One of my favorite quotes on herbal medicine...

I listened to and took notes on a recording of Tommie Bass. He said the following, and it capture exactly how I feel about herbal medicine. 

"If I went into telling you every medical value of every plant and herb, there wouldn't be a [video] tape long enough to hold all the good values of the herbs God gave us to heal us and keep us healthy." Tommie Bass 1908-1996 He is worth researching and so is Aunt Molly Kirby, the medicine woman who started his education.

About that Plantain in Your Backyard. Plantago spp

Plantago spp is a good herb and edible to start foraging.

It grows all over the world. It has no deadly look-alikes and most people can easily identify it. It is abundant so you can take all you need. It will grow back! It is so useful, I call it a medicine cabinet in one backyard plant.

I have over 10 pages of handwritten notes of things I have learned on Plantago aka Plantain over the years. I can't share everything here. Hopefully, I have shared enough to make you more aware of how very useful this plant is. This is the plant many of you made "guns" out of with the stem wrapped around the seed head.

Depending on what you are targeting, the leaves can be used fresh or dried. It can be used as a food source, tea, capsule, decoction, salve, ointment, tincture, and poultice. I have both the narrow (aka lance) leaf and broad leaf on my place. All I found recently was the lanceolata (narrow) leaf (pictured).

Plantago is superior to Jewelweed when treating poison ivy, oak, or sumac IF you know the correct method to use. Here it is:

Boil the leaves. Strain and cool them until it is hot but not enough to burn/damage the skin. Leave until it cools. Then change it out with another batch of boiled leaves. Do this 3 times. On the third time, bandage the poultice to the body. The heat causes the histamines to be released all at one time. Then you have the anti-inflammatory effects and the chemical compound allantoin which is a cell proliferator (speeds cell turnover rate which speeds healing). It works better when caught sooner.

For a spider bite, boil a potato until it is very soft. While still warm apply to the skin until it cools. Then follow the instructions above. The potato contains among other things starches and hyaluronic and azelaic acids which help soften the skin. The heat pulls blood to the surface which also moves the venom to the surface. All of this makes it easier for the plantain poultice to draw the venom out. This method has spared people from necrotizing flesh as seen in brown recluse spider bites.

The allantoin in plantago is good for healing bruises, fractures, pulled muscles and ligaments, sprains, strains, and osteoarthritis. Neosporin uses allantoin in some of its products like their wound gel. You can harvest allantoin from your backyard and use it for free.

Plantago spp will also heal the intestines from inflammatory conditions. It normalizes stomach secretions. It is good for the immune system. It is good for UTIs and other bladder/kidney conditions. It helps drain mucus from the head and can be used for asthma and bronchitis. The seeds are what is in Metamucil (psyllium husks come from Plantago ovata) because they have a laxative effect. It helps with thrombophlebitis. It reduces intestinal absorption of lipids, lowers cholesterol, food poisoning, snake bites, spider bites, bug bites, and is a very effective drawing agent (pulling splinters, pus, or venom).

It was so valuable as medicine that many English settlers brought different varieties over with them. The Native Americans called it "White Man's Footprints" because it popped up wherever they went. There was one variety already here, but we have many varieties in the US today. For the medicinal properties, it is a fairly consistent plant across the different varieties.

To use as an edible, people eat the young tender leaves in salads much like you would lettuce. People wrap sushi in them and throw them on top of their burgers. Older leaves get cooked. Dried and powdered, the leaves are used as thickeners in soups. The seeds are ground for flour. Plantago is high in vitamins A, B, C, K, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and selenium.

Medicinal properties: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, anti-cancer, vulnery (heals wounds), decongestant, demulcent (soothes mucus membranes), drawing agent, laxative, and it is considered analgesic due to the anti-inflammatory benefits. The NIH says the pain-relieving properties are probably due to the tannins and one paper says plantago the plant is good for: infectious diseases, digestive issues, respiratory organs reproduction, circulation, certain cancers, and reducing fevers.

