herbclass

[herbclass]

Shepherds Purse

As I am on the apparent learning curve of video editing, I was working on making one on the herb Shepherds Purse. It will be another week until I deem it ready for release. In the meantime I would like to share about this unique herb. I had never seen SP in the wild until I moved to Western Arkansas. It is one of the older herbs seldom talked about much compared to more 'hip' herbs I guess you could say. And, like Plantain, was reportedly spread to the US by people from it's origins in Europe.

Shepherds purse starts out as a rosette-type leaf structure (see the pics on FB - Meadowsweet Herbals) and then shoots up stems approximately a foot high with smaller leaves and white umbrel flowers at the top and then forms seed pods on the stems that are delicately heart shaped. Like Yarrow, it has been used for bleeding of all kinds, both internal and external. A poultice can be made of the rosette leaves for external and then a tea or tincture can be made for internal uses - like nosebleeds, ulcers, hemorrhoids, and hematuria (from urinary infections). With that being said I encourage anyone reading this blog article to seek medical advice for any type of excess internal or external bleeding.

Shepherds purse has also been used traditionally by midwives in helping women to stop bleeding following birth and for women who suffer from heavy periods. It should not be used during pregnancy. It should also not be used by people on blood pressure medication as it constricts the smooth muscles in the arteries and can counteract the effects of BP medication thus raising the numbers. Shepherds purse can also serve as a urinary antiseptic and also to help diarrhea. It has significant anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties .

Shepherds purse is also considered a food especially in Asia. It is an ingredient in some Chinese rice cakes and used in soups and porridges in Korea and Japan. It has a very light broccoli taste - Yes! I tasted it - which is said to be spicy although I didn't get that, but I also tasted it raw and not cooked. It can be eaten raw or sautéed. It makes for a good spring tonic and it is used by TCM practitioners to cleanse the liver which helps dispel pent up anger/irritability issues.

What I like about Shepherds purse is that it appears to grow well here during the winter months in Western Arkansas. I am not sure how well it does in heat. As of now it appears to be pretty prolific and tough. When preparing it use the roots and rosette leaves - remember to follow the energy - leaves in the spring and summer months and roots in the fall and winter months. While the medicinal properties would also be found in the seed pods and flowers I would avoid using those parts as when it dries over the course of a day or so it kind of becomes a mess - just saying... the leaves and root are the easier parts of this herb to mess with. Tea and tincture are the most frequently used methods per tradition.

While what I have written about Shepherds purse is certainly not an exhaustive bit of information, there is more as it has been around and used traditionally for centuries. For further information and questions on this herb please contact me via FB messenger at Meadowsweet Herbals. Hope that everyone has a wonderful week!

Sources: Complementary and Alternative Medicines, Feltrow and Avila (PharmD), 1999 Springhouse Corp., Pgs.598-9.

Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine, Chevallier, 1998 Dorsing Kinderly, Pgs. 182-3.

[herbclass]

Its A Green Day!

No seriously, it is a green day not just because it is spring, but because today is St. Patrick’s day. Celebrated for the saint that was known to have driven out all the snakes in Ireland - did he really or did it just get too cold there for the snakes to survive anymore? I’ll believe in the myth as I totally love the holiday! Today I turn another day older as well and of course I love the color green. And one of the ‘theme’ items for St. Patty’s day besides the color green is the shamrock, or rather clover. 

Now most people think of clover as a pesky weed - like the dandelion - but it has great benefit not just for other plants (in that it puts nitrogen back into the soil), but it is a great source of natural estrogen for women. Many people will try to tell you that ONLY the Red clover is good for women, this is probably because it has the most in the way of estrogen. I stand firm in my belief that ALL clovers carry this benefit and would never consider myself a clover ‘snob’.  The amount of nutrients in this herb is astounding. The body absorbs as much of any herb as it desires and excretes the rest. This is the natural way. I do not believe it should be feared, as some women are told to avoid the synthetic estrogen found in birth control. The body recognizes it as a natural substance and works in harmony with it. Clover also acts as a diuretic which helps to cleanse the body helping with skin disorders and lowering blood pressure by dispelling fluid. A salve can also be made of this herb which has also been reported to be beneficial for eczema and skin disorders when used topically. 

