Herb of the Month: Mugwort

Mugwort is a powerful herbal ally for women's reproductive systems, and for bellies belonging to all of us, no matter what our gender or age is!

Mugwort has been used by many as an emmenagogue, meaning to stimulate menstruation, taken by those with irregular or suppressed menses. It has been suggested that mugwort stimulates the uterus, which agrees with some of the other uses of mugwort: as a tonic during labor and to relieve menstrual cramps. It has also been used for epilepsy, colds, fevers, bronchitis, colic, sciatica, kidney ailments, and as an appetite stimulent and nerve tonic. The volatile oil in the leaves make a good remedy for indigestion, upset stomachs, and other stomach ailments. Research shows it may lower blood sugar.

Mugwort has long been used to promote vivid, lucid, and prophetic dreams. It can be taken as a tea or smoked before bedtime, branches can be hung near the bed, or the crushed leaves and flowers can be put in a sachel or pillow to place on or near the bed.

In addition to its use with dreams, mugwort is associated with psychic powers in general. It is also used for protection, by hanging the plant over doorways either in whole branches or crushing the leaves and flowers to put in a sachel, often along with other herbs. Mugwort is sometimes ritually smoked, usually in combination with other herbs, and it has a nice smell, which makes a good herb for smudging. Mugwort is considered a sacred herb of Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon, the hunt, and chastity, which gives it its scientific name. Because of this the plant is also associated with the Moon and young women.

Latin Name: Artemesia vulgaris or Artemesia Californica (native)

Family: Asteraceace

Used as: tea, tincture, smudge, herb pillows, etc.

Herb of the Month: Cozy Chamomile

Herb of the Month: 

Chamomile   

German chamomile has been taken for digestive problems since at least the 1st century AD. Gentle and efficacious, it is very suitable for children. The herb is valuable for pain, indigestion, acidity, gas, gastritis, bloating, and colic. It is also used for hiatus hernia, peptic ulcer, Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome. German chamomile, which contains spiroether and bisabolol, very strong antispasmodics, relax tense, aching muscles and eases menstrual pain.  It also appears to have relaxing action on the smooth muscle lining of the digestive tract.

Chamomile means "earth apple" which is easy to understand when we accidentally trample the flowers and underfoot and suddenly smell the welcome fragrance of apples rising from the earth. In the same way, Spanish speaking peoples often use the name Manzanilla, literally meaning "little apple."

Even for those largely unfamiliar with herbs, the distinctive sweet scent of Chamomile is often both familiar and comforting. This plant is many people's first and perhaps only introduction to herbalism, often from a cup of honey-sweetened and belly-calming tea from their grandmother.

Just as it soothes and heals internally, Chamomile is also a first-rate external application for almost any case of inflammation, irritation, swelling and even potential infection. It finds its way into many formulas for eczema, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and other common inflammatory skin conditions.

Steams, baths and infused oil are other effective ways of utilizing the calming, decongestive and healing properties of the herb. It can be used as a warm compress or saline eyewash to reduce inflammation, possible infection and pain in the treatment of styes, conjunctivitis, pink eye and similar maladies.  

Latin: Matricaria recutita (German) or Anthemis nobilis (Roman)

Common Names: Chamomile, Camamyle, Manzanilla, Scented Mayweed.

Taste / qualities: Bitter and spicy   

Actions: anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, relaxant, carminative, mild bitter, antiallergenic.

   

Queen of Hungary Water

"This is one of the world's finest cosmetic formulas. It combines gentle common herbs in a masterful way, it's easy to make, and it's a versatile formula that serves many purposes. The Gypsies used it as a hair rinse, mouthwash, headache remedy, aftershave, footbath, and who knows what else! I have seen this formula sold in department stores in exotic little bottles for a fancy price. You can make it for the cost of a few herbs and a bottle of vinegar." 

-- Rosemary Gladstar 

6 parts lemon balm  

4 parts chamomile  

4 parts roses  

3 parts calendula  

3 parts comfrey leaf  

1 part lemon peel  

1 part rosemary  

1 part sage  

Vinegar (apple cider or wine)  

Rose water or witch hazel  

Essential oil of lavender or rose (optional)

1. Place the herbs in a widemouthed jar.  

2. Fill the jar with enough vinegar that it rises an inch or two above the herb mixture. 3. Cover tightly and let it sit in a warm spot for 2 to 3 weeks. 4. Strain out the herbs. To each cup of herbal vinegar, add 2/3 to 1 cup of rose water or witch hazel. Add a drop or two of essential oil, if desired. 5. Rebottle. This product does not need to be refrigerated and will keep indefinitely.