Many of you have been asking me through text and IM how to get started. Here it is. It is up to you to make something of it. And, I apologize for not answering phone calls but I do try to reach out through text asap. My phone is usually in the house while I am outside.

Update on Sweetpepper Bush

 

I'd say you can extract soap fairly easily from Spicebush leaves. I've only used it to wash my hands while in the woods before, so this is new to me too. We have over two gallons of it to experiment with. It smells a little like a tea but you could easily fix that with essential oils or maybe with the fresh flowers from the bush. I'll test it to see how it does in the laundry and on hair. The color did not stain the pot, nor the spoon, nor our skin. We will discover if it will stain fabrics.

Random thoughts on herbal medicine natural medicine alternative medicine

This was an answer to a friend of mine who commented on an herbal medicine post I made:

I am sharing some things below not so much for you, but for those reading along. I get so many texts and messages on things like this.

You are right, they will not do the studies on the whole plant because they can't patent a natural substance. No money, no incentive to research. Medical care, generally speaking, is about money not about helping people.

"Drugs derived from the natural world" is different than herbal medicine which directly uses plants. A good portion of pharmaceuticals are derived from natural plants but they isolate the chemicals and often strengthen them. That is why they have a lot of side effects.

Herbal medicine, meaning the direct use of plants as medicine, is gentler because there are often protective benefits from other chemical compounds within the plant. If a lab isolates one chemical to market in the drug industry, it loses the benefits of the other chemicals in the plant. I have seen people get very angry when they are paying very high prices for Rx when an effective and safe answer was right outside their door free for the picking...and it worked better!!

If you are working with a skilled herbalist, there are plenty of things perfectly safe for a pregnant and nursing mother. I have taken scores of herbs as medicine while pregnant and nursing to strengthen and tone the uterus, help with the severe hyperemeis gravidarum, give me energy, as vitamins and minerals, to increase my milk flow, help with restless leg, etc. I have also used herbs with my newborns. Susan Weed, Shonda Parker, and others have written books on herbs safe for pregnancy, nursing, and babies. I think Ody is another author's last name.

My own OB told me he could see the herbs were working to curb the severe hyperemesis gravidarum and that they were doing an amazing job. Then came the big BUT....he didn't want to know about them because herbal medicine scared him silly. We are afraid of what we do not know. The Rxs he had given me did not help me at all, so I researched and wrote to doctors (and bought a medical book from them) outside our country to gain knowledge to help myself.

Most people I know are terrified of pokeweed leaves (poke sallet) and pokeweed berries. I was taught as a child that all parts were "deadly poison. Don't touch it!!!" I learned about pokeweed from a master herbalist. I know when and how to use it and what the different parts can do for the body. I use it without fear or problems.

I know a lot of people are freaking out now after those pokeweed statements, so I'll add this for them to ponder: We bring many things into our homes that are toxic in the wrong dose or when used in the wrong manner. Aspirin, acetaminophen, household chemicals, and most Rx medicines. If you ingest all of your Rx meds at one time, what will happen? Yet you still use it. Why? Knowledge is power. Tiny doses of most medicine (allopathic and natural) are beneficial while large doses can land one in an emergency room or worse. If you can learn how to use meds from your doctor, you can learn from someone knowledgeable about how to use plants for medicine. "There are no toxic plants, only toxic doses."

Contraindications: A knowledgeable herbalist in a practice will (or at least SHOULD) ask for a complete medical history, lifestyle (what you eat, how you sleep, stress in your life, etc), find out what you are already taking, do a physical exam, etc. The forms are extensive. As part of my education (which at that time could be used to start a business or counted as part of an ND degree), I was given sets of forms and had to fill them out for detailed fictional patients and for real life (family/friends) "practice patients." It is far more info than conventional medical care requires of a new patient. It was a lengthy process to gain all of the information to even begin to help someone. If you are paying them to treat you and they are not doing this, RUN!

