The Many Uses of Violet: A Round-Up of Herbal Resources & Recipes

 Uncategorized
Apr 032020
 

The Many Uses of Violet:
A Round-Up of Herbal Resources & Recipes

Written by Meghan Gemma
Photography by Juliet Blankespoor (except where credited)

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When it comes to flowers, it doesn’t get much sweeter than soft springtime violets. With nodding blossoms atop slender stems and heart-shaped leaves, these low-growing plants are sometimes described as diminutive. But please don’t presume they’re shrinking! In fact, violets are a powerhouse of mineral-rich food and medicine.

Does this quintessential bloom speak to your heart? Many folks are deeply drawn to violets, and for a rainbow of good reasons. Here, we’ve compiled a library of articles on violet’s cleansing, moistening, and anti-inflammatory medicine, plus a handful of spirited seasonal recipes and indispensable identification tips.

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Gathering violets for medicinal and culinary concoctions (Felted bilby figure created by Johana of Rustles in the Meadow)

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Violet: A Springtime Medicinal

Although violet is a wildly common herb, it’s somewhat underrepresented in edible and medicinal circles. The truth is, violet is one of our finest and most delicious cooling and moistening herbs—perfect for folks who run dry, experience skin issues like eczema, or seasonally want to cleanse and revitalize their tissues after a long, cold winter.

Violet’s Edible and Medicinal Uses This is our personal ode to the healing food-medicine of violet. Uncover our favorite ways to eat and imbibe this tasty ally.

Gentle Spring Cleansing with Violet Curious how to cleanse with the wild herbs of spring? This is our guide to deep and gentle restoration with violet.

Violet Herb by jim mcdonald. A wonderfully thorough treatise on violet’s medicinal qualities, with a special nod to its herbal energetics. 

Three Faces Under a Hood: The Many Aspects of Violet by Kiva Rose Hardin. Another enchanting violet profile, with a fascinating dose of herbal lore and floral poetry stirred into the mix.

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Violet and chickweed on a bagel with medicinal garlic sauce

Violet and chickweed on a bagel with medicinal garlic sauce

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Violet Recipes

Violet is one of my very favorite springtime wild foods. The young leaves are tender, delicious, and rich in minerals and soluble fiber. The flowers are a bright splash of color atop cakes, breakfast toast, and green salads. Their purple petals are packed with antioxidant bioflavonoids. We could hardly ask for a more nourishing wild spring green!

Violet Springtime Fairy Vinegar: A Mineral-Rich Spring Tonic Our recipe for crafting a whimsical and mineral-rich herbal vinegar for spring cleansing, seasonal nutrition, or good old-fashioned culinary fun.

Wild Greens Bagel A simple staple from our kitchen that easily integrates violets and other seasonal wild greens right into your breakfast or lunch.

Calendula’s Benefits for the Skin: How to Make Calendula Oil and Salve You’ll notice that this recipe actually features calendula, but you can just substitute violet leaves in for the calendula, or combine them for a soothing, skin-healing remedy.

Wild Violet Ardor: Whipped Honey Butter by Gather. Read about the romantic legacy of violet while whipping up a buttery-sweet floral treat. The folks at Gather are unparalleled in sharing a great herbal story alongside the most magical recipes you can imagine!

Wild Violets 4 Ways: Simple Syrup, Tincture, Candies and Lemonade by Amanda Waters of Homesong. Don’t miss this bouquet of spring recipes featuring violet! For a good time, I especially recommend experiencing the alchemy of wild violet syrup (followed up by making a glass of pale purple violet lemonade).

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From the book Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook by Dina Falconi; illustrated by Wendy Hollender

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Violet Botany & Identification

When it comes to gathering wild plants, I recommend being 150% sure of your identification before harvesting or nibbling. Violets actually have many look-alikes, some of which are inedible or poisonous. If you’re new to violets, please only harvest them when the flowers are present (this helps immensely with i.d.). You’ll also want to reference a reliable plant identification guide when gathering any wild edible or medicinal herb. You can use this book list for my personal recommendations. The following resources will help you along:

An Illustrated Guide to Identifying Violet, designed by Dina Falconi and illustrated by Wendy Hollender. Seeking a beautifully illustrated guide to identifying violet? Look no further, this is it!

