want to be bothered with garlic, you don't have to worry about having a maximum-security fenced in area - my little patch is right at the edge of the woods, completely exposed to all dangers, and does just fine.
Planting
Though it's possible to propagate garlic from seeds, it's much easier to plant cloves; all you have to do is plant them root side down (pointy side up!), 6-8 inches apart, and cover with about two inches of soil.
Garlic is a heavy feeder, meaning it needs lots of nutrients to thrive, so try to plant in an area with rich soil.
After I plant my cloves in the fall, I usually spread out a layer of fresh compost on top of the bed and then cover with leaf mulch.
In the spring when it warms up, I sometimes add another light layer of compost if I can spare it. I also water with a dilution of fish fertilizer about once a week and water almost daily if needed - garlic likes a lot of water.
Harvesting
Garlic is typically harvested in late June or July. Here in zone 7, I usually harvest my hardneck scapes in June, and pull my garlic in the second or third week of July.
But how do you know when it's ready to be harvested? I've seen a lot of debate about this...so I'll just share my advice: keep an eye on the leaves. When three or four of the outermost leaves have turned brown and wilted but the central leaves are still green and healthy, the garlic is ready to harvest.
Curing + Storing
After you've pulled your garlic, brush as much of the dirt off as you can, then spread the garlic out to dry in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight.
You can spread them out on a screen or tie them into bundles of 5-6 and hang them to dry. The key is to ensure that there's good airflow - no one likes moldy garlic.
After about a month, your garlic is "cured" and you can trim off the roots and stems and store it - I put mine in a basket or bowl on the kitchen counter.
Medicinal Properties
What kind of herbalist would I be if I didn't mention the medicinal properties of one of our oldest and best plants?
Aside from being an incredibly delicious ingredient to cook with, garlic has been used as medicine for thousands of years. The Egyptians, especially, loved and revered this plant.
Garlic is hot, pungent, and a little spicy. It gets things moving! It's especially good to reach for when there is a sluggishness with chills. Garlic is a diaphoretic, meaning it helps to move distribute heat from the core of the body outward. This makes it a great ally to work with when there is a fever with chills - it can help the body to manage and distribute heat, venting any excess out through the skin.
Garlic, like other members of the allium family (Onions!), has also been shown to have strong antiviral, antibacterial and antimicrobial properties. Adding garlic to your cooking throughout the winter may help to ward off colds and flu, and may help you recover faster if you do get sick.
One of my favorite ways to use garlic as medicine is to make garlic honey and take it by the spoonful or add it to my cooking - all you have to do is fill a jar about halfway with peeled garlic cloves (chopped up if you like) and then cover them with honey. Cap your jar and flip it about once a day, and after a month you'll have a potent, tasty honey that's pulled out all the good medicine from the garlic. You can either strain out the cloves/chopped garlic or leave it in - the honey will make it soft and sweet!
Be well and happy growing,
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Maybe that connection feels lost, but you can find it again.
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Do you remember how you felt about the world when you were little? How did you think about the sky, the birds, the trees and animals?
My guess is, if you travel back in your mind and really think about it, you felt much more wonder and connection to those things than you do now. Maybe you saw them more as kin than other, more as friend and equal than separate and object.
Why was that? And why did it change?
At some point, all children learn that the trees will not talk back to them, and that wild things should be left alone. We separate ourselves.
But do you remember how it was, before?
What was that thing we lost, exactly? It flickers at the edges of the mind, gone as soon as we look in its direction. A shadow, or a spark of light. Something pulling at the core.
For now, let's call that thing a knowing. An understanding. A comprehension in our bones of how inextricably linked we are to the rest of the world and everything in it. Maybe the glimmer of that web of connection is bright and fresh and sparkling when we're born, but fades a little with every year, if we let it, until we can't feel our way back. We can lose our sense of home, of belonging to the land we walk on.
I think many of us sense this loss on some level. It's like we dropped something very important somewhere, something of immense value, but we can't remember what it was or where we might have lost it, and we can't afford to stop and look for it because we have to just keep going.
I remember that first time I realized I'd lost something.
I was home for a break from college. My life had become numbers, instruments, concrete walls, long nights at the lab, competition. I had great friends, but I would still describe that time as hard, gray, square, finite. I had no idea how stressed, disconnected and changed I was until I was driving through a forest and came across a grove of ferns.
I can still see them now. They were moving so gently in the breeze together. The sunlight was filtering hazily down through the thick overstory of trees. It was all soft gold and lush green. It was life. The sight of it pierced right through the ice I didn't know had formed all over my skin, and I realized how numb I had been. For a minute, I remembered myself and what I loved and what made me feel whole, and knew I had been neglecting big parts of me.
It took me years to find the path I'm on (and that's a whole weird story for another time), but I remember those ferns as being what snapped me awake and made me look at what I was doing and how I was living. They were like a shard of sunlight opening a space in my mind. They made me ask myself if I was ok, and if it mattered that I was not that ok, and realize that something had been lost somewhere along the way.
It's easy to get distracted and lose our sense of direction, meaning, and even purpose. Life goes very fast these days. The goals and standards of the world may begin to block out what's really true, and we forget about our animal bodies and what it means to really live on this gorgeous, abundant planet.
And especially right now, it's easy to feel very isolated, alone, empty, and disconnected. From each other, and from so many things. But no matter what, and no matter where we are, and whether we like to admit it or not, we are forever tethered to the earth. And if we want to, we can pick up that golden thread again and retrace our steps home.
My way back to myself, after years of bending myself into the shape of things I'm not, was the plants. It may be something different for you, but I think the green growing things really do welcome everyone, and I invite you to start a relationship with them as a way to reignite your connection with the earth.
How to Connect with a Plant
The thing you have to understand about plants is that they like us. They have their own very different and very strange (to us) consciousness, but they are aware of us. They observe and respond to the things around them. They appreciate our help, and they like to help us. What being does not want to be part of something good?
And they are, after all, our elders and our ancestors, inhabiting this place long before we were formed. We're made of mostly the same stuff. We evolved alongside them. We both need sunlight, clean air, and clean water. We tend them with our nimble little fingers and move them around and plant seeds, and they give us nutrients and medicines to keep our bodies whole and well. We take care of them, and they take care of us. We are held and surrounded by life-sustaining plants. It's an elemental, deeply codependent friendship, one that is the birthright of all us humans.
When you take time to sit with a plant, identify it, learn its names, understand its place in the world, and maybe harvest some of it it to use in a delicious meal or as medicine, you are establishing that you are a being that directly participates in life on this planet. You fall back into the web of connection, and it welcomes you. You are grounding yourself in the solidity of the soil.
There is a dialogue always unfolding now, between you and the earth. Those little violets grow right outside your door every year and the leaves are so delicious and cooling, and it's nice to have such good friends so close by, and when you see them return in the spring you say hey, welcome back! And the wild rose petals from across the street taste so...soft, and now you feel a little softer, too, and every June you can't wait to see them flower. You remember what you forgot for so long.
This is magic. This is belonging. This is being alive.
This is the missing thing.
So how do you really connect with a plant?
The best way, in my experience, is to just go and be with them. Take your time. If you don't recognize a plant, try to find out its name and the special things about it. Spend time with it, look at it, touch it.
Here is a very simple, but really effective, meditation I like to do:
Sit beside the plant, close your eyes, and take a a few deep, even breaths.
Know that you are breathing in what they are breathing out, and they are breathing in what you are breathing out. You are linked by this elemental relationship.
Let your mind relax, and just think about the plant. Picture its beautiful leaves.
Listen. What does it want you to know?
If it's your kind of thing, try to be open to any energy you might feel from it, and any thoughts about it that might come through, but don't force it. Think about how lovely that plant or tree is, and send it a little burst of gratitude and love.
Stay with it as long as you want.
I also think it's important to note that even if you can't physically be around the plants, you can still do this little meditation and connect with them. Just close your eyes, relax your mind, and try to remember a certain plant that you really liked. Maybe it was the big, fragrant rosemary your aunt grew in her garden, or a tall, welcoming pine tree that was perfect for climbing. Send a little love to that plant, and remember the joy it gave you. Remember that relationship.
It may take a while, but if you put your heart into it, the connection and kinship you have with the growing things, and all the life on this planet, will form and deepen.
One day you'll walk through a beautiful forest and know that you're surrounded by the best of friends. You'll find that glimmering web again, and you'll know that whatever happens in this world, you are held by all of this.
Be well,
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Around this time of year I always feel my energy dip slightly. Maybe it's the heat or the cumulative effect of all the activity of summer, or both. Either way, August is a time when I feel compelled to rest.
So, I think this is the perfect month to practice niksen, the Dutch art of doing absolutely nothing on purpose.
By now, most of us are familiar with hygge, the Danish concept that encourages us to embrace the cold months by, to sum it up very simply, creating a cozy atmosphere with warm blankets, a few candles, a warm drink, and our loved ones. While I absolutely love the idea of hygge (I mean, living in a cabin in the mountains, it might be the only way to survive winter with your happiness and sanity intact...), I am admittedly more drawn to the idea of niksen lately.
Niksen roughly translates as "to hang around" or "to be idle." I guess you could say it's the art of letting your mind wander. Of staring up at the trees with no particular agenda. Of being bored, even.
Here in the US, the idea of just being idle is anathema to everything our culture seems to value. We're often judged by how busy our work and social lives are; it seems as if the more stuff you pack into a day, the better you are as a person.
We don't give ourselves time to exist. Just exist, without any expectation and without guilt.
Admittedly, giving myself a free pass to do nothing is something I still struggle with. If I find myself confronted with an empty afternoon, I automatically start to look for tasks to fill it. Instead of relaxing, I just start tackling whatever is on my to-do list for the next day, or brainstorm about how I can grow this little business, or dive into a project that needs doing around the house...
But the thing is, something happens if you make space for the nothing. It's during our moments of idleness that ideas bubble up to the surface (shower thoughts, anyone?). By essentially letting your mind wander slowly in the background, you make room for inspiration.
If we want to live our best lives and make things happen, maybe we should just take a minute and completely stop trying to make anything happen.
I think August is the perfect month to practice niksen. To let ourselves relax, expand, drift. Here in the northern hemisphere, this is the month of deep green, of slowness, of hazy sunlight and long afternoons. Many of our ancestors would have considered this a good time to relax, too; the fields have been plowed, the seeds have been planted and tended, and now we just have to wait patiently for the harvest.
In the southern hemisphere, the quiet and stillness of winter is still holding the land, asking for rest and reflection.
It's a time to pause.
So, if you have a chance - even just a few minutes - to do absolutely nothing, push the guilt out of your mind and embrace niksen. Sit in the sun. Swing in a hammock. Look out the window. Take a nap. Let your partner or a friend watch the kids while you drink a cup of coffee and stare thoughtlessly into space. Listen to the birds. Watch the clouds go by. If you can, turn off your phone. Just let things be as they are in the moment.
And, if you want a super easy, delicious, basically-no-work drink to enjoy while you do nothing, I recommend throwing together a sun tea filled with relaxing herbs. If you have a place to gather fresh plants, just wander around and choose what strikes your fancy. Personally, I like to add peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm, violet leaf, red or white clover, hibiscus, and sometimes even garden herbs like sage, rosemary, and thyme. Good quality loose green tea often works well, too. Have fun experimenting with it! If you don't have a garden to harvest from or a place to get fresh herbs, dried will work ok, too.
Be well friend, and let yourself rest.
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I have a confession to make: I don't mow my lawn.
Actually, I don't even have a lawn.
At first glance, my yard probably looks a little chaotic, a far cry from the traditional neat swath of green. But if you look closer, you'll see that it's not long, neglected grass, but a wild sea of tiny flowers and medicinal plants.
When everything is in bloom, the whole place hums with bees and dragonflies. The deer stop to rest in the thickets of arching branches. There are foxes, groundhogs, rabbits, owls, hawks, butterflies, frogs and toads. It's a sanctuary not just for me, but for wildlife as well.
I love my wild yard.
But I didn't always think this way.
The smell of freshly cut grass is a vivid fixture in my earliest memories of summer. Growing up in a rural - but in some ways fairly suburban - middle class area, Saturdays often meant the buzz of lawnmowers mingling with the faint sounds of a baseball game drifting out from someone's TV. A uniformly green, neatly trimmed lawn was the ultimate sigil of a household that had it all together. If you were conscientious and good at life, odds are your lawn was equally under your control, free from the shameful blemish of a stray yellow dandelion and kept to a maximum height of two inches tall.
While I never understood the war on dandelions or the obsession with eliminating "weeds," I went much of my life without stopping to think about why we mow. It was just something you did. Humans had little, green, blank areas around their houses, occasionally dotted with ornamental flowers. And that's just the way it was.
But some years ago, I started wondering why. Why do we prize a lawn of plain grass above one of wildflowers, medicinal herbs, and edible plants?
A Brief History of Lawns
There are many theories and reasons why we have what we call "lawns," and it's an interesting area to research further, but here is the basic gist...
In medieval Europe, lawns seem to have originated as a direct result of wealth and power. Simply put, they were areas around castles that had been cleared of forest and were kept trimmed by grazing livestock in order to have a clear view of any enemies that might emerge from the woods.
Another influence may have been the aesthetic of a glade, a place in the forest often grazed short by deer kept in a game park by wealthy landowners.
Yet another theory is that having a blank green swath in the front of your home indicated that you were wealthy enough not to have to grow your own food.
All of these theories point to one thing: having a perfect lawn is a status symbol.
If you had a lawn, it meant you had something worth defending, or you were rich enough to have private land on which to hunt and the leisure time to do so. You had land you didn't need to farm for survival. Rolling lawns and manicured gardens became the standard on the sprawling estates of the wealthy, and our standards of natural beauty evolved to hold that as the ideal.
Eventually the idea of a manicured grass lawn as a sign of power and worthiness made its way to North America from Europe. The only problem was, our climate is much harsher than the one in, say, England, and that lovely European grass does not do very well here. After much experimentation, a mix of grasses that could withstand the North American environment was discovered - although it would require lots of maintenance in order to thrive. With the invention of the lawnmower and the garden hose, a perfect lawn was within reach for average Americans. And thus the lawncare industry was born.
Today, there is a booming business in fertilizers, grass seeds, pesticides and herbicides all dedicated to the uphill battle to have that perfect lawn. Many of us still have it ingrained deep in our consciousness that respectable people have a certain kind of respectable lawn. If we have the time and money to maintain a perfect lawn, we must be doing pretty good. We want others to think well of us, and so out we go on Saturday to cut the grass.
But maybe it's time we change the way we think.
Why I Stopped Wanting a Lawn
My view didn't really begin to change until I moved into my own house half a decade ago. Three-quarters of the property is deciduous forest, while the "lawn" at the back of the house was a long neglected rectangle of land that had gone wild. It had been colonized by invasive, aggressive Wineberries, and nothing else grew.
When spring came, we decided to pull out nearly all of the wineberries to see what we were working with under those monstrous brambles. When the wineberries were removed and the space was allowed to breathe, the inherent biodiversity that lay sleeping in the soil began to show itself. Left to it's own devices, all sorts of edible and medicinal plants were popping up from the natural seed bed of the earth. To me, this was so much more exciting than a plain grass lawn! I was enchanted by this diversity of little plants growing right outside my door - how could I mow them down?
So I began to cut the grass only sporadically and in a strategic way that avoided the major patches of flowers and edible and medicinal plants that had sprung from the native seed bed. This became more and more complicated over the years as the biodiversity of the space continued to increase, with new plants spreading slowly out from the untouched patches of lawn every spring. These days, I maintain a few snaking paths through the greenery - the rest of the space is dedicated to edible, medicinal, and important native plants.
So, Why Should I Do This Too?
Well, the fact is, biodiversity on this planet is rapidly and drastically decreasing. As the Earth continues to become more and more developed, natural habitats are vanishing and more and more species are struggling to find a place to live.
Everything is connected, interdependent. We rely on the bee, the flower, the wolf and all of our more than human kin to keep the ecosystem functioning, to make life for us humans possible. And those kin cannot survive in the increasingly fractured habitats we are chipping away at. With continued extraction, development, and destruction of the wild, we run the risk of cutting the last strand of the net that is holding everything together. It's overwhelming to think about.
But, there is a way we can help, and that is by turning our barren, green-desert lawns into rich areas that foster and support insects and wildlife. A plain grass lawn offers almost nothing in the way of food or habitat for most species. We can give something back to wild nature by letting go of our need for empty, manicured, controlled space.
Bringing wildness into your life in this way will also give you the opportunity to develop a relationship with nature. By observing and getting to know the plants growing near you, you become closer to the land. You will have the chance to observe things up close, to see the ebb and flow of plant and animal life on a daily basis and through the seasons. Over time, you'll get to know the habits and personalities of birds, see butterflies and winged creatures you haven't seen before, and maybe even get to experience something like watching a nest of baby rabbits grow and mature in the safety of your small habitat.
And, of course, if you're interested in herbalism and wildcrafting, you'll have an opportunity to forage and make medicine from the plants that grow right outside your door.
Ok, so how do I start?
The simple answer to this question is to just leave things alone. My advice to anyone who wants to quit the mower is to give things a few weeks to just grow, and then see where you're at. By observing what is naturally springing up, you can decide if there are certain areas you want to keep trimmed, like a path or area for your children or dogs to play in. Maybe you want to keep half your lawn wild, and use the other half for an annual veggie garden. You might, over time, notice invasive plants that need to be kept at bay, or decide there are natives that you'd like to add. If you've had a grass lawn for eons, you may need to slowly eliminate the grass and replace it with wildflowers and other beneficial plants.
Here, I leave the woodland areas of the property mostly alone; the only edits I'm making are the addition of shade loving natives, such as goldenseal, black cohosh, foamflower, native sedges, and understory shrubs and vines that will increase diversity and help the forest reach a healthy, natural state.
As for the back lawn, I keep invasives at bay while adding in native shrubs and medicinal plants that I use frequently. The edges of the land are slowly being converted into an edible forest garden as I add in nut trees and fruit-bearing shrubs. A portion of the area is now a no-dig garden for annual vegetables where I grow food. I've got a spiral herb garden as well, so that I can better grow a few culinary herbs that I use often but that wouldn't fare well in the shady wilds of the rest of the lawn.
Every piece of land will be unique.
When it comes to autumn leaves and fall cleanup, I leave everything. Many insects and amphibians overwinter in the leaf litter - if you want to rake them up, waiting until it's warm out in the spring can really help these guys out by giving them a chance to emerge and get out of the way before being swept up. If you feel really compelled to remove the leaves, a nice compromise if to leave a few piles of them around the edges of the yard, as habitat for worms, insects, frogs and other creatures that depend on them.
If for any reason you decide to mow, try setting your mower blade to the highest position, and be aware that small animals, as well as frogs and toads, might have started making their homes in your yard now that there is more diversity of plant life and habitat.
Of course, I think it goes without saying these days, but eliminating all pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers is extremely important. Letting things grow will naturally attract wildlife to your yard, and these chemicals can harm them, contribute to species decline, and can even spread out into the broader ecosystem. It can take at least three years for some chemicals to dissipate, and until that time, humans should avoid foraging anything from the yard as well.
But what will the neighbors think?
This is definitely a concern, and I won't brush it off as nothing. As I mentioned above, it is deeply ingrained in most of us to see an "unkempt" wild lawn as a sign of neglect and laziness. I'm lucky to have really nice, open-minded neighbors (or maybe they are too polite to say anything? Guys, if you're reading this its ok to express your concerns...), but yours may be understandably upset. It can be hard to ask people to change the way they see things. If you have unhappy neighbors, my advice is to really listen to them, be sympathetic, explain your side of things, and try to find a good compromise. Eventually, they may come around to your way of thinking, and might even start a regenerative lawn project of their own.
It's also important to bear in mind that at first, you yourself may not like what you see. Many of the articles I've seen recently about "rewilding" feature gorgeous pictures of colorful wildflower meadows. Sadly, this is just unrealistic, especially at first. Your lawn might bother you. It might look sort of terrible and patchy for a while until things fill out, or until you can add in native plants to fill in the ecosystem. You might feel ashamed when friends and family visit, because they won't understand why you've "let things go."
My advice is to go against these judgements and, difficult as it is, to give the land a chance. Try to see things differently and question why the sight of a lawn filled with "weeds" or covered in brown leaves is upsetting. Why do we fear disorder? Why do we only find value in things that appear controlled and tidy?
In nature we see a reflection of life; there is freshness, new growth, color, but there is also death, chaos, decline...and of course, transformation. Our society values the young, the new, the "beautiful," and makes invisible the aging, the ill, the disordered, and the difficult. Maybe we all need to look deeply at what we give value to.
What if I'm not allowed to grow out my lawn? What if I don't have a lawn at all?
There are towns and neighborhoods where regulations require that you have a neatly trimmed lawn. If you're not up to taking the fight to city hall, there are still ways to create a good habitat. You can avoid the use of chemicals, and add rows of flowers or even potted plants, all while still keeping the grass trimmed.
If you don't have a lawn, even a small balcony stocked with flowering plants and herbs is a welcome sight for hungry bees and butterflies.
Anything else?
There are so many interesting views, insights and tips on regenerating the land under your care, and I encourage you to search around and check out other resources. I recommend WeAreTheArk.org as a great place to start - it's got a lot of great information, and it has been a major inspiration to me over the years as I've abandoned my lawnmower. It's also a great site to share with family and friends who are curious about what you're doing and want to understand what you're up to.
As for finding native plants to add to your habitat, I suggest searching for your state or regional native plant society (most everywhere has one!). They'll have lots of information and resources specific to the place where you live.
Be well,
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"Herbs don't work."
This is something I hear all the time. When I take the time to probe deeper into why someone has formed this opinion, the answers always prove to be very revealing.
Often, they just haven't had much experience using herbs. They will say something like "Well, I tried X herb once for X ailment, and it did nothing." When I ask for more specifics, it's usually the case that they took a single, small dose and didn't notice an immediate effect, so they gave up. Or maybe they considered the herbal tea bags you find on grocery store shelves to be "herbs."
In rarer cases, it's because they were taking incorrect doses or using herbs that aren't at all suited to their constitution or to the ailment they were seeking relief from.
The fact is, there are many reasons why herbs may not have the intended effect. Let's go over some of the more common ones.
Dose
It's very often the case that when people are working with herbs for their own wellness, they just aren't taking them in the right amounts. The tiny amount of herb found in most standard tea bags will do absolutely nothing to affect your system. Commercial tea companies may advertise the benefits of their product, but the fact is that these are, at best, pleasantly flavored drinks.
To have an actual effect, the size and constitution of the person need to be considered before determining how much of an herb to take. A larger person who tends to be more tolerant of drugs may need a bit more.
Most herbal books provide a good starting place, but even these typically list only standard dosages intended for a 150 pound adult. So, if you are a person who is say, 230 pounds and 6'1", you may not achieve the desired results by taking a standard dosage.
Conversely, you may weigh less than 150 pounds and may be very sensitive to drugs/substances. In that case, it would be better to start out at a lower dose and see how it works for you.
This is why, if you're working with a herbalist, they will often suggest starting with the standard (or lower) dose and slowly titrating up until you find what works well for you.
Potency and Quality
I'm sorry for hating so much on poor little tea bags, but, well...I've got to say that they often contain old, brown, low quality plants that are well past their prime. This means that their potency and overall effectiveness (even if you did take an appropriate dose) will be drastically reduced. Once again, it's just a nicely flavored drink, not something that will yield results.
When shopping for herbs, keep in mind that they should always appear vibrant, not dried up, fragile, and brown. They should smell fresh, not, well....dusty. Make sure you're purchasing from somewhere reputable, and preferably where the plants are grown organically and sustainably.
Frequency
This ties in very closely with dosage - if you're not taking your herbs frequently enough, it will have the same effect as taking too small a dose. If you're supposed to take something three times a day, it's important to stick to that so that the herbs can do their work.
