Ashwaganda -Tasty Every Day Restorative Formulas

Ashwaganda (Withania somnifera) is by far one of the top herbs I have come to rely on in my work as a community clinical herbalist.  I generally look very closely at an individuals health history, constitution and long term health goals before suggesting any herb or practice, but time and time again, I have found so many  people, men and women of all ages, who immensely benefit from the rejuvenative and restorative properties of this root medicine.  Ashwaganda comes to us from the Ayurvedic tradition in India where it is known as a "rasayana" or that which restores, transforms, conserves and revitalizes energy of the body.  

In today's busy world how many of go walking around exhausted, half asleep, mentally foggy, in a constant state of adrenal stress, with sleep debt and often times not even on enough food/fuel.  I've seen numerous clients and friends in this state, and even myself more often than not- so busy they can't find time to eat, stay up late to finish work, drive long distances under stress, have too many responsibilities and tasks to accomplish and too little help, feel exhausted, drained, experience a loss of libido, sleep poorly, and have stressful and extreme mood swings.  Something is wrong with this picture.  This isn't living.  

First off, lifestyle changes and practices for managing stress, getting more sleep, eating properly all must be implemented to see positive and healthy changes in life.  For me lately, that is looking like taking a real hard, long look at exactly what I am capable of myself as one person, setting myself very specific time limits on work hours, making regular dates with friends to get outside, hike, or camp, taking regular walks and yoga breaks,  and asking for more help.  Each of us as individuals have to go through the processes of shifting our life-long habits that do not serve us or promote health and vitality, sometimes its often just a matter of learning a different way of doing things.

But on top of these sorts of changes, which are absolutely essential, during the process of making changes, and moving through transitions and challenging times- I have found this Ashwaganda to be an indespensible ally to many many people, myself included.  It supports people in evening out mood swings, restoring libido and sexual vitality, improves sleep quality, provides balanced energy throughout the day, without being overstimulating, provides nourishment to the blood (ashwaganda is extremely rich in iron) and the HPA axis  (hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis- i.e. the endocrine system).  People begin to notice effects when they start taking ashwaganda almost immediately, within a week or two.  But the best results continue to show up as they continue taking ashwaganda for 3 - 6 months, or even longer.  Consistenly people come back to me to tell me how much ashwaganda helps them.

Most commonly people are using the tincture of the root, or occasionally buying standarized capsules in a health food store, but I'd like to share the ways I like to use Ashwaganda myself and with my clients that don't involve taking a tincture!     These are very nourishing and delicious ways to take ashwaganda, which isn't really the yummiest of herbs on its own.

Ashwaganda & Cinnamon Infused Milk
This is the most common way I reccommend Ashwaganda to people, and is truly a delight to enjoy!  Ashwaganda was traditionally given in milk and so I like to use this method- using what has worked for hundreds if not thousands of years.

1 tsp ashwaganda powder
dash of cinnamon to taste
1 cardamom pod, cracked
8-10 oz milk (dairy, goat, almond, coconut)
1 tbsp honey
1 pinch of sea salt
1 tsp ghee or coconut oil
1 tbsp rose gulkand, or dried roses ( alternatively 1 tsp rose water)  (OPTIONAL)

Warm the milk to just bubbling at the edges and add powders, herbs, oil and salt and mix thouroughly.  Reduce heat and warm 3-5 min longer.  Remove from heat, add honey, and whisk the whole pot vigourously until oil and honey are incorporated.

Serve hot and drink the roses, ashwaganda and cinnamon powder down with the milk.  This is an excellent preparation for your morning wake up drink, after making love/sex, for an afternoon pick me up, or any time you need extra nourishment and sweetness. I suggest once or twice a day.  If only, once you might wish to up the ashwaganda to 2 tsp.

Ashwaganda Electuary
1 pt Ashwaganda powder
1/8 pt cardamom seed powder
1/3 pt citrus peel powder (orange is my favorite)
2 pt Honey
(1/2 - 1 pt cacao powder) - optional

Mix powders together in a bowl and mix with enough honey to make a thick jam like paste.  It will thicken with time, so err on the side of runny.  Place this into a jar with a lid and store.  You can take this electuary by the spoonful, mix into tea, mix into smoothies, spread on toast, breakfast cereal, rice or in stewed fruit. Take 1 - 3 tsp daily.

Ashwaganda Syrup
1 cup ashwaganda root, dried pieces
1.5 qts water
1 pinch sea salt
2 cups honey or sugar
2- 4 oz brandy or ashwaganda tincture (optional)

Simmer and cook ashwaganda root in water for about an hour.  You want to simmer, not boil to death, but also evaporate some of the liquid as you are simmering, until you have about 16 oz of ashwaganda decoction.  Simmering to reduce helps to concentrate the decoction.  Strain the ashwaganda roots out of the decoction and reduce further if needed to 16 oz.  to the strained decoction add the same volume of honey or sugar and mix thouroughly by stirring, or shaking a covered jar.  Add 2-4 oz of brandy or ashwaganda tincture to preserve your syrup longer.  If you do not add alcohol, store your syrup in the fridge and use within 2 months.

Take up to 2 tbsp 2-3 times a day.
This recipe is not appropriate for those with blood sugar issues, diabetes or insulin resistance!  You may also find you want to add a pinch of cardamom, clove, or a vanilla bean to your syrup as it is cooling as well.


Restorative Nutritive Tea Blend
1 pt Ashwaganda root
2 pt nettles
1 pt cinnamon
1 pt tulsi basil
1/2 pt ginger
1/2 pt licorice root

Blend herbs well in a jar and store away from the light.  Use 1 tbsp per pint, or 2-3 tbsp per quart of hot water.  Steep tea for 1 hr or more, or alternatively, simmer gently, gently for 15 min, covered.  This blend taken daily will replenish the body with nutrients and minerals, reduce stress, improve digestion and taste good too.  This is lovely with a bit of honey taken in your thermos to work, school or on your daily errands. Up to 1 qt daily.  It's been described to me as gingerbread love in a cup.  Hey, that sounds pretty great huh?

If you don't have time to make your own ashwaganda preparation, I have a few special syrups left at PoppySwap which have Ashwaganda as a part of the formula.  Parvati's Devotion- Herbal Syrup for the heart, romance and self-love.    They have been a huge hit and I only have a couple left!

Elderberry Shrub and Other Delights

Its elderberry season in New England.  Time to start checking your favorite stand of bushes for ripe fruits and getting there before the critters get them all!

Elderberry is my favorite antiviral ally- I use it frequently (almost always) during cold, flu, and have seen it work work wonders in cases of HSV1 & 2 and Shingles.  I use it all winter long as a tonic and the recipe I'm sharing below is a most delicious way of getting elderberry goodness on a daily basis.  If I feel like I'm coming down with something, I take elderberry every hour, or as often as I remember.  In addition, if you know you'll be in a place or period of time nearby others who are ill or are susceptible to getting the winter blarghs, take elderberries before, during and after exposures.

Most famous is Elderberry Syrup.  This is my recipe for elderberry syrup that is uncooked and made from dried berries.  I prefer not to boil my fruits to death when making syrups.  If you have fresh berries, you can modify the recipe to cook the berries slightly to get them to release their medicine.

Elderberry Elixir, is a favorite among herbalists all over, and is another delicious and easy way to get your elderberries everyday.

