Medicinal Herbs

 Several of you have asked for more info about medicinal herbs/remedies. I'm not trying to be evasive and I would love to write for days about medicinal herbs but there's a very fine line between giving medical advice (which I am NOT qualified to do!) and sharing what I've learned through the years. There are so many online resources and I will list a few here and hope you can get enough info to get you started.

Probably the most common "concoctions" are tinctures and salves. I'm not much into tinctures. Many are very beneficial but, at least for now, we need salves way more than we've needed the benefit of tinctures. Salves can be used for itching, stings, bug bites - the things that happen daily around here.

When I make a salve, I start with herbs, mostly dried herbs. They can be dried on a towel on a hot sunny day or in a dehydrator. I usually dry mine below 100 degrees for about 20 hours.

The herbs/weeds/medicinal plants I make sure we ALWAYS have are:

• Mullein
• Comfrey
• Elderberry
• Turmeric
• Tulsi
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Dead Nettle
• Plantain
• Sumac
• Burnweed
• Dock
• Callendula
• Echinacea
• Self-Heal
• American Beauty Berry
• Yarrow
• Chamomile
• Wild Lettuce

There are so many! There are more than what I've listed - just am not remembering them all now. I don't grow them all every year. The mullein pops up every year, some years there's more than other years. Because we've changed what we had growing in some areas, we've had to add add mullein plants but in a few years, we'll be pulling up more than we leave in the ground.

We have comfrey, elderberry, self-heal, echinacea, American Beauty Berry, yarrow and sumac that we've planted and they come back every year. Mullein, for the most part, burnweed, wild lettuce, dock, plantain, dead nettle and dandelions are weeds that come back uninvited every year.

I plant turmeric, Tulsi, garlic, turmeric, ginger, chamomile, and calendular every year. Of course, ginger, garlic and turmeric get used in the kitchen all year.

Of course, you do not have to have all of these plants, and there may be others you want to grow but this will give you some things to think about.

Here are some useful links:

Barbara O'Neill is the one person who has had the biggest influence on my desire to learn about herbs/weeds as medicine. She has excellent books and videos.

Top 10 Medicinal Plants

10 Edible and Medicinal Weeds

Medicinal Herbs

NOTES:  PLEASE READ

1.  If you are taking Rx meds, be very careful about adding anything new without speaking with your prescribing physician. Some herbs are quite powerful and can cause problems with adverse interactions with other meds.

2.  I feel like everyone needs comfrey but one type is very invasive. I think it's some kind of Russian comfrey that is NOT invasive but I was checking to see what kind to recommend and some say there are types of Russian comfrey that IS invasive. The comfrey we have does not spread. Yes, it may grow from being a small plant to being a larger plant each year but it doesn't pop up here, there and yonder.

3. If  you are not in a position to grow your own or you just don't want to do it, I've always had good results with Mountain Rose Herbs. They can be a bit slow to ship. I've also used Frontier Coop and Azure has a few dried herbs that are medicinal.

Speaking of Frontier Coop, I LOVE hibiscus tea and this recipe is so refreshing! It has helped me quite a bit in kicking the Dr. Pepper habit.

One last thing:  Making a salve couldn't be easier. I dry the herbs. Then put them in a jar, pour in enough olive oil to cover the herbs. Let it sit in a cool, dark place for 2 - 6 months (some take longer, sometimes I just don't have time and they sit longer). Strain out the herbs. Gently heat the olive oil, adding in enough bees wax to the olive oil so that it thickens and gets a bit hard. I use a 1:4 ration (1 part bees wax to 4 parts olive oil) and I'm not exact with my measurements. I do store the unopened containers in the fridge until I need them. I try to make enough to use and share for one year. I have no idea what the "shelf life" is but I enjoy making it so I never mind having to make more.

I store my salves in the 4 oz. Ball jelly jars. You can buy fancy, cute jars . . I just use what's easy to get and fairly inexpensive.

Hope this helps and I hope no one thinks I'm being to evasive/unhelpful.