Time
Because people today have grown up using pharmaceutical drugs for most ailments, we are trained to expect fast, almost instant, results. (I should note here that I have nothing against using pharmaceuticals if you need to. Many aspects of modern medicine are an absolute miracle.) But herbs do not work the same way.
Because herbal medicine works to slowly correct imbalances and build health rather than suppress symptoms, it may take a few doses before you notice any changes in how you feel. If you're working with herbs for something more chronic, it may even be months before you see an improvement.
So don't give up if you don't see a big, instant difference - give the plants a chance to do their work.
You Haven't Changed Anything Else
Any good herbalist (or doctor, for that matter), will want to get an idea of what might be causing an issue before just throwing herbs at the problem. Diet, lifestyle, activity level, stresses, and even past trauma can all have a direct and profound effect on our health.
The sad but true fact is that if you don't correct an underlying pattern or address the source of the problem, you can take all the herbs in the world and it won't touch the issue. For example, let's say you want to cleanse your liver and improve digestion, so you start taking dandelion and burdock root to support that process. But you also eat a steady diet of sugar and processed foods and drink much more alcohol than you should. That sets dandelion and burdock up for a battle they can't win.
Herbs can do a lot, but they have limits. As I mentioned above, they are not drugs, and will not provide instant fixes. They can support our health and nudge our bodies back into alignment, but if we keep harming ourselves, even the most potent plants won't be able to help us.
Energetics
I could write a whole post on herbal energetics (I mean, whole books have been written about it...), but I'll try to pare it down to the basics.
When I say energetics, I mean the defining qualities, or nature, of the herb. Is it warming or cooling? Moistening, or drying? Astringent? Relaxing? Stimulating?
To illustrate what I mean, here's an example of how energetics can make a big difference in outcome:
Let's say you have a damp cough with lots of phlegm. You feel cold, and your chest feels heavy. You type "herbs for cough" into Grandmother Google and see dozens of results pop up. Marshmallow leaf, licorice, horehound, elecampane, yerba santa, mullein leaf...and the list goes on. You like the sound of marshmallow (Althea officinalis...what a beautiful name!), so you head to the health food store to pick some up.
After drinking a cup of the tea, you don't notice any difference. In fact, you feel a little worse. You develop a negative opinion about herbs. I mean, you tried a herb that's supposed to help with cough and it did nothing, so herbs must not work and it's all just a bunch of hokum.
Why was this the outcome? Well, if you dig a little deeper into the energetics of marshmallow, you'll see that it's a cooling, moistening plant. Meaning it's meant to soothe hot, dry coughs. Drinking marshmallow when you've already got a cold, damp condition will only compound that cold dampness instead of correcting the imbalance. It won't do anything to help, and might actually make you feel worse.
But, what if you had chosen yerba santa (Eriodictyon californicum) instead of marshmallow? You make a nice hot cup of the tea, take a few sips, and feel your airways clear. You feel a little warmer, too. After a day or two of drinking the tea regularly, you feel way better. You think "Wow, herbs work!" This is because yerba santa is a warming, drying plant that helps bring up excess phlegm. These energetics counteracted the cold, dampness of your condition.
Conversely, if you had tried yerba santa for a hot, dry cough, you may have felt even more agitated and irritated, while moistening, cooling marshmallow would have brought relief.
So you see, knowing the energetics of a plant is a major key to having success with herbs.
If you're taking a herb for a less acute problem, it's also wise to consider your own personal baseline constitution. If you tend to run warm and are easily agitated, look for an option that will be a bit more cooling and relaxing, or at least add cooling, relaxing herbs to your formula.
I, for example, tend to be dry and cold. I love drinking nettle leaf infusions for energy and overall health, but it can be drying in the long term. So, I make sure to add in moistening herbs like oatstraw or violet leaf to my rotation.
So, how can I learn to work with herbs effectively?
My answer to this is simply to start by investing in a few good herbal books. I really like this one, as it lists the energetics of the herbs in a straightforward way, and this one because of how practical and approachable it is. If you're curious about an herb, look it up and learn a little about it.
While the internet is a wonderful place, it's not always the best way to find credible information (I realize the irony, as you are reading this on the internet). As with anything else, just make sure your sources are credible.
And of course, try things for yourself. There is no substitute for, say, drinking that cup of yerba santa and feeling how warming and drying it is. This is the best way to really understand energetics and get to know a particular plant.
If you're someone who hasn't had good experiences with herbs in the past, I hope this inspires you to give them another chance.
Be well,
As always, the information herein is purely educational and is not intended to cure, diagnose, or treat any disease. Always consult a doctor before beginning a herbal regimen, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have underlying conditions.
]]>Aside from the emotional effects of seeing the sky shrouded by these plumes of smoke, it can have detrimental effects on our health. When we inhale the tiny particles of pollution carried in the smog, they can make their way deep into our lungs and enter our bloodstreams, which may lead to asthma, cardiovascular disease, and other problems down the line.
Our bodies are working in overdrive to protect us by clearing pollutants from our airways and filtering out toxins. Breathing in smoke for even a short amount of time can leave us with sore throats, lingering coughs, and a heavy, tired feeling. Thankfully there are plants that have the specific ability to support our bodies as they deal with poor air quality.
Many of the plants I'll mention grow abundantly around us and can be harvested from meadows, forests and parks (if you've never foraged before, check out this post about foraging basics and ethics first!). However, if foraging isn't your thing, or isn't accessible to you, these herbs can also be found in health food stores and online - just make sure you're getting good quality and preferably organic herbs from a reputable and ethical supplier (I like mountain rose herbs, frontier co-op, and starwest botanicals, but it's even better if you can find a local herb farm and support them!).
Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
Once you recognize mullein, you'll notice it everywhere. It loves to grow in sunny ditches and fields, a towering plant with a spire of yellow flowers. The leaves of mullein are fuzzy, covered in tiny fibers. A good way to remember that this plant supports the respiratory system is to think of the way these little fibers mimic the cilia, the small hairs that coat the surface of the lungs and help to move mucous up and out of the airways. Mullein leaves help to dilate the blood vessels in the lungs, making it easier for them to allow oxygen in. They are considered a tonic for the lungs, strengthening them over time.
The best way to prepare mullein is to make a tea of the leaves, fresh or dried; steep 2 tsp of the dried herb or 1 tbsp of the fresh leaf in hot water 10-15 minutes. The small hairs on the leaf can be irritating to some, so it's a good idea to filter your tea through fine cheesecloth or a coffee filter.
Marshmallow (Althea officinalis) or Common Mallow (Malva neglecta)
Both the leaves and roots of marshmallow have a mucilaginous or demulcent quality - that is, they're kind of...gooey. Which is a good thing if you want to soothe irritated, swollen, inflamed tissues (think a sore throat and irritated lungs).
While marshmallow is more commonly used in herbal medicine, common mallow is more likely to be growing wild near you and has been shown to have just as much (if not more) mucilage as marshmallow. The roots are the part traditionally used, but if you don't have access to them or don't want to dig up the plants, I find the leaves to be a good substitute.
The mucilage in mallows is best extracted by letting them sit in cold water for a few hours. To make it, fill a pint mason jar about 1/4 of the way with mallow roots, and then fill the jar with room-temperature water. Let it sit about 4 hours before straining and sipping.
Violet (Viola spp.)
Like mallow, the leaves of violet are demulcent, meaning they help to soothe and cool irritated tissues. They also help to move stagnant lymph, something that supports the body as it sweeps up and gets rid of pathogens.
Another advantage violet has is how common it is - just walk outside in any park or woodland edge, and odds are you'll find the deep green, heart shaped leaves. Though the flowers (which are also edible and medicinal) last only a short while in the spring, the leaves will be available until the first frosts of autumn.
The leaves can be eaten fresh, but as the season progresses they can get a little tough and stringy. You can also dry the leaves and brew them into a soothing tea; just steep about a tablespoon in hot water for 10-15 minutes before straining.
Pine (Pinus strobus)
The needles and twigs of white pine are strongly aromatic and make a delicious tea or syrup. The resinous oils it contains are soothing to the respiratory system and have an antimicrobial effect. This beautiful tree also contains polyphenols, highly anti-oxidant compounds that scour the body and help to eliminate free radicals - like those that may enter your bloodstream from pollution and wildfire smoke.
To make a tea, harvest a small handful of the needles and the twigs they are sprouting from and chop them up as small as possible. Add about a tablespoon of the chopped needles and twigs to a cup of just-boiled water and let steep - I like to let mine site at least half an hour, but if you can give it a few hours to sit, the flavor will be richer. Make sure to try and breathe in the beautiful scent of the tea as it brews, as that can be healing to the respiratory system too.
I also love to make a white pine syrup: add about 3/4 of a cup of finely chopped needles and small twigs to two cups of water and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and let the mixture simmer for about 20 minutes, or until reduced by half. If you like, you can add cinnamon, cloves, rosehips or anise for a little extra flavor. After the liquid is reduced, add honey to the mixture to taste. Take a tablespoon of the syrup a few times a day. Or, even better, add a little to your herbal tea. The syrup should keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
Peppermint (Mentha x pipperita)
I think it's safe to say that everyone is familiar with peppermint - it's so common that you can find it in most grocery stores. And peppermint essential oil? Ubiquitous!
When you breathe in peppermint, either from a crushed leaf or from a diffuser, how do you feel? Most likely refreshed, and maybe like you can breathe a little easier. This is due to menthol, the constituent in peppermint that gives it that "minty" fresh scent and taste. Herbalists love to use this herb for easing headaches and nausea, but that precious menthol is also great at reducing swollen tissues and breaking up stuck mucus (think inflamed airways and an irritating cough).
Because it's so popular, many people already have peppermint tea on hand. if it's good quality, I say go for it - just make sure it has a vibrant green color and a nice strong scent. Oftentimes, the teabags found in grocery stores are filled with old, brown herbs that have lost all medicinal value. They may still taste nice, but they won't have much of an effect. If possible, get some fresh peppermint from the garden or the grocery store and dry it yourself to ensure you have a potent, effective herb.
To make a tea steep a teaspoon of the dried herb, or tablespoon of the fresh herb, in a mug of hot water for 10-15 minutes before straining and enjoying.
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinalis)
Although the most obvious thing to focus on when talking about smoke inhalation is the respiratory system, it's important to keep in mind that the liver also experiences increased stress when we are exposed to pollution. This organ is the filter of our bodies; it cleans our blood, which is why it is often referred to as a blood purifier.
When our livers have a lot to deal with, they can get overwhelmed and become stagnant - the roots of dandelion have a direct action on the liver, helping it to function better so that stagnancy is relieved and it can better manage any toxins that come its way.
Because roots can be tough and difficult to break down, they are usually taken as a decoction. To make it, add 1 ounce of the dried root (or 2 ounces of the fresh roots) to a saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes before straining out the roots. Let cool slightly and sip.
Many people like to roast dandelion roots in the oven and grind them up as a coffee substitute - the result is nutty and delicious without the caffeine.
Another way I like to enjoy dandelion is by making a shrub (a very refreshing drink made with vinegar, honey and fruit). This recipe is something I've been making for years and if by far my favorite!
The leaves of dandelion are tasty, slightly bitter, and have a supportive effect on the liver and kidneys, too. If you have a nice clean patch to harvest from, you can toss the leaves in a salad or saute them in a little oil for a delicious side dish.
Be well,
As always, the information shared here is strictly educational and is not meant to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. Always do your own research and consult your doctor before trying a new herb. When harvesting plants from the wild, make sure you have a correct ID before consuming.
]]>We have nearly arrived at the summer solstice, the time in the wheel of the year when the sun shines the strongest, riding through the center of the sky. The hours of light are longest now, with darkness finally falling just past nine o'clock where I live. After this day the light will recede as the days grow shorter, the rich darkness of winter and dream-time creeping slowly back in.
This time of the year has many names; Litha, Midsummer, Summer Solstice, St. John's Day...and more. I find myself most often referring to it as Litha because that feels right to me. In the druid tradition I follow, it's called Alban Hefin, the Light of the Shore. Much of druidry focuses on touching the liminal spaces, the in between. The shore of the sea, where sky, earth, and water meet, is one of these spaces, a place where worlds begin to merge and the edges are blurred. On the longest day of the year this space is filled with the light of the sun.
There are many ways to celebrate this day, and many many traditions; nearly every culture marks the solstice in some way. Many of us today are disconnected from these seasonal celebrations, the ways of our ancestors blurred by time and lost in translation and migration. It's certainly worth researching what traditions your forebears may have had, but it can be hard to find your way back to what is true.
My own understanding of and observance of Litha has changed over the years as I tried my best to gather up fragments of the rituals my people may have enacted. As a result the way I celebrate has changed too, shifting, changing and developing naturally; as with so many aspects of ritual, I think the most important thing is that we feel what we are doing to be right and true in our bones. For example, we may feel moved to light a candle, or watch the sunset, or cook a feast, or sit under a tree, or bake a cake with fresh mulberries. This may look different from how our ancestors celebrated, but what truly matters is the energy with which you do the thing. That is how magic works. The small rituals and traditions you craft can be just as potent and meaningful as those carried out hundreds of years ago in a stone circle.
As someone who works with the plants and looks to them as teachers, I take my cues from them when it comes to understanding the cycles of the year and how to live with the seasons. At Litha the plants are fully grown. Their flowers are open, catching the energy of the sun and storing it deep in their roots for the winter to come. They have done their work of unfurling and growing, and now they bask in the glow, fully formed.
This cycle of ebb and flow, sowing and reaping is the same for us; we dream our dreams, plant the seeds of our plans, expend energy putting them into action, and should pause to enjoy the days when things are good.
Even the sun appears to be resting now: the word solstice comes from the Latin word solstitium, which means sun stands still. What better time for us to take a break, too? Even if all we've done is survive the cold of winter and the storms of spring, we deserve to soak up the peace and abundance of summer, to quite literally enjoy the sunlight and warmth before we begin the slow slide into winter.
The Wild Herbs of Litha
This is a wonderful time to harness the energy and healing magic of the plants and incorporate them into your rituals (or, dry them and save them to have throughout the year). Here I'll share a few of my favorite wild plants to gather at Litha. You may have different plants coming into the height of their power where you live - these will be just as potent as the plants I'll mention here, because the point is to work with the magic and medicine of what is growing from the earth around you.
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
In the first week of June the red clover blooms, dotting the meadows at the foot of the mountains with deep pink flowers. If you look closely, you'll see that these flowers are actually many flowers, tiny ones, all gathered together into one beautiful little sphere. The leaves are dark green, oval, come in groups of three, and bear a white chevron when they reach a certain size. The blossoms are edible and have a very subtle vanilla taste; they're easy to pop off and snack on, if eating flowers is your thing.
Medicine: Lymphatic, digestive aid, hormone balancer, reproductive tonic, soothing to dry coughs, rich in vitamins and minerals
Magic: carry some in your pocket as a protective charm, or sprinkle some of the infusion or tincture on your threshold.
Harvesting: catch the flower heads between your fingers to pop them off. Or, use a clean pair of herb snippers. A few leaves getting in is fine! Tip: make sure the blossoms are dry when harvesting, as a white mold can form on the damp flowers.
Working with: nourishing infusion or tea; tincture; infused vinegar; infused oil (external)
Elder (Sambucus spp.)
Big umbels of Elderflowers appearing on the edges of woodlands and along roadsides is a sure indication that Litha has arrived. The flowers have many wonderful uses and are often brewed into a fizzy "champagne" or made into a sweet, medicinal cordial. Be sure not to harvest too many from any one plant, though, as these flowers will turn into beautiful dark elderberries in late summer!
Medicine: cooling/dispersive (helps to manage fever), supportive to the immune and respiratory systems, wonderful for the skin
Magic: Keeps the gateway between this world and the Otherworld - witches often craft their tools from her branches. Protective, especially of children.
Harvesting: Snip off the umbels and then carefully separate the tiny white flowers from the stems (the stems and leaves of Elder are slightly toxic and should only be used by very experienced herbalists). Lay them on a flat surface or screen to dry.
Working with: tea, fresh or dried; tincture; glycerite, infused oil (external), skin wash
St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum)
As I mentioned above, another name for Litha is St. Johns Day - and this is the day that the namesake flowers open. The gorgeous yellow blooms feel like the embodiment of the sun, the petals splayed out like rays of light. Indeed, some herbalists swear by St. Johns wort as a remedy for driving away the winter blues.
Medicine: uplifting, restorative/tonic to the nerves, antiviral
Magic: symbolizes the balance between light and dark, fire and water. Keeps evil forces at bay when dried over the Litha fire.
Harvesting: carefully snip off the unopened buds with a clean, sharp pair of herb shears. When you roll the buds between your fingers they'll stain your skin purple; this is how you know the medicine is good. The buds can be dried - if tincturing or making an infused oil they should be fresh.
Working with: tea of the dried herb; tincture; infused oil (external)
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Yarrow is one of our greatest healing herbs, named after Achilles, who is said to have used this herb on the battlefield. Yarrow is wonderful at stopping bleeding, both external and internal, and is considered a tonic for strengthening the veins. I often carry a tincture of yarrow with me in my backpack on hikes, as it has strong antiseptic properties and can staunch blood flow.
If you spend enough time with this plant, you'll begin to sense her warrior spirit; her message to me has always been to stand up for yourself, to be fierce when needed, and to remember your own strength.
Medicine: styptic (stops bleeding), vein tonic, diaphoretic ( helps with fever), supports immune system (especially during cold and flu), antiseptic, wound healing
Magic: lends strength and self love, helps to balance creative flow
Harvesting: snip off the just-opened flower heads.
Working with: tea, tincture; wound wash/poultice, infused oil (external), dried and powdered (styptic powder)
Linden (Tilia spp.)
This tree is beloved by herbalists, foragers...and especially bees! The young tender leaves are tasty in salads, but I love linden most for the yellow-white, honey-scented flowers that burst open in late June. These flowers are cooling and relaxing to the heart, helping it to beat more easily. On sunny mornings you'll find these trees buzzing with beautiful, happy pollinators - watch out for them as you snip the flowers!
Medicine: cooling, relaxing to the cardiovascular and nervous system, uplifting
Magic: used in spells for love and peace. Has a comforting and protective energy and can help when processing grief.
Harvesting: snip off the flowers and attached leaf bracts
Working with: tea, tincture
Mulberry (Morus spp.)
One of my Litha traditions is harvesting mulberries and baking them into big, fluffy scones. The dark juicy berries typically reach peak-ripeness in late June where I am, and visiting the mulberry trees is such a peaceful, happy way to spend a sunny afternoon.
Medicine: the berries are nourishing and full of antioxidants
Magic: symbolizes courage, willpower, and protection
Harvesting: pick the berries right off the branches. You can also lay a blanket down and gently shake the branches - the ripest berries will fall right off!
Working with: eat fresh and enjoy!
Litha Blessings,
As always, the information I share here is strictly education and is not intended as medical advice. Consult a physician and do your own research before harvesting a wild plant or trying a new herb!
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I'm writing this in the first days of January, when the pressure to throw out 'bad' habits and completely remake yourself on both an emotional and physical level is still very...in your face.
I like the energy of a fresh start as much as anyone else...but I don't love the emphasis on immediately cutting out everything that's 'bad' for you. I think this mindset is fueled by guilt and, honestly, can lead to failure...and in turn, more guilt. It's not a great cycle.
Instead, I like to focus on adding good things to my life; more walking, more time with friends, more good music, more delicious, healthy food.
Good stuff slowly pushes out the bad, I think.
So, let's focus on some herbal good stuff you can add to your life.
Recently, someone asked me: "as an herbalist, what is the one thing you would recommend to do daily for good health?"
Without even having to think, I said: nourishing herbal infusions.
And then I thought: Hey, I should do a post on the blog about them.
So here we are!
What are nourishing herbal infusions?
Nourishing infusions are, essentially, very strongly brewed herbal teas made with nourishing, food-like herbs in large batches that you can drink throughout the day. They're incredibly simple and quick to make and provide a nice alternative to drinking just plain water all day (which I mean, I love water. Like LOVE. But it's fun to mix it up AND get some extra nourishment, too.)
The key to nourishing infusions is how long they steep (8 hours or more). Letting the water do its work for this long results is a really strong, delicious brew packed with all the awesome nutrients the herbs have to offer.
How do you make them?
Making nourishing herbal infusions is really simple. All you have to do is:
Drink the infusion throughout the day, either on ice or warmed up. It should last in the fridge for about 3 days (but you should have finished it off by then, anyway!).
What herbs should you use?
The idea with nourishing infusions is to use...nourishing herbs! These are typically gentle, mild herbs that almost stray over into the realm of being a food (the line between food and medicine is extremely thin...).
My favorite herbs to use for nourishing infusions are:
Nettle (Urtica dioica): Nettle infusion is probably the nourishing infusion I drink the most, just by virtue of the fact that I know just where to go to find huge swathes of it growing in the wild.
Nettle is, I would argue, one of the most nourishing plants out there. It's packed with vitamins and minerals and has a delicious deep-green flavor. Nettle has an affinity for the kidneys, but can support the overall health of the whole body, too. Drinking a cup or two of nettle infusion gives me a great boost of energy.
Rasperry leaf (Rubus spp): Raspberry leaf is a another herb full of vitamins and minerals (especially iron). It contains flavonoids, tannins, and glycosides of kaempferol and quercitnin.
A nourishing astringent, it can have a tonifying effect when consumed over time, and has a special affinity for the womb and reproductive organs (this is why it's often recommended in pregnancy). Many people swear by it for relieving menstrual pain and balancing hormones, too.
Of course, people without wombs should drink it too, as it's overall nourishing effects have plenty of benefits for the whole system!
Red clover (Trifolium pratense): Red clover, that beautiful dark pink flower that carpets the meadows in June, makes a delicious, mildly astringent, almost vanilla flavored infusion.
It contains minerals, vitamins, coumarins, flavonoids, isoflavones, and resins.
Red clover is mildly antispasmodic, a great lymphatic cleanser, and it's excellent for helping to clear up the skin. Because of it's isoflavone content, it can also help to balance out hormones.
Oatstraw (Avena sativa): Oatstraw is rich in proteins, glycosides, and vitamin E (among other things, but we're keeping it pretty basic here).
It's incredibly nourishing to the whole system, but especially the nervous system.
Oatstraw has a deeply calming, mood improving effect and is nice to work with when you're feeling symptoms of nervous exhaustion, can't sleep, or have some sort of nerve-related digestive things going on (nerves and digestion are more closely linked than you'd think...).
It also just makes a really nice, mellow, mildly sweet infusion.
Linden (Tilia spp) leaf and flower: Linden is one of my personal favorites for a nourishing infusion, especially when made with fresh flowers (you can use the same ratio of 1 cup herb to 1 quart water...just make sure that 1 cup is densely packed). It has a mildly sweet taste and a deeply calming, cooling effect. It also helps to open up circulation around the heart, allowing it to beat easier - it's wonderful to drink before bed when you need to relax and get a good night's rest, and in general for heart health.
Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) berry or leaf and flower, or both: Hawthorn is an astringent herb that has a tonifying effect, over time, on the heart muscle, and is often used by herbalists for irregular heartbeat and other cardiac issues. I have a tricky valve in my heart that can get upset by too much caffeine, alcohol, stress, or a lack of sleep, and hawthorn is what I reach for to get it beating steadily again.
In addition to encouraging the health of the physical heart, hawthorn is often used by herbalists in situations of deep grief and loss. In all ways, it's a guardian of the heart.
Violet leaf (Viola odorata): Violet leaf is cooling, moistening, and high in minerals like magnesium and calcium. It helps to keep the lymphatic system clear and moving, and is a really nice thing to consider if you tend to have a hot/dry constitution and feelings of stagnation in the body.
Chickweed (Stellaria media): Chickweed contains saponins, which have a very cooling, clearing effect. Chickweed is nice for helping to keep the lymphatic system clear and flowing. It's also mildly demulcent and emollient (read:soothing). This is a plant that is definitely better/more effective when used fresh, but if you can only find dried, I would say go for it.