But my favorite, which I can never make enough of, is Elderberry Shrub!  What is elderberry shrub?  I mean, we know elder is a shrub...but huh?
A shrub is a mixture of fruit, vinegar and often honey. It can be made with any delicious summer fruits or berries you like. Rose hips, raspberries, black berries, blueberries, hawthorn etc. This is used as a concentrate to add to refreshing beverages all year round.  I like to mix my shrub concentrate with sparkling water for an almost soda like treat, with a medicinal punch.  But it is delicious added to juices, water, or even by the spoonful!  I use approximately a tablespoon or two of shrub per 8 oz cup of sparkling water.  Your milage may vary.

Elderberry Shrub
1/2 qt fresh or dried elderberries
1 qt (more or less) apple cider vinegar
1/3 c raw honey ( you may use more if you like it sweeter)

Place berries in a jar, add honey, and pour vinegar over the top of the fruits until the jar is full.  Cap well (keep in mind vinegar will eat away at metal lids, you may choose to use a plastic lid or line your metal lid with waxed paper) and shake vigourously.  Wait 4 weeks.  Shake frequently.
Strain, and reserve liquid in a pretty jar for gifting, or in another container for storage. I keep mine in the fridge right next to the sparkly water, but you don't need to keep it cold once it is made.  It should keep 3-6 months or possibly longer stored in a dark, cool area.

Drink frequently! Yum!

What are your favorite Elderberry preparations and how do you use them!?

Herbal Ally Challenges #3 & #5: Vinegars and Research

Its true, I'm way way behind on herbal ally challenges, and I have come to accept that I probably won't be able to do all of them over the course of the year. So be it. I'l do what I can, and what inspires me.

Starting hawthorn seeds just seems impractical and silly to me right now- i have no where to plant them, they take lots of scarification and freezing (too late for that this year) and I'm moving soon, and moving with too many flats of seeds is not my idea of fun.

But I am happy to report that despite my beliefs about what I thought I knew, researching my hawthorn ally resulted in some rather astounding discoveries and rememberences about this plant.


I looked in three books and was reminded that hawthorn berry's traditional use in China was as a digestive tonic.  It addresses "food stagnantion", when your food just sits and doesn't digest, blocking up the channels of elimination and assimilation.  Not a good thing.  Chinese hawthorn berries are sour, chewy and very tasty.  I remember snacking on them in herb school at NAIMH.  But along with this recall, the digestive effects of hawthorn go deeper and are more versatile than I thought.  Hawthorn is excellent to address heat in the digestive tract, and all the mucous membranes- resulting from inflammed gut tissues from food allergies. It reduces congestion and heat in the blood and can be useful for varisocosities- think of hawthorn for hemorrhoids accompanied by stagnant heat, and improves the metabolism and assimiliation of lipids/fats.

This heat reducing ability also applies the the respiratory tract mucous membranes, and we use it often in asthma, especially when it is accompanied by over excitability, ADHD like symptoms or grief manifesting as acting out. 

Of course it is well known for its use as a heart tonic, but did you know that use only started in about 1895 in Europe.  Prior to that hawthorn was mostly a food, served with meat, to improve digestion.

Most herbalists talk about using just the fruits of the hawthorn but I like to combine the fruits with the leaves and flowers for the most part.  I can't remember exactly where I learned this along the way, but that the leaves and flowers have just as many bioflavanoids and active constituents as the fruits.  Of course, I do believe tht they are significantly distinct as medicines as well.  The leaves and flowers retain much more astringency, while the fruits contain the majority of the sour and sweet tastes.  Generally I use them together.  Hopefully this year I will experiment with using them separately.


I've also made my hawthorn BERRY vinegar.  I'm totally out of berries and leaves right now, they are on their way from Pacific Botanicals, but in the meantime, I haven't made any other preparations.  The vinegar is delicious, ruby red, sour sweet.  It makes me want to turn it into a shrub.  Hawthorn berry shrub. Yes.
Thats on my list of things to do.  Especially if I get lucky enough to get fresh hawthorn fruit this summer!  I'm loving herbal vinegars more and more, as I stray away from traditional modern herbal preparation of tinctures.  How to use herbs in food more and more is my song...I guess.

Great vinegar to clear summer heat- or just too much heat in general that results in a racing, pounding heart.  Or the overwhelming grief and heartache I'm seemingly experiencing this year. 

 

10 reasons to love blessed Chamomile (matricaria recutita)

I've been feeling so uninspired to write these days- feeling like I have nothing new or interesting to say about herbs.  Its snowy here, so snowy, it requires utmost effort to even go for a walk - first bundling up appropriately- not too much, but not to little, then buckling on the snowshoes (which is an acrobatic sport in and of itself), and then trudging through the knee deep snow at a snails pace.  15 min to get to the woods, 45 min to the river.  It's not exactly easy these days.  And the plants are all but covered up.

There are the trees of course, sweetly dreaming in the winter dormancy, and I feel anxious for blossoms for making elixirs.  Evergreen needles beckon to be added to winter brews.  But I've got the winter blahs.    I thought maybe if I wrote about nothing fancy, nothing special, the most basic of herbal friends- without trying to be new or different or unique or stand out somehow with something   !WOW!  I'd find the joy in writing about plants again.

So I randomly picked an herb- well know, loved by all, used by herbalists and lay people and muggles alike.
The herb of grandmothers tea for upset tummies, and teething babies, and cranky pants adults and teens.  Humble and beautiful Chamomile.

Here are my 10 reasons to love chamomile right now.
1. Unsuspecting bitter digestive tonic.

 Yeah, chamomile is bitter. Did you know this?  Have you ever had a cup of chamomile tea that steeped a bit long?  It's truly bitter.  I think herbalists and folks forget this property of this humble herb.  The bitter taste is usually lacking in most American diets.  So they say take bitters- gentian, dandelion, oregon grape etc.  Yes, and drink chamomile tea before you eat.  Its gentle bitterness is paired with energetic warmth and aromatic carminative properties.  Not only will it fill the bitter need in our taste senses, and improve digestive secretions through this bitterness, it will, served warm, warm up the crockpot of the stomach to prepare it to digest food.  And those aromatics stimulate peristalsis and help to eliminate gas (especially if like many americans you don't chew your food well, and swallow air as you gulp down your meal.)

2. Unrecognized antiinflammatory
I use chamomile frequently in tea blends for inflammed digestive systems with much success.  Chamomile is often the perfect remedy for those folks who are generally stressed out, crabby-cranky, and have a digestive problem like IBS, food allergy related leaky gut, colitis etc.  It gently soothes their cranky nerves, and moderates inflammation on the digestive tract tissues.  Most folks think of chamomile as a good tea for nausea or upset stomach, but its effects reach much deeper, and I find it to be a supreme remedy for serious digestive complaints as well.  The nice thing about it is that everyone KNOWS chamomile.  Anyone will be willing to go to the store and buy some chamomile tea.   (though I do think quality of those tea bags is somewhat questionable).  But chamomile isn't scary.  Its easy, its familiar, its safe.   I also find that its gentle warmth is usually NOT too intense for folks with a warm constitution, but if concerned it can be combined with something cooling like marshmallow, or peppermint.