The great thing is that clover grows abundantly almost year round. The flowering tops are used in teas and tinctures and oil effusions. For a tea the recipe is 1 Tbs dried flowering tops to 2 cups hot water and steep for 5 minutes. (For fresh herb double this amount to 2 Tbs/2cups water.) I always make at least a quart to keep in the fridge. It will last about 4 days in there before needing to make a new batch, but it doesn’t ever really last that long!

Below is a link to an article by Dr. Axe on Red clover that lists even more benefit than I have listed above. And until then - or at least for today - I hope everyone is wearing their Green! (and drinking it!). 

https://draxe.com/nutrition/red-clover/

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Herb Farm Update

While I am in the process of putting in herbs in my new residence, I am also gearing up to start producing videos as well. The last camera just stopped working, I don’t think from age as much as it was just finally outdated. The new camera should arrive tomorrow. I am already jotting down ideas for the videos namely starting out with the Earth. Every gardener knows that sometimes just plopping in some plants in a vacant ground-space will not work and plants have to have certain conditions in which to thrive. Most people do not think of this as when looking out a window especially in the spring. It certainly Iooks like everything can and does grow. I’ve explained this about pathogens in the past, about having to have the right temperature, moisture, air content, salinity, etc. in order for that organism to thrive and replicate. With plants there also has to be the right climate (which includes temperature, humidity, sunlight), but there also are many variables in regard to the earth or dirt that we are expecting them to grow in. These include, but are not limited to, temperature, moisture (sand or clay), minerals, and pH. Then there are what I see as energetic variables like Orgone energy, or rather Dead Orgone Energy. This type of energy rises up from the ground usually in places where there is a running spring underground or a crack/fault line. If you’ve ever planted bushes or trees, they will sometimes die in one spot even though those around them are flourishing. Then when we replant  them or replant something else also kills them. I am willing to bet that it is a line where this DOE is coming up out of the earth and stressing the plant enough for it to want to evade the spot or just give up and not live. I will be showing pictures of this that I have observed in my own yard in my first video called Earth Energy for Herbal growers. I will also show how to look for clues and how to detect them.

Until then I hope everyone is doing well and having fun planning their upcoming spring gardens. 

[herbclass]

Rosemary - A Home Necessity

Even with it being so early in spring, and a cool one at that here in Western Arkansas, there is not much that should be planted right now. However, there is much that should be planned! With myself being in a new homestead, I am starting with a clean slate and a lot of potential. Even though I love landscaping in my yard, I also believe in planting plants and bushes that can be utilized in a pinch for herbal medicine purposes. One plant that I will be planting for sure is Rosemary. Rosemary is sold in garden centers as an herb – which is usually a younger form (when sold in 2-3inch pots) than the bush or tree. I prefer to look for a nice solid bush as it has less potential to die over the following winter. It likes warmth and full sun. I had one at my last house that lasted for about 2 years until the cold took it out. This time I will plant it on an eastern side of some building or fence so that it can have adequate protection. I will also be putting some kind of insulative covering (I’m thinking Styrofoam) around and over the root line and under the mulch so that it has a better chance of surviving.

Up until this point in time, I have mostly thought of Rosemary as being a great respiratory herb. Rosemary and ginger tea has been shown, in my experience, to help with sore throats and bronchitis during winter. Both of these herbs pack a double-punch to lowering inflammation and assisting with immunity. The ginger is also a warming herb that helps assist the herbal properties to be more readily absorbed. Adding a touch of pine needle gives it an astringent factor (for post-nasal drip) as well as nutrition, as pine needles have more vitamin C than oranges – up to 6 times!).