Violets, Violas with Green Deane. Join this wild foods expert in the field on YouTube as he explains how to identify violet.

Even Violets Need a Plan B Our exposé on the secret subterranean lives of violets. Intrigued? You’ll have to read the article to get the full scoop.

Meet Our Contributors:

Meghan Gemma

MEGHAN GEMMA is one of the Chestnut School’s primary instructors through her written lessons, and is the principal pollinator of the school’s social media community—sharing herbal and wild foods wisdom from the flowery heart of the school to an ever-wider field of herbalists, gardeners, healers, and plant lovers.

She has been in a steady relationship with the Chestnut School since 2010—as an intern and manager at the Chestnut Herb Nursery; as a plant-smitten student “back in the day” when the school’s programs were taught in the field; and later as a part the school’s woman-powered professional team. Meghan lives in the Ivy Creek watershed, just north of Asheville, North Carolina.

Juliet Blankespoor

JULIET BLANKESPOOR founded the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine in 2007 and serves as the school’s primary instructor and Creative Director. She's been a professional plant-human matchmaker for close to three decades. Juliet caught the plant bug when she was nineteen and went on to earn a degree in Botany. She's owned just about every type of herbal business you can imagine: an herbal nursery, a medicinal products business, a clinical practice, and now, an herbal school.

These days, she channels her botanical obsession with her writing and photography in her online programs and here on her personal blog, Castanea. She's writing her first book: Cultivating Medicinal Herbs: Grow, Harvest, and Prepare Handcrafted Remedies from Your Home Garden. Juliet and her houseplants share a home with her family and herb books in Asheville, North Carolina.

Want to take a deeper dive into medicinal herbs and their uses?

Our 1,000-hour Herbal Immersion Program is the most comprehensive handcrafted online herbal course available, covering botany, foraging, herb cultivation, medicine making, and therapeutics.

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Our Favorite Herbal Blogs, Podcasts & YouTube Channels

 Uncategorized
Dec 172019
 

Our Favorite Herbal Blogs, Podcasts & YouTube Channels

Written by Meghan Gemma
Photography by Juliet Blankespoor

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The internet can be a fantastic place to learn about herbs—with a significant caveat: anyone can share any sort of information that they want, free of qualifications or checks and balances. That’s why we’ve coralled our most-trusted online herbal resources for you to peruse. Materia medica, plant identification, recipes, research articles—it’s all here.

Granted, we had to draw the line somewhere, and plenty of high-quality sites probably didn’t make it onto our list. If you have a favorite that we neglected to mention, feel free to leave a link in the comments at the end of this article! You can also check out the original herbal roll call compiled by Rosalee de la Forêt—it’s the most comprehensive directory of herbal blogs that I know of.

By the way, if you feel equally compelled by wild foods and foraging, we’ve got another bumping list ready to go: take a peek at our Top Herbal and Foraging Blogs, Podcasts, and YouTube Channels.

(Note: some of these sites are the work of our friends, but we’re not being paid to promote a single one—we simply think they’re stellar.)

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woman mixing tinctures on a table
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Herbal Medicine Blogs

A Modern Herbal Online

The online, searchable text of Maude Grieve’s classic book: A Modern Herbal. I love this resource, which features loads of European physiomedical and folk wisdom, and herbal history. 

Avena Botanicals Blog

The personal blog of Deb Soule—the founder of Avena Botanicals, a handcrafted herbal remedies company that grows nearly all of their own herbs on a certified biodynamic farm in Midcoast Maine. Deb is also the author of How to Move Like a Gardener: Planting and Preparing Medicines from Plants.

Aviva Romm, MD

Dr. Aviva Romm—an MD, herbalist, and midwife—writes specifically about women’s and children’s health. Topics include hormonal health, vaccines, stress, supplements, and sexuality. If you’re looking for a blog that straddles western medicine and holistic health, this is highly recommended.

Battle Ground Healing Arts Blog

The smart and well-researched blog of Dr. Jillian Stansbury, an MD who specializes in natural medicine. If you like academic discussions that still retain the folksy roots of herbalism, you’ll like Dr. Stansbury’s writings. She discusses herbs for common ailments, cancer, and heart health—plus she takes on the more esoteric topic of plant intelligence. 