3. Ladies friend for PMS

  It's not always the strongest of remedies, but I've seen a strong chamomile infusion zap spasmodic, cold menstrual cramps in many women, at the same time pacifying their cranky baby irritability.  The classic indication for chamomile is for adults acting like children.  You know, when you feel like you are about 2.  and want to stamp your feet, have a tantrum, and whine till the cows come home.  Go make a cup of tea.  Or better yet, have your partner bring it to you. No complaining.

4. Be beautiful skin ally
  I love chamomile for the skin.  Just as it is an effective anti inflammatory for the digestive tissues, chamomile can be an excellent remedy for the skins many inflammations.  Itchy rashes- try a chamomile tea compress or bath.  You might want to put some oatmeal in the blend too, but even by itself, chamomile can clear up rashes and mild infections on the skin quite well.  Chamomile also contains a highly sought after plant chemical known as azulene.  You can find it in other herbs like yarrow as well, but azulene is this amazing BLUE oil that is used in skin care formulas as an antiiflammatory.  It also evens the skin tone, reduces dark circles and spots, and calms redness.  Azulene in chamomile can soothe burns- both from the sun and from the stove.  And it will turn your homemade cream blue.  Thats just too cool.    And don't forget the chamomile tea bag over the eyes trick.  Takes down the dark circles, addresses mild eye inflammation and infection- try it on styes, pink eye, allergy eyes, and plus, it feels great to lay there with cool sweet smelling chamomile on your eyes.  We should all do that more often.

5. Sweet Night cap
Instead of finishing off the night with a glass of wine or a hot toddy, try a hot infusion of chamomile.  I know, its simple, chamomile tea before bed.  But I love it.  Chamomile tea with a hint of lavender is one the best bedtime remedies I know, for adults and children alike.  It soothes any last remaining belly achin from the evening meal, calms and soothes the nervous system and eases the body gently to rest.    I told you I was getting simple and back to basics.  I'm tired of fancy specific indications all the time.  I bet your clients and skeptical family members are more likely to take a cup of tea than that bitter "to bed" tincture formula.  I agree, sometimes you need the big guns, but lets not forget the simplicity and beauty of simple, well known plants.  Chamomile tea- before bed, sweet dreams and sleep deeply.   Chamomile also happens to be a lovely remedy for those who get nightmares- I think it best in combination with flower essences, talking it out, and other specific herbs for the situation, but this can really soothe the frightened soul of a child or adult who has woken from a horrible dream with tears and sobs.

6. Pain easer
  Chamomile, a strong preparation, is a wonderful analgesic and pain reliever.  Another reason to use it on your burns or cuts and scrapes.  Chamomile tincture rubbed on teething gums soothes baby's complaints.  A cool tea bag as a poultice in the mouth for inflammed sore gums from erupting wisdom teeth, inflammed tissues, or post oral surgery.   Or try a cotton gauze soaked in the strong infusion or diluted tincture.

7. Bathing herb
I've mentioned this above, but I love chamomile in baths.  You can use blue chamomile essential oil if you like, or a strong tea of chamomile flowers. ( Make a gallon and pour it strained into the bath water).  Soothing, relaxing, pain relieving and antiinflammatory.  This makes a perfect bath before bedtime for young ones, or anyone, and is a wonderful way to treat yourself when feeling stressed and blue.

8. Easy to grow
I've managed to grow chamomile in a pot, in the desert, and beyond.  You can grow chamomile pretty much anywhere!  It spreads widely,  and can take a cutting.  Its fragrant blossoms and leaves gently waving in the wind, beckoning you to lay down in the field and take a nap.  Grow chamomile from seed, or seedling.  If you want a large bed, enough to harvest from, you will want several plants, and several feet of planting area.  But i've found I can harvest a decent amount for myself from just a few plants.  Harvest the flowers as they open fully, gently pulling the blossoms up and off between your fingers, or use a small collecting rake (used for blueberries as well).  The plants will continue to bloom even as you harvest daily.

9. Fermenting fun with chamomile.
I love to add chamomile to kombucha, but its also a lovely addition as a bittering agent with sweet aroma to homemade beers (herbal and standard alike) and is marvelous added to apple cider to ferment into a bubbly hard cider.

10. Yummy!
One of my favorite things about chamomile is it is YUMMY!  So many of our herbs are exceedingly bitter, nasty, unpleasant. Its nice to have a few reliable standby herbs that are so effective and multipurpose, but are also delicious.  I've not met too many people who object to a bit of chamomile tea with honey.  Healing medicines shouldn't always be unpleasant.  Effecting healing in a gentle and pleasant way is often just what the person needs.  I like to remind myself that often the most effective medicines are seemingly the most simple, and "unsexy."  Plain ol chamomile tea.  Its good.  Use it.

Delicious chamomile tea for all reasons

1 pt chamomile blossoms
1 pt lemon balm leaf
1 pt peppermint
1/4 pt lavender flowers
1/2 pt lemon verbena or lemongrass (optional)

Steep 1 tbsp of herbs in 8-12 oz hot water, covered, for no more than 5-7 min.  Serve with chamomile or lavender infused honey.  Yummy!

Want to buy blue chamomile essential oil?  Floracopeia!

Need to buy chamomile?  Mountain Rose Herbs!

Hawthorn- Faery Guardian of the Heart

I'm participating in the Tree Year.  http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/.  I'll be following a hawthorn tree in my fields this year.




Species:  Hawthorn, Whitethorn, Thorn, Haw Whiteblossom  (Crataegus oxycantha and other spp.)

Parts used: Fruits, leaf, flower

Energetic: cool, dry to neutral

Taste: sweet, sour, astringent

Actions: cardiotonic, nervine, astringent, nutritive, tonic, stimulant, relaxant, antioxidant

Botanical/Ecological description:

Hawthorn, in the rose family, is a small tree or shrub, that tends to grow in hedges, on the edges of roads or open fields.  It is rarely more than 12-15 ft tall, and the bark is rough and grey.  It has thorns anywhere from ½ inc to 2 inches long, which are dark colored.  In May it blooms with a profusion of white 5 petaled flowers that have a particular, rank or foetid smell.  Some people describe it as the smell of sex, and others, the smell of death.  Either way, they certainly aren’t sweet smelling!  Flowers ripen into small red drupes about ¼ in in diameter, with one large hard seed.  
It is often planted as a landscape tree in yards and along roadsides.  There are many species of hawthorns, on various continents.  Most of which are highly hybrized and interbreed freely.  It is often difficult to get it down to species.  There are some herbalists who have said only the official crataegus oxycantha is valuable medicine, and others who say that all species are somewhat medicinal.  I think the brighter, deeper colored red the fruits, the more antioxidant flavanoids are present, which will be medicinally active.  I can’t speak with authority on all species of hawthorns and medicinal value, as I have not tried very many!  But since they interbreed so readily, it seems unlikely to find the “official” hawthorn in a pure form, and I just do not think that it would lessen the medicinal value that much.  Many of the properties of the hawthorn are universal to rose family plants to some degree or another.

