Medicinal plants

[Smoky]

I'm curious about what plants other people grow (legally) to treat themselves or their animals for various ailments. Please share if you have any you like.

[alma]

Check Altnature.com for all kinds of the info you mention that either grow wild in your own back yard, or you can cultivate yourself. love, alma

[Smoky]

Thanks Alma.
I am asking what folks on this forum are growing for medicinal purposes. Apparently everyone who voted "for" the forum expansions in this area are busy now with other things.
Springtime is the usual time for an increase in nature awareness, but we can talk about it all winter, and be more ready for spring, (I hope).
:)

[alma]

I am learning about herbal stuff and applying what i can.

I finally got purple cone flowers to grow this year, and they really took off.

Even though the flowers are long gone, i am still picking up leaves each day and have a lot of them dried and stored.

They sure make good tea, and it enhances the immune system, i hope.

I simply wash them a little and lay each one on a paper towel for a couple of days, and voila!

There are still dandylions growing in the yard, but i can't bend over enough to pick them, but manage to find quite a few leaves in the small raised garden that i have.

They make good tea also, as do the mint and spiriment.

I have comfrey, lambsquarter, and had lemon balm all summer, but drank it all up.

I had catnip in my little garden last year, but it didn't grow this year.

There is german camomile all around here, and plantain, etc. but i have not messed with them yet.

We have two japanese ===forget name, and they are edible, too, but i haven't learned that much yet.

Hopefully next year i will be around to put in a few new things that i might have forgotten to mention today.

I'd love to get some thyme and other such things, too, but time will tell.

It sure is a good idea to exchange notes this winter, and maybe some people have a lot to add to this little conversation. love, alma

[wolfe]

How do you make lemon balm tea? I have lots of it but only use it for lemon flavor in iced tea. I need to know how much to use and how long to steep. Any help is appreciated.

[alma]

My lemon balm is all gone for the year now, but i used to wash it lightly, lay each leaf on a paper towel for a couple of days, none overlapping the other, and then boiled my water and put as many leaves as i wanted depending upon strength i desired.

That is how i drink the purple cone flower, (echanea sp)
and dandylions now, and mint, etc.

As i said, i am just leaning, too, so might be doing it wrong. I want all the immune system help i can get so hope this is right. love, alma

[Smoky]

With any herb tea, you can decide for yourself the strength, that's another thing that is so great about it! You will know by the taste if it's too strong.
As a general rule-of-thumb, I use a quarter to a half cup of leaves if they are fresh, a couple teaspoons of leaves if they are dried. I don't really measure since I keep as much dried leaves as I'm going to use all winter, then go back to the fresh when they're out again in spring.

[ByExample]

Hello herb lovers,

I love to gather fresh herbs and make my own teas. We are in the process of moving to our permanent homestead, so we have not started a medicinal garden yet. In the meantime, I gather wild herbs and harvest in my neighbors' gardens.

I live in AZ and yellow cone flowers grow well in the climate, and I plan to grow them. They have similar properties to echinacea (i think alma referred to this as purple cone flower). It is an immune booster also.

I prepare my tea herbs by bundling them with cord and hanging them to dry. If they are buggy, I wash them first. It is important to let them dry until they are crispy, but not to overdry them, as they will lose potency. Herbs store best in a cool, dry, DARK location.

Other medicinal herbs that I use include: lemon balm (just steep dry leaves for tea), peppermint, thyme, basil, rosemary. All mints are antioxidants, and I mix them however I want for "multi mint antioxidant tea."

I find lemon balm to a good daily tonic for relieving anxiety, and I often eat it right out of the garden. Of course if you can grow a lemon tree - lemon is great for fighting sickness of all sort. Particularly good for soothing the throat. Include lemon/lemon peel into teas, or press against your lip to treat a cold sore.

We haven't experimented with growing ginger and tumeric yet, but both of these roots are superb healers, for lots of things. Currently, I'm taking tumeric capsules and it is helping with muscle pain/carpel tunnels.

more later....

mel

[bookwormom]

Herbs grow on you. Lets see, I have lavender, thyme, yarrow, lemon balm, lovage, valerian, St. Johns wort, stinging nettle, calendula, comfry in the garden. Oh and horehound and peppermint, also sweet woodruff. I gather from the wild raspberry and strawberry leaves, blackberry leaves, blueberry leaves, elderblossoms, plantain (broadleaf and narrow) dandelion, coltsfoot, red clover. there are several that I wish would grow here, like hawthorne. Just because it is an herb does not mean I pick it, I may not need it. some are used for tea, some I tincture, like comfrey root (dig at the full moon) some are used in salves, like calendula, some are smelled, like lavender and woodruff(but also used in tea). and some are vegetables, like cabbage. Oh, and I have aloe vera of course. agrimony and lobelia grow around here, too.
I raised ginger this season, it did well, then I let it get frostbitten. dumb mistake.
Elderblossom is supposed to really boost the immunesystem, as studies in Israel have shown. It has anti viral properties. oh, and how could I forget passion flower, and my hop vine. I strip the leaves off the stems and lay the leaves on screen trays, no need to lay them down leaf by leaf, just spread a few handfuls and turn them every so often. when they are dry I put them in metal canisters with tigth lids. those popcorn tins are good. but they have to be really dry or else they will get mouldy. when I lived in a drier climate I tied bunches with a string and hung them from the rafters.