Although these aren't ones I brew regularly, here are a few other excellent herbs you might want to look into and consider making into a nourishing infusion:
When starting out on a regimen of nourishing infusions, it's a good idea to really listen to your body to see what herbs it needs/likes. Pay attention to how you feel after a day of nettle infusion vs violet or chickweed infusion - nettle may be a bit drying for some, while violet is moistening and cooling. It's also a good idea to rotate through a few different herbs to make sure you're getting a well-rounded set of their many benefits.
When I started out with nourishing infusions, I used only one plant at a time so I could get a feel for what I liked and how I reacted to it. Admittedly, though, I do occasionally blend herbs together (nettle and raspberry leaf is one of my favorites). Don't be afraid to eventually mix things up, if you want!
And, of course, if something doesn't seem to work for you, or you just plain don't like the taste of it, skip it! There are plenty of other herbs to work with, and not everything works the same way for everyone. So, enjoy the process, have fun trying out new stuff, and find what works best for you!
Be well,
As always, be sure to do your own research and determine which herbs are safe and will be good for you on an individual level. All the info here is strictly educational and is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any illness or disease. Use caution when introducing new herbs into your routine, and consult a doctor if you are pregnant or nursing, or have any medical conditions.
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As an herbalist, a question I get a lot from friends and family is "I have x going on...what herb can I take?" Often several plants will jump to mind, and as I talk more to the person about how they're feeling and the nature of the ailment, I'm able to narrow it down to a few plants I think will help.
The problem, of course, is that for many people, certain herbs aren't readily accessible - most people don't have a jar of elecampane root or a bottle of yarrow tincture lying around, but they need something quickly. And sadly, herb shops and health food stores that carry quality herbs aren't as common as I'd like them to be.
This is why it's so important to know what the herbs in your spice cabinet (and refrigerator) are capable of.
Often, we write off herbs like rosemary, sage, and cinnamon as simply flavorings for our food, and don't give too much thought to why we use them and what they're good at. The reality is that there is a reason these culinary plants have been invited into our kitchens and included in our cooking for thousands of years. In fact, even with access to lots of different herbs, I still sometimes turn to these for help because they're simple and so effective.
So let's take a look at what (most of us) have already got around the house.
Basil (Ocimum basilicum)
Basil is known to most as a topping for pizza or the main ingredient in pesto, but this gorgeously scented herb can actually help to calm the nervous and digestive systems. It eases cramps and bloating from indigestion, curbs nausea, and helps to relieve irritability. Some herbalists even work with it for minor cases of insomnia and anxiety.
So, consider this a great excuse to indulge in a delicious basil pesto for dinner! The fresh or dried leaves can also be brewed into a calming tea - it pairs nicely with chamomile to help ease stress and tension.
Cayenne (Capsicum annuum)
Cayenne contains something called capsacin, which does three very notable things: increases circulation throughout the body; supports digestion by increasing saliva and digestive enzymes; and sends a signal to the brain to release endorphins. Cayenne is also rich in vitamins C and A, both of which help to support the immune system. All of these things make cayenne a wonderful thing to reach for when you're coming down with a cold or feel deeply chilled.
A generous pinch mixed into hot water with honey and a squeeze of lemon does wonders for that sore throat you get right at the start of a cold. Ok, you're probably thinking "Drink cayenne?? Really? NO." But listen! It seems very counterintuitive, but cayenne has an analgesic effect. It can also be added in very small amounts to warm water gargles to help soothe sore throats.
Another use for cayenne is as a styptic powder - when applied to a cut, it'll help stop bleeding (thought it may burn a bit!). When infused in oil, it can be used topically to help lessen the pain of arthritis in stiff, cold joints.
Cinnnamon (Cinnamomum sp.)
Cinnamon is known to most people as a key ingredient in Christmas cookies and cakes (or, dare it say it, the dreaded and feared Pumpkin Spice Latte). But herbalists know it as a powerful medicine for cold, sluggish conditions.
Cinnamon in its plant form is a tree with deep green leaves and small white flowers that turn into glossy dark berries. The young shoots are collected, the inner bark peeled away from the outer, and placed in the sun where it dries into lovely curls.
A warming, stimulating herb, cinnamon helps to increase circulation and warm up the body. It can support blood sugar regulation, aid in digestion by soothing the stomach, has antimicrobial properties, and can help to curb nausea and diarrhea.
Adding a few cinnamon sticks to your tea or sprinkling the powder on your food is a great way to work with this plant.
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Most chefs keep fennel seeds stocked and ready in their spice cabinet - they have a lovely, licorice-like scent and add tons of flavor to whatever you're whipping up.
Medicinally, they're a warming carminative - they help to aid in digestion and relieve pain from gas and bloating. A teaspoon of seed crushed up and infused into hot water makes a tasty, soothing after dinner tea.
Garlic (Allium sativum)
When anyone has a cold or flu, or any infection really, garlic jumps to the front of my mind. It's hard to convey just how important an ingredient it is to have around.
Aside from how delicious it is, it has potent antiseptic, antiviral, and antimicrobial properties, and boosts the immune system by stimulating the production of white blood cells. These qualities are what make it a main ingredient in fire cider, a staple in every herbalist's kitchen. I also love to infuse raw garlic cloves in honey - just peel two whole heads of garlic cloves, add to a mason jar, and cover with about 2 cups of honey. Flip daily, and after about a month you'll have a delicious medicinal honey that you can drizzle on anything or add to tea when you feel under the weather. The cloves will soften and sweeten, and you can eat them whole if you like. In a pinch, you can speed things up by covering a few cloves with honey and warming everything up on the stove, at very low heat, to let the garlic infuse before enjoying a spoonful.
Pickled garlic is another great option - there are so many great recipes out there! And, of course, you can just add a little extra garlic to your cooking!
Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
Ginger is a warming herb that's great to reach for when you feel cold, sluggish, and under the weather. It increases circulation, eases nausea (especially from motion sickness and morning sickness), calms menstrual cramps, and contains an enzyme that's been shown to help calm inflammation and repair damaged joints.
I like to keep some fresh root on hand - a tablespoon of the chopped root steeped in a mug of hot water is immensely comforting. In a pinch, dried ginger or a tincture of the fresh root will do. Candied ginger is a great thing to have on hand for motion sickness while traveling.
Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)
Rosemary is a warming, drying herb filled with essential oil, flavonoids, bitters, and other wonderful things that make it smell and taste delicious and give it medicinal value.
Rosemary can help to increase circulation, especially to the head - this makes it a wonderful option when you feel cold, brain fogged, and well, just sort of down. It's also slightly analgesic - this combined with it's circulatory and warming effects make it a nice option for easing the pain of arthritis and calming headaches. The drying effect and high amount of essential oil make it a very nice choice for drippy noses and wet, runny coughs. It's a great digestive aid, too, helping the body to process fats - perfect after a heavy meal!
While adding it to your food is, as with all of these spices, a wonderful option, you can also brew a couple sprigs of rosemary into a comforting, delicious tea.
Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
This beautiful plant with tiny leaves and purple flowers is one of the best things to have on hand when you come down with a cold. High in essential oils, it helps to fight off infection. In fact, it has a stimulating effect on the thymus gland, which is a major part of our immune system. It's warming and drying, which makes it a really excellent choice when you have a wet cough and drippy nose.
It's wonderful as a tea, but works very well as an herbal steam to help ease the respiratory symptoms that come along with a cold or sinus infection.
Sage (Salvia officinalis)
This herb is classically thought of as a seasoning for holiday dinners, but it's actually one of our most useful herbs.
When someone is suffering from a sore throat, or any sort of infection in the mouth, sage is the first thing that jumps to mind. A sage tea, slightly cooled and mixed with a pinch of sea salt, is wonderful as a gargle or mouth rinse for soothing the throat and helping to eliminate pathogens. It's wonderful, especially when mixed with thyme, as a steam for easing respiratory infections. The fresh or dried leaves can be brewed into a tea - with honey, it's a comforting, tasty was to help ease a cold or flu.
Like rosemary and basil, sage is slightly bitter, meaning in can aid digestion by helping to break down fats.
So, the next time you're feeling under the weather, think about what you've got on hand in your spice cabinet!
Be well,
As always, everything I share here is strictly educational. None of the information I've shared here is verified by the FDA. Always consult a doctor before starting an herbal regimen or trying a new herb, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or have underlying health conditions.
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Autumn came in fast and bold this year, the warm, blue-sky days of September swiftly replaced by northern winds, gold-yellow forests, and wood smoke.
This change in the weather has many of us inside more, drawn to the hearth and kitchen. As the world slows down outside, so do we; it's the season of dreaming, of looking inward, and of sipping tea by the fire.
It may seem a little funny to write an entire post on how to make tea - most people just chuck a teabag in some water - but making a really nice cup of herbal tea requires a little extra care, attention, and ritual.
Herbal infusions are one of the oldest, if not the oldest, forms of herbal preparation. They take two elemental things, plants and water, and transform them into a comforting, effective medicine. How does this magic happen? Hot water breaks down the cell walls of the plants, opening them up and drawing out the medicinal constituents within.
When I say tea, what I really mean is an infusion or a tisane. That is, the leaves and/or flowers of an herb steeped in hot water. Technically, "tea" specifically means an infusion of the leaves of the tea plant, Camellia. But, most people (me included) just call any infusion a tea, and so that's how I'll refer to it throughout this post.
Infusion vs. Decoction
So, what's the difference between an infusion and a decoction? As I said above, an infusion is the leaf and flower of the plant infused in water. Amounts and times may vary based on the herbs used, but typically making an infusion involves steeping about 1 heaping tsp to 1 tbsp of plant material in 8-10 oz of just-boiled water for 10-15 minutes.
When working with roots and woody plants that are harder to break down, we need to boil the herbs in water for a bit longer to extract their medicine; this is called a decoction. The amount of herb used will vary, of course, but a good rule of thumb is around 1 tbsp to 3 cups of water. Bring the water to a boil, add in your roots, lower the heat, and let simmer for about 20 minutes, usually until the liquid is reduced by about half.
Now that we've got these basics down, let's talk about some of the other elements that go into making a really good cup of herbal tea.
Good Water
Water itself is medicine. It flows through the heart of the land and runs over the rock-bones of the earth, picking up life-giving minerals on its way. It may seem obvious, but using pure, clean water will have a big impact on the taste and quality of your tea. Try to avoid using bottled or chlorinated water (if you live in a place with treated municipal water, you can leave a pitcher of water out, uncovered, overnight to let the chlorine evaporate). Filtered well or spring water is ideal, though I know that's a privilege not all of us have.
Quality Herbs
When many people think of tea, they picture the little tea bags you can find in the supermarket. I understand the appeal of them (I have a box or two in my kitchen) but its important to realize that these teas are just a flavored beverage and aren't really a good source of medicine. The more surface area of a plant is exposed, the quicker it will degrade and lose its medicine and taste - the herbs in those little bags have been chopped or ground almost to dust. They can also sit on the shelf for months before you purchase them. Sometimes, tea companies will add artificial flavorings to make up for this the lack of freshness/taste.
The amount of herb those little baggies contain is another issue; it's such a small amount, I can't see it having much of a medicinal effect.
If you want to make really delicious tea blends that support your health, it's worth investing in quality herbs. The plants should be vibrant, with a distinctive scent, texture and color. Brown and dusty is not what you want.
If you've been around here before, you know I forage most of the herbs I use for medicine and for my skincare products - and that's something I encourage you to do too! If you have a nice area to forage from, handpicking your own beautiful ingredients is such a nice way to connect with the land and enjoy the gifts the earth offers to us freely.
When I can't forage enough of my own stuff, or when I want something I can't find growing locally, I really like Mountain Rose Herbs and Frontier Co-op for sourcing herbs (no affiliation - I just genuinely like them). Even better is if you have a local herb shop, farm, or healthfood store that sells quality organic herbs.
(When you do get your lovely plants, it's important to store them correctly - check out this article I wrote about harvesting and storing herbs.)
Who and What is the Tea For?
Before brewing your cup, stop and think about who and what you're making it for. Is it a daily nourishing blend? Do you want something to support hormonal health? Is it meant for someone who's ill with a cold? Do you need something warming, or something that will have a cooling effect? Or maybe you just want something tasty and comforting to enjoy at the end of the day.
This is where it's important to know your plants! Before trying a new herb, it's a good idea to look it up in a reliable herbal and see the basics of what it does (you can also check out this thing I wrote about how to get herbs to work). If you want to get started in setting up a home apothecary, see this post I wrote about how to select a base roster of herbs.
Flavor
Unless you're making a medicinal tea and care more about the effects than the taste (which is legitimate...I've had some intense cups of tea in my day but they worked), you'll want to be sure the blend you make for yourself is something you'll enjoy and want to make for yourself and others.
The best way to see what you like is to try brewing a cup of tea from one herb at a time. Notice the flavor, the scent, and how it makes you feel. Did it help with your cough? Calm your nerves? Did it taste nice? What would it pair well with?
Once you have a base knowledge of how things taste and work, you'll be able to add in other herbs and create delicious blends.
Even after you have a hunch about what herbs you'd like to put together, I recommend making just a small batch of tea to start with so that you can be sure you like it.
Measure by Parts
One of the simplest ways to build blends of multiple herbs is to measure them out by parts when mixing everything up so you can keep track of what ratios you liked. All this means is that you select a unit of measure, usually a teaspoon, and dole them out accordingly.
For example, let's say I decide to make a tea that's two parts nettle leaf, one part raspberry leaf, and one part oatstraw: I would measure out 2 tsp of nettle leaf, and 1 tsp each of the raspberry leaf and oatstraw. Maybe after trying this blend, I'll decide it should actually be two parts raspberry leaf instead of one - I'll just add another teaspoon next time. This also makes it easy replicate a blend you like, or to scale up if you decide to whip up a bigger batch.
Herbs to Start With
If you're starting from square one, it can be hard to decide which herbs to stock your apothecary with. As I mentioned before, I wrote a post on how to begin building a home apothecary, and I highly suggest checking it out before you get started!
That said, here are a few of the herbs in my apothecary that I use very frequently and that, in my experience, blend very well with each other and with other herbs.
Peppermint - Refreshing, gently stimulating. Nice for tension headaches, mild nausea. Cooling.
Raspberry leaf - Mineral rich, nourishing, with a tart, earthy flavor. Gentle astringent and helpful for cramps.
Nettle - Mineral rich, nourishing, with a green, earthy taste. A wonderful plant to support all systems of the body.
Chamomile - Calming, helpful for reducing inflammation and calming an upset stomach/encouraging healthy digestion. Gentle floral taste, but bitter when steeped for more ten minutes.
Hibiscus - Full of vitamin C. Tart, cranberry-like taste. Cooling.
Calendula - A wonderful antiseptic, vulnerary herb. Help to reduce inflammation, heal the gut, and move the lymphatic system. Floral, mild, earthy taste.
Cinnamon - Warming, moistening. Spicy, earthy taste. Blends well with many other herbs.
Rose - Uplifting, calming to the heart. Beautiful scent and gentle floral taste. A wonderful element to add to your blends.
Lavender - Aromatic, soothing, relaxing. Aids the digestion and helps to relax mental tension. Can be overwhelming on its own, but lovely added in small amounts to other blends
Oatstraw - Deeply nourishing and calming. Very mild, neutral flavor - wonderful in almost any blend.
Create a Ritual
I've gotten in the habit lately of brewing myself a cup of tea in the late afternoon, pouring it into a thermos, and bringing it with me on my daily walk with my husband and dog. It may seem trivial, but this is something I really look forward to; a warming mug of tea at the end of day helps me to feel relaxed and grounded, and there's something immensely comforting about a warm drink when you're out walking in the cold.
I have a firm belief that little daily rituals like these can add greatly to our happiness and well-being. And, if they involve a little extra medicine and nourishment, all the better.
I encourage you to begin your own daily tea ritual, if you can. Set aside a few minutes to put the kettle on, to select and spoon out your gorgeous herbs. Use a mug you really love. Breathe in the comforting steam. Sit down and enjoy the present moment.
Be well,
]]>It's been another weird summer. Climate deterioration (extreme heat waves, flooding, fire, drought), war, the removal of key freedoms and human rights (and the ongoing fight to get them back), and higher prices on, like...everything.
Even if you try to keep to yourself and avoid the flow of anxiety-inducing news, it's hard not to notice what's happening around you. Honestly, I think it would be a little bit weird to not be upset or struggling with the current state of our world.
Throw in anything going on in your personal life - most of us have some kind of stress or trauma or grief - and life can feel overwhelming. I know for me personally, the past few years have been especially challenging when it comes to my health and that of my loved ones. I've needed more rest than I ever have, and it's been an effort of stay above the waves and find little pockets of peace and joy.
Lately, so many people I talk to seem to be feeling anxious/down/worried/sleepless that I decided it might be a good time to share a little bit about nervines, plants that act on the nervous system to keep us calm and balanced. I think we could all benefit from having these plant allies in our lives, especially during tough times.
Very often, nervine plants are all lumped together under one banner - I see a lot of charts and lists floating around on the interwebs with the caption "herbs for relaxation," or something equally vague. But, just like people, even herbs within a certain category can vary greatly, and each one has a specific set of things its good at. Picking the right plant for the right situation can make the difference between getting the desired outcome and whispering darkly under your breath that "herbs don't work."
One of my teachers, Sajah Popham, breaks down nervines into several different sub-categories. This really appeals to me, as I've found that dividing them up like this makes them much easier to understand and helps me pinpoint which herbs I want to use when. He breaks them down into a handful of categories, but here are the four basic ones I'd like to focus on in this post:
Relaxants/sedatives: These tend to be gentler herbs that will have a general relaxing, slightly sedative effect without making you too groggy and tired to get on with your day. They sort of just gently calm you down and leave you feeling a bit more chill.
Hypnotics: These have a deeper, stronger effect than relaxants, and may make you feel a little too chilled out during the day. They're great for unwinding at night so you can fall asleep and get a good deep rest. That said, if your anxiety is really intense, you can consider trying these out even during the daytime.
Restoratives: Restoratives, or trophorestoratives, are herbs which actually nourish, tone, and help to repair the nervous system - this makes them a nice thing to reach for when trying to recover from long-term stress or trauma.
Uplifting: These are plants which can help to move stuck energy and make the spirit feel a bit lighter.
Now that we have an idea of what each of these sub-categories means, let's talk about a few of the nervines I like to have on hand. As I said above, plants are individuals with different qualities, so many of them will fall into more than one of the categories I've listed above. Some are relaxing and uplifting, some are hypnotic and restorative, and so on.
Hops (Humulus lupulus) - Hypnotic
A very bitter, cooling plant, hops is what I think of when someone has been suffering from multiple nights of insomnia and feels simultaneously jittery/wired and deeply worn out. Because its so bitter, I suggest taking it in tincture form. Some people find even the scent of hops to be calming, and stash a little pillow stuffed with them next to the bed.
Hops can help people calm down and get to a much lower energy state, and for this reason I would use with care in people who have a history of chronic low mood or depression.
Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) - Hypnotic
Valerian is among the stronger hypnotic nervines. To me, this plant feels like wrapping yourself in a weighted blanket. It calms the mind and helps to relax the muscles, allowing you to let go of tension and sink into a restful sleep. It has an acrid, bitter taste that many people may not like, but it's very worth it for how effective it is. I really like it as a glycerite (an extraction of the plant into vegetable glycerin) instead of a tincture - the flavor is much nicer and I find that it works just as well.
Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) - Hypnotic Restorative
Skullcap is a wonderful plant for restoring/repairing the nervous system and calming the mind. I love it as a tea or glycerite, and find it pairs very well with valerian for relaxing both the mind and body so that you can fall into a restful sleep. True to its name, skullcap makes you feel like you put a cap on your head to block out the worries and racing thoughts that keep you from getting the rest you need.
Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) - Relaxant/sedative
As an anxious person, this plant has always been a wonderful ally to me. It's wonderful for calming a general sense of anxiety, and most especially for stopping circular, racing thoughts - you know, that kind that wake you up in the middle of the night and play on repeat. Passionflower quiets the noise and helps you to relax. Because it has a neutral energy (neither cooling nor warming), it works well on most anyone and is a great option to consider when you aren't quite sure what is keeping you up at night or causing your anxiety.
Motherwort - (Leonurus cardiaca) - Relaxant/sedative and Uplifting
Motherwort is a plant I have a very special and deep relationship with - she was the first plant I saw in my dreams, and I met her for the first time under an ancient oak tree, just at the start of a thunderstorm. Since then I've relied on her deep green medicine for comfort and calm when things feel overwhelming. A cooling, bitter plant, motherwort acts on the cardiovascular system, helping the heart to beat more easily and steadily - great to reach for when anxiety is causing a pounding heart and/or palpitations. Motherwort gives you courage and, like a good mother would, helps you to do things that scare you or feel beyond you. Leonurus cardiaca - the heart of the lion. Because she's such a bitter plant, I recommend a tincture rather than a tea.
Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) - Gentle relaxant
Chamomile is such a gentle medicine that it often gets overlooked in favor of stronger plants...but gentle certainly doesn't mean weak. Chamomile is one of our best relaxants, helping to cool inflammation in the body and calm the nervous system. I like this plant for general anxiety, or for when you just feel a bit too wound up and overstimulated. A tea of the flowers is a wonderful way to unwind - just the act of drinking a nice warm cup of tea at the end of the day is relaxing! Chamomile is a bit of a diuretic (read: makes you pee more), so I'd suggest having a cup at least an hour before you plan to go to sleep.
Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) - Relaxant
This plant is a specific for people who are experiencing burnout from working Way. Too. Hard. For people who are overloaded, frustrated, who have become victims of trying to do too much. A cooling, bitter plant, blue vervain moves energy downward, relaxing the mind and the neck/shoulders. Blue vervain helps you to stop, feel how high and tense your shoulders are, and let them drop dooooown. Relax. Like motherwort, this plant is so strongly bitter that I would suggest either adding it in small amounts to a blend of other herbs or taking it as a tincture.
Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) - Uplifting
Also called Holy Basil, this gorgeous, warming, gentle plant is wonderful for lifting your mood. With a sweet, spicy scent and taste, tulsi makes a delicious tea. In addition to being uplifting, this herb is a gentle adaptogen, meaning that over time it can help your body adapt to stress and deal with it in a healthy way. I generally think that the best way to deal with long-term stress is to try and address it if you can...but if you can't, adaptogens are a wonderful ally to help you through it.
St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) - Restorative and Uplifting
With yellow flowers like mini suns, St. John's wort is a warming plant that brings light into darkness and lifts the spirits. A restorative tonic, it helps to strengthen and repair the nervous system. It also helps the liver to clear excess cortisol from the body and eliminate waste products - something which really can improve your mood and overall feeling of wellness. A note of caution: St. John's wort is one of the few herbs that can interfere with certain medications, so be very sure to check whether or not it is safe for you to take. When taken over a longer period of time or in large doses, it can also increase photosensitivity.
Milky Oats (Avena sativa) - Restorative
Milky oats, the tops of the oat plant harvested just when it starts to secrete a milky substance, is wonderful in situations where the nervous system feels depleted - think worn down, low energy, and a general heavy/tired feeling. It can help to replenish and rebuild the system, especially after long periods of chronic stress. Because it's so gentle and nourishing, it's a great thing to add to most nervine formulas.
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) - Relaxant, Uplifting
This beautiful plant in the mint family is a like a ray of sunshine. Cooling, uplifting, and delicious, lemon balm is wonderful for people who feel overheated, irritated, frustrated, and like they have a hard time relaxing and "lightening up." This is a wonderful plant all by itself, but pairs really well other nervines in tea blends.
Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) - Uplifting, Relaxant, Stimulant
Rosemary isn't often included in lists of nervine plants, but I think it deserves a spot. What I love about this plant is that just about anyone can find it in the grocery store when they need it. Warming, stimulating, relaxing and uplifting, rosemary can help to release tension in the digestive system.