Symbolic/spiritual description:  The hawthorn is deeply associated with the Fae, Faery, the Good People.  It is said in Celtic lands where knowledge of the Fae is common, that to cut down an hawthorn tree will anger the Fae and cause bad luck.  Hawthorn blooms around May day and as such is associated with fertility and sex/lust, but on the flipside its rank smelling flowers and thorns and association with spirit worlds make Hawthorn a tree of “death” and transformation, and also of protection and caution.  Folklore of hawthorn is rich and deep.  In Western herbalism hawthorn is closely associated with the heart, energetically and physically, and many people use hawthorn to protect and soothe their emotional heart.  The beautiful fierce thorns coupled with soft delicate flowers speak to us of being tender and showing our inner beauty, our flower so to speak, but with strong defenses to guard the way.  You can’t really push past a hawthorn without getting caught up by the thorny branches.  But I do not find the hawthorn, with all its fierce thorns to be rough or unforgiving.  She teaches us awareness of where to place ourselves to avoid being hurt, of how to move carefully, and of the rewards of sweetness, transformation, and connection with powerful spiritual forces of the land and the Fae.  

If you are lucky enough to live near a hawthorn tree, be aware that the Fae may be near. Often times they will trick you, hide things or borrow things, in order to get your attention.  Try leaving small offerings for the Fae ones in or near your hawthorn tree.  They like sweets, shiny things, coins, honey, milk, cream or butter and tobacco.  I have found the Fae will generally return “lost’ or “borrowed” items when I ask and leave an offering, and will often help out in other ways in my life when appropriately gifted and asked.  But never break a promise to the Fae, or cut down your hawthorn!  The Fae ones are guardians of the land and the plants, I always leave an offering for them when harvesting plants.

Uses/Applications:  As stated above hawthorn is most famous for its use as a heart tonic, both the physical and emotional heart.   As a general rule of thumb hawthorn is considered a food herb, deeply nourishing, and considered safe. Its fruits are rich in bioflavanoids, vitamins and minerals that nourish the blood and the heart, and protect it from free radicals and oxidative damage, thus has been used traditionally as a tonic for weak hearts, hearts with congenital defects, and folks concerned about cardiovascular health in general.  Modern scientific study of hawthorn indicates it is useful in working with high blood pressure and cholesterol.  I have often used hawthorn in formulas for people working with these conditions, but it is vitally important to realize that these conditions are grossly misrepresented by the modern media and western medical science.  Cholesterol is just a NUMBER, and is not an accurate reading of cardiovascular  health or risk for heart attack.  Cholesterol is a vital nutrient, it builds hormones, immune system components, cell wells, and is involved in Vit D synthesis in the body.  We need cholesterol!  Cardiovascular disease is a real problem, but it is not always reflected by the single number of cholesterol that doctors like to use as scare tactic to get their patients on statin drugs.  Roots of cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure are very closely tied with diet and nutrition, especially insulin resistance/syndrome X.  Much to the surprise of many eating a diet rich in animal fats and “cholesterol’ doesn’t impact your blood levels of cholesterol that significantly.  Cholesterol is produced by the liver on demand when your body is under stress or needs to produce sex hormones.  Breast feeding mothers can have cholesterol readings of over 300!  This is not  problematic.  The problems really start when someone is eating a very high carbohydrate, refined food, high sugar diet.  These diets promote insulin resistance- which increases inflammation, which is highly damaging to the cardiovascular system, increase blood pressure, increase triglycerides and increase risk for stroke and heart attack. 

That said, hawthorn is a beautiful ally to protect the heart in these sorts of conditions, but it is not a cure all.  They must be addressed with dietary and nutritional changes and modifying metabolic dysregulation with herbs and exersize.  I feel generally safe recommending and using hawthorn with people on other cardiovascular medications (excluding Coumadin or other blood thinners), as it is a food herb, but it is prudent and important for these folks to monitor their cardio health regularly.  Hawthorn may decrease the need for medications, and thus they should be monitored and adjusted as needed.   

Most people know of using the hawthorn fruit, but hawthorn leaf and flower is just as potent, and in some cases more potent than the fruits themselves.  Leaf and flower also lend themselves readily to tea/infusion, whereas fruits need to be cooked a long time to extract the medicinal benefits.  Many people also like to include hawthorn thorns in their medicine preparations to increase the protective benefits energetically.  This is easy to do when tincturing hawthorn.  I personally like to make a combined medicine with fruit, leaf and flower all in the same bottle.  You may tincture leaf and flower in the spring, and tincture fruit in the fall, and combine the two tinctures, or use dried and combine them in the same tincture jar.  Hawthorn leaf, flower and fruit elixir is devine!

It is important to remember that hawthorn, of the rose family, besides being rich in bioflavanoids and other nourishing nutrients, is very tonic and astringent.  It is generally appropriate for folks who lack tone in the cardiovascular system, or appear soft. (Not talking about fat here.)   It may often show up as a weak heart, either energetically or physically.  They may be pale, easily winded, or have poor circulation to the external parts of the body, because their tissues are flaccid and weak.  Astringent tonics can help to tighten, tone and strengthen the tissues to improve circulation. 

Hawthorn is a remarkable ally for what the Chinese call “disturbed shen.”  Shen is the word used for spirit, the spirit that resides in the heart, and makes up our mental/emotional/spiritual state of mind.  We understand this in the west as well, as we speak of heartbreak and heart sickness.  Physically our emotions may come from our minds, but we feel things deeply with our hearts.  It can result in a strong physical sensation in our heart area as well, an ache, palpitations, emptiness, or pressure.  When our spirit or shen is disturbed the signs are anxiety, restlessness, nightmares, dreaminess/fantasy, insomnia, heartsickness or heartache, fear, panic, trauma, or susto.  Hawthorn is a wonderful remedy in these cases.   Often in cases of childhood (or adult) asthma there is a realm of disturbed shen or heartsickness.  Hawthorn is extremely useful both to strengthen the physical action of the heart in asthmatics to improve oxygenation of the blood, and breath strength, and to soothe and calm the shen.  An asthma attack is clearly associated with disturbed shen or can result in such.  There is panic, fear, poor sleep, pressure, and often a disembodiment or tendency to get lost in ‘other worlds” or appear to be “taken by the Faerie.” And so, along with other botanicals, we use hawthorn in chronic cases of asthma.

This disturbed shen also is associated with heartache and heartbreak.  Hawthorn is an immense ally to anyone suffering from heartbreak, or a situation where their heart needs extra protection emotionally and spiritually.  Hawthorn is calming and nervine- not in the direct acute sense, but over time brings the heart and spirit back into alignment, improves circulation of blood, oxygen and chi, and restores balance and strength to the spirit and the heart.  Next time you are feeling heartache, add some hawthorn leaf and flower to your infusions (it does retain some of that strange rank smell, so I like to mix it with something extra sweet smelling, like linden, rose, or lavender.)  It soothes and comforts and heals the ache.  You can also sip a hawthorn berry cordial, or use small doses of the elixir or even hawthorn flower essence.

 

Harvesting:

Leaves and flowers:  Should be gathered in spring in full bloom.  Always  ask permission from the Fae before harvesting hawthorn!  Work very carefully around the thorns.  Listen closely to the way the hawthorn teaches you to be present to your body and your movements as you work. I like to gather flower clusters with leaves, snipping close to the branch with a sharp fingernail or clippers.  Always leave enough flowers on the tree for the bees, and reproduction.  Leaves may additionally be harvested once the tree is past flowering, but earlier in the season is preferable to late.  They become richer in tannins later in the season, and more astringent.  These may be dried by laying flat in a single layer in a basket or box or on newsprint. 

