Homegrown Medicine
(Page 3 of 6)
June/July 2008
By Harvey Ussery
Other ecological or landscape uses. Hawthorn and willow might be planted for shade, as a windbreak or as a “living fence.” As such they offer important ecological benefits (bird and wildlife shelter, and moderation of the effects of wind, heat and loss of soil moisture to evaporation) in addition to their medicinal uses.
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Simple Cultivation Tips
Where should you grow your medicinal herbs? Everywhere you possibly can. There are traditional medicinal plants to fit any micro-ecology on the homestead. For example, the drier, more exposed parts of the homestead can be planted with chaste berry, lovage, milk thistle, rosemary, rue, clary sage, hyssop, lavender, lemon balm and thyme. Wetter areas might host mullein, peppermint, selfheal, angelica, cardinal flower, goldenrod and scullcap.
I planted a woodland garden of medicinal and culinary herbs in a fold of our small woodlot, which is more likely to stay moist than any other location on our property. Shade-loving herbs growing there include goldenseal (an important antimicrobial for acute infections, a key medicinal plant of many Native American tribes), bloodroot, downy rattlesnake plantain, Solomon’s seal, wild ginger, spikenard, wild yam, black cohosh and blue cohosh.
You may have been told that herbs “like to grow in poor soil.” While it is true that most herbs do not have the high nitrogen requirements of heavy feeders like corn and squash, every plant prefers to grow in soil that is loved and nurtured. Just as in the rest of the garden, do everything you can to increase the organic matter in your soil (adding composts, using mulches, growing cover crops), and your medicinal plantings will respond accordingly.
Many medicinal herbs also can be found in the wild, but unfortunately many are threatened by overharvesting. Responsible herbalists avoid “wild-crafting” of endangered herbal species — and indeed, help preserve these precious parts of our ecological heritage by growing and propagating herbs like goldenseal, pipsissewa, black cohosh, American ginseng and bloodroot.
How to Make Plant Medications
Let your kitchen be your pharmacy. With a reliable beginner’s guide to home medicine, you will require no equipment other than the pans, bowls, strainers, funnels, measuring utensils and electric coffee grinder probably already in your kitchen. If you get excited about the process, you can add items such as presses and distilling equipment for making more sophisticated extractions.
You will be amazed that you can duplicate in your kitchen all the forms in which you have encountered “medicines” in the past: tinctures (based on alcohol, glycerin, vinegar and even wine), infusions (herbal medicines can be as simple as a cup of tea) and decoctions, lozenges, capsules, syrups, salves and lotions — as well as some that are new to you (but would not have been to your grandmother) such as poultices, fomentations and herbed water baths.
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