Bevin Clare’s Blog

Bevin Clare is an herbalist, nutritionist, and professor at the Maryland University of Integrative Health. She’s an herbal traveler whose writing blends her knowledge of traditional uses of plants with modern science and contemporary healthcare strategies.

Blog Castanea

Our own personal blog! Come join Chestnut School queen bee, Juliet Blankespoor and friends, for a hearty dose of botanical beauty and wisdom. Our blog is brimming with herbal anecdotes, plant monographs, gorgeous photography, and wild food recipes—all written with cheeky humor and true plant passion. Juliet is a writer, teacher, forager, photographer, and plant-human matchmaker who lives in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. You can also connect with her on Instagram for daily doses of herbal wit and cheer.

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cat with book

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Foraging & Feasting

One of my favorite herbal and wild food blogs, impeccably written by Dina Falconi and illustrated by Wendy Hollender. Dina shares seasonal recipes for herbal beverages, greens, savory dishes, and desserts, along with engaging writing on gathering and preparing wild foods. She frequently includes excerpts and master recipes from her book, Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook (which is highly recommended and can be purchased directly from the author here). I use recipes from Dina’s blog and cookbook more than any other! Dina is also a recipe contributor in our Online Foraging Course.

Gather

An absolutely fabulous blog on herbal food, magical cookery, and seasonal celebration. You’ll be treated to recipes for wild foods and drinks that range from simple to decadent, and there’s always an accompanying story. This is home-style, creative wild foods cooking with a mythic twist. The blog is written by Danielle Prohom Olson and Jennifer Aikman, who live and gather in British Columbia, Canada. Their recipes and writings are applicable to the temperate world and will soon have you taking part in wild, nourishing, and enchanting food traditions.

Ginger Tonic Botanicals

Penned by clinical herbalist and licensed nutritionist, Lindsay Kluge, this blog is a sweet steep in legit herbal miscellany: medicine making, plant profiles,  holistic nutrition, wildcrafting, organic gardening, and botanical beauty. Her Botanical-Infused Hair Oil for Long Strong Locks is a personal favorite.

Gingertooth & Twine

You’ll want to feast your eyes on this herbal recipe blog written by Spencer L.R. McGowan, featuring fantastic seasonal treats—ghee and nettle crackers, anyone? Or how about adaptogenic banana pancakes, backyard herbal shakshuka, or coconut rose petal ice cream? If you’re on the fence about culinary herbalism, this blog will convert you faster than you can say “floral spring rolls”.

Gold Roots and Threads

Writings on the triangulation of herbal medicine, theory, art, and praxis in the wildlands of Cascadia by Renee Adele Davis—a clinical herbalist, educator, and board member of the American Herbalists Guild. 

Green Path Herb School Blog

Elaine Sheff’s blog—the clinical herbalist and co-director at Green Path Herb School—featuring lots of herbal articles and herbal and body care recipes.

Henriette’s Herbal

Henriette Kress is an herbalist and writer who grew up in Germany and Swedish-speaking Finland and who now practices herbal medicine in Helsinki. Her blog is a wealth of brief but useful herbal monographs that include information on plant identification and medicinal use, plus occasional recipes. Because her blog features a mix of English, Swedish, and Finnish entries, use the search engine in the upper right corner of her page to find information on specific plants.

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Assorted herbs

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Herb Geek

An educational resource for natural healing featuring articles on wellness and alternative medicine with a strong focus on herbal medicine.

Herb Society of America Blog

A blog written by members and staff of the Herb Society of America—an organization dedicated to “promoting the knowledge, use, and delight of herbs”. How lovely! You’ll find plant profiles, recipes, cultivation tips, and research on all things herbal. 

Herbal Academy Blog

This is a diverse and easy-to-read blog written by a number of contributors via the Herbal Academy, an online school of herbal medicine. Excited about DIY herbal projects? Wanting to expand your herbal recipe index? Ready to learn a bit about dozens of medicinal plants? This is for you.

Herbal Roots Zine

A delightful herbal e-magazine for children, whose charm won’t be lost on adults. Each issue focuses on a single herb and includes medicinal info, plant characteristics, recipes, and activities. Plant a seed of knowledge for a lifetime of herbal wisdom!