Fruits:  Likewise fruits must be harvested in fall when ripe.  They do tend to hang on the tree into winter, but traditional lore of the harvest states that anything not harvested by Samhain (Halloween) is to be left for the Fae.  I will harvest single fruits from clusters by hand, always leaving plenty for the birds and the Fae.  Fruits are more difficult to dry, and are prone to mold and rot if not fully dried.  In our moist climate it is difficult to air dry fruit, and I generally suggest a dehydrator, or drying in the oven with the light on.  I will often split the fruits in half to facilitate complete drying.  Otherwise tincture fresh.

Preparations & Dosage:

Fresh tincture is a marvelous way to work with hawthorn. 

1:2 fresh plant tincture in 50% alcohol, tincture different parts and mix together

Dry plant tincture is also lovely. 

1:5, 50% alcohol, blend fruits, flowers and leaves together

Either way, fresh or dried, you may turn it into an elixir with the addition of honey, and using sweet brandy if desired.

2- 30 drops 3x day.  Many herbalists have noted that small doses (8-10 drops) are just as or even more effective than large doses of hawthorn. 

Infusion/decoction:  16 oz/day.  Take in small frequent doses (4 oz ).

You may make jelly with hawthorn berries, infuse them in wine or add to kombucha

Resources:

A Modern Herbal- Maude Grieve

Kings American Dispensatory- Felter and Lloyd

The Physiomedical Dispensatory- William Cook

Personal Conversation  w/ Sean Donahue  http://greenmanramblings.blogspot.com/

Discovering Herbalism :Classes in Avon, Maine

January 29-30, February 19-20, March 12-13, April 23-24, May 14-15

Summer and Autumn Dates TBA

$100 - $150/month, payment plans and thoughtful barter proposals will gladly be considered.

Sean Donahue and Darcey Blue French are offering an opportunity for beginning and intermediate herbalists to develop or deepen their relationships with the healing plants of New England through a series of weekend intensives at our home in Avon, ME.

Through lectures and discussions, readings, meditations, ceremony, and direct experience, participants will learn about:

* Listening to and learning directly from the plants themselves

* The art and ethics of wildcrafting

* Making herbal medicines

* Understanding the energetics of herbal medicine and of the human body

* Nourishing the body, mind, and spirit

* Therapies for chronic and acute injury and disease

* Working with plants in ceremony and magic

* Plant identification and Materia Medica

* Establishing herb gardens

For more information or to register, e-mail herbalists@brighidswellherbs.com

Floor space and limited couch or bed space will be available for those traveling. 

Breakfast will be provided.  Lunch and dinner will be potluck.

Birch- The lady of the woods

Species: Birch- White Birch, Cherry Birch, Black Birch, Sweet Birch, Golden Birch, Paper Birch (Betula alba, B. lenta, B. allaghaniensis, B. papyrifera, b. populifolia)

Parts used: Leaves, bark, twigs, buds, sap
Energetic: Cool, dry
Taste: sweet, aromatic, astringent, bitter
Actions: stimulant, relaxant, diuretic, diaphoretic, tonic, anodyne, vulnerary

Botanical/Ecological description:
Birch- as a tree, is a deceptive name. There are at least 4 species of birch growing in New England, and beyond, with some overlapping and some unique uses, and the White Birch, of Europe, has long been considered the “official” medicine. But, as far as I know all the birch species I’ve listed above are useful medicinally some degree or another. Birches are colonizing trees, and often grow in areas where soil has been disturbed, forests have been logged, along the edges of streams and bogs. It comes in to “heal” the land, hold the soil, and begin the process of ecological succession. Many birch species are not long lived, as soon as other trees grow tall enough to shade them out, the birches decline and begin to die off, leaving their bodies to mulch, and nourish the soil for the next generation of forest trees and plants.
White and paper birch have white papery bark that peels in layers easily. The twigs are dark, and leaves are resinous and triangular shaped.
Grey birch also has white bark, but doesn’t readily peel as does the paper birch.
Black and Yellow birch are both characterized by leaves that grow in pairs from the axils, smooth dark red to yellow bark with lenticels in the twigs and young saplings. Both have the sweet wintergreen smell and flavor to the inner bark. Black birch bark does not peel, but on older trees does begin to crack in to thick plates. Yellow birch bark does begin to peel off in layers, but the layers are finer, golden, and not as paper like as the white paper birch bark. Black birch is extremely common in the east stretching south from SW Maine to Alabama and east to Ohio. Yellow birch tends to grow in more Northern climates- its range extending north into Canada & Nova Scotia. Paper birch grows in northern regions, including to the pacific NW and into Canada. Almost all birch species have strong relationships with fungi of varying kinds- including medicinal Chaga (inodotorus obliqua) and Birch Polypore ( ) found in Europe and one of the medicines Otzi the Ice Man carried with him. Birch wood is not at all rot resistant, but the bark is, and you can often find empty hollow shells of birch bark from which the wood has rotted littering the forest floor.


Symbolic/spiritual description: Birch is known as the “Lady of the Woods.” I do believe this term is most often attributed to the graceful white and grey birches with their branches that lean over gracefully, drooping green sprays of leaves. But I also find the energy of Golden birch as well to be especially feminine- more along the lines of the strong, vibrant, huntress energy of Artemis, with a strength in sexuality and independence, yet still fiercely protective and nurturing when needed. Black or Cherry birch is a bit more ambiguous in its “gender” nature. Some people feeling it to be feminine in energy, others to be more like a young adolescent male (especially in the young saplings.) Birch, as it is a colonizing tree, is the symbol of beginnings, rebirth, birth & labor, and of motherhood. She has also spoken to me deeply about nourishment, motherhood, sacrifice and going down to the BONES of a matter. Her sap (in all species) flows freely and richly in spring- almost like the milk from the breast of the mother, and this sap is deeply nourishing, rich in vitamins and minerals. In addition, the many boney white bodies of birches that often litter the forest floor, to me, look like bones, and also remind me of the self sacrifice the birches make of their bodies to fertilize and nourish the soil for the future. I also find it extremely interesting the birch relationship with fungi, especially medicinal fungi. She gives of her life blood and bones to support these organisms, which in turn provide us with some of the most deeply healing, strengthening and remarkable medicinal properties (Chaga is especially wonderful- read up on it.) These fungi carry the life force of the birches within them, even after the host tree has passed on. Chaga mead is rich with the taste of sweet birch- giving us a reminder of her long lasting nourishment.