Recipe courtesy of Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health 

Herb of the Month: Calendula

Calendula flowers are a garden staple in the Bay Area, their sunny orange flowers coming into bloom as the rainclouds clear.  Beyond being simply beautiful, however, calendula is a powerful plant ally for skin, lymph, and inflammatory conditions of the digestive system, such as gastritis, peptic ulcers, and colitis.    Internally, Calendula is a wonderful plant to assist with detoxification, and is often used to treat toxic-buildup that leads to infection and systemic skin disorders, such as eczema and acne.  It helps cleanse the liver, as well, and this action combined with its gentle yet strong lymph-draining qualities has led to its reputation as a powerful purifier.  Less well known, however, is that it can also be used as a calming and nourishing mouthwash after tooth-extraction or mouth surgery. Externally, Calendula is renowned as a skin-beautifier and healer.  It is often used infused in oils or as a salve or in creams to tonify, nourish, and protect skin as well as being used in first-aid for burns, rashes, and other red or inflammed skin conditions.     Calendula  Latin: Calendula officianalis Common Names: Calendula, Pot Marigold, Summer's Bride, Butterwort. Taste / qualities: slightly bitter, pungent, drying, gently cooling Actions: anti-inflammatory; relieves muscle spasms;    astringent; prevents hemorrhaging; heals wounds; antiseptic; detoxifying; mildly estrogenic.     Infused Calendula Oil     1c     Calendula petals, dried 1c     Organic Almond Oil Pint-Sized Mason Jar Paper Towels Cheesecloth Strainer 1. First fill your bone dry half pint jar half way with dried calendula blossoms. Just put them in loosely packed.    2. Pour almond oil over the flowers to fill the jar, leaving 1/4 inch space at the top. 3. Stir to release any air bubbles. 4. Cover the jar with paper towel secured with mason jar ring or a rubber band. Covering your oil in this way will allow any extra water in the plant material to evaporate while it is infusing. Water content on the plant material or jar can lead to mold in your oil. 5. Stir these oils every day for a week, smelling it each day and observing the oil and the plant material. Make sure all the plant material is under the oil each day. Exposed plant material can also cause mold. 6. After this first week you need not stir your oil, but continue to make daily or every other day observations. Heat and exposure to oxygen can cause your oil to go rancid and water content can lead to mold, so you will want to watch this preparation carefully. 7. Allow your oil to infuse for about 3 weeks, continuing to observe the color of the oil and the flowers. When the flowers become translucent the oil has completely saturated them, and the oil is ready to strain. 8. Strain your oils through cheesecloth, squeezing as much oil as possible from the flowers or leaves. You can compost the flowers, leaves and cheesecloth. 9. Store your finished oil in a capped jar with very little air space at the top.  This will help your oil stay fresh for as long as possible.

Herb of the Month: Milky Oats

Milky Oats come into their own across the rolling hills of the Bay Area in May, their tiny  pale green pennants waving at us in sunny spots along the trail.  Later, when the oats become dry, we tend to call this plant oatstraw.  Oatstraw has many similar qualities to Milky Oats -- and yet, medicinally and energetically, there's something special about this herb when its full of white milky sap, as it is right now.    

"Milky Oats' most remarkable actions tend to be seen in exhaustion. It is a profound restorative for the nervous and endocrine systems which are so easily depleted by a stressful lifestyle and bad diet. It's no replacement for proper nutritional therapy but an excellent therapeutic agent for the process of healing. It seems to directly provide a special sort of 'nerve food' for the body, to rebuild the nervous apparatus in a way that is both nutritional and yet more."

 -- Kiva Rose,  

Bear Medicine Herbals

Milky oats are a very helpful nutritive tonic any time there is mental and physical exhaustion as well as common symptoms of exhaustion such as an inability to focus, mood swings, decreased sexual desire, and anxiety.   

Milky Oats: 

Latin Name: Avena sativa

Common Names: Milky Oats, Wild Oats, Catgrass

Taste: Sweet

Actions: Nervous and endocrine resorative, relaxant and stimulant nervine, antispasmodic

   

Avena Dreams Cordial    

2.25c  Milky Oats /  Oatstraw
3c       Brandy, or to cover by 2"
1c       Rose Honey
1/2c    Rose Water

1. Let Oats steep in brandy for one month or one moon-cycle.  

2. Strain out oats and add rose water and honey.

3. Enjoy!

(Recipe courtesy of The Herbal Kitchen by Kami McBride)

Herb of the Month: Nettles

  

Nettles are an herbalist's best friend.  This small, inconspicuous looking plant has surprised many a hiker with its zippy sting, but perhaps what's more surprising is how powerful a healer it is.    