I am glad you can see the fear tactics. With the knowledge I have gained in the 30+ years I've been studying, I can not emphasize enough that the fear tactics are intentional. So is the frequently conflicting and confusing information. For my friends who like a good C-theory go research the long list (over 60) of herbalists/naturopaths who "suddenly died" in a short time-period of each other. Find out what they were researching/learning. Who and what would it benefit them to keep that info secret?

Tie Dye Fun and the Mood in Your Household

 

 

Those Asbell children! 🙃 It was staged to make Clint smile. It's his dog. No dogs were tie-dyed (yet 😁). There is a lot, and I mean A LOT, of very ugly, tragic, and deeply disturbing news out there. A wise, older woman told me a long time ago that the wife/mother can set the tone of her household. Worship music, fun activities, and a little humor can go a long way to lifting the mood in our homes.

Asters

I spent yesterday morning foraging and the rest of the day preparing what I harvested for drying. I found salt marsh and frost asters at my place. I took a drive to a forest I am allowed to go into and found calico asters on the edges of trails. I was pretty tickled to find that! I harvested over a bushel of four different varieties of asters for making tea from the leaves and flowers. The leaves are full of nutrition and can be eaten in salads or soups. Asters can treat digestive issues, fevers, earaches, and more. The New England Aster is highly sought by herbalists and tea lovers because it is nervine and calmative which can help with anxiety, panic attacks, and insomnia.

Baby Loss Months: Those Well-Meaning Memes

The meme is well-meaning. It claims that all mothers of miscarried/stillborn babies know exactly how old their babies would be if they were alive. This is my response. I am not against the meme. I am against unfairly burdening a mother in the baby loss community with other people's expectations of how their grief and love should look to others. 

Wendy Asbell:

xxxx I do not know the ages my miscarried and stillborn children would be right off hand because there were nine of them. That does not equate to me not caring. Nothing could be further from the truth. I think of them every day and have their names and dates they died in my Bible. I also have each of their memorial ornaments along with the cremation marker "coin" nailed above a doorway. I walk past their memorial in my flowerbed every day and thank the Lord they were made known to me and that I will be with them again. A well-meaning meme can not define how one grieves.

I absolutely agree. I know the ages the first two of mine would be but truthfully I forced myself to stop keeping track just to prevent despair. This meme is generalization, but I am glad you pointed out that is isn’t a hard and fast rule.

Wendy Asbell:

xxxxxx I am sorry for your losses and for the others who commented here who know this particular pain. I also purposefully chose to not recall dates. It's one of the choices I had to make to keep going in this life. I daily make a conscious decision to look to the future with them. I have a day set aside to remember them all with my family. I brought my situation to light here to encourage those who struggle with dates because I do not wish to see them feeling like they are failing their baby(ies). Baby loss has enough burdens as it is.

Amanda and Joe Engaged!

Joe asked Amanda to marry him on her birthday. Amanda waited to tell people because she did not want to overshadow Bethany's engagement which we knew about weeks ahead of time. She is a loving and considerate big sister! That's three engagements and one marriage this year. I waited until she had told everyone in our family, our friends, and her co-workers.

Prunella vulgaris

Prunella vulgaris aka Selfheal, Heal All, is one of the more versatile plants to have in your arsenal and many cultures have made good use of it. In some areas, it grows as commonly in yards as the dandelion. It can be used internally and externally. It is antibacterial, antibiotic, antimutagenic, antioxidant, antiseptic, antispasmodic, antiviral, astringent, bitter, carminative, diuretic, febrifuge, hemostatic, hypotensive, immunostimulant, kidney tonic, liver stimulant, stomachic, vasodilator, vermifuge and more. This is a very useful herb to know and grow. As with any herb, always research look-alikes and learn to properly identify, and learn any contraindications.