[Gwynyvyr]

I have a pretty comprehensive library of herbal medicine books...the first one, for basics, and for folks that aren't real familiar with herbal/alternative medicine is
The Green Pharmacy by James Duke
This book lists basic ills...arthritis, colitis, skin rashes, everything you can name, basically, and then gives Dr Dukes suggestion for dietary treatment of the conditions using herbs and foods.
A great handbook for every home library, also, is:
Herbs from Readers Digest
It has the A to Z listing of herbs and includes recipes, cultivation and harvesting/preparing of herbs. It includes photos of the herbs, latin names, different varieties of each, their uses, even includes recipes for medicinal creams, salves and lotions and decorative uses.

[Smoky]

Duke has a website too, I'll look for it :-/

[Smoky]

Here it is. http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/ you can look up a plant to see which chemicals are in it , or the other way around see what plant has which chem.

[alma]

Thank you so much for the info about the book and for the web site, too.

I bought duke's book this a.m., paperback, and it really looks better than anything i've got.

--or pretty darned good, at least. love, alma

[Smoky]

Being born and raised in another state, when I first bought property in TN, there were some plants and trees that I didn't know the name of, much less what they would be used for. I made it a goal to find out the names of each one, no easy thing before I had the www.
Now I need to find a use for every one. I have a catch-all category tho, if I don't know what a plant can be used for, it goes on "good-for-compost" list, lol.

[Suzy]

I will be growing even more milk thistle this coming spring because my daughter takes it to increase healthy liver function....(she has Hep C antibodies but does not have active Hep C)...

I love lavender just for it's relaxing qualities...

I am still learning!

[Suzy]

Oh---and Bilberry for my eyes!

[Jeff]

The ones I have used most recently are aloe vera (house plant) and plantain (from out in the yard). Both are beautiful and versatile.

When I was in Mexico, it was almost shocking to see my house plant's siblings just growing out in the wild and doing their own thing. I've only seen them indoors up here in the north. The Mexican people call Aloe Vera: Sa'bila (phonetic spelling).

[CarolAnn]

Byexample -
The yellow cone flower you want is echinacea paradoxa. I grew it in Arkansas, and it was a bit invasive, but I liked that! (The latin name "paradoxa" is because it is a yellow "purple cone flower"! There are other yellow coneflowers that aren't medicinal. Be sure you get the echinacea!

It is my belief that the herbs that do best for you are the ones that live right where you do. Not only because they'll be fresh, but because they live in and deal with the same environmental conditions that you do.

When to harvest? Consider what part of the plant's life cycle it is in: An annual requires seeds to keep itself alive, therefore the vigerous life forces go into the seeds. A perennial saves its life forces in the root for next year's growth. With the new season, the constituants travel through the plant first for leaf growth and health, then into flowers and fruit or seeds. Come autumn, all that returns to the root for the next year. Even the time of day can make a difference - early, before the sun burns off volatile oils, after a shower when the plant is juicy and full of sap - possibly even the moon phase can have an effect.

This is how I was taught - others may believe differently. But it makes sense to me!

[Terri]

I don't grow them, I buy them in the spice isle. ;D

Cumin and tumeric are GREAT for my multiple sclerosis! I get little plastic capsules from the pharmacist and I fill them with spices!

[Smoky]

Terri- That's nice to know, thank you!

[sage_morgan]

It's my understanding that although the whole purple coneflower boosts immunity, the best punch comes from making a tincture of a mature plant's roots (3-4 yrs old). I began to divide the multitude and plant in four different locations so I could rotate (and easily keep track of) where I took roots.

I made the most magnificent tincture this past fall, and oh, it is quite horrid-tasting, too. But so darned effective, I can't complain! Two days ago I started being sniffly and snotty; I let it escalate until yesterday afternoon and began hitting it with several small doses of the A.T. (awful tincture) and this morning I'm nearly clear.

I love plants!

[CarolAnn]

Sage -
You discovered the secret of echinacea! It tastes so darn bad your body gets better just so it won't have to endure any more of that stuff! ;)

I dig the roots in the fall, scrape 'em like a carrot, then chop the woody roots and put the choppings into grain alcohol and seal the bottle. Six weeks in the dark and I have the best immune booster I've ever found - and a few drops under the tongue or up to 15 drops in a glass of water will beat bronchitis back like nothing else does!

My friend's kids call it ICK-inacea!