Uses/Applications:
The uses of birch are myriad, they vary from species to species somewhat, so it is important to know what properties you are after, and which species you are using. I will start with Black and Yellow birch, which are very similar medicinally speaking. Both contain the aromatic wintergreen smelling methyl salycilate. The bark of both can be used specifically for this compound as a pain relieving ally. Infusion of the bark, elixir or tincture, and infused oil all capture this property of the birch use for muscle soreness, achy joints, mild headaches, sprains and bruises. The bark of cherry and yellow birch is also a tonic and astringent, and is excellent used for loose bowels with nausea, sour stomach, or weak digestion. I use the warm infusion of the bark primarily for this, often mixed with a warming stimulant like ginger or cinnamon depending on the situation. It is also somewhat diaphoretic, and will stimulate a gentle sweat by increasing circulation from the core to the surface and relaxing tension in the tissues of the skin and capillaries. The tincture of the bark itself is nice for mild nausea or gas, but you really need the infusion of the bark to get the most benefit of the tonic properties for weak and watery digestive problems like diarrhea. The bark harvested in the spring is most certainly a stimulating spring tonic- to enliven the blood after a long, sleepy winter. It is rich in mineral nutrients from the running sap, and energetically has an upward moving tendency. It will increase circulation from the core to the surface, tonify the digestive organs and kidneys and nourish the blood with its nutrients.
The inner bark is also considered a tonic for the skin and hair, and helpful to heal & soothe itchy, irritated and weepy sores and rashes. An infusion of birch bark can be used as a wash for poison ivy rash, chicken pox/measles, herpes/shingles, or other slow to heal sores. As oils can sometimes spread these types of rashes around, I’d be cautious with the use of infused oil here, but the infusion as a wash or bath will be pain relieving and healing. I have included black birch bark and leaf infused oil in salve for cold sores, along with some other herbs, and have received very good feedback.
Note: the essential oil of sweet birch is available, and is an excellent pain reliever when used topically. Please note that the essential oil is EXTREMELY concentrated and has high levels of methyl salycilates in it, which can be toxic in moderate doses, even topically. Please use the essential oil only topically, and never directly on the skin undiluted. And probably a good idea not to use it daily for extended periods of time over large portions of the body. (I.e point tenderness vs taking a bath in it!) There have been cases of illness and even death from young people using excessive amounts of an icy hot rub for muscle soreness which contained methyl salycilates. Granted this is usually a synthetic concentrated form, but methyl salycilates are significantly toxic enough to warrant a warning in all the old literature on the plants containing them, and so I pass that on to you.

The leaves of both black and yellow birch are a specific and effective remedy for the kidneys, being both diuretic and soothing to irritation. It is used to mitigate a tendency to form kidney stones and gravel. Large kidney stones with pain, fever and blood in the urine need to be addressed by a medical professional, but birch leaves can be used as a preventive for those who tend to gravel formation, and a soothing tea for the remaining irritation. Useful and soothing also in cystitis and irritation of bladder, urethra and kidneys in self limiting UTI. Should be combined with other anti-infective herbs to address the infection.

White and paper birch – also has a long history in Europe as a kidney remedy, much as explained above for black and yellow birch. Here again, it is the leaves used for kidney irritation and gravel. The bark of the white and paper birches contains betulin, a substance being studied in many places for its immune boosting effects, its activity against viral and bacterial organisms, and is especially helpful in skin disorders when used topically. Here you would use the bark tea (inner and outer barks) or decoction as a wash and internally. The bark of these species is diuretic and acts on the kidneys as the leaves do, being soothing and softening to gravel. It is mentioned for “dropsy” which is essential water retention and edema. Matt Wood mentions its use as a hair tonic- a young woman who used nettle and birch bark tea as a hair wash improved the texture, thickness and health of the hair. I haven’t tried this, but certainly worth giving a whirl. Birch bark is also toning and astringent topically, and while being most well known for skin disorders, rashes, eczema, herpes/pox, I have also seen it used in formulas (commericial) for cellulite.

Sap of the birches is well known as a nutritive tonic- and is tapped in the spring from the trees, which run after the maples. Black and golden birch will have a stronger wintergreen flavor, but all the birches may be tapped. The sap is often fermented, but can be boiled into syrup, but requires more sap per gallon of syrup than does maple.

Fungus: Keep in mind that the fungi that grow on birches concentrate many of the compounds in birch, including betulin. These mushrooms are particularly strong medicines for the immune system. If you are lucky enough to find them growing on birches in significant quantity, they are beautiful medicines. Chaga and birch polypore are easy to ID and are safe to use. But do go with someone familiar with them to learn about them in detail.

Elderberry Syrup

Here's a recipe for elderberry syrup, without cooking it to death!
Yum!!




My favorite elder syrup includes the berries and flowers, plus stimulating, warming spices to improve absorption and circulation.  I prefer not to overcook my elderberries by boiling for extended periods of time, and have found that excessive cooking weakens the potency of theelderberry medicine.  This syrup uses a strong 1:2 infusion of the herbs, which is preserved with honey and alcohol.  This syrup is delicious and strong medicine for the cold and flu season for the whole family!  I have also found elderberry preparations to be an excellent ally for shingles, chicken pox, and other herpes viruses.  Take 1-3 tsp per day all season long, or 1/2 tsp hourly in acute illness. 

1 cup dried elderberries

1/2 cup dried elderflowers

2 tbsp ginger chips

1 tbsp cinnamon chips

16 oz water

4oz vodka or brandy

1 lemon, juice

16 oz honey or sugar

1. Mix all the dried herbs together in a jar.  

2. Pour 16 oz boiling water over the herbs, and 4 oz of vodka or brandy

3. cap and let infuse 8 hours or overnight.

4. In a muslin, jelly bag, or cheesecloth strain the herbs from the liquid.  Squeeze gently to get as much fluid from the herbs as possible.

5. Add the juice of 1 lemon.

6. Measure out exactly how much liquid you have in a glass measuring cup.

7. Add an equal amount of raw honey or sugar to the liquid.  Mix well until sugar dissolves.

8. Bottle and store. It will keep best under refrigeration.  If you wish to keep this in the pantry, you will want to use more alcohol in step 2 (8 oz of 50% vodka) to preserve.

The Sweet Taste of Life: A place for sweetness in the medicine cabinet and pantry

It's Blog Party time! Visit Kiva's blog for the rest of the contributions to this months blog party on sweet medicines!

Here's my exposition on the place for sweetness in our medicines and foods, and my "Sweet Melissa Divine" honey!

Who doesn’t enjoy the sweet taste of a special treat after supper, a little drizzle of honey in the evening cup of tea, or a morsel of sweet chocolate? It seems as if the sweet taste is irresistible to the human animal, and though will power and dedication can steer us away from indulging in sugary sweets daily that rot our teeth and lead us down the garden path of deteriorating health, there is still a craving for the sweet taste of fresh fruits and small indulgences that is natural to our taste buds.

Though I am the last person who will tell you that eating sugar is even remotely good for you, I want to explore how the sweet taste can mean so much more than “sugar” to our body, mind and spirit. Most traditional medical systems, including Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Unani Tibb reserve a place in the therapeutic toolbox for medicines and foods of a sweet nature. Yes, that is correct, the sweet taste DOES have a therapeutic value, and many traditional systems have recognized it and put it to work for thousands of years.

Both TCM and Ayurveda have a classification of the five or six primary tastes, which include sweet, sour, salty, acrid/pungent, bitter, and astringent. According to these systems the body must receive all the tastes on a daily basis to maintain balance. Too much of one or not enough of another can tip the scales in an unwanted direction. This is easily seen by the excess of sweet tastes in the modern SAD diet, and the resulting problems with obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes.

According to TCM, the sweet taste is warming, strengthening, harmonizing, relaxing and moistening. It builds up energy and strengthens spleen qi, nourishes body fluids and is associated with the energy of yang and earth. Too much of sweet flavor can produce dampness, obesity, and weakness in the kidneys, teeth and bones. In Ayurveda the sweet taste is used to pacify excess pitta and vata conditions (excess heat, dryness, or ungroundedness). It builds and restores the water element and ojas (life force/vitality). It represents the qualities of love nourishment and sustenance.