Late Boneset

Late Boneset aka Eupatorium serotinum. The flowers and leaves are anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic. They have been used to treat flu, colds, coughs, prostate problems, diabetes, bronchitis, indigestion, fevers, joint pain, sinus problems, and more. The late great herbalist Tommie Bass used it in his cough syrup recipe. It is also an important plant for our pollinators which flock to it. There were so many pollinators around this plant, it had three green tree frogs hidden within its leaves.

UPDATED:

I shared this with someone:

"I use Late Boneset - Eupatorium serotinum as a tea or tincture when a virus hits. Late Boneset has many medicinal properties. Based on my research, the chemical profile shows it is an anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic (fever reducer), immune system modulator, analgesic, diaphoretic (induces a sweat), antimicrobial (antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal), digestive aid, and it gives support to the lymphatic system. It is safe for most people in medicinal dosages (small amounts, short time-periods) which differs from a consumption amount (consumed regularly as a meal or beverage). From a chemical standpoint, Late Boneset is considered safer than Boneset because it has a lower risk of hepatotoxicity (do not consume it as a food source, but in small amounts for a short time as a medicine). Some sensitive people may have allergies to the sesquiterpene lactones of BOTH Boneset - Eupatorium perfoliatum. and Late Boneset, so one may want to follow the "edibility test protocol." Anyone allergic to plants in the Asteraceae family should avoid it. I am not a medical doctor. I am just sharing my research, usage, and personal experiences."

More Good News

 I will have more good news to share as soon as I am able to do so. 

Bible Verses Against Necromancy

 Bible Verses Against Necromancy (speaking with/praying to the dead)

1. Leviticus 19:31

2. Deuteronomy 18:9-14

3. I Samuel 28:7-8

4. 2 Kings 21:6

5. I Chronicles 10:13

6. Isaiah 8:19-20

How to Help a Grieving Friend

 I keep sharing this because so many have told me it has helped them on both sides of the table in different types of grief including divorce. 

Repost from 10/15/2018: This post has helped a lot of people on both sides of the coin and has been printed as a handout.

Believe me, it's no time for words when the wounds are fresh and bleeding; no time for homilies when the lightning's shaft has smitten, and the man lies stunned and stricken. Then let the comforter be silent; let him sustain by his presence, not by his preaching; by his sympathetic silence, not by his speech. -George C. Lorimer

October 15 is the national day of remembrance for miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant loss. I've lost nine precious babies to stillbirth and miscarriage. Much of what you read here can be applied more broadly to include other types of loss and pain.

Here is a video from Megan Devine, which a friend recently shared, that shares about what works for those grieving and why other things like "cheering them up" do not. It will better equip you to help the hurting in your life.

When I lost one of my miscarried and stillborn babies, one of the things that helped me the most was someone telling me, "This sucks!!" I knew by their succinct words that they understood my pain. You don't need eloquence to show compassion. Your job isn't to move them to where you want them to be; it's to meet them where they are.

One of the most hurtful things ever said to me, for example, was by a Christian in law who claimed to be pro-life who told me less than 24 hours after the loss of my baby that crying was "feeling sorry for myself." Their words created a lot of pain in my heart. They did not care what I was going through, and their words showed it. Their words suggested I was doing something wrong by mourning my baby. I share this with the goal that others won't say such hurtful things in a woman's time of great pain. It is not helpful, but it is very hurtful. 

Crying is a normal, natural response to loss. Jesus cried in grief too. Would you have said, "It's self pity for you to cry since you are going to raise Lazarus anyway?" Or, would you have shown Him understanding and compassion? Think before you speak. Words hurt and can't be taken back, but they can be forgiven. Be gentle and kind with each other even when you do not understand what the other person is going through.

Please don't add your misplaced expectations to someone else's struggle. You will only burden them further. Acknowledge a person's right to feel as they do. 

If you have had a pregnancy loss, I am praying for you today and offer my friendship. My email is in the header. 

A pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, 
but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself.
-A.W. Tozer

I had a friend comment:

That person that said that to you COULD NOT be a Christian! They may be a self proclaimed Christian, but if they really had Christ in their heart they could have never said something so cruel and cold! 