In springtime, this plant is often used as a nourishing tonic and blood cleanser; it helps to restore the health and vibrancy of the adrenal glands, normalizes hormone function and circulatory systems, and is a  powerful ally for the kidneys, digestion, and respiration.  It's very high in protein, vitamins, and minerals, and is often used as an iron tonic during pregnancy.  In fact, herbalist Matt Wood says that this little mint-like plant "helps all protein pathways in the body -- digestion, immune response, liver metabolism, skin reactions, and kidney elimination."   

It is this relationship with proteins that makes Nettle a very good herb for people with allergies, as it is known to reduce the allergic response and also to eliminate mucus on membranes resulting from allergies (however, its not a quick-fix: in order for nettles to work in this way, its best to take them daily, beginning a couple of weeks before your allergies usually begin to effect you).   

Nettles can be taken as a tea, in tincture, and cooked and eaten as a wonderful healing food (the leaves loose their sting when cooked).       

Creamed Nettles

1 lb nettle tops  

4 Tbsp butter  

1/4 tsp salt  

1/4 tsp pepper  

1/2 cup cream

1 medium onion, minced 1/4 cup snipped chives  

2 cloves garlic, minced

Place nettles in a medium-sized saucepan (you might want to wear gloves for this).  

Pour in just enough water to cover; add 2 tablespoons of the butter, salt, and pepper. Simmer until tender.   

Strain; discard the nettles and return the juice to the pan.   

Mix in the cream, onion, chives, garlic, and 2

tablespoons of the butter.  

Bring to a simmer over low heat, then serve and enjoy!  

(Recipe courtesy of A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook)

Herb of the Month: Chickweed

As the winter chill recedes, leaving the earth moist and soft yet bathed in sunlight, Chickweed makes its dainty and festive appearance all across the hillsides and along creekbeds around us.  Although considered a weed by some, and certainly not rare or scarce, Chickweed is a powerful healer and a delicious spring cleansing edible for salads and smoothies.  It is regarded highly for its demulcent, moisturizing properties and is used to treat everything from skin irritation, to eye inflammation, to arthritis and hypothyroidism. 

Though demure in size and energetics, this diminutive plant (whose name means "little star," for the tiny white star-shaped blooms it sports) has graced the pages of herbals since they were first printed.  The great herbalist Jethro Kloss said of Chickweed, "It heals and soothes anything it comes in contact with."

It is seen as a deeply nourishing herb that helps awaken our life-force energy after the long winter nights -- its high in vitamin C, making it good to help ward off illness during spring's transition time, as well as being high in calcium, iron, and many other minerals. 

Chickweed cleanses the liver, lymph system, kidneys, intestines, and lungs of toxins and helps to flush excess fats from our bodies.  It is well known to assist in losing weight, "Not just short term water weight, but long-term deposits of fats," writes herbalist Matthew Wood. 

"It is an outstanding remedy for lipomas (fatty tumors), as well as general weight loss -- facts to which I can attest from personal experience.  At the same time, chickweed acts deeply on all of the waters of the body..."

In addition to its wonderful healing properties, Chickweed is a delicious edible to wildcraft, especialy as it is easy to find and identify.  You can add it to salads and sandwiches, steam it, or even make it into pesto.  Bon Appetite!  Spring is here.

Chickweed Pesto  

2 cloves of garlic  

3 Tbsp. pine nuts or sunflower seeds  

¼ tsp. salt  

2 packed cups chopped fresh chickweed  

½ cup olive oil

½ cup Parmesan cheese

Blend or chop in a food processor, and enjoy!  

It tastes wonderful over pasta (especially thin pastas, like angel hair or fettucini) or you can just use it as a dip for crackers or vegetables.   It even freezes!

Recipe courtesy of Herbmentor.com

Sweet Nothings... Romantic Recipes from the Green World

This time of year is a fabulous time to treat yourself, or treat someone you love, to the beauty and pleasure available from the world of herbs.  From aphrodisiac nervines (such as damiana and oatstraw) to aromatic treasures like rose, vanilla and sandlewood, the natural world has much to offer us to help us foster connection, sweetness, and delight.

"Herbal aphrodisiacs abound, as Mother Nature is passionately fond of love and fecundity. In the Wise Woman Tradition, we nourish vibrant health, rather than seeking out stimulants, even when it comes to sex. Thus my favorite lover's herbs are... oatstraw and seaweed, burdock and roses, and, of course, chocolate."

-- Susan Weed, master herbalist  

and author of Healing Wise

Perhaps nothing is more romantic and enjoyable than giving and receiving something from that heart that you've made yourself.  So, we asked some of our favorite herbalist to share their most treasured herbal romance secrets:

Edible Brown Sugar Body Scrub 

Spiced Rose Elixir   

Damiana Cordial 

Celtic Love Tea 

Wild Rose Honey 

Robin Rose's Passion Honey