"How can something be stimulating and relaxing?" you ask. Well, I once heard herbalist jim mcdonald explain it like this: let your hair down and give your scalp a nice rub. It stimulates blood flow but also feels so relaxing, right? Rosemary is like that. It's a nice ally to reach for when there is brain fog and a feeling of sluggishness brought on by too much stress. It may sound odd, as most people think of rosemary only as a culinary seasoning, but a tea of the fresh sprigs is really delicious and comforting.
This may sound strange coming from someone who works so much with herbs, but I think it's important to try and work out the root cause of any health issues - including stress and unhappiness and address it. The plants can help to lift us out of a negative mental state and give us courage and support, but then we need to do the work to fix the underlying problem.
I'm certainly not saying this is always possible - there can be many causes of stress and worry and low mood that can't be so easily fixed. Sometimes, we just need to get through a tough period. And sometimes what we need most is to look at our lives and see where we need to make changes.
Can you pinpoint what things are upsetting you?
Maybe there is a toxic relationship. A commitment that takes too much from you. A job that drains you.
Can you let it go?
Another side effect of too much stress is that we start to fall into a small, dim mindset where we can actually forget what we like and what brings us joy.
We evolved with a stress response that helps us to get out of immediate danger - we hyper focus on the problem at hand until we're safe (i.e., outsmarting or outrunning a predator). But that doesn't serve us well when it comes to frequent, persistent stress. We can focus too much on our problems and forget to look at the bigger picture and to notice the good things around us. It's like a darkness begins to fall, and you get trapped in this static mindset and forget that things always pass and change.
One way I like to combat this is by sitting down and literally writing out what things/activities make me feel happy and at peace. I know it sounds almost trivial, but taking the time to think of all the things that are great about life can help you remember all the nice stuff you may have stopped doing/thinking about.
I'll go first:
Just from sitting here and making this list, I'm thinking that I should carve out a little time to bake cookies to share with friends this week, that I should make more solid plants for fall hiking, and that I should...adopt more dogs (well, we'll see about that one...)!
You matter, and you deserve to feel at peace in your life. Don't be afraid to do what you need to do to take care of your precious self. We are all just little wandering souls that have the privilege and luck to be having a physical experience in this beautiful world. You deserve to enjoy that.
And, if you need a little help from the plants, they're always there for you.
Be well,
P.S. I want to stress that seeking help with your mental health is NOT something to be ashamed of. Mental illness is like any other sickness, and sometimes we need to go to the doctor. If you are struggling with depression, find a way to reach out to someone you trust and find help. The National Suicide and Crises Hotline can be reached by dialing 988 on your phone and can help you find the resources you need.
As always, everything I share here is strictly for educational purposes and is not intended to treat, cure, or act as advice regarding disease. Always do your own research and make sure a herb is safe for you to take, especially if you are on medication, pregnant or breastfeeding.
]]>August is nearly here, a month of cricket-song and warm, hazy nights. Yet, just as summer is at its richest, we sense the shadows of autumn falling over the golden meadows. The winds begin to change, just slightly, and the sun disappears a little earlier each day. The harvest season is here; soon the corn and squash that grew tall and ripe in the summer sun will be piled high in the market. I'm already thinking of the wild grapes at the edge of the forest, soon to be ready, glossy black gems under green leaves.
My ancestors celebrated this subtle turning of the seasons with a feast, a fire festival called Lughnasadh, so named after Lugh, an ancient king of legend who was worshipped as a god of warriors, artists, craftsmen, and of the sun and the harvest. There are so many traditions to choose from, ways to mark this celebration. Rituals to perform, lore to commit to memory.
But what, really, is the heart of Lughnasadh?
This celebration, this marking of time, is the acknowledgement that the growing season will come to an end, and that, as part of the spiral-dance of life, things must die to be reborn. This is a time to pause and take stock, to understand that without death, life is not possible.
Grain, cut down and harvested, is reborn as flour, and made into bread to nourish us through the winter. The fruits must be harvested, their seeds stored for the next year. The summer ends to become fall, to become winter, to be reborn as spring.
All things become something else. It's a very bittersweet thing, to need and want change but mourn what must be lost when it comes.
As a herbalist, the month of August marks the beginning of the end of my harvest season. Goldenrod is often one of last things I harvest and make medicine with. When I see the sun-yellow flowers lining the roadsides and filling the meadows, it signals to me that soon the leaves will fall, and that we are standing at a turning point in the year.
I mark this time in my own way by thinking back over the past few months. What seeds, literally and figuratively, have I planted, and how well are they growing? I also take the time to think back on the beautiful plants I've seen and harvested and made medicine with; the nettles, clover, creamy-white elderflowers, nodding heads of purple sweet leaf and bright sunbursts of st. john's wort. The heal-all, growing low in the grass, tiny flowers a carpet of purple, and how I sat on the hillside in the evening with them.
Gratitude, gratitude, even as I let those things go.
What has happened for you, in these past months?
What are you harvesting now?
What are you thankful for?
What did you love?
What can you let go?
What do you want the future to bring, and how can you accept the changes that must come?
Be well,
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Outside there is still a layer of snow and ice on the land. The kind that forms only late in the winter, when the sun is just warm enough to melt the top layer and the nights are just cold enough to freeze it solid again. In the bare patches between pockets of snow, I can see the young leaves of motherwort, frilled groups of garlic mustard, the oil-painting perfection of new wood avens growth.
The sight of these things wakes something up in my mind, something very old and true. Soon the plants will return, life will return, everything begins again. It will be time to make medicine, to harvest fresh greens from the earth, to nourish the body and shake off the dust of winter. This is the energy of spring.
For years I've lived my life this way, trying as best I can to realign myself with the earth, to notice things, to tune my body and mind back to the natural cycles of the meadows, the birds, the clouds. Maybe all my life I'd tried, but never hard enough. The world is a distracting place, and it likes to tell us stories about what is and isn't important. For too long I listened to the wrong stories. I got distracted.
Herbalism and foraging were my way home, so I want to talk about how they helped me find myself again, why I practice them, and why I think anyone who wants to live a more authentic life, who wants to find roots, connection, belonging and truth should look first at their relationship with the things growing right around them.
Finding Something Lost
Some of my earliest memories are of the wild mint that grows along the edges of the lakes where I live. I loved everything about it; the scent, the symmetry of the purple flowers, the crinkly leaves, and most of all, that something so fun grew right within my reach. I can remember the spark of joy I felt whenever I found a new patch, like I had stumbled on something precious. I still feel the same when I'm out hiking and see a familiar herb I particularly love, or when I meet a new plant I've only ever read about.
I think this feeling is something universal to humans, even if they don't remember it or give it enough attention to thrive. If you think back, I'll bet there was a plant you loved as a child. Maybe a tree, or a bush, that you felt a relationship with.
That feeling faded for me, too, as I got older. I stopped listening to my own voice and started listening to all the loud, insistent voices outside of me. My love for the natural world, for the tiny flowers in the grass and the smooth gray bark of the beech trees, became something secondary in my life. I always had this feeling that there was something just outside of my sight. Like there was magic and connection out there in the dusk under the trees. I knew the thing I was missing was behind a veil, and if I could just pull it back, everything would be returned to me.
The first time I started to remember who I was, I was driving through a long winding road in the forest. I was on a break from college, where I spent long nights in the observatory and in the lab, looking for stars that died at the beginning of the universe. That sounds romantic, but it wasn't - my world had become concrete walls, computer screens, spreadsheets, and not enough sleep.
On that road in the forest, I came across a grove of ferns. I can still see them, moving in the breeze, the slanted afternoon sun filtering through the canopy of oaks. The motes and tiny insects drifting in the air above them. The ferns and sun and summer air entered my being like a shard of light piercing through a darkness I didn't even know I was in. It was a long time before my life changed, but I remember that moment as the one when I began to search for my way back.
Years ago, when I found the old herbals my great aunt had passed down to my mother, something clicked into place. Herbalism was not as mainstream as it is now, and I had little exposure to it in my daily life. I didn't really know that herbalist was a thing you could actually be. As a child I dreamed of eating leaves, of making bark into syrup, and here in these old books were the instructions. It was like finding a spell book, or a secret door that wasn't there before, and it opened up the world.
Re-establishing Connection
Working with plants made me feel real again, like a had a purpose, a place to belong. Like I was part of the earth again. Humans are meant to participate in the natural world, and when we don't, I think we inevitably start to feel disconnected.
I think, even if you're not a 'plant person,' you can find a tether back to the living earth by observing even the smallest plants around you, learning their names and understanding how they can help us. When we truly wake up and start to observe the physical, tangible world around us again, it's like getting to know an old friend, or finding a long-lost relative.
To harvest a plant is to know it. If you are careful and ethical about your harvesting, you'll have observed the ecosystem it lives in; who depends on it, who grows with it, what weather it needs to thrive. Does it grow in the meadows, or deep in the forests? And why?
Glechoma hederacae: ground ivy; gill-over-the-ground; creeping charlie, ailhoof, catsfoot. Just finding out the old names of this little mint summons an ancestral memory. Our great grandmothers named this little plant, added it to their soups and used it in their apothecaries. One of the first green plants of the year, the bitter taste of the leaves wakes up our digestion in the spring, helps us to cleanse the old stagnation of winter, primes our body for the months of energy and activity ahead. It grows most often in backyards - it likes to be near humans.
When you pick some of this unassuming little plant and toss it on a salad, you are accepting a gift directly from the earth and engaging in something so old and profound that it can't be described. Reclaiming a lineage. You are, literally, reconnecting with the earth and engaging in a direct relationship.
The more you observe the plants, harvest them in their time, and work with them, the more you will understand about the natural world and how connected to it we are. You'll see why dandelion roots are bitter in the spring and sweet and nourishing in the fall; they give our bodies exactly what they need in the season when we need it. We co-evolved, our rhythms match. You'll understand how much the rain matters, notice the subtle shift in the light at the solstice and feel exactly where you are in the cycle of the year.
To understand these things is to be fully awake, to be fully human, to understand our place on the earth. When everything else is in question, you can return to the solidity and basic truth of these patterns. You can feed yourself and keep yourself well with the things that grow freely around you. This is a support system that you will always have.
Freedom
While the spiritual component of wildcrafting is perhaps the most important and healing to me, there are practical reasons why I do it, too.
When I started foraging and growing my own food and herbs and using plant medicines, it felt like I had given myself a degree of freedom I'd never had before but always sought. Getting to know the earth again was like finding a mother/father/friend who would always be there for me when I needed it.
As a person who has always had anxiety and difficulty feeling truly safe, it was life-changing for me to feel that I could rely on both myself and the land for food and medicine.
Nourishment
The sad fact is that many of the foods available to us in the grocery store are mere shadows of what they once were. The conventional farming methods used today deplete the soil of nutrients and leave our food severely lacking (there's a lot more information about this here, if you're curious).
On the other hand, wild foods are often growing in full, intact, diverse ecosystems where the essential minerals and other nutrients in the soil have not been disturbed. Nettles harvested from the edge of a pristine pond in the forest are going to have a much richer spectrum of necessary nutrients than salad that was picked weeks ago from poor soil.
But, of course, that's just an opinion and a feeling I have, and one major caveat is endangered plants; if a herb you need is endangered, purchasing it from a responsible grower, or growing it yourself in your own rich garden soil if you have that privilidge, is the ethical thing to do.
How do you get started?
If what I've shared above resonates with you and you feel called to enter into relationship with the land around you, the first step is to make sure you understand the concept of reciprocity and ethical harvesting. If you aren't respectful of the ecosystems around you, if you don't do what you can to ensure that you are giving back to them, then you won't truly be living in right relationship with the land. You'll be missing out on so much of what wildcrafting is (and, possibly, harming the land...which we don't need any more of).
I humbly suggest reading this article I wrote a while ago about how to get started with wildcrafting and how to do it ethically. I also have a few other articles about seasonal wildcrafting if you'd like to check those out, too, for ideas on what to look for at different times of the year.
A great book to consider if you want to understand reciprocity with the land is Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Even if you choose not to wildcraft, reading this wonderful book will open your eyes to all the ways in which we humans are a part of the earth.
Be well,
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Real, deep rest.
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Let's talk about rest.
Real, deep rest.
A slowing down, a hibernation.
I think (hope) the world is slowly coming around to the idea that taking a break when needed is a good thing, but as of right now, talking openly about rest seems radical.
From a very young age, we are trained never to rest. The thing that is valued the most is productivity. Your worth is measured by output. Pushing yourself beyond where you should is depicted as a noble act, burnout is venerated, working long hours is a badge of honor. To do anything less than everything is to be considered...dare I say it....lazy. And therefore unworthy. (Don't even get me started on how ableist and neurotypical this mindset it.)
The cultural pressure to have something in the works, to have a new project on the horizon or be able to name recent accomplishments is strong.
For most of my life, I bought into all of these notions. I forced myself to do things I didn't even enjoy just to earn the respect of those around me, to feel like I was enough. I was afraid to not always give my all, to quit things...even things I didn't like, because my fear of being seen as a failure was so strong. And always, I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water, like I had been forced into a narrow passageway with no escape and no time for rest.
One day years ago, I was driving through a road deep in the woods when I came across a grove of ferns. They were lit by shards of golden sun coming through the canopy, glowing in the heart of the forest. The sight of something so beautiful and simple pierced through the fog I was living in and woke me up. It showed me how disconnected I had become from the land around me, and even from myself. It took me years to change, but I think of that moment as the first step on the path back to myself and to living in reciprocity with the earth and synchronicity with the seasons.
So many of us become disconnected from nature and her patterns, and some of us never realize it. We force ourselves along a way we didn't really choose. We reject rest, we ignore the natural energies of the changing world around us. Especially at this time of the year, there is a lot of pressure to be "on." To throw the best parties, to attain a certain number of "perfect" gifts, to outline a list of goals for the coming new year. To distract ourselves from the inner work we need to do.
But this is not the way in nature. There is a pattern in the forests and fields of productivity and rest - growth in spring, flowering in summer, and fruit in fall. And then comes stillness, rest, a pause to gather energy before the return of spring. The trees have given up their leaves, the flowers of the field know their work for the year is done, the bears have gone to sleep.
By refusing to rest, we are ignoring the pull on our hearts to be quiet, to listen for our inner voice. We are animals too, and are not exempt from these rhythms. It's ok to just stop sometimes, to let a thing die, to go inward and regroup. To do nothing and achieve nothing for a day. Or a week. Or however long you need. You are no less valuable because you aren't doing something, achieving something.
I am, of course, not saying we should forgo gathering with friends and creating cheer for ourselves during the winter. Community is important. But I am saying we should observe how our more than human kin respond to this shift in the seasons and take a lesson from them. We should make time for rest and dreaming, for looking into the stillness and coming back to ourselves. These long nights call us to turn inward, to share stories and dream by the fire, to enjoy the rich, fruitful darkness so that we have energy for the spring to come.
How do we begin to change our minds, change the way we think and let go of the drive to always be in "production mode?" How do we invite rest, look inwards and begin to hear our own voice? I'm not sure there is a simple answer or a right way, but I'd like to share some of the practices I use to keep myself grounded, live in harmony with winter, and sink into hibernation.
Go out into Nature
A wonderful way to reconnect with the seasons, to understand and embrace rest, is to go outside and build a relationship with the place you live. Notice how the plants have sent their energy back down into the ground, how they wait and dream of spring.
Feel the quiet sink in, listen to the wind. The birds are silent. A fox trots along the edge of a field on its way home. Everything is waiting, the lake still beneath the ice. If you live in a city, notice the trees in the park, branches bare. The slower pace of life on the sidewalks.
Everything will come again, all things will revive in the spring with the return of the long hours of light. There is nothing to be done now. This is a time for dreaming, a time to take care of yourself.
Herbal Tea for Rest
Stopping to make tea on a cold winter day is such a nice way to take care of yourself and create a little space. Even if you don't have a lot of time in your schedule to pause, you can make this small act a restorative ritual, a few minutes when there is nothing else you have to do. Add your herbs to the cup, pour the water slowly. Feel the comforting warmth of the mug in your hands, breathe in the steam.
If you can, sit quietly by the fire, or by a candle. Or gaze out the window, or into the starry night sky. Let your mind rest and wander with nowhere to go.
Here is one of my favorite, calming brews to make on chilly nights:
Add ingredients to a steeper basket, cover with 8oz just boiled water, and let infuse for 10-15 minutes before straining. Sweeten with honey if desired.
A Winter Meditation
On a quiet night when you have space for yourself, turn the lights down and light a single candle. Take a few deep breaths, feel your heart rate slow. Close your eyes and envision this:
You are standing in a snowy forest; everything is silent, stars shining through the bare branches above. You feel your feet anchoring you to the ground, and you reach out and put your hand on the rough bark of a tree.
Looking up you see that it towers above you, bigger than any other tree in the forest. There is a light at its base, a warm glow from a doorway. You are drawn inside, and descend down into a cozy hollow, the walls smooth stone and patterned with roots. Candles are burning, and you feel safe and cozy here, aware of the world above and the sleeping forest. Maybe there are thick warm blankets to snuggle in, a fire in the hearth. This is a place to rest, to be held, a place just for you.
There is nothing to do, nowhere to go. No one expects anything of you, no one is wondering where you are. You have as much time as you need.
Sit with yourself. Feel how you feel. What is coming up for you? What is true for you? What makes you feel grounded? What brings you peace? Or maybe nothing is coming up, just a feeling calm and rest.
Stay here as long as you want to. When you feel ready, ascend up and out into the forest. Look up at the clear starry sky and breathe the fresh air. Before you open your eyes, know that you've left the candle burning inside that cozy hollow, that you can return to that safe inner place whenever you need to rest and dream.
If you like, you can write down what came to you during this meditation in a journal when you're finished so you can remember how it felt and work through what that means for you. Maybe you felt clarity, or peace, or inspired. If you feel called, this might be a nice meditation to do with loved ones and discuss afterwards. How did it feel to be held, with no expectations? How can you create more rest in your life?
Artwork by Jessica Boehman
Be well, and blessings for a beautiful winter,
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The arrival of late autumn brings beautiful, crisp mornings, the first frost, and...that first tickle at the back of your throat. Cold and flu season has arrived.
Around this time of year, I get lots of questions about which herbs to use to help ease symptoms and speed up recovery for respiratory illnesses. There are so many herbs out there, and so many herbal teas lining the shelves of the market that it can be really overwhelming to try and figure out which one might actually help - especially when you're feeling ill and too fuzzy-headed to think clearly.
So! I'm going to do my best to round up a few of the herbs that I rely on when I'm under the weather, and lay out a simple way to choose which ones will be best in certain situations.
But before we do that, let's take a minute to talk about an energetic approach vs. an allopathic one.
An allopathic approach is, essentially, a sort of oversimplified, encyclopedic way of thinking about medicine. If you have this problem, take this; like finding matching pairs. While this makes sense for many areas of modern medicine (this medication is proven to work for that ailment, this course of treatment is the best for that disease), plant medicine works a bit differently, and a good herbalist will not operate this way.
Instead of straightforward matching, we ask questions about the specifics of a particular situation. Is there inflammation? Coldness? Dampness? Dryness? These are the energetics of a condition, and knowing these things can help us narrow it down so we can be sure that we're picking the right herb.
If you have a damp cough, feel cold, and have a runny nose, you'll want to counter those energetics with a herb that's warming and drying. If you've got a dry, nagging cough and feel hot and inflamed, you'll want something moistening and cooling.
Let's go through an example. You're feeling under the weather and have a cough, so you pull out an herb book (or ask Grandmother Google) and look up herbs for the respiratory system. You'll probably see dozens or more listed. Or maybe you drive to the health food store and stand in front of the rows and rows of herbal teas, many of which claim to help with a cough. Licorice, marshmallow, elecampane, mullein...these all sound pretty ok. But how do you know which one will actually work?
Well, because you're clever and understand energetics now, you're able to think through it. You have a wet cough, a runny nose, and you feel chilled. The basic energetics here are: damp and cold. So you need something warming and drying. You look up marshmallow and see that it's moistening and cooling - not what you need, and it might even make you feel worse! What about this herb next to it on the shelf, elecampane? You do a quick google or scan your trusty herb book and see that elecampane is a drying, warming herb for the respiratory system. Perfect!
I should note that it's totally acceptable to use multiple herbs in a formula, too, as long as you make sure the overall energetics of the blend lean in the direction you need them too.
Now let's take a look at some herbs that act specifically on the respiratory system.
Elecampane (Inula helenium)
Energetics: warming, drying, bitter
Parts used: root
Used as: infusion, tincture, syrup
Elecampane root is a strongly aromatic, bitter, and warming expectorant herb with an affinity for the respiratory system. Many herbalists like to use it for deep chest congestion, as it helps to break up stuck stuff and get it moving out of your system.
Unlike other roots, I find I don't need to make a decoction for elecampane to be effective. A simple tea is often enough to feel an effect.
Yerba Santa ( Eriodictyon spp, leaf)
Energetics: warming, drying, bitter
Parts used: leaf
Used as: infusion, tincture, syrup
Yerba santa is a bitter, aromatic herb that is used to address persistent congestion in the upper respiratory system. It can be very drying, which makes it wonderful for cold, damp conditions.
It can be taken as a tincture, but I like to use the dried leaf to make a tea when dealing with respiratory issues - just inhaling the aromatic steam coming up from a nice hot mug of yerba santa tea can have beneficial effects. I find it pairs very well with elecampane.
Horehound (Marrubim vulgare)
Energetics: cooling, bitter
Parts used: leaf
Used as: tincture, infusion
Horehound is an extremely bitter member of the mint family. Horehound has long been used by herbalists to break up 'tough' phlegm and expel it from the lungs.
It's best taken as a tea, although it will be very bitter and might be best with the addition of more palatable herbs.
Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra, root)
Energetics: slightly warming, moistening
Parts used: root
Used as: tincture, decoction
A demulcent expectorant, licorice is a soothing plant to use in situations where the airways feel tight, dry, and congested. Because licorice tastes really nice, it's often used in small amounts to take the edge off of very bitter blends (I'm looking at you, horehound...).
The roots of licorice can be decocted and drunk as a tea or taken as a tincture - both will work well.
Marshmallow (Althea officinalis)
Energetics: Cooling, moistening
Parts used: leaf, root
Used as: tincture, infusion
Marshmallow is a cooling, demulcent plant that helps to keep the respiratory tissues moist and flexible. It can help to break up dry, stuck mucus and get it out of the airways. It's also very soothing to the throat and stomach.
The root is the part most often used, but I think the leaf can be effective as well. The root can be decocted and the leaves made into an infusion. You can sometimes find the root available in powder form, which makes it easy to stir into your drink.
An infusion or decoction of marshmallow can be drunk hot, but the best way to extract all that soothing gooey stuff it is to do a cold infusion - just add the root or leaf (or powder) to cold water and let it sit for a several hours (at least an hour) before straining and drinking.
Mullein (Verbascum thapsis)
Energetics: Neutral to cooling, slightly moistening
Parts used: leaf
Used as: tincture, infusion
Mullen is considered an invasive weed to many here in the northeastern U.S, but it's one of the greatest allies we have when it comes to lung health. The leaves are moistening and cooling, and are often taken as a tonic for the respiratory system.
Mullein helps to keep the lungs clear and strong, and as a gentle expectorant can help move stuff up and out of the lungs and airways The leaves can be used fresh or dry to make an infusion - one important caveat is that after steeping, the brew should be steeped through something very fine (I recommend a coffee filter) to remove the small fibers that cover the leaves.
Conifers
Energetics: warming, drying
Parts used: needles, sap
Used as: infusion, syrup, tincture
The citrusy, Vitamin C-packed, antimicrobial needles of most conifers are excellent at clearing up congestion in the chest and sinuses - and the best part is, it's very likely that you can harvest them from trees growing near you. White pine (Pinus strobus), fraser fir (Abies fraseri), and norway spruce (Picea abies) are some of my favorites to work with. Just be very sure you aren't harvesting yew (Taxus spp.), which is very toxic.