Herbaria: A Plant Healer Newsletter

A free monthly newsletter published by Kiva Rose and Jesse Wolf Hardin, who live in the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico. Every issue varies, but frequent features include herbalist interviews, plant profiles, recipes, and herbal editorials. Kiva and Jesse are the same incredible folks who publish the quarterly Plant Healer Magazine and host the annual Good Medicine Confluence—one of the most enchanting herbal gatherings in North America.

Herbcraft

The online home base for jim mcdonald, a self-taught Michigan herbalist who has an utterly charming and humorous approach to writing and teaching about herbs. jim shares some excellent herbal monographs on his website (occasionally accompanied by videos) that frequently include material you just won’t find anywhere else. He’s also compiled a fantastic Master Herbal Article Index, which features a gold mine of selected writings from herbalists on all kinds of topics. Highly recommended.

Herbs with Rosalee

One of my favorite blogs to share with herbal newcomers. Rosalee de la Forêt is a heartwarming online presence, and she writes extensively about herbs for health and food-as-medicine. Her articles are conveniently arranged in alphabetical order, and she has an index featuring her recipes—which are typically easy to prepare and ultra nourishing. Rosalee also shares a list of Sustainable Herb Farms and Ethical Wildcrafters in the United States and Canada, if you’re looking to purchase high-quality herbs. Rosalee is the author of Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients into Foods and Remedies that Heal and a recipe contributor in our Online Foraging Course.

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Woman with black walnuts and garment dyed with walnuts
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The Enchanter's Green

The wild and weedy blog of Kiva Rose, a splendid writer and folk herbalist who has published a phenomenal number of articles on traditional herbalism, wild foods, foraging, and weedivory. You’ll find fantastic herbal monographs, personal stories, clinical wisdom, wild musings, and wonderfully creative recipes on her site. Kiva lives in the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico and is a recipe contributor in our Online Foraging Course—sharing her rambunctious take on wild, herbal soul food.

Mountain Rose Herbs Blog

One of our favorite herbal suppliers also has a wonderful blog—featuring medicine making and natural body care recipes, herb harvesting tips, plant profiles, DIY herbal projects, and so much more.

Of Sedge + Salt

This blog is a treasure! Herbal writer, artist, and photographer Kelly Moody offers unusually in-depth profiles on a number of precious medicinal plants. This is a great place to nerd out on ecology, ethnobotany, wild edibles, herbs, and botanical musings. Kelly is a former student of the Chestnut School and we continue to be deeply impressed by her knowledge of and passion for plants!

Plants For A Future

An extensive online database featuring more than 7,000 edible and medicinal plants, many of which can be found growing wild throughout the temperate world. To make the most of this site, you really need to use the Search tool to find specific plants. Profiles include identification, medicinal use, edibility, cultivation, and information on related species. A charitable organization, Plants For A Future was originally founded by Ken and Addy Fern in Cornwall, UK.

Michael Moore’s Southwest School of Botanical Medicine

Michael Moore was one of the herbal greats of our time (and one of Juliet’s primary herbal teachers), and he’s left behind a wonderful online legacy, where many of his tongue-in-cheek teachings are now available for free. If you’re a serious student and can handle the screen time, his Materia Medica (available through this link) is highly recommended. He’s also the author of a number of books that are invaluable for herbalists and foragers in the Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States.

Northeast School of Botanical Medicine

The blog of dear friend, teacher, botanist, herbalist, and comedian 7Song. This generous guy shares his teaching handouts online, which include spring and fall wildcrafting lists for the northeastern United States, plus a review of botanical field guides for much of the country by region. His blog features detailed plant monographs (with identification tips), tales of his travels, and lots of writings on first-aid herbalism. 7Song is the director of the Northeast School for Botanical Medicine and the Ithaca Free Clinic in Ithaca, New York. He hosts an apprenticeship program through his school and takes students on service-based trips throughout the country and abroad.

Old Ways Herbal

This home-style blog features “farmcraft” wisdom from Juliette Abigail Carr, a clinical herbalist and gardener in Newfane, Vermont. Juliette’s writing zeroes in on herbal gardening tips and medicine making tutorials.

Queering Herbalism

An essential resource for links to queer, trans, and POC healers compiled by herbalist Toi Scott. This is also a great place to find resources on race, gender, and sexuality—including books, articles, and blogs.

