Backyard Medicine : YARROW

Botanical Name: Achillea Millefolium

Family: Asteraceae ( Aster )

Parts used: Flowers, Leaves, Roots


 Yarrow is one of my favorite plants. It has been an ally of mine for so many years, that I can not imagine not having it around for medicine. I love the strong smell of the plant, and often, when walking through a field, I rub my hand over its flowers and leaves, just so I can take the scent with me. Yarrow has such potent medicine that you can smell it and taste it. I even love the bitter taste that most people are trying to avoid. :)

 Yarrow's healing powers have been used for thousands of years. It borrows its name from the ancient hero Achilles, who is said to have treated battle wounds with yarrow. The second part of the plant's botanical name is also a guide to identifying it. Millefolium comes from Lating and means "one thousand leaves". Next time you walk by a patch of yarrow , take a look at its feathery leaves , it's like a thousand in one.

 Yarrow grows everywhere, which gives me another reason to love the plant. I grew up in Bulgaria, picking yarrow for medicine, and now I am showing the plants to my little boy, here, in Colorado. It does prefer a dryer spot in the garden or field, so look for it out of the shades and into the sunny open fields.

 As I am writing all this, the scent of yarrow flowers is still lingering with me , after our hike. I actually have to control myself not to pick any more yarrow, when we hike,and it is all around me. A little obsessed maybe? But here is why:

•  Yarrow is a diaphoretic, which means it will make you sweat. This is a fever's worst enemy. So next time you come down with the flu, make yourself a strong infusion of yarrow flowers, take a hot shower and wrap yourself in a warm blanket. This will make you sweat and bring the fever down in no time. Yarrow is also a mild immune stimulant and great anti-bacterial plant, which aids the healing process even further. 
•  Yarrow can be used to stop bleeding - external and internal. It is a great first aid herb. It will stop a nosebleed in seconds. I like to carry a tiny container with the powdered herb as part of my herbal first aid kit. You can also bruise the leaves of the fresh herb and apply them directly on the wound. Internally, it can be taken as an infusion, a tincture, or in capsule form. 
•  I really like using yarrow for feminine problems. I think it is one of the herbs every woman should have in her medicine chest. It does wonders when you need to get rid of stubborn yeast infections, or if you have an abnormal discharge. I would recommend taking capsule of the whole herb in situations like this , so that it can affect the whole body internally, since yarrow has an affinity for the bladder as well and can help in preventing bacterial overgrowth and UTIs.

  Convinced of yarrow's magical powers yet? Here is some more:

• Yarrow is quite bitter, which gently stimulates and cleanses the liver. I would recommend drinking the infusion, since your taste buds need to taste the bitterness to stimulate the response in your system. 
•  Yarrow is a mild immune stimulant, so if you used up all your echinacea tincture, try some yarrow instead. I love putting it in my winter herbal infusions. Mixed with herbs like peppermint, elderberry and thyme, its bitter taste is barely detectable.

 I can go on and on about yarrow, but I know by now you are probably eager to go out and pick some for yourself. Some of you are probably eyeing the neighbor's garden patch, full of pink and yellow blossoms of yarrow. Do not pick those. Head for the woods, or the park ( if it is not sprayed) , or an open field outside of town, and look for the white blossoms of the wild yarrow.  Those hold the potent medicine that you want. Pick responsibly and have fun. I like using fresh plants ( stalks, leaves and flowers) for tincture, and I like to dry some to have on hand later. I use the flowers in my herbal teas and powder the stalks and leaves.

 Do you have any other uses for yarrow? Share below!

Backyard Medicine: ROSE

Botanical name : Rosa spp.

Family: Rosaceae

Parts used : petals, leaves, fruit (rose hips)


 It is a wonderful year for the wild roses in our little corner of the world. The long winter and the summer rains provided enough moisture for them to grow green and lush. Pink blossoms in all shades,from dark magenta to pale pink, are everywhere. They feel the air with a dreamy fragrance. The scent of roses, mixed with the smell of moist earth and pine resin, brings my senses into a sort of trance. It is a soul medicine on its own.
 I often use wild roses in my remedies, but I was kind of stuck in this habit of just using the fruit , the rose hips. I put them in my teas and tinctures, and I was praising their great antioxidant qualities. Rose hips are full of vitamin C and are a great part of our winter routine, for keeping our family healthy.
 When I was little, we used to love eating rose hip jam, smeared over butter on a thick slice of sourdough bread. I still dream of making my own jam one day, but I have not gathered the patience to go through hours of removing all the tiny seeds .
 This year I discovered another side of the wild rose. I wanted to connect with this plant at its most bold state. The fragrant petals and the luscious leaves in various shades of pink and green. I've been reading more and more about their uses. The wild energy that they bring, the gentleness of a blossom and the fierceness of the thorns.
 Roses are more often associated with fragrance than herbal healing.But it turns out that wild roses have been part of our craft for thousands of years. They are from the same plant family as hawthorn, apples, almonds, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries ( to mention a few) - Rosaceae, the Rose family. Roses carry a lot of the properties of their brothers and sisters. Like hawthorn, The wild rose will strengthen the heart and will improve blood flow and circulation. It is a great antioxidant . Like raspberry, it will help with feminine problems and will strengthen the uterus. Some herbalists recommend taking rose elixir to help ease cramps and other PMS symptoms. A tincture from the rose petals and young leaves has a very relaxing effect on the body. It will ease the mind and promote healthy sleep.
 I use rose petals in my Blossom Beauty facial mask and in a wonderful tincture I call Brain Tonic. I love to make creams and lotions with the essential oil and I grew up using rose water as part of my beauty routine.
 While I am writing all this, I am looking at the jar of Wild Rose Elixir brewing on my counter and I can't wait to try it. I feel inspired and excited, as if I have found a long lost friend, with many stories to tell and a vast knowledge to share.