My guess is the root could also be dug any time the ground isn't frozen - all that power for the next year's growth is stored in the root. As soon as the stems start sprouting, the plant's powers go up the stem to create new life. (At least, that's the way I was taught!)

[Rachel]

I am growing thyme along with some herbs for cooking. Thyme is great for treating bronchitis and sore throats. I started to develop bronchitis about a week ago, and I would add some thyme to boiling water and inhale the steam. It cleared up quickly. I also made a very unpleasant tea made up of both thyme and sage for my sore throat.

I am a little new to growing and preparing remedies. I didn't even know what a tincture was...lol. But, I found this website that gave a list of remedy types and how to prepare them.

http://www.gardenguides.com/plants/info/herbs/preparin.asp#morebelow

[sprite]

Onion Cure for colds.

At the VERY first sign of a cold, puree an onion, use a bit of water to make an applesauce consitancy.

As for Dosage ....
a brown haired or back haired adult 1tsp. every 8 hours for 3 doses

redhead 1 tsp. every 4 hours for 6 doses

blondes 3/4 tsp. everry 8 hours for 3 doses

children depending on age 1/8 to 1/2 tsp follow for hair color.

let the onionsause slide slowly down your throat...it will sting! nothing to eat or drink for 15 mins.

Why the difference in hair color? It has to do with a person's general disposition, browns/blacks more even tempered. Redheds firery and blonds sensitive. I learned this from a practicing herbilist.

[sage_morgan]

How do you make lemon balm tea? I have lots of it but only use it for lemon flavor in iced tea. I need to know how much to use and how long to steep. Any help is appreciated.

I took about 5 or 6 or more long fresh sprigs of it, about as tall as a quart jar, rinsed of bugs and dust a little and stuffed them in said quart jar, boiled water and poured it over them. I lidded the jar and let it cool on its own. Later i fridged it. Later I poured it over ice (which dilutes it a bit) and drank it.

Yum. You can always dilute strong tea, but it's darned hard to make it stronger once it's made.

Good stuff!

I did basically the same with coneflower leaves and flowers, and with catnip flowering tops. the flowers from the catnip come pretty loose in the tea, but eh.

[Babs]

I do not grow any plants in my garden. With what I find around here, other then the few "I wish I could finds" this is what I have gathered so far this year. I live in the country in Wisconsin. No wait, when we go to town, that is the country. We live where what I call is heaven on earth :)
These I have listed below I have found more then I will ever be able to use for years! I only have what I will need until next spring. Then it will be harvest time again. My proch smells just lovely now tho. :)

-St. Johns Wort
-Evening Primrose
-Yarrow
-Camomile (the pineapple plant version)
-Plantain
-Heal-All (turns out THIS was the little pretty flower I could not figure out what it was growing all over my hillside)
-Brudock
-Milk Weed (we pick and eat the buds before they flower. They are awesome tasting. Leave some for the butterflies tho and their lovely smell!)
-Mullein
-Raspberry and blackberries(leaves and berries)
-Catnip
-Various other kind of mints plants
-Dandelion
-Wild onion and garlic
-Ferns
-GoldenRod
-Golden Seal
-Our Hawthron trees
-15 varities of apple trees
-Stinging Nettle
-Ginseng( have not found this yet, but I KNOW it grown abountly around here. My fiance Uncle use to dig it every year in the fall. Scatter the seeds before you do tho, to keep the plant going) This is the only one I dont have drying or put up yet.

This is a quick list of what I can see that is hanging to dry on my porch right now. I have used dry plants for a while now, but due to my inventory growing every year, I am running out of room. This is why I was questioning tintures. Looking into making the oils as well this year.

There are a couple plants, that no matter where I look, I can not find what they are. I have not given up the serach for them tho, I will find out what they are. :)

[sage_morgan]

-Milk Weed (we pick and eat the buds before they flower. *They are awesome tasting. *Leave some for the butterflies tho and their lovely smell!)



Actually, I've been growing milkweed in my yard for three years, yes I'm sure folks think I'm quite mad.

What I've found is
a. First-years don't produce flowers
b. If I harvest the early flower bud balls, the plant will produce more.
c. They don't produce at the same rate at the same time, so there's always some that are too far along for me.
d. I also eat the top 4 leaves, since that's how I learned from the tribal people.

There are milkweed bugs and monarchs all over the plants (about 30 or so of them). And the sphynx moths are busy, busy, lol.

I froze my 2nd picking. I haven't tried that before.

I totally don't boil and change the water like some instructions say. I just steam them and season them and eat them. Heh.

[spinnenrad]

I grow thyme, basil, comfrey, marjoram, oregano, chamomile, and echinacea. From around and near my home I use St. John's wort, evening primrose, clover, plantain, wild raspberry, blackberry, and strawberry leaves, mullein, bladder campion, thistle, curly dock, burdock, heal all or self-heal, yarrow, and much, much more!

Best regards