This year I have found a new use for Rosemary which would be for severe burns. Rosemary has an anti-inflammatory action for anything that it comes into contact with. I recently experienced literal 3rd degree burn on a couple of fingers after coming into contact with the glass door of our wood stove. I should have known the severity of it as it really didn’t hurt for a few days – burned the nerve endings right off I guess. However following that, for 2 weeks (while it did scab over) it just would not heal. There was no visible action on these wounds which bothered me as I would think something should have been happening like weeping or itching or pain or something. I put ointment over the top with a bandage covering with no results. I left it open and dry with no results either. Finally, I was looking through my essential oils and for some reason put a few drops of Rosemary on it and overnight it turned flush (increase of circulation to the area). By day 2 it had filled in with scar tissue. This is one of the books that I found quoting several reports that speak about this action in 2.14. - https://www.intechopen.com/books/wound-healing-current-perspectives/medicinal-plants-in-wound-healing .

Anyway, preparing rosemary essential oil at home takes quite a process to be able to extract. I will however be having a class this summer that covers hydrosols, which is a more dilute version of the essential oil, that can be just as effective on burns or open wounds.

I would like to throw out there that anyone interested in attending my classes this summer to message me as my classes in the past have filled up fast. I usually hold them in sequence and one class builds upon the class prior to it. I will post an announcement for the types of classes. They all utilize an herb walk prior to hands-on instruction on how to prepare what was collected during the walk. Classes will cover infusions, decoctions, liniments, salves, hydrosols, boluses and much more. I will be posting the dates and times at the end of this month – the first class will be the end of April. Stay tuned and I hope everyone has a great week!

[herbclass]

Signs of Spring

Any time I have moved to a new location, there is a wonderful time of discovery in searching out the native plant life. At my new location here in western Arkansas we had a week of snow and bitter cold, but a week later we had spring-like weather with birds singing and trees budding out. I happened to be walking across a flat open area yesterday and lo and behold a small Mullein plant was growing and definitely enjoying the sunshine that we were having that day. 

I love Mullein as it was one of the first easily identifiable plants that I had found when I was first studying herbalism. Here in Arkansas they can grow to a height of two and a half feet tall with a diameter of three or four feet. They like to grow in open full-sun areas with poor soil. I used to look for them along railroad tracks. They look like a tobacco plant with the long leaves growing out from the center, however the leaves are fuzzy like lambs ear. I remember first chopping dried Mullein in my small chopper - the fuzz was something to contend with when packing it into capsules. I now believe a better herbal form for this herb is tincture or oil infusion. 

Mullein is known for having two major applications. It was promoted as a respiratory herb by the late Dr. Christopher, a famous herbalist from the 1950′s. I would recommend this herb perhaps mixed with another respiratory herb - rosemary - and taken in tincture form for health conditions like bronchitis or asthma. For seasonal allergies I would combine Mullein with cleavers and ginger. Another application of Mullein that has been known and well-used by parents for centuries is an oil infusion of Mullein and garlic used for earaches in babies and children. Yes, Mullein is an extremely safe herb even for pets!

Mullein isn’t an herb that is only found here in central Arkansas, I have found it growing prolifically in the harsh environment of my last home in Wyoming. It seems to thrive on whatever Mother Nature has to throw at it and continue to flourish! With that said, be on the lookout for this easy to spot herb and my recommendation is that it is one to keep in your herbal medicine cabinet year round. 

[herbclass]

Advanced Infusions - Liniments

 Today, with Christmas drawing closer, anyone perusing Pinterest for homemade gift ideas will see oil infusions being made for gifts to be used for the kitchen. Many varieties of nice flavors and scents can be made for food use. However, oil infusions are also used for medicinal purposes as well. The currently popular CBD Oil is made in this manner. Medicinal oils are typically called liniments and a liniment can be made into a salve by adding a small amount of wax to harden it some. 