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Floral infusion with elder, bergamot, calendula and passionflower-

Seed & Thistle

A series of monographs, recipes, and interviews by Lara Pecheco, a Taíno Boricua Latinx herbalist and mamita who dials in on ancestral medicine, BIPOC herbalism, and traditional cultures. 

Sistah of the Yam

The blog of Taylor Johnson-Gordon, a plant food educator, vegan mama, herbalist, and home cook whose mission is to help Black mothers nourish themselves and their families through real plant-based foods and herbal remedies. You’ll find loads of recipes, plus a 28-part feature on traditional Pan-African foods. 

Sustainable Herbs Program

Created by writer, plant-lover, and anthropologist Ann Armbrecht, the Sustainable Herbs Program shares the stories of the people and plants behind herbal products. Their goal is to create a movement supporting high quality herbal remedies, sustainable and ethical sourcing, and greater transparency in the herbal supply chain. You can read more about their work here.

Take Care Herbals

Herbalist Rae Swersey’s blog, whose focus is radical health care and community clinical herbalism that supports LGBTQQIA and underserved populations. You can expect to find lots of goodness along these lines on their blog.

The Plant Path

A blog/podcast from the School of Evolutionary Herbalism that touches on the fascinating topics of traditional alchemy, medical astrology, clinical herbalism, and Ayurveda. The founders of the school, Sajah and Whitney Popham, describe their niche as “ancient teachings for the new paradigm of plant medicine”. I find their work to be captivating!

Tieraona Low Dog's Blog

Dr. Tieraona Low Dog is an award-winning author, herbalist, and integrative medicine practitioner who writes an accessible blog that highlights herbs and supplements for natural health. 

Todd Caldecott's Blog

Todd’s writings blend herbalism, Ayurveda, and nutrition for a big-picture look at how we can address health concerns. Todd is a medical herbalist, practitioner of Ayurveda, and Executive Director of the Dogwood School of Botanical Medicine.

Way of the Wild Heart

The beautifully written blog of Gail Faith Edwards, an elder community herbalist and founder of the Blessed Maine Herb Farm. Gail’s writings weave together myth, history, and plant-based wisdom—they seem to come from a dreamier era. She is the author of Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs.

United Plant Savers

The mission of United Plant Savers is to protect the native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada (and their native habitat) while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come. They contribute an incredible body of research and education and tend a botanical sanctuary that is open to the public in Rutland, Ohio. Check out their Species At-Risk List before wildcrafting any native plants!

WiseWoman Healing Ways

The blog of Robin Rose Bennett, an elder herbalist and writer whose teachings are infused with earth-based spirituality and intuitive wisdom. She writes about many temperate-climate wild herbs, but you won’t find a great deal on identification, so be sure to reference a reliable field guide when foraging. You’ll also want to check out her Plant Medicine Series on video. Robin lives in New Jersey, is the author of The Gift of Healing Herbs: Plant Medicines and Home Remedies for a Vibrantly Healthy Life (one of my favorite herbals), and is a recipe contributor to our Online Foraging Course.

Woolgathering & Wildcrafting

Get ready to be charmed by this herbal blogger—Asia Suler is simply one of the most enchanting, tuned-in medicine women I know. Her blog is a treasury of herbal musings, recipes, earth magic, beautiful writing, and photography. I promise you will find a rare depth in her teachings. You can also connect with Asia on YouTube and by subscribing to her newsletter, which delivers heart medicine and herbal offerings to your inbox every month. Asia is the herbal concoctress at One Willow Apothecaries and is one of the primary instructors in our Online Herbal Immersion.

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pouring herbal tea

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Herbal Podcasts & YouTube Channels

Deb Soule of Avena Botanicals on YouTube

The videos on Deb Soule’s YouTube channel are a joy to behold, as she truly loves and connects with plants. She shares real wisdom on both garden-grown and wild herbs, including medicinal uses, harvesting, and preparation suggestions. Deb is the founder of Avena Botanicals, a handcrafted herbal remedies company that grows nearly all of their own herbs on a certified biodynamic farm in Midcoast Maine. She also writes a fantastic blog and is the author of How to Move Like a Gardener.

Herbal Radio

A series of intelligent and interesting herbal podcasts hosted by Mountain Rose Herbs that features some of today’s most iconic herbalists. The episodes are all free and can be streamed through iTunes.