 I hope you too feel inspired to discover yet another plant ally with me. And I am sure that a lot of you have already experienced the healing power of the rose.
 The last thing I want to share with you is a very simple and easy recipe for a rose elixir. It is also beautiful and delicious. You will need a mason jar in a size of your choice. I prefer a quart wide mouth jar when I make remedies for myself, as I feel it provides me with enough to enjoy until next season and share with friends. Fill the jar of your choice with rose petals. If you prefer a more medicinal and stronger elixir, use both petals and young green leaves. When you are done playing outside, and your jar is full of fragrant roses, fill it a quarter of the way with raw local honey or vegetable glycerin, and the rest with alcohol of you choice. I used raw honey and 80 proof vodka in mine, as I did not want a high alcohol content for this elixir. Leave it on the counter and admire the color changes for a few weeks. When you are ready, strain it and keep it in a cool dark place. Enjoy it in your tea at night or as part of your moon time routine, or simply when you need to add a little beauty to your being.

 Summer is the time of discovery for us herbalists. Play outside and be adventurous!

Backyard Medicine: USNEA

 All my friend are posting pictures of sprouting herbs and spring landscapes, the occasional blossoming tree. But I live in Colorado and spring is long way away for us still. It is 14 degrees in the mornings and we still get some flurries in the air. I have to say that I am a little jealous of all the nettle picking herb people right now, but a walk in the woods reminds me why I love Colorado. Herbal medicine is never further than my back yard, even in the winter time. So, today I want to talk to you about a wonderful plant , which you can find even when snow is still covering the earth. Join me for some winter medicine making!

USNEA is a lichen , which means it is a symbiosis between a fungus and an algae. This alone makes it extraordinary to me. But nature didn't stop there and added some extra ordinary health benefits to the mix.
  Usnea can be found almost anywhere in the United States but it really thrives in the wet environment of the Pacific Northwest. I have no problem finding it where I live in Colorado at 8000ft altitude. Here it grows up to a couple of inches long and it loves the dying pine trees and junipers.
 Usnea can be easily identified. The outer green-grey layer is the algae and if it is usnea, when you pull that apart, it exposes an inner, slightly elastic, white layer, which is the fungus.If it does not have the inner white layer , it is not usnea.
 Usnea is also called Old Man's Beard , so you might be familiar with it this way. It is a cooling and drying plant , so it is very useful when there is a condition accompanied by fever or dry cough. It has an affinity for the mucus membranes in the body, and it is often used for lung congestion or urinary tract infections. 
 According to herbalist Ryan Drum, usnea is the best plant antibiotic we have to treat any gram positive bacterial infection. It is especially effective against Staph and Strep, two of he most common bacterial infections we know. Use of usnea can often eliminate the need for pharmaceutical antibiotics, which can not only kill the bacterial infection but often disrupt our gut environment and thus disrupt the function of our immune system. Usnea's antibacterial action doesn not kill all of the bacteria living in our bodies which means there is a chance of a quicker re-population of the gut with good bacteria and re-balancing of the immune system.
 Herbalist Paul Bergner recommends combining usnea with echinacea or osha root, when there is a cold, flu , or throat inflammation with suspected bacterial infection.

Usnea is best used in powder, tincture or salve form. If you are treating an internal bacterial infection ,it is best to take the tincture. When you have a wound that might seem infected , you can apply a salve topically, or usnea in powdered form , in order to heal or prevent infection. A lot of people are afraid to use powdered herbs in wounds because it looks like they are contaminating the area instead of keeping it sterile. But I like using powdered herbs to stop bleeding (yarrow), to prevent infection ( usnea or bee propolis , which is not really an herb, but it does a wonderful job), and to speed healing ( comfrey or plantain). I think powdered herbs are easy to carry around and complement the use of salves and tinctures in healing topical problems like cuts, scrapes, or deeper wounds that bleed and stay open longer, increasing the chance of infection.

What do you think? Isn't usnea amazing? I think it is wonderful that as "herby" people we can keep up with our craft in any season. Usnea is easy to find in the winter time and it will give its medicine to anyone who appreciates it. Have in mind that usnea is a pretty slow growing lichen in the drier parts of the country and don't over harvest it. You can often find it on fallen branches after a storm. I do not consider usnea a parasitic plant since it does not harm the trees that it lives on. Some herbalists say it even acts as "lungs" for the dying trees and the forest.
 I hope you are inspired to go outside and find this wonderful lichen. Creating backyard medicine is possible even with feet of snow outside our doors. And if you live where spring is in the air and the plants are poking heir green shoots through the wet earth, then enjoy your time outside even more, and look up every once in a while to discover the wonderful ally usnea can be.