My reply: Christians aren't perfect, and we fail each other often. We have to bear with each other in love to keep unity in the church. I have forgiven them completely and have love for them. Grudges lead to bitterness and that's a weed I don't want growing in my life. It's too destructive! I pray for their well being and success of their business daily. Doing that honors Jesus and gives me peace and keeps me growing in Christ. Their words are a good example to show others what not to say to someone because it does not in any way help. It creates another burden on the person. If we claim to be pro-life, but deny a mother the freedom to mourn a pregnancy loss, we really aren't very pro-life. We have to come beside people and meet them where they are in whatever circumstance life throws at them...not drag them along to where we want them to be. I fail people too and am thankful when they forgive me and bear with me in love.

Jeremy and Bethany Engaged!!

This picture and their story will be featured in the train's newsletter.

 

On the 12th, Jeremy took Bethany on the Epicurean Express Dinner Train in Troy, WI.

Then he proposed to her.

She said yes.

Jeremy caught this picture for us right after she said yes.

She is wearing the proposal ring in the photo. They will pick out the engagement ring together.

A few weeks ago, Jeremy called Clint and asked for his blessing. Clint told him it came down to one question, "Who is Jesus Christ to you? If that answer is correct, I know the rest will be prioritized correctly." Jeremy told him Jesus is his Lord and Savior.

This is from Bethany: "There was actually another couple who wanted to propose. They called the conductor, and the conductor called me to see if we could switch from a 2-top to a 4-top for their proposal, and we would get free drinks to compensate. I agreed. After I told Jeremy, he secretly called them back and explained that we couldn't do that...because he was also going to propose. It was the first time in many years that the railroad had any proposals, and they suddenly had two in one night." What a neat story!

A big thank you to Jeremy for including the rest of the family in on this including sharing a picture of the ring before he proposed. It was a lot of fun for our family.

Mt Olive, you can do better.

0ver a year ago          today's order

Look at the level of seeds. 1/4 or more of the jar is seeds.

The jar on the left is from a previous year. There is no date code on it, but the label style should make a date range possible. 

The one on the right is from today. It was in my Walmart pick-up order. If I had seen that on the shelf, I would have walked to the produce department and purchased fresh jalapenos. I did contact Mt Olive with this image. I will use the seeds and leftover juice in a soup, but the product a consumer is purchasing is sliced jalapenos, not the seeds.

Sweet Pepperbush aka Poor Man's Soap

 

Sweet Pepperbush Clethra alnifolia aka Poor Man's Soap. The leaves produce a lather when mixed with water and rubbed vigorously. Most sources say it is the flowers, but I have never had success with the flowers lathering. The flowers smell spicy and sweet. Pollinators love it. It is an air purifier meaning it can take polluted air and give back pure oxygen. I am drying the leaves to see if I can extract a "soap" that will lather. It never hurts to try, and I might learn something new.

Prepping vs Hoarding and Knowledge

A friend of mine was encouraging others to prepare their homes for emergency situations. I shared this:

"To point out for those who do not know, hoarding is panic buying in the moment of a crisis. Prepping is buying a little extra each time you go to the store. This thing that time, another thing the next time, and so on. Hoarding/panic buying clears the shelves during a crisis. Prepping is done slow and steady so it does not have a noticeable impact on the store shelves.

Even if your home and all of your belongings wash away, knowledge is carried with you. You can help yourself and others if you know how to purify water, start a fire in the rain, use plants as food and medicine, build a shelter, signal for help, etc. Knowledge of survival skills is free to get and easy to practice. It's all over the internet and easy to find. It won't cost you a thing to acquire that knowledge, but it may save you or someone else. We frequently took our entire family of 9 into the woods "camping" for survival skills training.