Conifer needles can be made into a delicious syrup, or chopped up finely and infused in hot water to make a strong tea. A tincture is all right in a pinch, but you'll get more benefit from breathing in the steam from an infusion or syrup simmering on the stovetop. (If you'd like more info about evergreens and how to use them, check out this post.)
Be well,
All the information shared here is strictly for educational purposes and is not intended to treat, cure, or diagnose any disease. Always do your own research and consult a doctor before starting a herbal regimen.
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Elder is a plant of the edges. A sentinal, a guardian, growing where the woods meet the fields, where the land meets the water. A gate keeper of the turning points in the year.
Where I live, the elder tree is one of the first to send out new leaves. In late winter, at Imbolc, the buds begin to form, and this is when I know the seasons are about to change. Soon the deep snows that have settled in the mountains will melt away, replaced by soft green moss and cool rivers of water.
In June, elder gives us big umbels of creamy white flowers to mark the arrival of Midsummer and the longest day of the year, the knife edge when energy and light begin to ebb and we start the slow return to quiet darkness.
As we move into late summer, the elderflowers have turned into juicy black berries, the umbels drooping and heavy with fruit. This marks to me the time of harvest, the last deep breath before the energy of the plants returns to the ground and they begin their winter dreaming. The berries, used for thousands of years to ward off the illnesses of winter, signal to us that the time has come to prepare for darker, colder nights.
Folklore
The elder tree has been recognized as a powerful being and source of medicine for thousands of years, and the folklore surrounding it is rich in many cultures. My ancestors, the Celts and peoples of Europe, believed that elder was a gate keeper between this world and the Otherworld, and that it was inhabited by powerful spirits. It was even said that the witches of Ireland made their brooms from elder twigs and branches. In Scotland they say that standing beneath an elder tree on Samhain will allow you to see into the fairy world.
The Elder Mother, spirit of the elder tree, was to be respected and asked for permission before any harvest of her leaves, wood, flowers or berries. If respected, the Elder Mother offered powerful protection. It was considered a blessing to have elder growing outside your door, and a branch on the lintel of a house was said to protect its inhabitants.
The Elder Mother offered special protection to children, who were highly valued and cared for in the Druid tradition. This makes a lot of sense to me, as elder is one of those herbal medicines that's safe for small children - the flowers can even be given to infants without harm - and is one of our most effective remedies for childhood fevers.
Medicinal Properties
The medicinal history of elder goes back at least as far as the folklore - all parts of the tree have been used for medicine, but here I'll just focus on the flowers and berries, as they are the easiest and safest to work with.
There are two species of black elder here where I live, and I use them interchangeably: Sambucus canadensis and Sambucus nigra.
Elderflowers
The flowers of elder are cooling and have traditionally been used to help with ailments of the respiratory system as well as to support the body as it fights off colds and flus.
A hot tea of elderflowers can help to bring down a fever by opening up the capillaries and pores of the skin, allowing a person to "sweat out" the excess heat from a fever. Peppermint and yarrow are typically added to this brew to enhance it's effects (and flavor!).
Topically, elderflowers are soothing to the skin, help to clear up discoloration and fight signs of aging, and are slightly astringent.
Elderberries
Elderberries are probably the most well-known part of the elder tree - they've risen quickly in popularity over the past few years.
I see more elderberry flavored and fortified foods and drinks all the time. It's safe to say they've become mainstream, and for good reason - elderberries are effective at fighting off colds, flus, and inflammation.
But how, and why, do they work so well?
Essentially, the berries contain chemical constituents that help prevent viruses from getting into our cells, and therefore replicating. This is why preliminary clinical trials have shown that elderberry may speed recovery from illness, shortening a cold or flu by days. It's also why many herbalists recommend taking a little spoonful of elderberry syrup daily during cold and flu season, and upping that dosage if you begin to feel ill or have been exposed to someone who's sick. Prevention is the best medicine, and I think having a little elder in your system is a nice way to stack the odds in your favor when there's a virus going around.
Energetically, the berries are cooling and sour-sweet. Aside from being an excellent ally for fighting off viral illnesses, they're very soothing and cooling to the digestive system and can also help to bring down inflammation throughout the body.
How to Work with Elder
Though elder is a food-medicine, there are a few things to know before you go a-harvesting.
The berries, leaves and wood of the elder tree are all mildly toxic.
Now before you get freaked out and decide to never try harvesting elder, it's important to realize that toxic is not the same as poisonous. Some people are perfectly fine if they eat the fresh berries, others may get an upset stomach. If you ate a ton...well, that might not be the best idea. The leaves and wood are a little more more toxic and should only be worked with if you're an experienced herbalist and really know what you're doing.
So, let's just stick to the flowers and berries, shall we?
To harvest elderflowers, make sure you harvest them on a dry day, and be sure to separate them from the stems. You should be able to shake/rub them off pretty easily. One trick is to use a fork, and sort of just comb them off. If a tiny bit of stem gets in with everything, it's ok.
The best way to dry them is simply to let them sit out on a fine mesh screen. Even a clean linen or paper towel will do, as long they're getting proper airflow.
When working with the berries, there are a few ways to process them to make sure they lose their toxicity. You can:
Simple! Cooking and drying eliminates the toxins in the berries, rendering them totally safe. Tincturing them fresh in alcohol seems to be ok too, and though I have to admit I've never done it, many herbalists I know do this and have never had an issue.
To dry the berries, lay them out on a screen or clean surface with proper airflow just like you would the flowers. Give them a turn now and then to make sure they aren't sticking to he screen and that they're drying out evenly.
Elder Recipes
Now that we know all this cool stuff about elder and how to harvest and process it, how do we bring it into our kitchens and work with it to keep ourselves well?
A classic is to cook the berries down into a sweet syrup that you can sip on daily. Here is a basic recipe I use. It's all right if you don't have all the ingredients, and it's ok to add other herbs, too - experiment and see what you like! In the past I've added rose hips, elecampane roots, licorice roots...there are so many possibilities and ways to fine-tune things to suit your needs.
Ingredients:
2 cups water
1/2 cup elderberries
1 tbsp grated or thinly sliced fresh ginger
1 tsp whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2-3 star anise pods
1 tbsp orange peel
1 cup honey
Directions:
1. Add the water, elderberries, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, anise, and orange peel to a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by half.
2. Strain the liquid and mix in the honey until dissolved. Bottle and keep in the fridge for up to a few weeks. If you'd like it to last longer, you can either can it in a water bath (boil ten minutes in sterilized jars), or add 1/4 brandy or other alcohol. Take 1 tbsp a day for immune support, and 3-4 tbsp a day when you are ill or feel a sickness coming on.
If you're not a fan of syrup, or haven't had time to make it, you can simply brew the berries into a tasty tea. While there's no hard and fast rule about what ratio of berries to water you can use; my advice is to start with a tablespoon in a cup of hot water and steep for about 15-20 minutes. Depending on the age and potency of your berries, you might want to add more or less the next time. Just make sure you've got a brew that tastes nice and strong.
To make an elderberry tincture, I usually follow the folk method; fill a jar about halfway with dried berries and cover with good quality alcohol, the higher the proof the better. Cap and let sit for 6 weeks, shaking occasionally, before straining and bottling.
As for elderflowers, they make a wonderful tea on their own or mixed with other herbs. I've also seen them used in baking to flavor muffins and breads, though I have yet to try that myself! Topically, they can be used as a wash for irritated skin, or infused in oil to make a cream or salve.
How to Grow Elder
I may be biased, but I think elder is one of the most wonderful things to have growing around you. Aside from the medicinal properties, it's just a beautiful plant to look at. I love how it forms beautiful natural archways, and it's one of the first things to leaf out in spring. It also grows quickly, so it's a great choice if you want to add shade to an area of your land or fill in a space.
Generally elder likes to be in the sun, but I have a few growing near me that are doing just fine even in full shade. As I mentioned earlier, I think elder is a guardian, and planting some around your house creates a wonderful protective energy.
Elder is very easy to grow from cuttings, so if you have a healthy one growing near you, you may be able to snip a portion and bring it home with you. Alternatively, you can usually find elder at native plant nurseries.
If your elder doesn't bloom for the first few seasons, don't be discouraged - it can sometimes take a few years before they start producing those big beautiful tufts of white flowers, but it's worth the wait.
Have you worked with elder before? Have any good recipes or interesting folklore to share? Drop a comment and let me know!
Green blessings always,
References:
References: Hopman, Ellen Evert. A Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year. Destiny Books, 1995.
DOI: 10.1177/147323000403200205
Randomized study of the efficacy and safety of oral elderberry extract in the treatment of influenza A and B virus infections
All the information shared here is strictly for educational purposes and is not intended to treat, cure, or diagnose any disease. Always do your own research and consult a doctor before starting a herbal regimen.
]]>Two words: Heat. Dome.
As I'm sure many of you already know, the high temperatures throughout the northern hemisphere this summer are absolutely unprecedented. Where I live, in the shady mountains of the Northeast, virtually no one has an air conditioner because, well...we've just never needed them. That seems to be changing, and fast. Heat waves have become much more frequent, and the high temperatures are, well, higher.
Especially for those of us who are unused to such heat, it's very important that we stay in touch with how we're feeling and take extra care to stay cool and hydrated. I speak from experience when I say that heat injury and illness can sneak up on you very quickly.
And even before we reach the point of actually getting sick from the heat, we can experience a range of unpleasant feelings: irritability, headache, tiredness, and the special misery of your legs sticking to every. chair. you. sit. on (which, I would venture, also contributes to the whole irritability thing).
Lucky for us, there are herbs that can support us through the hottest days and keep us feeling cool, calm and hydrated. And the best part is, some of them are probably growing right outside in your yard or garden.
Cooling Herbs
Let's talk about what I mean when I say an herb is "cooling."
In herbalism, we often describe plants based on what we call their energetics - is a herb cooling, drying, moistening, warming? Knowing this about a plant helps us to decide which one of them can help us in different situations.
How can we determine these energetics? Well, it's pretty simple; by taste.
Have you ever chewed a peppermint leaf and felt that zippy rush of menthol? Or felt refreshed and cool after sipping tart lemon water? What you were feeling is the energetic action of the plant on the body.
Sweet or sour plants are often nourishing, moistening and cooling, while spicy and pungent plants are often warming and drying. Pretty intuitive, right?
So, when we have excess heat, and presumed loss of nutrients through excess sweat, what do we need? Sweet and/or sour herbs to replenish nutrients and dial down our internal heat.
Let's take a look at some especially tasty cooling plants, and then I'll share a few recipes to help keep you feeling chill!
Peppermint (Mentha X piperita) or Spearmint (Mentha spicata)
Peppermint and spearmint are both classic cooling plants with a sweet/slightly sour taste and the extra cooling effect of menthol, which helps to bring down the body's temperature. They can also calm tension headaches and upset stomachs - frequent complaints after being out in the heat.
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
Lemon balm has a bright, citrusy, sour taste. It has antiviral properties, and can help to calm a hot head - both literally and figuratively! It can be a wonderful ally for anxiety and irritability in general, too.
Rose (Rosa spp.)
Roses have a lovely, cooling effect and support the cardiovascular system. They can help to open the heart and to make you feel more relaxed. They also add a really lovely floral, just-a-little-tart quality to summer tea blends. Just make sure that the rose petals you harvest or purchase are non-irradiated and were grown without pesticides! I like to work with the small white multiflora rose, a wild variety that's very abundant where I live. It's a bit less cooling than the pink and red varieties, I've found, but still lovely.
Lavender (Lavandula spp.)
Some people think of lavender as more of a warming herb, and in some circumstances it is, but I believe it's worth mentioning here. Sometimes, counterintuitively, warming plants that help us sweat can bring down our core temperatures and ultimately make us more comfortable - this is why spicy food is popular is warmer climates! The buds of lavender help to gently drive internal heat to the surface and out of the skin. It also helps to calm irritability and promote relaxation - something we all need after a tense day in the heat. And, of course, I think it adds a little whimsy and luxury to your iced tea blends!
Hibsicus (Hibiscus spp.)
With it's tart, sour taste, hibiscus is a naturally cooling, tasty plant. Because it has a slightly demulcent property, it's wonderful when infused in cool water and helps to soothe a parched, dry throat. It also pairs well with the other herbs I'm mentioning here, so it's wonderful to toss into summer blends.
Tulsi basil (Ocimum sanctum)
Holy basil has an indescribably wonderful scent and taste...but I'll try anyway; it's almost like a cross between traditional basil and a stick of bubblegum. It's sweet with a hint of spicy edge, but has an overall cooling, calming effect. And, it's an adaptogen - meaning it can help you adapt to stress.
Cucumbers, lemons, limes and berries
Ok, so, they are not traditionally thought of as 'herbs,' but melons, berries and citrus all have a cooling, nourishing effect (sweet and tart taste!) and can play a big role in helping to keep us cool, refreshed, and hydrated.
I love to add berries or slices of cucumber and melon to my water and herbal tea blends in the summer - so delicious, and it makes you feel like you're at a beautiful spa in the Alps (or at least, that's what you get at spas in the Alps in my imagination...).
Herbal Recipes to Keep Cool
Herbal Refresher Tea
This is sort of a base recipe I use throughout the summer when I want to make a batch of tea. It tends to change a bit based on what's blooming outside, but it always come out great. I highly recommend playing around with different combinations and ratios of the herbs I talked about above! The salt is optional - include it if you want a little extra electrolyte boost. We lose a lot of salt when we sweat, and this is a nice way to replenish it just a little. If you'd like something sweet, honey is a nice addition.
Here is an example blend to get you started:
Give all of your herbs a rough chop, add them (and salt if using) to a 1 quart mason jar, cover with hot water, and steep 10-15 minutes. Strain and let cool before serving over ice.
*If using dried herbs, reduce these amounts by 3/4.
Lemon Balm Lemonlimeade
Not the most elegant name but...it is descriptive! I've been making this for the past few summers when I want a little something special.
Give your lemon balm a chop, toss it in a big mason jar (or pitcher), add your sugar, and cover with just-boiled water. Give it a good stir until the sugar is dissolved, then let steep for about 10 minutes before straining out the herbs. Set the brew aside to cool for a little while until it's at room temperature. Mix in the lemon and lime juice and pour over ice into your - garnish with a slice of lime too, if you want to be extra fancy!
Herb and Cucumber Infused Water
This is the summer of fancy water for me, and I'm not sorry about it.
I was inspired by herbalist Kami McBride (look her up if you don't know her, she's fantastic!), when she posted on Instagram about the wonderful herb and citrus infused water she keeps at hand in her kitchen.
Since then I've regularly been making a big beautiful pitcher for myself every few days. Here's what I do:
Add a sliced lemon, a handful of cucumber slices, a small handful of lemon balm, peppermint, and rose petals (and any other cooling herbs you want!) to your favorite pitcher, fill with cold water, and let infuse for a few hours before enjoying.
You can strain out the herbs when taste reaches a strength you like, or if your pitcher has a strainer like mine, just leave them in.
Herbal Ice Cubes
I love how herbal ice cubes dress up a summer drink - they just look so...whimsical. Plus, they slowly release a light, refreshing herbal flavor as they melt.
The melting will, of course, release the plant parts, too, so if you mind chewing on the peppermint leaf or rose petal floating around in your drink, this might not be for you!
To make them, all you have to do is give your fresh herbs a nice chop, add a sprinkle to your ice cube tray, and fill with water. I like to add a mix of peppermint, lemon balm, rose, and hibiscus to mine. Lavender or holy basil would be nice to add in, too!
Stay cool out there friends!
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I think it would be fair to say that roses are the most universally loved and most cultivated flower on the planet. This month in particular, they are everywhere, dominating the imagery of the season and selling like hot cakes at the florist.
Roses became a symbol of love during Victorian times, when something called floriography, or the language of flowers, was a popular way to communicate feelings and messages. To this day roses are associated with matters of heart - which is very fitting considering how they're used in herbal medicine.
Before we go any further, it's so important to note that the roses you get from the flower shop should NOT be used as medicine. Sadly, they are typically saturated with chemicals...not exactly something you want in your body or on your skin. When working with rose, it's best to choose wild varieties (these will all have roughly the same medicinal properties) rather than overly cultivated garden roses, and to harvest only from plants that you know haven't been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides. If you're buying rose, make sure you purchase organic and from a reputable supplier that has grown them for internal use.
Ok, now that we've covered that, let's talk about those gorgeous medicinal roses.
Rose Medicine
When you want to understand a herb, one of the best things to do is use your senses to observe it. How does a rose look, smell, taste, feel?
Close your eyes and imagine this: soft petals, delicious honey-like scent, beautiful color, flowers that become a ruby-red fruit, thorns to protect from predators.
Do you feel happy, calm? Does your heart feel a little more at ease?
All of these things are clues as to how rose can help us. It's a herb to hold the heart and open up the senses.
The chemical constituents of rose have antibacterial, astringent, antispasmodic, anodyne, antiviral, nervine, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, sedative, digestive stimulant, circulatory stimulant, and expectorant qualities.
Translation:
Rose helps to tone and tighten lax tissues, support wound healing, gently stimulate circulation, calm the nerves, and has benefits for the heart and kidneys. It's probably best known as a gentle tonic for heart health.
Because rose has a cooling effect, it's often used when there is heat or inflammation in the body - think headache, irritation in the digestive or urinary tract, sore throat and runny nose, hot flashes, etc. It's wonderfully soothing and cooling on the skin as well.
Last but not least, rose has traditionally been used to lift the spirits and to heal psychic or spiritual wounds. By (literally) calming our nerves, rose can help us feel safe when opening up old hurts to try and mend them properly, and supports us in staying open and being understanding when we're having disagreements or issues with others. Rose also teaches us that it's ok to have boundaries, too, to keep our thorns up when our hearts need protecting.
The mind and the physical heart are connected (even the American Heart Association agrees), and I have no doubt that the positive effect rose has on the physical heart in turn impacts the emotional heart and our state of mind. If we feel well and everything is humming along in our bodies, our minds will naturally be a little more at ease.
Rose Recipes
There are so many wonderful ways to use rose...but I'll narrow it down to my favorites.
Rose and Cinnamon Sprinkle
This is so simple to make, and because it's easy to use (sprinkle it on toast, ice cream, on top of lattes....), you're more likely to get that rose goodness into your diet.
To make it, just add a handful of rose petals to a spice grinder and pulse until they're well powdered. Then just mix in some cinnamon to taste (equal parts works for me). If you like, you can easily make this into a sweet toping by blending in sugar to taste - think of it as sort of like a cinnamon sugar 2.0.
Rose Honey
Rose honey feels like such a delicacy (I get Downton Abbey vibes every time I put it on my toast...), and yet it's so simple to make.
Fill a mason jar halfway with dried rose petals, or to the top if fresh (make sure it's a loose pack). Pour the honey over the flowers and stir with a clean chopstick or spoon to let any air escape and ensure that all petals are covered.
Let sit, flipping once a day, for a couple of weeks, then give the honey a taste. If you'd like it to have a stronger taste, just let it sit for a couple more weeks.
You can strain out the all of the rose petals when your honey is ready, or, if you like the extra texture (and glamour!), you can leave a few in.
Rose Glycerite
I just love having rose glycerite around - a dropperful straight on the tongue is so calming. You can add it to your tea, too, as a sort of sweetener. I make a batch every year from the Multiflora rose that grows in my backyard.
All you have to do is fill a jar with fresh rose petals and then cover them in a good quality organic vegetable glycerine. (If using dried, it's a good idea to add a bit water - make your mixture 80% glycerine and 20% water.) Stir to make sure all the petals are coated and all the air has escaped from the bottom, then cap and let the jar sit for a couple of weeks to a month, flipping every day or so, before straining and bottling.
Rose Elixir
Rose, honey, and brandy? Why thank you yes! I just love this combination - it's so rich, unusual, and sweet.
To make some, fill a jar with fresh rose petals (halfway if dried), and then add brandy and honey (I typically make mine a ratio of about 80% brandy to 20% honey, but feel free to mix stuff up and find your own sweet spot). Stir everything around, then cap and let sit six weeks, shaking occasionally, before straining and bottling. You can take this by the dropperful or add it to mixed drinks - rose hot toddy, anyone?
Be well,
All statements made herein are purely for educational purposes and are not intended to treat, cure or prevent disease. Always consult a doctor before beginning a herbal regimen, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or have underlying health conditions.
]]>The landscape where I am is still covered in snow. My daily walks have taken on a quality of stillness, quiet. Sometimes the only other creature I meet is a fox, or maybe a coyote dashing along the edge of a barren field. Everything else is asleep, deep in winter dreaming. And I'm dreaming too, imagining the time when the earth wakes up and green shoots begin to poke up through the cold ground.
Believe it or not, now, in the heart of winter, is a wonderful time to plan your summer garden. Making lists, drawing designs, and thinking about what you want to bring forth in the coming seasons is an excellent way to break free for a moment from the doldrums of winter and call in hope for the future.
One the of the best things about herbs is that you don't need a big space - or even a yard - to grow them. Many of them will do just fine in pots, so even a small balcony or sunny windowsill could work. Whatever your situation, you can still get creative and put together a beautiful growing space.
So, where to start? When thinking about what herbs to grow, it's really important to consider two things:
Once you have a clear idea of those factors, you can start narrowing down your plant lists and decide what seeds or plants you want to buy.
Just to give you a starting place, I'll outline a few medicinal herbs you might want to consider. I find these are all great plants to have in a well-rounded herb garden, and they're relatively easy to grow.
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
Medicinal qualities: Lemon balm is cooling, aromatic, relaxing, and uplifting - and has antiviral properties to boot. It's got a light lemony flavor and makes a delicious tea, tincture or glycerite.
Growing conditions: Lemon balm's favorite place to grow is somewhere in part shade, where it will be protected from direct midday sun. It likes medium to moist soil, and thrives in the cooler spaces of the garden.
Once you plant lemon balm, it will be with you forever. It's a perennial that's incredibly good at self-seeding, and may pop up in different spots in your garden. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, if you ask me, given how useful and tasty it is. Just keep a close eye on it and dig up spreading root runners and extra plants as needed (bonus, you can pot up those extras and give them to friends!).
Starting from seed: Start lemon balm seed indoors about two months before your last frost date. The tiny seeds require light to germinate, so press them very gently into the surface of the soil. Use a mister bottle to keep the soil just barely moist, but not wet, until they germinate, which is usually in about two weeks. Transplant into the garden after the threat of frost has passed.
How to harvest: Lemon balm tastes wonderful at all stages of growth, but it's most potent for medicine making just before flowering. Just snip off the top thirds of the aerial parts - don't worry, it'll grow back!
Peppermint (Mentha x piperita)
Medicinal qualities: Peppermint is cooling and relaxing. It can help calm an upset stomach and relieve tension, and it's delicious as a tea, tincture or glycerite. It's a wonderful addition to salads (or cocktails...), too.
Growing conditions: Peppermint can grow in most conditions, but prefers rich, moist soil that drains well. It's happy in full sun to part shade. Like lemon balm, peppermint will spread, so keep an eye on it and trim/harvest root shoots as needed.
Starting from seed: Start peppermint seeds indoors two months before your last frost date. Sow them no deeper than 1/4 inch, and keep the soil moist until germination, which usually takes about two weeks. Alternatively, you can sow peppermint outdoors when the soil has warmed and the threat of frost has passed.
How to harvest: Snip the tops thirds of the aerial parts.
(Note: Spearmint grows very similarly and has many of the same properties as peppermint, but some people prefer it for its gentler flavor. I grow both!)
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
Medicinal qualities: While not for internal use due to the presence of potentially harmful pyrrolizidine alkaloids, comfrey is renowned for its skin, tendon and even bone healing properties when used externally. The leaves make an excellent compress or can be made into a salve for sprains, burns, bites, cuts, and scrapes. In addition to these medicinal properties, comfrey is excellent for the garden - its leaves are rich in nutrients which feed the soil, and many people use them as a green fertilizer.
Growing conditions: Comfrey likes rich, moist, well-draining soil and full to part sun.