In a sense, the sweet flavor is the primary taste that provides nourishment and the building of energy both in the body and the mind. It is important to remember that the six tastes effect the spirit and mind just as much as they do the body, and the sweet taste will nourish the heart and spirit, build strength and energy of heart and spirit, and calm states of deranged pitta or vata (think bouts of anger, emotional upset, ungroundedness, bitterness, dryness or lack of luster and verve for living.) It’s not a surprise then that we crave sweet foods to console ourselves in times of emotional upset, or to soothe sensations of physical weakness, or deprivation. We must also remember that as much digestion as our stomach, spleen, liver and intestines do, our minds also digest myriad forms, thoughts, ideas, events and emotions on a daily basis. It is just as important to fill the mind with healthy, nourishing thoughts and emotions, and that our mind be able to digest well that which we provide it. The sweet taste is not to be reviled in our quest to shun refined white sugar which harms our health, but must be used with respect in appropriate fashion to nourish our minds with the sweetness of life, and nourish our bodies with strength and energy.

There are many foods which qualify as “sweet” that are completely unrelated to sugar, honey, syrup or candies. I generally recommend using the following foods as our main sources of “sweetness” on a daily basis.

Fruits (often of mixed flavor with sour, or astringent)

Nuts/seeds

Whole grains

Meats

Dairy products

Winter squashes and other starchy vegetables

But there is a time and a place for sweet medicines and you will often find traditional formulas from ayurveda or TCM with raw sugar, honey or syrup added as an important player, either as a corrigent or as an active component. For example, rose gulkand, a very cooling, soothing food to pacify pitta (especially in hot, dry summer months) is made primarily with rose petals and jaggery (raw cane sugar). Many herbal formulas are administered in honey and ghee, i.e. Chavawanprash- a complex rejuvenative formula.

All that said, let’s dive into the sweetest, loveliest of sweet medicines I’ve been creating lately, herbal honey!

Honey is one of my favorite methods of administering herbal medicines, and I often mixed powdered herbs into a jar of honey for a sweet easy to take honey herb paste. This is much like the Ayurvedic herbal jam Chavawanprash, which combines herbs, honey, and ghee. These can be spread on crackers, fruit, or eaten off the spoon. Honey itself is considering warming, moistening (demulcent/emollient), and rejuvenative/nutritive. It is full of nutrients, enzymes and other health promoting compounds aside from the sugar content. Honey is used to bring herbal medicines deeper into all the tissues of the body.

My favorite way to use honey medicinally is to steep fresh aromatic medicinal herbs in raw, local honey for a week or so and infuse it with all the properties of the herbs. These medicinal honeys can be used as a dressing for wounds and burns, as herbal syrup, stirred into hot or cool water for a refreshing drink, mixed in tea, or even used as a beauty treatment (there is something lovely and luscious about smearing honey all over your face as a hydrating, soothing face mask. Or anywhere else for that matter!)

The most recent herbal honey I’ve made is a fresh lemon balm in mesquite honey, and it is a lovely, divine elixir. I think I’m going to call it “Sweet Melissa Divine” in honor of the plant, the bees that made the honey, and the Bee Priestesses called Melissa in The Fifth Sacred Thing. This summer elixir will be put too good use as an antiviral wound dressing, a sweetener for fresh lemonade, as a mood brightening sweet treat to dress fruit, berries, or fresh yogurt. In light of the mood lifting and soothing properties of the sweet flavor, and the sweet uplifting spirit of Melissa officinalis, this honey will be a perfect remedy for a mild case of the winter blues, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), insomnia, stagnant depression and mild anxiety.

Sweet Melissa honey  has also found its way into a magical and delicious potion called Sweet Melissa Divine Elixir- a stunning and remarkably effective combination of the lemon balm infused honey and a full strength fresh plant lemon balm tincture.  This sweet medicine is delicious, easy to take, and excellent for soothing those grumpies in adults and children alike.  My partner Sean likes to use it at summer music festivals in cases of heat exhaustion.   No complaints with this tasty medicine!  It's a treat for everyone! I have a few of these available in my Etsy shop if you would like to get your hot little hands on one!

Sweet Melissa Elixir @ Etsy.com

Other favorite herbal honeys include rose, lavender, rosemary, bee balm monarda, and peppermint. I have a hankering to make St Johns Wort honey, but alas, I live in a land nearly devoid of fresh St Johns Wort, so will have to save it for another year.

Making herbal honeys is quite simple. Many times I’ve read to heat the honey, but heating raw honey too hot can destroy the properties, so I choose to cold process my herbal honeys.

1 pint jar

1 pint honey (raw and local if you can find it)

Enough herb of your choice to fill the jar full (do not pack it too tight, just loosely full)

Chop the herb finely and add to the jar. Pour honey over the herb until well covered, you may use a little less or a little more honey depending on the herb. Stir the concoction well with a spoon or chopstick to ensure all the herb bits are coated in honey. Put a lid on and set in a warm spot for 1-2 weeks. You may put it in the sun if it isn’t too hot.

After the allotted time (and several taste tests between putting it up and now), you may choose to strain the herbs from the honey using a wire mesh strainer. Hopefully your honey is relatively runny and warm from the summer climate and can be poured reasonably. If it isn’t, you may need to GENTLY warm it to thin it out. I recommend a hot water bath for just a few minutes. Reserve the honey in a special jar with a label. Eat the herbs! Or rub them on your body for an instant hydrating herbal scrub.

Use the honey generously and as often as you need to nourish the sweetness of life in your spirit and body.

Sources:

Chinese Nutrition Therapy, Joerg Kastner

Ayurveda: The Devine Science of Life, Todd Caldecott

Ayurveda: the Science of Self Healing, Vasant Lad

Weedy and Wonderful: The Healing Medicine of Evening Primrose

Oneothera biennis, O. hookeri

Flor de San Juan

Evening Primrose

Evening primrose is yet another one of our beautiful healing herbs that has been somewhat forgotten and definitely pigeon-holed by the supplement industry and herbal commerce. Evening Primrose Seed Oil, well known in the stores, is a source of gamma linoleic acid (GLA), a fatty acid useful for skin problems, asthma, PMS and menopause. But Evening Primrose is so much more than that, and sadly, is extremely underused, while being abundant and widespread across climates and bioregions. It even grows here in the desert. There are many species of Oneothera that grow in my bioregion, some of which grow low to the ground in small mounds, but the ones I use medicinally, are the more upright variety, including O. biennis, the weedy species found anywhere the ground is moist and disturbed. I start noticing the large branching plants with yellow flowers around 4500 ft, on the sides of mountain roads, and into drainages and riparian areas. It grows easily as a perennial in the garden as well, but in the wild I most often find it near water (considering that water is the limiting factor in the desert environment). For years I’ve collected the root of the first year plants as a wild edible, boiled and eaten like a turnip. It has a peppery taste that some find unpleasant, but I rather enjoy. The leaves can also be eaten as a green, but I found them less palatable, considering they are slightly hairy, and also have a peppery taste. I’ve also spent time in the winter collecting the fibrous bark from the dead stems to make cordage, which is silky, fine and smooth. This is the first year I’ve really explored the uses of Oenothera as a medicine, but I am sure glad I have. It is proving to be invaluable, and a very good locally growing substitute for some common herbs that just aren’t that common round here.