I have had a major fire loss, had my home flooded and heavily damaged due to a hurricane, been stranded over 24 hours somewhere very remote and precarious in the rain without a cell signal, had medical emergencies of family members, etc. My survival skills have come into play each time to keep us safe and comfortable. Even if you can't fill your shelves now, you can gain knowledge.

I had a baby as a hurricane hit our area hard. (I actually had babies in two separate hurricanes on the same date years apart.) On this occasion, I came home to a filthy flooded house damaged from flood waters and wind. We had dead animals because a few of the livestock would not cooperate with my husband. I had four small children and a newborn with filth and destruction everywhere. I got right to work when my feet hit our place. My family did whatever I asked to improve our situation. We had no power, no running water, and worked our tails off from sunup to sundown from day one after the storm. We quickly installed a hand pump to get water from our well. We had plenty of bleach and vinegar on hand, so we started cleaning. Because I knew how to wash and sanitize my home and belongings without electricity and running water, our home was the first one in a long list in our neighborhood that was not condemned for living. I washed the flood-soaked clothing and linens in a tub in our pop up. My arms were exhausted, but I kept at it. We worked hard to save what we had. That FEMA agent told me our efforts to sanitize everything had saved our home from being condemned. As we quickly found out from our neighbors, we spared our family a lot of trouble with government intervention. My tip: Do your best to clean before they get there or you may lose access to your home until it meets their standards. I learned a lot from that experience.

How to Extract Limonene and Lemon Extract for Baking

You can extract limonene from organic lemon or other citrus peels). In addition to the incredible health benefits, it can also be used as a flavoring in food. In addition to this extract, I have also ground whole lemons (peel and all!) in the blender and used a couple of tablespoons at a time in a smoothie to get the health benefits. "The therapeutic effects of limonene have been extensively studied, proving anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antinociceptive, anticancer, antidiabetic, antihyperalgesic, antiviral, and gastroprotective effects, among other beneficial effects in health. In this review, we collected, presented, and analyzed evidence from the scientific literature regarding the usage of limonene and its activities and underlying mechanisms involved in combating diseases. The highlighting of limonene applications could develop a useful targeting of innovative research in this field as well as the development of a limonene-based phytomedicine which could be used in a variety of conditions of health and disease." Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29427589/

A friend asked me for more info:

Extract: You can extract limonene from the organic peels using 80-proof Vodka (a menstrumm). Vodka is the choice most herbalists make because it does not impart a flavor. You want the yellow part only for the extract. The white pith will make it bitter which is not good for baking. I like to make strong extracts, so I fill the jar up to the shoulder with lemon peels. Then I pour the vodka over it. I work out the air bubbles and add more vodka. Keep it in a dark place for at least 6 weeks but longer is better. There is nothing wrong with leaving the peels in while you start using it. It will keep extracting. You can keep topping it off with vodka for a while too. Some of the best herbalists in the world will leave the plant matter in the jar for a year or longer. Whole lemon: Chop the whole lemon and put it in the blender. I have a Ninja and it did quite well with it. It looks like tiny minced bits when it is done. This adds a bit of a bitter flavor to plain water, but it was still drinkable if I did not go too heavy. It is better in a smoothie though.

Don’t Wait on the Government—Here’s How We’re Saving Our NC Communities

Bethany's Birthday

Illness struck Bethany and Jeremy the day before her birthday. They had planned a nice week of activities, but they had to give them up. Jeremy was going to make her a chocolate silk pie as her birthday dessert. Bless Jeremy's heart, even with a fever and feeling horrible, he made sure she had a birthday cake. He still plans to do the pie after he is well.

Jewelweed

Jewelweed is mostly used externally by herbalists today. It makes a great salve that can treat skin irritations like insect bites, poison ivy, stinging nettle, hives, sunburn, and more. The cooled water from boiled leaves and flowers not only calms the itch and burning, it also helps the rash of poison ivy heal faster. The Cherokee, Iroquois, Chippewa, and other tribes used it internally and externally for a wide variety of ailments. Mine is being extracted in olive oil along with plantain for a salve I will make in the very near future.