Formulas for liniments are different from teas. When preparing a liniment, I use a glass Pyrex loaf pan, spread fresh herbs over the bottom and then cover the herbs with an oil like olive, almond, or coconut. Other oils can also be used but I usually think of other people’s allergies when making this choice. Olive oil when heated tends to form a stronger odor than the other lighter oils. It is, however, the cheapest which is why I use it more frequently for my own personal use.

People also ask about using dried herbs as fresh cannot be grown year round. When using dried herbs I usually soften them in warm water first very lightly so that it reconstitutes the cell walls making it easier for the oil to penetrate them. I make sure I don’t add too much of the water, as water and oil don’t mix, and I do not want water droplets in my end product. I only add just enough water to soften them up, letting that sit for about 5 minutes, before putting them in my baking dish.

 I cover the herbs fully with the oil plus 1/4″ over the top and bake the dish at 180 degrees for about 3 hours. I have seen other herbalists use a crockpot for their liniments, but the temperature would need to be monitored close to 180 - like maybe heat it up and then turn it down to the warm setting for the 3 hours. After being allowed to cool, the oil is then strained. I store my liniments in glass Mason jars and replace every few years.

Whether you are making liniments for yourself or for gifts, they seriously just cost pennies to make and in my opinion are just as effective as the over the counter products that are put out today. 

Some Liniment ideas can be as follows: 

Sore Muscle Rub - St. Johns Wort (nervine/pain), Rosemary (anti-inflammatory), Mint (scent).

Bug Bite Zapper - Rosemary (anti-inflammatory), Willow Bark (pain), Lavender essential oil (swelling and scent).

Wound Soother - Calendula (wound healer), Pine Needle (astringent), Sage  or Thyme (antibacterial). 

[herbclass]

Not All Herbal Teas are Alike! #2

When it comes to herbs that are going to be used in making herbal tea, there are some significant differences with them. An herbal tea is made from leaves and flowers from a plant - generally called 'the tops'.  Harder substances such as roots, barks, and berries when made into an herbal infusion are not called teas, they are called decoctions and require different handling to extract the medicinal properties out of them. I will discuss decoctions at a later date.

I prefer making herbal teas out of fresh plant matter. Sometimes there is not a choice however in this. In a previous article I had listed the recommended dosage for dried herb as 1 Tablespoon/ 2 Cups hot water. For fresh herbs it is doubled due to the water content of the herb and is 2 Tablespoons/ 2 Cups hot water. The idea behind infusions is due to what is called 'diffusion' which is a chemical term where an exchange is made over a plant's cell wall moving from an area of higher concentration (within the plant matter) to an area of lower concentration (the water in the cup or pot). Heat helps dilate things speeding up the process. Not every infusion has to have heat, though, it just takes more time to achieve when cold.

Another thing to consider is the presence of volatile oils. When heat is added to, lets say, an herb like Lemon Balm, the volatile oils in this type of mint will quickly evaporate. So, when infusing any kind of mint it is recommended that a cover be placed over the cup or pot during the diffusion time. This way it can evaporate and get trapped on a cool lid and become a liquid drop and fall back into the cup. With dried herbs that are purchased, many times the volatile oils are lost after they are chopped up and left to dry. I always try to have a fresh supply of any kind of mints on hand - Spearmint, Peppermint, and Lemon Balm -  so that I can make a tea out of fresh plant matter and not have to worry about the loss of their volatile oils.

Steeping the herb in hot water for a period of 3-5 minutes are the same for both fresh and dried herb teas, and then straining them. I like making them in a quart jar so that I have several cups made on hand. Tea can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.  Adding things like stevia drops or lemon or cinnamon are nice things to add to boost the flavor especially with the more 'vegetably' flavored herbs - and when using a warming herb like ginger or cinnamon it boosts circulation within the human digestive tract speeding up the absorption rate of your product.

Next week - All About Decoctions!

Last weeks article can be found posted on my FB page found here: facebook.com/Meadowsweet-Natural-Health-118374488337126