Energetics: Moist, neutral temperature, taste: bitter, pungent, sweet, astringent

Reduces/pacifies Vata, Pitta

Actions: Relaxant, stimulant, nervine, tonic, vulnerary, demulcent, astringent, diaphoretic, diuretic, antispasmodic

Uses: Evening Primrose is a gentle and mild medicine, but despite its mild nature, it is extremely effective. These are the best kinds of plant medicines, in my opinion; safe, non toxic, abundant, nourishing and effective. The following information is based on the use of the whole plant; leaf, flower, bud, seed pod, root, stem, not the seed oil found in the health food stores. Being underused as it is, I highly suspect you won’t ever see an Evening Primrose tincture on the shelf, so gather your own, or get it from your local herbalist.

I use Evening Primrose as an antispasmodic for smooth muscle tension and spasm. It has been one of the most effective plant medicines I have used for lessening the pain of mild to moderate dysmenorrhea (menstrual cramping). It is not the strongest of antispasmodics, but so far, in my experience, much more reliable than some of the others I’ve used through the years. It is specifically useful when there is a sensation of pelvic fullness, with some congestion of the lymphatic or portal system. Along with the smooth muscles of the uterus, Evening Primrose’s antispasmodic action is exquisitely useful in the respiratory system, when there is a dry, spasmodic cough accompanying bronchial infection or irritation, or mild asthma and hay fever or seasonal allergies. While gently calming the spasmodic tendency of a cough and the respiratory musculature, the demulcent property of the leaves and flowers, soothes cools and moistens dry and irritated tissues. Likewise, it is useful the gastrointestinal tract for the same reasons, soothing and moistening to a hot, inflamed GI tract, while easing the spasmodic cramping associated with conditions like IBS, gall bladder spasm, colitis and general poor digestive function. Evening primrose is also a lovely vulnerary wound healing ally, useful both externally for bruises, swellings, burns, and venomous insect bites and stings, hemorrhoids and internally for healing that irritated GI tract that goes along with leaky gut, ulcers, colitis, and diverticulitis. According to King’s, Evening Primrose is also applicable to any condition in which the Peyer’s patches (gastrointestinal lymph glands) are inflamed, and gastrointestinal lymphatic congestion (in the spleen or mesentery). This leads me to believe it will be helpful in addressing the inflammation, lymphatic bloating, leaky gut, and general digestive malaise associated with undiagnosed or mismanaged food allergies, particularly to such foods as gluten containing grains (wheat, rye, spelt, barley, kamut etc), dairy products, corn or soy. It is specifically indicated when there is a tendency to nausea or vomiting after eating, digestive upset accompanied by restlessness, and a frequent desire to urinate. According to King’s Evening primrose is also of use in cases of watery diarrhea, dysentery and bloody stools, another plus for its use in conditions like ulcerative colitis, hemorrhoids, and diarrhea associated with food allergy, poor food choices, and deranged digestive function. Evening Primrose affects all the mucus membrane tissues, lungs, GI tract, skin and the bladder and kidneys. Traditional Hispanic use in the southwest is for spasm in the bladder and kidneys, and I find it to be useful as a demulcent, astringent tonic for irritated tissues of the urinary tract, either during an infection, or over sensitized tissues post infection.

Evening Primrose is also a fine relaxant nervine, especially useful with muscle tension secondary to emotional tension. A hot cup of evening primrose infusion, for me personally, is akin to taking a hot bath. I feel completely relaxed. It strongly affects the musculoskeletal tissues; I sat on the bed after my cup of infusion, not really having the desire to move. Tension had left, muscles were relaxed, and a gentle diaphoresis resulted from the relaxation of the tissues, allowing circulation to flow towards the surface. This is excellent for folks who are stressed out, hold the tension in their body and look like they might flip their lid, or in the stages of fever where tension is preventing a good sweat. Unlike Vervain which tends to relax the area around the shoulders and neck, Evening Primrose relaxes the musculature of the entire body.

I also found it quite useful for the pre-menstrual emotional moodiness that comes a day or so before my menses. I get particularly reclusive, not wanting to talk, or interact with people much; and if forced to, it makes me quite cranky, irritable and bordering on weepy at times. This month, a public talk I had scheduled months in advance, happened to fall on that day I was feeling especially unable to communicate effectively or interact with others in a sensible fashion. Uh oh. A few doses of Evening Primrose tincture several times before leaving the house, and a few minutes before the actual event seemed to calm my nerves enough that I was able to put a smile on my face and speak clearly and engagingly to a room of strangers. It certainly didn’t make me chatty and extra friendly, but allowed me to perform the duty necessary without too much inner turmoil or crankiness. Thank goodness for that! As I have a tendency to social anxiety, I’m going give this a whirl for the anxiety I experience around those situations, and see if I can’t work through some of my fears by facing them with the support of a friendly plant ally.

Kiva Rose equates evening primrose with the nourishing nervine properties of Avena, and suggests it be added to our list of nourishing infusions, as the nervine effects are cumulative and especially effective used over time, as most tonic herbs are. Also in its favor are its mild energetics, neither too heating nor cooling, and moistening, it is suitable for most constitutions over a long period of time, unlike nettles which can be too drying for some folks when used over time.

Preparations: My favorite way to use Evening Primrose, so far, is as an infusion in hot water. My personally physiology responds much better to the large quantities of herbal medicines administered in tea form, and the long steeped infusion of Evening Primrose leaf, flower, bud, and stalk is distinctly demulcent, which is primarily extracted in water based preparations. Water is also superior at extracting the nourishing mineral and vitamin content of herbs in general. A long infusion (4 hrs or more) of Evening Primrose is most effective when dealing with the mucous membrane tissues of the GI tract, respiratory tract, urinary tract. I also find the infusion effective for menstrual cramping, more so than the tincture. Use the infusion for longer term nerve nourishing/tonifying. The hot infusion is also suitable for use in a tense, hot, dry fever.

Tinctures are useful medicines as well, though my personal work with the herbs is centering more and more on non alcohol preparations. Fresh plant Evening Primrose tincture is perhaps a stronger antispasmodic for cramping, spasm and asthma attacks than the tea, and has very nicely effective and quick results for nervous tension, anxiety, and PMS grouchies. Use the tincture as well, if on the go, traveling or otherwise unable to use the infusion/tea.

Use either the tincture or the infusion as a wash, compress, or liniment topically for burns, insect bites and stings, bruises, swellings, hemorrhoids and the like.

A fresh plant poultice of the leaves and flowers is also an excellent way to use the herb topically, if you happen to be standing near the Primrose patch when you get stung by a bee, a spider, a caterpillar or have been outside too long with sunburn.

You can also make infused oil with the flowers, buds, leaves, root and stem for topical use, and I suspect it would make a very nice addition to massage oils for tense, spastic muscles, and would use it profusely for bruises and injuries with swelling, or for irritated hemorrhoids. I caution against using oils and salves on burns, especially fresh burns. If you get burned, first remove heat from the area with cool soaks, compresses, liniments, and then as the burn ages and you want to encourage healing, reduce peeling, and pain, then turn to the oils, applied lightly.

You can also collect the tiny black seeds from the seed pods in the fall and use them as a GLA supplement by grinding and storing in another EFA type oil (fish, flax etc). Or storing whole (preferably cool) and grinding as needed on a daily basis and adding the seed meal to foods; smoothies, hot cereal, fruit salads, nut butter etc.

Sources:

Personal experience

Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West

Blog posts by Kiva Rose at Bear Medicine Herbals

personal correspondence with Kiva Rose

Felter and Lloyd's Kings American Dspensatory