Starting from seed: Comfrey is a little trickier to start from seed, as it requires a period of cold conditions in order to germinate. But it can be done! Sow the seeds very early in the spring, as soon as the ground can be worked, burying them just under the surface of the soil. It may be mid to late spring by the time you see germination - be patient! Once comfrey takes root, it's a fast grower.
How to harvest: Harvest the leaves as you need them - comfrey grows back quickly. To harvest the roots, allow the plant to grow for about two years to establish good, strong, medicine-rich roots.
Tulsi (Ocimum africanum)
Medicinal qualities: Holy basil, or Tulsi, is a delicious, aromatic plant. There are a few varieties, but my favorite is Ocimum africanum for its fruity, sweet scent and flavor. A gentle, uplifting adaptogen, it can help the body adjust to stress over time and maintain a calmer baseline. It's excellent as a tea or tincture and makes a particularly fantastic glycerite or infused honey.
Growing conditions: Likes rich, well-draining soil and plenty of sun (mine grows well even in part shade, however, so don't be afraid to try!).
Starting from seed: Start tulsi indoors about six weeks before your last frost date. Press the seeds gently into the soil surface and leave them uncovered, as they require light to germinate. Keep the soil just barely moist. Tulsi likes light and warmth, so using a heat mat under your seeds, if you have one, will help them germinate. Transplant the seedlings outdoors when the threat of frost has passed. You can also direct sow them outdoors in the spring when the soil has warmed and there is no danger of frost.
How to harvest: Harvest the top thirds of the flowering aerial parts - it will be most potent just before and during flowering.
Echinacea (Echinacea Purpurea)
Medicinal qualities: Echinacea is a cooling, stimulant herb and beautiful native perennial. It stimulates the immune system and lymphatic flow to help clear the body of infection and foreign substances (this is why you'll often see people promoting it for colds and flu). The leaves, stems, flowers and roots of E. purpurea are all used to make medicine (E. Angustifolia is used for medicine as well, but it is a bit harder to grow and only the roots are used).
Growing conditions: Echinacea likes full sun to part shade and, while it does well with plenty of water, it will tolerate a drought.
Starting from seed: Echinacea seeds require a period of cold in order to germinate, so start them outdoors in pots or a clean, prepared garden bed as early as you can. Many people start them as early as December! Sow the seeds just below the surface of the soil and tamp them down. Be patient - it may take a few weeks of warm weather for them to finally germinate.
How to harvest: Harvest the aerial parts during the summer after flowering, and the roots closer to fall. Let the plant grow for about three years before harvesting the roots to ensure they are strong and will make good medicine.
Yarrow (Achillea millifolium)
Medicinal qualities: Yarrow might be the single most important herb in my apothecary. I use it so much I'm not sure what I'd do without it. It's so versatile that it's hard to talk about it in just a few lines. It's just...well...a very useful plant to have in the garden.
Yarrow can help to both stop bleeding and encourage the flow of stuck blood as needed. It encourages the rapid healing of wounds while preventing infection. It eases pain and muscle cramps. It encourages healthy circulation and helps rid the body of infection and toxins. It can help the body handle fever naturally. It's a slightly bitter aromatic that can help aid in digestion. I'll stop here, but I encourage you to dive deeper into this complex plant to learn everything it's capable of.
It's wonderful as a tea or tincture, or topically as a liniment or styptic powder.
Growing conditions: A hardy perennial, yarrow loves meadows and sunlight and does well in most types of soil, especially those that are a bit dry and poor. That said, I have a shady, rocky backyard and yarrow still manages to grow and flower every year.
Starting from seed: To start indoors, sow in flats just before the last frost, just barely covering the seeds with soil. Transplant outdoors when the threat of frost has passed. Alternatively, plant outdoors directly into warm soil in early to late spring.
How to harvest: Harvest the flowering tops just after blooming.
Note: yarrow sometimes comes in different colors when purchasing seeds or plants from some greenhouses and non-specialist nurseries. While these colored yarrow plants are beautiful, the white, wild form of yarrow will yield the most potent medicine - look for those when buying your seeds or plants!
Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
Medicinal qualities: Calendula is a wound-healing herb that's renowned for its ability to soothe, clear, and nourish the skin. Internally, calendula encourages lymphatic flow, modulated inflammation, and supports the healing of damaged gut tissue.
Growing conditions: An annual, calendula does best in sunny spots, but tolerates some shade as well. It grows prolifically all through summer and well into the fall if protected from frost.
Starting from seed: The best way to grow calendula from seed is to direct sow outdoors just after the last frost. Sow seeds about 1/4 inch deep and water them in well, then wait for beautiful summer blooms.
How to harvest: To harvest, just snip off the flower heads. This encourages more blooms and growth.
A Note on Purchasing Seeds and Plants
It's important to make sure what you're growing in your lovely new garden is healthy for the the animals and insects that live there, too (and not to mention you, since you'll presumably be consuming these herbs). Try to stick to organic, non-GMO or heirloom seeds to ensure that you're getting quality plants that won't introduce pesticides into the beautiful little ecosystem you're trying to create.
Of course, if you can find a local grower that sells environmentally friendly stuff, that's really wonderful - you're supporting a local grower and getting plants and seeds that are perfectly suited to your bioregion.
My favorite places to get quality seeds and plants online are Hudson Valley Seed Company, Strictly Medicinal Seeds, Fruition Seeds, and Seed Savers Exchange. (No sponsorship or ad deals or anything, I just really like and trust these companies and these seeds always do very well here in US zone 7.)
A Note on Soil
The wonderful things about most herbs is that they don't demand the perfectly balanced conditions that many veggies do, and the soil you have may already be completely adequate. Just be sure you're growing in an area that isn't polluted and hasn't been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides for at least three years (five is even better). If you're not too trusting of your soil, it's perfectly all right to purchase some from a garden center - just be sure it's organic (look for the OMRI certified symbol).
When it comes to starting seeds, it can help to use a seed starting mix - they are lighter and fluffier than standard garden or potting soil and make it a bit easier for seeds to germinate. Many seeds starting mixes and potting soils contain peat, the mining of which has been shown to be destructive to the environment, so if you purchase a seed starting mix, try to find one that is peat-free.
This year I'm experimenting with a peat-free mix I made on my own: 1 part compost, 1 part organic coco coir, and 1 part perlite. Fingers crossed!
Resources for Designing your Garden
One of the most fun things about starting a new garden is choosing a design. It's a chance to create a little space for yourself that you can visit every day and really enjoy.
Pinterest is a great place to start, as you can put together a board of ideas you like and build from that. Even a quick google search for "herb garden" yields lots of really beautiful designs. Take some time to browse and dream.
And, of course, if you're local to the Sussex county, NJ area, you can always contact me if you want a little help planning your beautiful new garden.
If you've been thinking of starting a herb garden, why not wrap yourself in a big cozy blanket, sit down with a hot mug of tea, and start dreaming up plans for the brighter days ahead?
Be well,
All information shared herein in strictly for educational purposes and is not intended to treat, cure, or prevent disease. Always consult a doctor before starting an herbal regimen, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have underlying health conditions.
]]>At first glance, the winter landscape might appear totally barren; dry fields, bracken, brown leaves, maybe even a covering of snow. Nothing really looks...alive. It doesn't seem like a prime foraging situation.
But what I have found over the years is that even in the deepest darkest months of winter, the earth is alive and brimming with delicious wild foods. Life is still happening out there - you just have to look a little harder. There are birds flickering in and out of the thickets, deer bounding through forests of brittle reeds, foxes hunting in the snowy fields. And seeds, greens and fruit to collect.
There are so many things to gather in winter, but I'll just narrow it down to the things I feel are the easiest to identify, collect, and use. As always, make sure you have a correct ID before harvesting anything, and be sure to forage ethically. It's also a good idea to be sure that the area you're harvesting from hasn't been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides.
Rosehips (Rosa spp.)
Many people completely overlook roses in the winter, forgetting about them once their blooms have faded at the end of the growing season. But roses continue to give all through the year.
Rosehips are the fruit of the rose, forming after the flowers are pollinated and die back. From the showy rugosa rose to the scrappy multiflora, all rosehips are packed with vitamin C. They're tasty and tart in the fall, but the first few frosts of winter sweeten them up.
Rosehips can be dried and added to infusions, cooked into jam, made into a syrup, or dried and ground into a seasoning.
Species like rugosa have larger, jucier fruits that lend themselves better to things like jam and syrup, but don't discount the smaller ones such as multiflora - you may not find enough to make a jam, but they're just fine dried and added to tea.
To harvest, just prune off the hips and collect them in a small jar or bag. Thick gloves might be a good idea, too, if you're not in the mood to be stabbed by thorns.
Note: rosehips have seeds and small, potentially irritating hairs inside. The best way to handle this is to slice them open and scoop them out. For the smaller multiflora hips, I dry and use them whole so those little fibers stay inside.
Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Chickweed is one of the few wild greens that persist through, and even favor, colder temperatures. Odds are, if you clear away the snow where you saw a patch of chickweed in the spring, there it will be, still growing fresh and bright.
Chickweed has a sweet, green, slightly salty flavor - it's lovely added to salads or brewed into a nourishing infusion. It has a cooling, clearing effect on the body, encouraging healthy lymphatic flow and therefore giving a helping hand to the immune system. Although some herbalists do dry chickweed, I find its much better and more effective when fresh, especially if you'll be using it to make a tincture.
To harvest, just trim the tops off - think of it as giving the chickweed a haircut. This allows the plant to continue growing, and even encourages it to flourish.
Yellow Dock Seeds (Rumex crispus)
Towards the end of summer, the seed stalks of yellow dock turn a deep, rusty amber and begin to dry out. They stay this way throughout the winter, and make one of the best and most reliable winter forage foods.
The seeds can be ground down into a fiber-rich flour that's delicious when added to baked goods (it can make things a bit dense, so I like to sub it in in small amounts).
To harvest, just snip the seedheads off and collect them in a bag. You can also hold a container under the plant and strip the seeds off the stalk - although that's much easier to do at home when you aren't freezing. When you get home, leave the bag outside for a bit to let any wee critters escape (don't worry, they will GTFO as quick as they can).
To process the seeds, add them in handful batches to a spice or coffee grinder and pulse until you've got a flour-like consistency. Don't worry about removing the papery little husks - trying to separate them out is a recipe for a mental breakdown. And besides, they add a bit of extra fiber to the flour.
Hawthorn Berries (Crataegus spp)
The berries of the hawthorn tree cling to the branches long after the last leaves of autumn have fallen. Like rosehips, a few frosts sweeten them up. Early winter is a wonderful time to harvest them, as later in the season they may lose their freshness and start to blacken (not exactly appetizing...).
Hawthorn berries are packed with antioxidants and have a steadying effect on the heart, regulating its beat and toning the muscle over time - many people take them consistently as a cardiac tonic. They taste pretty good, too, and can be processed and prepared in the same way as rosehips; jams, syrups, tinctures, cordials, dried and added to tea.
To harvest them, pick them like you would any berry - just watch the long, sharp thorns that give this tree its name.
The Conifers
The pines, spruces and firs are the beating heart of winter. They are a sign to us that life that continues even under the harshest circumstances. Just breathing deeply in a grove of conifers is a kind of medicine.
The needles of most species, with a few exceptions, are edible. The bark is edible too, but, well, let's just say the work involved and the potential harm to the tree isn't worth it unless you are really in a survival situation.
But the needles are delicious, tart, lemony, and filled with vitamin C. You can infuse them in honey or vinegar, or grind them finely and add them to baked goods. I love to make a sweetener by adding them to a spice grinder with some sugar. A tea of the needles can help you breathe easier when you have a cold, and may help clear up infection, too.
To harvest, first try to find fallen branches. In my experience, conifers, especially white pines, tend to lose their branches easily in storms or heavy snow - you can usually find some scattered on the ground and still fresh. If you can't find any or need some right away, it's all right to snip the ends of a few branches. Just make sure your cuts are clean and sharp, harvest sparingly, and try to take only from the lower branches of mature trees. (It may be tempting to take a few snips from your Christmas tree, if you have a live one, but I'd advise skipping that - many of them have been sprayed with pesticides.)
As I mentioned earlier, some conifers are not edible and may even be toxic, so be sure you've got a correct ID before harvesting. My favorite conifers to forage are white pine (Pinus strobus), norway spruce (Picea abies), fraser fir (Abies fraseri), and douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). All of them have a slightly different flavor, but they're all delicious.
Winter blessings and happy foraging, friends!
Be well,
]]>The weather is cooling down here as the wheel of the year turns toward winter in the northern hemisphere. There is woodsmoke in the air, and soon the snow will fly. Now is the time to burrow in, to shore up, to make your home a space to rest and shelter in.
Why not think about setting up an herbal apothecary in your home, too?
Just think: you can create a small nook where you can go for comfort and remedies to help you through the cold months. It could be a cabinet, a drawer, even just a little shelf. These long dark months are a great time to dip your toes into the world of herbs and get to know a few of them.
But where do you start? With so many herbs out there in the world (and at the healthfood store), how can you narrow it down?
Well, the answer is to start small and go slow. Below are a few categories I think are important to have in a home apothecary, along with the herbs I like to keep stocked. Check it out, think about what the most common issues for you are, and then research some of the plants I'll mention. (And of course, make sure all the herbs you select are safe for you to consume and won't interfere with any medications you are taking or any medical conditions you may have. That vast majority of herbs are perfectly safe, but it's always best to be sure.)
It's a good idea to start out with just a few herbs in small amounts at first so you can get to know them, see if they work for you, and decide if they're something you'd like to have around. Over time, you'll have a reliable group of herbal allies that you'll love working with.
Here are a few categories to consider:
Antivirals: bee balm (Monarda fistulosa), elderberry (Sambucus nigra), elderflower (Sambucus nigra), garlic (Allium sativum), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), star anise (Illicium verum), st. john's wort (Hypericum perforatum), white pine (Pinus strobus)
Digestive Issues: bee balm (Monarda fistulosa), barberry root (Berberis vulgaris), burdock (Arctium lappa), chamomile (Matricaria recutita), common mallow (Malva neglecta), dandelion root (Taraxicum officinalis), marshmallow (Althea officinalis), mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), peppermint (Mentha piperata), rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus), slippery elm (Ulmus rubra), spearmint (Mentha spicata), yellow dock root (Rumex crispus)
Immune Tonics: astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus), reishi (Ganoderma lucidum)
Herbs for Pain: cayenne (Capsicum annuum), cramp bark (Viburnum opulus), kava kava (Piper methysticum), skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), valerian (valeriana officinalis), yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Herbs for the Respiratory System: common mallow (Malva neglecta), elderflower (Sambucus nigra), elecampane (Inula helenium), horehound (Marrubium vulgare), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), marshmallow (Althea officinalis), mullein (Verbascum thapsus), slippery elm (Ulmus rubra), new england aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae), white pine (Pinus strobus), wild cherry (Prunus serotina)
Herbs for Sleep: chamomile (Matricaria recutita), hops, (Humulus lupulus), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), linden (Tilia spp.), maypop (Passiflora incarnata), skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
Herbs for Stress, Tension and Anxiety: ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), blue vervain (Verbena hastata), chamomile (Matricaria recutita), kava kava, (Piper methysticum), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), linden (Tilia spp.), maypop (Passiflora incarnata), peppermint (Mentha piperata), rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea), rose (Rosa spp.), spearmint (Mentha spicata), valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
Wounds/Healing: calendula (Calendula officinalis), comfrey (external only) (Symphytum officinale), goldenrod (Solidago spp.), mullein (Verbascum thapsus), plantain (Pantago sp.), rose (Rosa spp.), yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Where to Purchase Herbs
I'm a big proponent of growing and harvesting local plants or finding a local, reputable herbalist or herb shop if you have one. Not everyone will have that privilege, though; if you need to order online, here are a few of the places I trust for high-quality herbs and tinctures:
Setting up the Apothecary Space
Take some time to think about what you'd like your apothecary to look and feel like. Make it a special, sacred place that brings you joy when you visit it. If you have a witchy bent, you can even turn it into a little altar.
When you keep your apothecary organized, accessible, cozy, and separate from the other stuff in your house/kitchen, you're much more likely to work with the herbs and enjoy doing it.
And remember, it doesn't have to be fancy; I have a really cool old bookshelf I rescued from the side of the road where I store dried herbs and bigger jars of stuff, and a cabinet I built to keep my small tincture bottles in.
Storing Your Herbs
I've got a whole post about harvesting, drying, and storing herbs here. But these are the main points:
Other Supplies
In addition to storage jars and labels, consider springing for some beautiful tea making equipment to stash in your apothecary. I'm pretty sure most herbalists have an extensive collection of beautiful mugs and teapots...I know I do, and I'm not going to apologize for it!
I recommend:
I also have a special bowl that my mother in law made and a small wooden teaspoon that I use to measure and mix herbs for my tea blends. I think they add a little magic to whatever I'm whipping up.
Having a teapot, mug, and steeping equipment that works well and is fun to use will encourage you to experiment with your new herbs. It also elevates your daily cup of tea into an enjoyable ritual that you'll really look forward to on chilly winter days.
A Note on Working with Herbs
Keep in mind that although I've grouped the above herbs together under certain categories, they will each have a slightly different effect. Some will be more suitable than others depending on the specific situation and your personal constitution. Herbs are as individual and nuanced as people; no two are the same or will behave the same way, and most of them are good at more than one thing. Getting to know them is like getting to know a friend - it takes a little time.
It may take years (maybe a lifetime or seven, really) to understand exactly how certain herbs work, plus lots of study to understand exactly what plants to choose for a given situation, but don't be intimidated. Herbal medicine is the people's medicine, and I believe we can all cultivate skills when it comes to working with it.
Go slow, trust yourself, and trust the plants.
Be well friends,
Note: All statements made herein are meant to be strictly educational and are not intended to treat, cure, or prevent disease. Consult a physician before trying a new herb or starting a new herbal regimen, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, have underlying conditions or are taking medication.
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The rich green of the summer forest has died away here, replaced with a riot of color; bright gold, sun-orange, scarlet leaves drifting on the surface of the lake.
I think this season, when the air is thin and cool, when everything feels transitional and liminal, is a good time to become more grounded. What a year this has been. What a time we are living in. We need stronger roots than ever to keep us standing firm and upright in the face of everything we've been through and everything before us.
To our human eyes, a root is just...a root. An afterthought, unseen, growing down in the dirt.
But the truth is the root is the life source of the plant. It twists and turns and branches and finds a way to tap into a web of invisible mycorrhizae and microorganisms in the soil, transferring nutrients and communications, attaching the plant to the vast neural network of the land. It's a system of interdependence, giving and taking, survival and common good.
Maybe we can learn something from the forest. We, like the plants and trees, are only as strong as the network around us. So maybe it's worth taking some time this season to check in with our community. As much as modern western culture likes to tell us different, we humans have only made it this far because we helped each other. Sticking together is the only way we grow and survive, especially in the cold winter, especially in the hard times.
Another part of root-tending is letting go of things that aren't doing you any good. Maybe even causing you harm.
What weight can you stop carrying? What can you clear away, so that you can walk into the winter feeling light and ready to settle in and enjoy the long nights?
There's a belief among old folk healers that what we don't fix in the autumn will manifest itself more powerfully in the spring. In my experience, this is true. So take some time now to get the stuff that's bothering you straightened out - physically and spiritually. This is the truest form of 'self-care', and we all deserve it.
In addition to tending our own roots, this is a season to harvest those growing outside in the forests and fields. The energy of the plants sinks down at this time of year, settling in the roots, stored up for winter. This is when the medicine in them is the most potent.
There are a lot of roots to harvest for medicine (um, understatement), but I'll just focus on the ones I personally harvest and work with at this time of the year.
But first, let's talk about harvesting roots for a minute, because it can get tricky. With some plants, it can be a serious endeavor (I'm looking at you, six-foot deep burdock roots). So here's how to do it:
1) Make sure you have a solid ID. I know I'm a broken record with this, but seriously. Be 110% sure you have the right plant.
2) Gently clear away the duff layer (surface leaves and debris) around the plant.
3) With a sharp spade or shovel (I use a hori hori), dig down around the base of the plant and rock the soil back and forth to loosen it, then slowly lever up and down, being careful not to slice the root.
This part could take a while, depending on how deep the roots is. Get your hands in the dirt and feel around. You may be able to pry it out easily, or you may have to dig a little deeper and continue loosening a bit more.
4) Shake off the dirt. It's useful to have a little brush to get some of the dirt off with, but I typically just use my hands.
5) Seal up the hole and cover with the duff you moved. If the plant you dug up has seeds, plant them in the ground. This is a way to give thanks to the plant and to try and replace what you took. You can also leave a little piece of root, as many plants can regenerate from just a small bit left behind.
6) Clean the roots a bit more when you get home. A rinse under cold water is enough to get rid of most of the mud and dirt.
7) Chop up the roots when fresh. This will help them dry faster, and also...cutting up dried, toughened roots can be, well, how can I say this politely...difficult.
8) Unless you're tincturing the fresh roots, allow them to fully dry on a screen before storing them in airtight jars in a cool, dark place. (I have a post about tincturing and one about drying and storing herbs, if you want to check that out.)
Ok! So now that we've got that covered, let's talk about some of the roots I work with and their medicine.
Barberry (Berberis vulgaris)
Barberry is considered a noxious invasive in the US. When left to its own devices, it grows into a sprawling, thorny shrub that produces red berries. The tiny leaves and berries are edible, although not exactly satisfying or super tasty (the leaves do have a lemony zip that I like, though). The real magic of this plant is in its bright yellow roots, which contain antimicrobial, antifungal berberine (this is what produces that beautiful golden color). Barberry root also contains a compound called 5'-MHC that makes it harder for bacteria to develop a resistance to antibiotics.
Barberry root is an effective bitter, increasing bile production and supporting the liver and gallbladder. Because of this effect, it's often referred to as a 'blood purifier'.
I like to use barberry root as a substitute for goldenseal, which is very popular for bacterial infection...and therefore has been over harvested to the point of near extinction. Barberry, on the other hand... Well, you don't need to feel bad about harvesting it.
Digging up barberry roots can get, *ahem*, thorny, so I suggest grabbing a pair of gloves before you head out.
The roots can be dried and decocted, but I like to tincture them fresh, as I sometimes use the tincture topically for wound care.
Note: the berberine in the roots will stain everything yellow, so keep that in mind!
Blackberry (Rubus sp.)
We're all familiar with the delicious fruit of the blackberry, but the roots hold a really useful medicine; they are cooling and astringent.
Astringents work by tightening up lax, leaky tissues and giving them back their tone. Blackberry root has a special affinity for the gut, and is therefore used as a remedy for diarrhea.
Because the best way to treat this particular ailment is to drink a decoction, I like to chop blackberry roots up and store them in case they're needed. You can make a tincture too - that might be useful in situations where you aren't able to make a decoction, or when you don't have enough blackberry around to harvest very much.
Side note: the leaves make a delicious tea, so save some when you're out harvesting the roots!
Burdock (Arctium lappa)
Tugging on a burdock plant will get you approximately nowhere. The roots are incredibly strong, and digging them up takes effort. There is a lesson to be learned from burdock about staying firmly rooted.
The roots of burdock should be harvested during the first year (it's a biennial), when it forms a basal rosette of big leaves. During its second year, the plant uses all its energy to produce a tall stalk, flowers and seed, leaving little for the root; it's often tough and gnarly by this point.
Medicinally, burdock root is bitter, cooling and clearing. It's often used to help clear up skin conditions that are caused by a deeper problem, such as congestion in the liver. Many herbalists use it as a specific for eczema and psoriasis, as it seems to help the body get moisture levels in the skin back into balance and solve the problem at its roots (no pun intended, I swear...).
Honestly, I feel it helps to bring the entire body into balance by supporting the liver and lymphatic system. I've used it in formulas for hormonal imbalance, sluggish digestion, overly dry skin, and for a general sense of stuffiness, heat and malaise.
Burdock root can be a bit oily, so if you're not using it fresh, keep an eye on it as it dries (I find the key is chopping it up pretty small). It may even be a good idea, if you live in a very humid environment, to use your oven or dehydrator to get some of the drying done.
The roots can be tinctured fresh, or dried and made into a decoction. It's also eaten as a root vegetable - cook it like a carrot. When I can find a lot of it, I'll typically roast it with a few other vegetables for dinner.
Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum commutatum)
When you brush aside the duff and the thin top layer of soil around a solomon's seal plant, you'll reveal the bone-white, jointed root (technically rhizome) snaking along behind it. A major clue to how this plant is used is its appearance - it looks like a spine, or like finger joints. Solomon's seal is demulcent and helps to lubricate stiff, tight, dry tendons, joints, and fascia.
When taken in even small doses, this plant seems to increase the amount of synovial fluid around joints, easing pain, friction and inflammation. The mechanism for how this works in the body is yet unknown, but many herbalists will swear by its effectiveness.
Because this plant isn't as prevalent in many areas, it's important to harvest it carefully and in a way that allows the plant to keep on living and growing. Thankfully, this is pretty easy to do.
Solomon's seal roots grow just beneath the surface layer of dirt - just brush stuff away around the plant and you'll be able to locate a long chain of nodes branching off the main plant. Instead of pulling up the whole plant, count a few nodes away from the plant, slice cleanly with your knife, and pull up the remaining section of root that's no longer attached to the plant.
I don't dry solomon's seal, but instead tincture it fresh. Because there's never a whole lot of this plant around, tincturing a small amount makes more sense than drying a lot of it.
Stay rooted friends, and happy digging!
]]>I've been noticing a common theme in a lot of my conversations lately: people just can't sleep.
Recently, even the calm, collected, and seems-to-have-it-all-together Michelle Obama admitted in an interview that her anxieties have been keeping her up at night.
To be honest, I've been wrestling with poor sleep myself.
I'm going to take a wild guess and say that for most of us, these bad sleep patterns might be caused by some combination of the pandemic, economic uncertainty, environmental destruction, the fight for social justice...and, you know, general global unrest.
A lot of us have personal stuff stacked right on top of all that, too.
So, as we glide into a new season and feel the cool, clear air of autumn coming in, let's breathe deep and take a moment to focus on rest. Below are some fantastic herbal allies who can help us calm our nervous systems and bodies down, quiet our spinning thoughts, and help us get a good night of sleep.
Maypop (Passiflora incarnata)
Maypop, also widely known as passionflower, is a true friend to those who experience bouts of anxiety and racing, circular thoughts. It's a mild sedative, hypnotic, and antispasmodic that helps to calm the central nervous system and ease the body into a restful state.
In my experience, maypop is almost a specific for those times when you wake up in the middle of the night with an overwhelming sense that everything must be done right now (which, of course, is impossible at 4am...or any other time, really).
Maypop can be made into a tea to drink before bed by adding 1 tsp of the dried leaf to 8 oz of water and steeping for about 15 minutes. The taste can be a bit bitter for some, so I recommend adding in a little spearmint or honey to make it more palatable. It can be taken as a tincture as well - I tend to prefer this, as it's easier to reach for in the middle of the night when those racing thoughts hit.
Chamomile (Matricaria recutita)
When the nerves and stomach are at ease, the mind will follow.
Chamomile is a wonderful friend in situations where stress has caused muscle tension and an upset stomach. Our gut is part of our nervous system, and sometimes calming it down can help us feel more settled overall. A nice cup of chamomile tea helps to relax the peripheral nervous system and ease stress symptoms in the stomach, helping us to get a restful night of sleep.
The best way to take chamomile is as a tea, because it washes over your enteric nervous system (aka your gut) and bathes it in that good medicine. To make it, just steep 2-3 tsp of the herb in 8 oz hot water for 10 minutes. If you want to take chamomile as a tincture, I would suggest adding it to warm water so you still get that nice gut-soothing effect.
Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
Some herbalists may disagree with me on this, but in my experience, valerian is the most powerful sleep aid.
It relieves muscle cramps and tension and helps to calm nervousness and even indigestion. And yet, it's still a gentle herb. It's a lovely thing to take when you feel deeply unsettled, rattled, and anxious, and need to settle yourself into a relaxed state before sleep.
As this is a very pungent herb (some have said the roots remind them of old gym socks...kinda harsh...), I prefer to take it as a tincture. Or even better, as a glycerite; the sweetness of the glycerine actually turns the sharp taste of the root into something delicious.
One note of caution: for a small percentage of people, valerian can actually have an opposite effect and make you feel a bit wired. I have noticed that when I take this plant too often, it does begin to have that effect on me. I would test valerian out when the stakes are low instead of when you desperately need a solid night of sleep, and I would try not to take it every day.
Hops (Humulus lupulus)
Hops is one of my favorite plants and best friends in the garden. A beautiful, fast growing vine that produces delicate pale-green strobiles, it has a powerful calming effect on the central nervous system. It's a plant I reach for when I've gone days without good sleep, or when I feel jittery, on egde, and like my nerves are absolutely fried.
Nervous exhaustion, I guess you could say. Hops helps you dial yourself down to a normal level. (Hops are actually related to marijuana...shhh.)
Just the scent of the strobiles is calming for some (if you like IPAs, odds are you will LOVE the scent of the fresh plant). I've seen many people make little dream pillows stuffed with the dried plant. Hops can also be made into a tea - steep 1 tsp in 8 oz hot water for 10 minutes and drink before bed. It can be very bitter, especially if you're not fond of hoppy things, so adding a little honey might be a good idea. It can easily be taken in tincture form, as well.
(Of course, a lot of people will ask if they can just drink a beer - and I don't blame them! But sadly, the hops used to make beer have often been roasted and thus have probably been sapped of much of their medicinal value. If you want to use hops medicinally, make sure you get them from a reputable herb supplier and not from a homebrew store. I also highly recommend growing them if you have space!)
Linden (Tilia spp.)
Linden, also called lime blossom, isn't something I often see grouped in with herbs for insomnia. But, after using it this way for years, I think it deserves a place here.
Linden helps to relieve nervous tension by relaxing the circulatory system and reducing constriction near the heart. More simply put, it eases the heart and helps it to beat easier.
It also has a lovely cooling effect - you can drink an iced infusion to enhance this aspect of it. It's a lovely thing to sip on a hot summer night just before bed. Linden always seems to bloom here during the first full moon in early summer, and so I always associate it with cooling, silvery moonlight.
To make a tea of the blossoms, steep 1 tsp of the dried herb in 8 oz hot water. If you're lucky enough to have access to the fresh blossoms, increase that to 1 tbsp per 8 oz. Ten minutes is the recommended steep time, but I think linden is best when steeped about 8 hours to make a strong, nourishing infusion that's delicious hot or iced.
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
Lemon balm is a gorgeous, cooling, lemony member of the mint family. It has a mood brightening, calming effect - it's a nice thing to try if the thing keeping you up at night is a depressed or hopeless state of mind. The volatile oils have a calming effect on the enteric nervous system as well, which makes it a nice choice if you feel tension in the pit of your stomach.
Because it causes mild vasodilation, it can also help to relieve tension-induced headaches that interfere with sleep.
For a tea, steep 2-3 tsp dried herb in 8 oz hot water for 10-15 minutes. You can drink it hot or let it cool and pour over ice. The tea is delicious, but my favorite way to take lemon balm is as a glycerite - it's deliciously sweet and lemony, and it's so easy to grab a dropperful in times of tension. It works well in tincture form, too.
Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)
Many herbalists consider skullcap a trophorestorative to the nervous system - in other words, it helps to breathe life back into the nervous system after it's been burnt out - think long term stress and sleeplessness. It can also work well for some people as a pain reliever.
It's indicated in situations of nervous exhaustion, irritability, restless/twitchy muscles, and insomnia. By calming and restoring the nervous system to a healthy state, it helps to quiet the body and mind into a calm state of relaxation so that you can sleep deeply.
To make a tea, steep 1-2 tsp of the dried plant for 10-15 minutes. Skullcap works very well as a tincture, too.
I often make blends with the herbs above (for example maypop and valerian are a total power couple for me), but my advice is to try them out one at a time first to see what effect they have on you. From there, you can determine what works best for you and what formulations or tea blends you might like to try.
As always, it's important to do your own research before working with a new herb to make sure it will work well for you.
Green blessings and sweet dreams,
Everything stated here is strictly for educational purposes, has not been verified by the FDA, and is not intended to treat, diagnose, or cure any disease. Always do your own research and consult a doctor before starting a new herb, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, have underlying conditions or are taking medication.
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In last month's post, I talked about how to preserve herbs by tincturing them - such a great way to make herbal medicines! But there are many plants that don't lend themselves well to being preserved in alcohol, and some that are just more effective when taken as an infusion. And, of course, some people just don't like tinctures and would rather drink a tea.
So let's talk a bit about how to harvest, dry and store herbs in your home apothecary. Properly harvesting and storing them can make a big difference in how long they retain their potency and resist the growth of nasty stuff like mold.
How to Harvest Herbs
As foraging/wildcrafting and herbalism become more and more popular, it's really important that we ensure we aren't doing any harm to the ecosystems that support us. So before I dive into the nitty-gritty of harvesting herbs, I recommend checking out this blog post I wrote a while ago about how to harvest in a responsible, ethical, and sustainable way.
Did you read it? Are you back now? Ok!
Before you head out to gather your herbs, make sure you've got a few key essentials:
How and when exactly to harvest each herb will vary slightly, so it's not a bad idea to pick up a good herbal or do a little research before you harvest a specific plant. But here are some general rules of thumb:
How to Dry Herbs
When I get home, I like to leave my basket or bag open/on its side in my porch for a while to let all the wee bugs make their escape. When I think everyone is (mostly) safe, I spread out my herbs on my table and sort them (I'm usually harvesting more than one thing at a time). If you've got roots, knock off the dirt, give them a rinse, and chop them up finely.
Once everything is sorted, I set my herbs out to dry one (or both) of two ways:
Hanging Bundles - if your herb has sturdy stalks (like mugwort or nettle, for example), group them into small bundles and tie them with string (I use cotton kitchen string). Make sure you don't put too many in a bundle - you want to ensure there's a nice air flow so that they dry more quickly and mold doesn't form. Hang the bundles in a dry, cool place out of direct sunlight. I store mine in my screened porch and in my dining room - it's nice to have them somewhere you can visit them often and check on them to make sure they're drying out nicely. (I think they look sorta decorative, too, if you're into the whole witchy-cabin aesthetic.)
I particularly love the beautiful wrought iron rack my sister got for me. Total medieval cottage vibes, right?
Herb Screen or Mesh Herb Dryer - Some plants are kinda hard to bundle up and hang (think roots, flowers or plants with delicate stems). In this case, I have a screen I made specifically to lay out herbs to dry - it's just a simple wooden frame with window screen stapled on.
I also have a really fabulous, multi-tier herb drying rack that another herbalist tipped me off about. To say it's life changing would be...an understatement. If you're planning to harvest a lot of stuff, I highly recommend springing for one - you can find them online at gardening stores (or the dreaded Amazon, if you dare).
If you're into making stuff, you can do a search for DIY herb drying racks and come up with something of your own. I've seen some really beautiful ideas that are as much form as function - old wooden ladders, driftwood, you name it. You are only limited by the size of your dreams.
Other Tips and a Note About Dehydrators:
How to Store Herbs
When your herbs are all nicely dried out, it's time to break them down a bit for storage. This might involve stripping the leaves and/or flowers off dried stalks, breaking open seedheads, or just sort of crumbling everything up a bit. Herbalists refer to this highly technical procedure as garbling. To garble, I usually grab a big bowl and use my hands to break up my dried herbs into it before storing them.
Over the years, I've tried a few different ways of putting up my herbs (I look back with a tinge of shame at the peppermint I stored unceremoniously in old plastic gelato containers...), and I think the best way is good old glass jars. You absolutely can't go wrong with mason jars, but any glass jars will work, as long as they're clean, dry, and seal properly. I should note; proceed with caution if those jars used to contain pickles, ferments, or olives - sometimes it's hard to get the scent of those out, and nettle with a side of sauerkraut is just...not my jam.
Because sunlight can break down some of the important stuff in the herbs and reduce their longevity/potency, try to store them in a dry, dark place (mine are tucked into my hall closet, which used to contain important stuff like linens until I slowly took it over...).
If you don't have anywhere nice and dark to store your herbs, you can usually find tinted glass jars that can block out most UV rays. Ball jars come in brown, blue or green - I even found purple one time! The darker the tint the better. One note of caution, though; be sure your jar is made of colored glass and that it's NOT just a painted on tint. Having paint leeching into the herbs and slowly chipping off is not ideal.
When you put up your herbs, take note of their taste, appearance and smell - this way, you'll be able to easily tell if they've gone off. If you notice any fuzzy stuff that wasn't there before, or if they just seem brown and sort of lifeless, it's time to toss them in the compost. If stored properly, though, most herbs should last at least a year - and roots for even longer.
Happy harvesting!
Be well,
]]>Summer has come to the northern hemisphere. In the span of just a couple of weeks, the trees have fully leafed out and the fields are blooming with flowers.
For foragers and herbalists, June is a sweet spot in the year; many spring plants are still around, and those that thrive in the warmer months are just emerging.
Now is a really good time to get outside, enjoy the sun, and gather stuff.
One of the ways herbalists preserve the plants they harvest is by tincturing them. If you've dipped your toes into the world of herbal medicine, you've probably got an idea of what a tincture is. But just in case, let's do a quick refresher on what they are and on some of the terms herbalists use when talking about them.
Tinctures are made by steeping a marc (plant material) in a menstruum (solvent - alcohol in this case) to produce a potent extract of the plant. The menstruum pulls the active constituents (alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes, etc.) out of the plants and leaves you with a concentrated solution.
If you don't do alcohol, vinegar extractions and glycerites could be a good alternative - but that's a whole other post in itself!
Because alcohol is the menstruum, tinctures can last, if stored well, for years. And because they are so potent, they can be taken in small amounts. As someone living in a cold climate with a short growing season and limited space for drying and storing herbs, I really appreciate that tincturing a small amount of plant material can yield years' worth of a concentrated medicine that can be easily stored in small bottles.
Another thing I love about tinctures is how simple they are to make. Anyone can do it - you don't need any special training or equipment to produce really great, effective plant extracts to have on hand for yourself and your family. So let's get into the basics.
Choosing a Menstruum
Choosing the right proof of alcohol can make a big difference in the potency and effectiveness of your tincture. Generally, the higher the proof of alcohol you use, the stronger the medicine will be, but you also have to consider the part of the plant being tinctured as well as whether it is fresh or dried.
Many home herbalists use easy to find alcohol like 80 proof (40% alcohol) brandy, vodka, or gin. This is fine for dried herbs and plants with delicate leaves and flowers, because this concentration of alcohol can easily break down their cell walls and pull out the constituents.
If you're tincturing fresh plants that are a bit more substantial, such as hearty mints with lots of aromatic oils, herbs with a high water content like chickweed, or finely chopped bark and roots, opting for 50-70% will yield better results. You can achieve these percentages by getting some high proof alcohol, such as Everclear, and diluting it with water.
Ultimately, if you want to be sure you're getting the best concentration of constituents possible, it's a really good idea to look up how to tincture the particular plant you're working with. There is a lot of nuance and a lot to know - more than I can cover in one blog post (for instance, there are some plants - like marshmallow - that you shouldn't even try to tincture, because their active constituents aren't soluble in alcohol). A really thorough and easy to understand resource for this is The Modern Herbal Dispensatory by Thomas Easley and Steven Horne. If you want to get good at making all sorts of herbal preparations, it's worth picking up a copy.
The Folk Method
There are a few different tincturing methods, but the folk method is the most common, by far the simplest, and requires equipment that you've probably already got around the house.
All you need is:
Directions:
1: If using fresh herbs or roots, give them a fine chop - the more surface area the better. Dried herbs are typically already crumbled into very small pieces, so I don't usually do anything to process those. If you've got a good spice grinder, you can run your dried roots through to break them down a bit more.
2. Pack the herbs into a jar. If using fresh material, loosely pack the jar about 3/4 of the way. If you're using dried herbs, fill the jar about halfway (this is because many dried herbs are typically more potent, and you don't need quite as much as you do fresh).
3. Pour alcohol over the herbs, filling until they are covered. Give the mixture a quick stir and make sure the herbs are submerged (you might have to top it off a bit more in the coming days, as the plant material may absorb some of the liquid).
4. Cap the jar and write the name of the herb, date it was tinctured, and the menstruum used on the label.
5. Store the tincture in a cool place out of direct sunlight for at least a couple of weeks (I usually give it about six). Give the jar a shake every day or so to be sure the herbs are moving around and staying submerged and to top it off if needed. Another option is to use a clean, mostly flat rock to keep the marc submerged while it macerates.
6. When the tincture is ready, strain out the marc. I like to catch it in cheesecloth and give it a good squeeze to make sure I'm wringing out every last drop. I've heard of herbalists using a potato ricer as a tincture press, and though I've never tried it, it sounds like a pretty great idea if you've got one.
7. Siphon some of the tincture out into a small glass dropper bottle (remember to label that too!) so you can easily grab some from my cabinet and add it in drop doses to your tea or juice. You can store the rest in the mason jar and top off your dropper bottle as needed. Tinctures should keep for years if stored in a cool dark place. Pay attention to the taste, smell and texture of your fresh tincture so that you'll be able to tell when it's started to go a bit off.
Because the tinctures I make are just for family and friends and don't have to be held up to rigorous potency standards and testing (and because sometimes I'm literally tincturing things out in the field), this is the method I often use. I find it makes good medicine for my purposes, and doesn't require anything beyond the most basic equipment.
The more you get to know the specific plants you're working with, the better an idea you'll have of what amount of herb to use and what type and strength of alcohol works best with which plant.
The Ratio Method
If you want or need to know exact ratio of marc to menstruum in order to get more consistent results and a clearer idea of the potency (and therefore suggested dosage) of a tincture, the ratio method is for you.
In this case, many of the steps are the same, but the measurements are more exact.
Usually, tinctures vary from 1:2 down to 1:10 in potency. The first number is the weight of herb, or marc, and the second number is the volume of menstruum.
Many of us herbalists use the good old metric system, so we measure in grams and milliliters. So, a 1:2 tincture would be made with 1 gram of plant and 2 milliliters of alcohol. If you want to use ounces, that's fine - what matters is the relative proportion of plant to alcohol.
The best ratio for a tincture depends on the plant being used and whether or not it's fresh or dried. This is where having a good medicine making guide (as I mentioned above) or herbal where you can look up the typical ratio used with a certain herb.
Herbs should be measured by weight using a good digital scale. You can measure out the alcohol with a measuring cup.
Once you've measured out your ratios, you can use the same methods for macerating, straining and storing as I've outlined above for folk tinctures. Make sure to include the ratio on the label, too.
Whatever method you choose, I hope you'll give tincturing a try. Gathering and preserving plants for yourself or your family and friends is a great way to be more self sufficient and to take advantage of the green gifts that grow freely all around us.
Never forget that herbal medicine is the medicine of the people.
Be well,
And the necessary statement: Before you harvest a plant from the wild for consumption, be 100% sure you have a correct ID. If you're not sure, leave it alone. All the statements made in this post are strictly for educational and informational purposes and are not meant to treat, cure, or prevent disease. Always consult a physician before taking herbal products, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have underlying conditions.
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Where I am, spring tends to come very late. Although we've had an unusually warm winter, there will probably still be bursts of snow and below-freezing temps.
But, there are a few small signs that a shift toward the new season has begun. Bits of green are popping up here and there, little leaves of garlic mustard and mints, and the tiniest buds have begun to unfurl on some of the low-growing thickets along the lake. The sun is a little warmer, and the house finches have started to sing their spring songs.
Soon we'll reach Ostara, the spring equinox. Ostara is the balance point of light and dark, the moment during the year when the light truly starts to overtake the dark. After the equinox, the days are longer than the nights. In the Druid tradition, we call it Alban Eilir, or The Light of the Earth.
The growing things sense this shift (yes, trees and other plants can "see" light, but that's a science lesson for another time...) and begin to wake up, sending energy skyward from their roots to create new leaves.
So too should we begin to wake up, feel the life rising from the earth and start to implement the plans and ideas we seeded over the winter. Waking up from the dreamtime of the dark months can be a little difficult sometimes - it can be tempting to stay where we are, snuggled in under deep snows. But it's time to leave behind what we no longer need, to set our sights on what we want to create for ourselves.
Around the spring equinox, I love to do a little visualization work to wake myself up and reset my energy for the changing of the seasons. This year I've written down a meditation I'd like to share.
To start, turn off your phone and any other distracting electronics. Make sure you have a calm, quiet space and a little time to yourself. Light a brightly colored candle (I like green, purple or yellow for this time of year, but pick one that feels happy to you!) and get seated in a comfortable position, with your feet touching the floor. Close your eyes and take a few deep, slow breathes until you feel settled, calm, and centered in your body...
Now picture yourself walking through a winter forest. There are towering spruces and pines covered in heavy snow, and the only sound is your breath and the crunch of your warm boots on the frozen ground. You are utterly, deliciously alone, but completely safe and free. Take as much time here as you need.
You are making your way towards the edge of the forest, following the light of the afternoon sun. The air is cold and clean, and you fill your lungs with it.
A small stream runs beside the path you are following, and as you walk you begin to see that the ice along its banks is thawing, slowly disappearing into the bubbling water. The air is chill, but not as crisp as it was deep in the pines. The moss on the rocks glows golden-green in the slanting light.
Notice now that the snow under the trees and under your feet is slowly melting too; in its place, tiny shoots of green are visible, pushing up from the forest floor.
Before you there is a carpet of ephemeral spring flowers; washes of bright violet, pastel yellow and white mixed in with the soft green of new growth. The pines have thinned now, giving way to a more open forest of beeches, maples, oaks, and flowering wild cherries.
The light of the sun feels stronger, warm on your face. You stop to take off your heavy coat and stretch out your arms. You feel light. Birds are beginning to sing, and there is a rich scent of loam, of green, of earth itself. There are tiny, perfect new leaves on the trees.
You have nearly reached the edge of the forest now. You sense the openness just beyond, the possibility and expansiveness of the sky. It's warm, and you take off your heavy boots and thick socks; they are worn out now, and you leave them behind. There are other things you want to leave behind too, things you no longer need. Worries, patterns to break, old things that weigh too much. Drop them, shed them, leave them in the forest.
The dirt of the path feels good and grounding under your bare feet, and you stretch out your toes and dig them into the earth.
The path begins to narrow gradually, winding through the guardian oaks that stand at the edges of the forest. You've come to the end, or the beginning.
You step through, and suddenly before you is a vast meadow filled with wildflowers. Reds, yellows, purples and blues swaying in a warm breeze. The blue-green outlines of mountains are visible in the distance. The world is lush and green.
You sit down now to rest in the sun, stretching out your legs onto the warm grass. The forest is behind you, and winter just a memory.
Think about the seeds you have planted for yourself during the dreaming time of winter. Actual seeds, seeds of plans, seeds of things you want to bring forth. Picture them sprouting, coming to life, pushing up into the light, growing into what you desire. What do you see?
Stay here for a while.
When you feel ready, bring your attention back to your breath and how you feel in your body. Five breaths in, five breaths out. Let the awareness of where you are sink slowly back in. Open your eyes and look at the flame before you, like a tiny glowing sun. Carry that energy with you into the spring.
Be well,
]]>We've just passed the midpoint of winter, and many of us here in the northern hemisphere are buried in snow and weathering freezing temperatures. The trees outside my office are covered in a slowly-increasing layer of ice, the cold rain pelting down nonstop.
Not coincidentally, this is the time of year when our skin can really take a beating. Temperature changes, dry indoor air, hot showers after a day in the cold...all of these contribute to dry, cracked, itchy and irritated skin.
I've gotten a few questions about keeping skin healthy during these midwinter months (and a few requests to add some more hand cream to my shop!), so I thought this would be a great month to talk a little about winter wellness for the skin and some of the herbs that help to keep it balanced, soothed and moisturized.
As a redhead with seriously sensitive skin, I've also got a few non-herbal winter survival tips I've thrown in at the end!
Herbs for the Skin
Calendula (Calendula officinalis): Calendula is probably the one of the most well-known herbs when it comes to skincare - and for good reason. Its sunny, resinous, deep golden-yellow flowers are anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and have a vulnerary (healing) action, making them something herbalists reach for when the skin is irritated, dry, or damaged. It's also wonderful at taking care of minor cuts, scrapes and burns.
The flowers are often infused in oil to make the base for herbal skincare products (I've got a few jars of calendula flowers steeping in different oils next to me right now, actually...). I find it to be very stabilizing and balancing, calming redness and irritation and leaving the skin a little brighter and clearer.
Another wonderful aspect of calendula is that it's so gentle it can be used on children and people with very sensitive skin.
In addition to infusing the flowers in oil, a nice way to use them is to add a handful of them to a bath for a nice skin-soothing soak.
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale): Comfrey is another herb that's fantastic for skin that's irritated, really dry, and in need of repair.
Because it supports fast healing and regeneration of tissues, the big soft leaves of this plant are often used to make an oil or salve for cuts, scrapes and minor wounds. I love to make an infused oil and add it in to my general skincare preparations as well - it's deeply moisturizing, and I find it to be very beneficial for skin that needs to be brought back into a balanced, healthy state.
Rose (Rosa spp.): Beautiful, heart-opening rose is one of the most nourishing plants you can use on your skin. It brings down inflammation and the mildly astringent property helps to keep tissues healthy and toned. Rose supports cell repair as well, meaning it helps skin appear a little more youthful and glowy.
Applying a rich, good-quality organic rosehip oil is one of the nicest things you can do to protect and replenish your skin. The petals are lovely in oils, scrubs and bath blends too. In addition to its effects on the skin, I think many of us can agree that just the scent of rose helps us release stress and feel calmer - definitely a wonderful element to include in a self-care ritual like applying a nice rich body oil or cream!
Lavender (Lavandula spp.): Laaaavender. Just thinking about the scent of lavender makes me feel a little more relaxed - which is probably why you'll find it in so many bath and body products.
In addition to smelling totally wonderful (in my opinion, anyway...), lavender has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, meaning it's wonderful at helping skin recover from minor burns, scrapes, rashes and other irritation.
Like comfrey, lavender helps the skin regenerate more quickly, too, which could help reduce scarring and support the skin as it ages.
Infusing the fragrant buds in oil makes something really special, but even just diluting a few drops of the essential oil in the bath or in a body oil is a lovely way to enjoy the benefits of this herb.
Chamomile (Matricaria recutita): Chamomile tea is a famous remedy for calming down the nervous system, aiding the digestion, and bringing restful sleep. It has many of those effects on the skin, too.
Chamomile is wonderful for bringing down inflammation and soothing irritated skin. One of the best ways to use it is to simply throw a handful of the flowers into a nice soothing bath - it'll calm your skin, and your mind, too. It can also be infused in oil and made into salves and creams, and is gentle enough to use even on children.
Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica): Ok, yes, nettles sting. And they're generally pretty rough to the touch. And very wild. So, at first it may seem a little counterintuitive to use it for skincare...but stick with me.
Nettle is one of the most nourishing plants out there. It's filled with vitamins and minerals that support the health of the whole body. It's just a gorgeous, amazing, wonderful green ally. So, a few years ago, I decided to try using it in my oils, creams, and even haircare products, and I have to say...I think it's vastly underused as a skincare herb.
I find it to be deeply nourishing to the skin - it seems to lend it a wonderful resiliency and softness. I think it's a fantastic wild herb to add to oils, baths, toners and creams. I've always got a few nettle infused products in the shop, and I might be adding even more this year as I see more and more how wonderful it's been for my own skin - so keep an eye out for that!
Chickweed (Stellaria media): Chickweed is another wild plant that I love to use for the skin. Often condsidered a common weed, chickweed is in fact a wonderful thing to find in your yard. It's filled with nutrients and is incredibly cooling and soothing, both internally and externally. It's very gentle, which makes it wonderful for children and people with delicate, sensitive skin.
The one caveat I should mention about chickweed is that I think it should be used fresh - once dried, it seems to me to lose much of it's potency. Thankfully, chickweed is a herb that continues to thrive even in the winter - if you go to your favorite chickweed patch and clear away the snow, odds are you'll find some growing.
You can use chickweed as a fresh poultice on troubled skin, add it to a bath, or infuse it in oil. I should note that I'm very careful when infusing fresh plants in oil, as introducing any moisture into oil increases the risk of it going rancid - if you decide to steep chickweed in oil, keep a very close eye on it.
Whatever herb you choose to use, treating your skin to a daily moisturizer in the winter is so important. Putting on a nice oil or cream in the morning can go a long way to protecting your skin from everything it will encounter throughout the day - itchy wool sweaters, harsh temperatures, or dry indoor air.
Oils vs. Creams
One of the skincare questions I hear the most is whether cream, body butter, or a body oil is the best bet for reviving dry skin.
So, here's my opinion as someone who has spent a good bit of time researching skincare:
Oils, salves and body butters may intuitively seem like the best thing to use on really dry skin, but when you need a quick hit of real moisture, creams are honestly a better bet - because they've got a water component, they will sink deeper into the skin and do better at reviving dry tissues.
Oils and body butters are lovely too, of course, but the best time to use them is right after a shower, when your skin is still damp. That way they will act as a humectant, forming a barrier on top of the skin and trapping in that moisture as they sink in. Oils can also be lovely to put on at night, as the warmth of your bed and your increased body temperature while asleep will help them absorb better.
When I have an area of really dry, rough skin, I like to slather on a cream first, let it sink in for a minute or two, and then follow with a nice layer of salve, oil or body butter to seal in that moisture.
And Some Other Tips for Keeping Skin Healthy...
Skip the Shower (Sometimes): In our culture, admitting you don't shower every day is definitely seen by some as taboo. But think about it: do we really need to be scrubbed squeaky clean on the daily? Frequent washing and scrubbing can strip the skin of its natural oils and leave it dried out. Slathering on creams and oils afterward might help skin feel moisturized in the short term, but we're not really allowing our skin the time it needs to build up its own healthy barrier of lipids (a.k.a. moisture) if we're always dousing it in soap and hot water.
Skip the harsh stuff: When you do shower or wash your hands (because, like, you should definitely still do those things occasionally), consider forgoing harsh soaps and body washes - a nice, natural, oil based bar of soap is totally adequate for getting clean. There is more and more evidence that the fine layer of beneficial bacteria on the surface our skin can go a long way in keeping us healthy; trying to scrub it all away, using antibacterial soaps, or layering on chemicals and artificial stuff can upset the balance of our external microbiome and even impact our immune systems (if you really want to geek out about the skin microbiome, this paper and this paper are super interesting).
Drink Plenty of Water: Kind of obvious, but still bears repeating. Drinking plently of pure, clean water is one of the best ways to keep skin hydrated from the inside out. It's also a nice idea to mix it up by drinking herbal teas (check out last month's post about nourishing infusions here). Herbs like burdock, red clover, chickweed, and calendula help to keep the liver and lymphatic system clean and moving, which can go a long way toward having clear, healthy skin.
Be well,
As always, be sure to do your own research and determine which herbs are safe and will be good for you on an individual level. All the info here is strictly educational and is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any illness or disease. Use caution when introducing new herbs into your routine, and consult a doctor if you are pregnant or nursing, or have any medical conditions.
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We are entering the darkest part of the year; the sun is sinking lower and setting earlier every day. Soon we will arrive at the Winter Solstice, also called Yule in some traditions. The longest night of the year. From that point forward, the sun will begin its return as we travel slowly out of the darkness and into the light.
In just a few months the earth will begin to quicken again; silently at first, deep under the snow.
But for now, we wait in the darkness.
This is a time to reflect, to dream dreams and tell stories. To cook delicious meals and laugh around the fire, to light candles to brighten the dark corners. To watch and wait for life and warmth to return.
Winter Solstice feels like something ancient and deeply ingrained in my ancestral memory. It honors the waning sun, the sleeping earth, the breathless pause before the return of the light.
This season of scarcity reminds us that we too are wild creatures belonging to this earth, and that we, like fox and stag and bear, need the bright sun and the green growing things to survive.
The Winter Solstice is a vigil for the continuation of life.
The simple, grounding Solstice rituals I'll share below make me feel deeply connected to the season and to the earth. For me, maintaining this connection is so important in order to navigate the winter months with a healthy spirit and mindset.
I really encourage everyone to run with these, or to dream up your own rituals to make you feel connected to the season.
Bring the Forest Home
Now, I realize of course that putting up greenery is also a Christmas tradition, and that many of you who celebrate that holiday probably already have wreaths on your doors and trees decorating your homes...
But what I mean by this is, if you can, actually go out into the forest and collect things from the wild. Not all of us have the privilege to be able to do this, of course. But maybe you have a park nearby, or a small greenspace you can visit.
There is a grove of cedars, pines and spruces that I really love, and every year I try to go there and collect a few branches to bring them home and make into a wreath.
Outings like this are a chance to connect with the forest, to observe what the winter is like there. To see the tracks of foxes and wonder about their lives, so different from ours. To walk through the cold fresh air and let the calm of winter sink into your bones.
Maybe you can take home a spray of rosehips, a few fallen pine branches, a sheet of bark from an old birch, a handful of pinecones...whatever you feel drawn to.
Bringing these things into your home and seeing them every day is a reminder of the life that still thrives even in the winter forest, and of your connection to the beautiful, sleeping earth just beyond your walls.
(Of course, when gathering from the wild, always try to be careful and conscientious about what you take. For tips on how to wildcraft, you can check out this post. And this one is specifically about conifers.)
Go Dark
On Solstice night, I like to turn out all the lights in my house, so that the only illumination is from a few candles.
Turn off your phone, don't switch on the tv. Just sit in the deep richness of the dark, be held in the womb of winter, indulge in the quiet of the longest night of the year. If it's a clear night, go outside for a minute and look at the stars.
You don't have to do this all night, of course. Just as long as you want, as long as it takes for the peace and quiet to sink in.
Hold a Circle
Invite a few close friends over and sit in a circle. I like to clear my living room floor, scatter a few cushions around, light candles in the center, and brew a pot of tea to share.
When we've all settled in, everyone takes a small piece of paper and writes down some things they want to let go of in the new year. Things that no longer serve, small hurts, patterns to be broken. If your friends feel up to it, go around the circle and speak about that things you've written. There is no pressure for anyone to share, and it's not a time to offer advice - it's just a moment to witness each other, acknowledge each other. When everyone is finished, add the papers to a firesafe bowl and burn them.
Afterward, you might all like to write down some things you want to call into your life in the next year; hopes, goals and dreams for the coming months. Fold up the little slips of paper and keep them. They become like little talismans, something you can dig out of your pocket or wallet or desk and look at when you feel like you're getting off track and need to re-center (which, of course, happens to us all!).
Cook a Winter Feast
The holidays are already packed with cooking and eating giant meals. But maybe, for Solstice, think about doing something different, simple and nourishing, like a big delicious winter stew. Include root vegetables and warming herbs like rosemary, sage and thyme.
Bay, chamomile, pine and juniper are a few of the herbs that are specifically associated with Winter Solstice, so those might be a nice thing to try and include. I particularly like to include pine, spruce or fir in some way - most conifers are edible and add a really fresh, interesting flavor (for some ideas, you can check out this post I wrote last winter)
If you're so inclined, bake a big hearty bread for everyone to share (or to hoard for yourself, I don't judge...).
However you choose to celebrate, I hope it will be peaceful, restful, and full of joy.
Be well,
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Here in the northern hemisphere, we are traveling towards the coldest, darkest part of the year. The last of the pale yellow leaves will be gone soon, leaving the forest bare. Before long, we will see the first snowfall.
I love this transition into winter - there is so much beauty and richness to enjoy. I look forward to the chance to sink deeper into my inner life. The autumn and winter are a time when we can take a look back at the year so far and assess where we are. It's a good time to let go of things that no longer serve us and to plan ways to make our lives better in general. Now is the time to root into the earth, to plant the seeds of change, to hibernate and dream ourselves into a new year of exciting stuff.
But...
This is also a time when we can really feel our moods dip, and our health can wane a bit if we're not careful. The transitional nature of the season, the ups and downs of the temperature as we shift to colder times, and even the emotional transition into darker days can leave us more vulnerable to sickness. And, of course, here in the states we are approaching a time of travel, holiday gatherings (which have their own set of serious stressors, both mental and physical), and endless to-do lists.
It can be tough to stay well and balanced in general, but add in all the extra stuff winter throws at us, and it gets even harder.
So, I thought I'd offer up some of the things I do to stay grounded and feeling good throughout this transitional period and the (sometimes) intense holiday season.
Eat Hearty, Warming Foods
As any decent herbalist/nutritionist/grandmother will tell you, diet is the absolute foundation of wellness. Our gut is an incredibly complex microbiome that also contains its own vast nervous system, and I can't emphasize enough how important it is to keep it happy and balanced. The gut-brain connection is strong; eating nourishing foods not only boosts our immune systems, but helps to keep our mood balanced as well.
Now is the time to build ourselves up with root vegetables, squashes, and warming herbs and spices like rosemary, thyme, sage, cinnamon, nutmeg...and all those delicious fall faves. Focus on hearty soups, roasted vegetables, and warm grains. I also love to incorporate infused vinegars and honeys into my meals for a little extra herbiness.
Take Your Elderberry Syrup and Fire Cider
When the temperatures really start to dip, I make a big batch of fire cider - a spicy sweet oxymel infused with things like onion, horseradish, ginger and turmeric. Sounds kinda weird, and maybe a little unappealing, I know...but it's very warming and packs a real antiviral punch.
Another thing I always keep on hand in the winter is Elderberry syrup. Taking a little bit every day, or when you start to feel ill, can help you stay well and could reduce the duration of colds and the flu. Plus, it's delicious, so it's something everyone will be happy to take! (The recipes and more info on both fire cider and elderberry syrup can be found here, if you want to check them out.)
Many people take fire cider and elderberry syrup as a daily practice throughout the winter, and that's probably a very good idea...I try to remember to do it, but I am whimsical and inconsistent, and I end up just taking a little shot of it whenever I feel something coming on, or when I feel particularly chilled. It always does the trick.
Drink a Daily Cup (or Cups) of Tea
When it's cold out, having a pot of tea on hand is just really, really nice...especially if it's full of herbs that can help keep you well.
I like to make a nice daily infusion with a base of deeply nourishing nettle and raspberry leaf - both of these plants contain vitamins and minerals that help to build general health. I like to mix up my blend a bit with things like oatstraw for extra nourishment, chamomile if I'm feeling a bit wound up, ginger if I'm feeling chilled, lemon balm if my mood feels low, or peppermint if I want something a little more refreshing. I recommend trying out different stuff to see what you like and what tastes delicious to you.
Just the practice of making yourself a nice cup of tea everyday can have a positive effect. Which bring me to...
Create Daily Rituals
Putting a few daily rituals in place is so important for feeling at peace and keeping stress at bay, which in turn can help keep your immune system healthy. It's a nice way to create space for yourself and stay grounded no matter what is going on around you.
So, you know what, buy yourself that fancy coffee every day. Read your favorite column in the paper while you eat breakfast. Meditate for 10 minutes during lunch. Take your dog for a walk after dinner. Draw yourself a nice bath. Bake something. Or, if you have a witchy bent, make yourself a little altar that you can visit every day to help set your intentions and find peace.
Don't be afraid to put yourself first and indulge in little things that bring you joy.
Go Outside
Yes, even if it's cold. If you can go outside and get a little fresh air and sunlight and that dose of Vitamin D every day, you will almost assuredly notice a positive change in your mood. There is so much medicine in just being outside under the sky.
Keep Your Skin Healthy
It's probably not something we give much thought to, but our skin is our largest organ, and it's also the one of the first lines of defense in our immune system. It functions as a barrier between us and all the pathogens and pollution floating around in the air - winter can do a number on the skin, and when it gets dry and cracked, that barrier gets a little weaker.
Keeping your skin moisturized daily with a rich cream or body oil is not only a nice daily ritual, but one that can really improve and maintain the outer terrain of your immune system.
Wear a Scarf!
The older I get the more I realize how important it is to layer up when it's cold. All those times your parents (and probably grandparents, too) told you to bring a jacket and wear a scarf and hat...they were right. The head and neck are especially vulnerable - they are sensitive areas where a chill can creep in, bring our body temperatures down, and weaken our defenses. Especially during transitional periods like autumn, it's easy to underestimate how cold it's going to be and how fast temperatures can drop.
So, always take a scarf!
Be well, friends, and enjoy all the bright, beautiful things this season has to offer.
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One of the things I really look forward to about the fall is harvesting autumn olive berries (Elaeagnus umbellata), also called Autumnberry or Japanese Silverberry. They have a really delicious, sweet-tart, astringent flavor that sort of tastes to me like a hybrid between apple, pomegranate and cranberry. They're also one of our most abundant wild foods.
Usually found in meadows and areas of open, disturbed ground in much of the United States, autumn olive grows to about 10-15 feet tall and up to 20 feet wide. The leaves are green above and silvery underneath. Small, yellow-white, very fragrant star-shaped flowers bloom in early spring, and by fall a single tree produces pounds and pounds of fruit. The little red silver-flecked berries grow in clusters and ripen from September through October. (When identifying, as always, make sure you're 100% sure you're picking from the right plant. There are some mildly toxic honeysuckles that can look similar to autumn olive.)
Every year, my sister and I collect big bags of the berries and make batches of jam (everyone we know gets a jar in their Christmas box...if you're one of those people and you're reading this, I hope you aren't sick of it. If you are, please let us know and there will be more jam for us...).
The Autumn Olive Harvest has become a really fun tradition.
But...
There is a dark side.
The Bad News
From an ecological perspective, autumn olive is kind of a nightmare.
Originally brought to the United States in 1830, autumn olive grew in popularity over the years as a source of food and habitat for birds and wildlife. It fixes nitrogen in the soil, can serve as an effective windbreak, and helps to limit erosion when planted strategically. And it's pretty.
Sounds good, right?
The thing is, while it's true that autumn olive provides those benefits, it also spreads rapidly and can ruin habitats by pushing out native plants and limiting biodiversity. Its dense branches create a lot of shade, making it hard or impossible for other meadow plants, successional woodland plants and native berry bushes to thrive if it starts taking over.
Autumn olive is an aggressive invasive, and it's really hard to control and get rid of. It can survive in just about any soil conditions, and it's drought resistant. If you try to cut it back, it grows in thicker. Unless you catch a plant very young, pulling it out by the roots usually isn't effective, as it'll just grow right back from even a small piece of root left behind. One tree can produce hundreds of easily germinated seeds.
It's sort of like the mythical Hydra. But a plant version that is visually appealing and produces delicious berries.
According to many people, the best way to get rid of autumn olive and stop it spreading once and for all is to cut it down and then repeatedly spread a very strong herbicide, like glyphosphate, directly onto the stump until you are sure it's dead.
I hope no ecologists get mad at me now, but... I'm just not cool with glyphosphate.
The Good News!
While you should most definitely NOT plant one of these guys or encourage their spreading, I think if you've got one (or several) of these plants already growing nearby, you should take full advantage of it and help to stop it from spreading by collecting as many berries as you can.
In autumn olive we have an abundant, nutritious and severely underutilized wild food crop. Did I mention the berries are really high in lycopene, a phytonutrient thought to help prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease? Tomatoes are prized as a source of lycopene, but autumn olive berries have about 17 times more per serving. They also contain vitamins C, E and A. Even Cornell University has been looking into autumn olive as a highly nutritious potential cash crop.
Unlike other wild edibles, we really don't have to worry about how much we harvest. We're doing both ourselves and our native habitats a favor if we can incorporate autumn olive berries into our diets. Each berry we take is one that will not germinate. So gather as many as you want! Tell your partner. Tell your friends. Make your kids do it!
The easiest way to harvest the berries is to run your hand along the branches and let the berries fall into your palm. You can also hold a bag or basket under the branch and do the same thing. The berries fall easily, and it's not hard to collect several pounds in just an hour. When you get them home, it's a good idea to let them sit for a while to give any hitchhiking bugs a chance to move along. I also do a quick pick-through of the berries to make sure I sift out any stems or shriveled/rotten ones, then just give them a quick rinse before storing.
Cool cool cool, so what do I DO with these fabulous berries?
One of the great things about autumn olive berries is that they keep well. Once rinsed and stored in the refrigerator, they can last up to a couple of weeks in my experience. They also freeze very well. So, if you don't have immediate plans for them, you can buy yourself some time by popping them in the 'fridge or freezer. Here are a couple of ways I love to use them (aside from just eating them raw, which I highly recommend):
Autumn Olive Jam
This jam is a really delicious way to preserve a large amount of berries. This recipe was our starting point when my sister and I first began making autumn olive jam, and it's still my favorite, but I've made a few tweaks:
Add the berries and water to a big pot and bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until the berries are burst and very soft, about 15-20 minutes.
Run the mixture through a food mill (or press through a fine mesh sieve), then return the de-seeded berry mash to the pot, stir in the lemon juice, and bring to a boil.
Add the pectin and sugar mix and stir well.
Add the sugar and stir well.
Return the mixture to a boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly to keep any bits from sticking to the bottom.
Remove from heat and spoon the mixture into prepared sterilized jars. (I use small 4 oz jars, and this recipe yields me about 12).
Cap the jars, add to a water bath, and process for 10 minutes. Remove and let the jars cool. (You should hear popping noises as the jars seal shut. You'll know they've been canned properly if the lid doesn't pop/move when you press on it.) Let cool and then enjoy!
Fruit Leather: Autumn olive fruit leather is basically the delicious fruit-roll-ups of your childhood, except healthy and way more delicious.
Bring the berries and water to a gentle boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the berries have all broken up a bit. Run the mash through a food mill into a bowl.
Next, mix in honey to taste (I used about 1 tbsp). Pour the mixture out onto a prepared baking tray (lined with Silpat or lightly greased wax paper) and spread evenly.
Bake at the lowest temperature of your oven until the leather no longer feels sticky. If you have a dehydrator, that will work too - just set it to 150F and run for about 4 hours. When finished, roll the sheet of fruit leather up and slice into rolls.
A few more ideas: Make them into a syrup for pancakes, use them in a compote, infuse them in vinegar to make a salad dressing or oxymel, mix them with a little vodka and honey to make a cordial, strain them through a food mill and use them as a pie filling or to make a sorbet, use them to flavor kombucha ... Essentially, any way you'd use berries will probably work out pretty well.
Important Notes: the only way to kill the seeds of autumn olive and make sure they don't germinate in the compost pile is to cook them. If you're making jam, fruit leather, etc., you'll probably end up cooking the seeds a bit before running the mash through a sieve or food mill. For things like a cordial, kombucha, etc., my advice is to throw the berries in a pan with a little liquid (after you've strained them out from whatever you're making) and just simmer them for a few minutes to make sure the seeds are rendered inert. After that, they should be perfectly safe to compost.
I also highly advise investing in a food mill if you're going to be working with these berries (they aren't very expensive, and you can usually find them along with other canning supplies in the grocery store). The seeds are rather large, and while they aren't a bother when just snacking on the raw berries, they'd be pretty unpleasant in a jam or tart, etc. Running the berries through a mill can save you a world of effort.
Also, when trying any wild food for the first time, eat only a small amount to begin with. Although I've never heard of an adverse reaction to autumn olive, it's always a good idea to use a little caution when trying out something new.
Be well, and happy harvesting,
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