HerbMentor Radio and HerbMentor on YouTube

A wonderful radio podcast (the real gem here) featuring interviews with a fantastic collection of herbalists, naturalists, and foragers including Doug Elliott, Rosemary Gladstar, Jon Young, Thomas Elpel, Dina Falconi, James Duke, Emily Ruff, and Wildman Steve Brill. The YouTube channel is also worth checking out and includes a modest selection of videos on identifying, gathering, and preparing wild plants. HerbMentor is part of an online herbal learning community cofounded by John and Kimberly Gallagher, who also facilitate LearningHerbs.

Medicine Stories Podcast

An intriguing herbal podcast hosted by Amber Magnolia Hill that can quickly plumb some significant depths. Each episode features an interview with a compelling herbal voice and addresses hearty topics like motherhood, birth, ancestral healing, plant magic, and psychedelics. 

Mountain Gardens

Joe Hollis’s YouTube channel shares an incredible collection of videos on wild woodland and meadow medicinals alongside other Western and Chinese herbs that can be cultivated in the garden. Mountain Gardens is Joe’s home and a botanical paradise featuring the largest collection of native Appalachian and Chinese medicinal herbs in the eastern United States. Joe sells plants and seeds, shares a self-serve library and herbal apothecary, and offers plenty of incredible classes, which you can check out here.

Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube

An excellent collection of videos on medicine making, herbal materia medica, aromatherapy, plant walks, herbal folklore, and recipes. Features some noteworthy guest speakers.

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Natural MD Radio

A weekly women’s health podcast hosted by Dr. Aviva Romm—an MD, herbalist, and midwife. Topics include children’s health, vaccines, stress, supplements, and sexuality—but the focus is on a wide range of women’s health issues and how to address them with natural therapies. Highly recommended.

Real Herbalism Radio

A weekly herbal radio show hostessed by Candace Hunter and Sue Sierralupé. Topics range from current herbal news to herbal first aid to medicinal mushrooms—it’s easy to find something you’ll enjoy with this one! You can also check out their blog.

The Herbal Highway Podcast

A compelling herbal podcast to keep you company in the car. Hosted by Karyn Sanders, who discusses important topics like grief, Indigenous land rights, and Native American traditions alongside contemporary herbal medicine.

The Plant Path

A blog/podcast from the School of Evolutionary Herbalism that touches on the fascinating topics of traditional alchemy, medical astrology, clinical herbalism, and Ayurveda. The founders of the school, Sajah and Whitney Popham, describe their niche as “ancient teachings for the new paradigm of plant medicine”.

We know there are plenty more fantastic herbal resources on the web.

If you have a personal favorite, we’d love to hear about it (especially from our friends in Australia and New Zealand)! And if you enjoy following herbal writers online, check out the blog roll of Rosalee de la Forêt: A Complete List of Herbal Blogs.

Meet Our Contributors

Meghan Gemma

MEGHAN GEMMA is one of the Chestnut School’s primary instructors through her written lessons, and is the principal pollinator of the school’s social media community—sharing herbal and wild foods wisdom from the flowery heart of the school to an ever-wider field of herbalists, gardeners, healers, and plant lovers.

She has been in a steady relationship with the Chestnut School since 2010—as an intern and manager at the Chestnut Herb Nursery; as a plant-smitten student “back in the day” when the school’s programs were taught in the field; and later as a part the school’s woman-powered professional team. Meghan lives in the Ivy Creek watershed, just north of Asheville, North Carolina.

JULIET BLANKESPOOR founded the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine in 2007 and serves as the school’s primary instructor and Creative Director. She's been a professional plant-human matchmaker for close to three decades. Juliet caught the plant bug when she was nineteen and went on to earn a degree in Botany. She's owned just about every type of herbal business you can imagine: an herbal nursery, a medicinal products business, a clinical practice, and now, an herbal school.

These days, she channels her botanical obsession with her writing and photography in her online programs and here on her personal blog, Castanea. She's writing her first book: Cultivating Medicinal Herbs: Grow, Harvest, and Prepare Handcrafted Remedies from Your Home Garden. Juliet and her houseplants share a home with her family and herb books in Asheville, North Carolina.

Want to take a deeper dive into medicinal herbs and their uses?

Our 1,000-hour Herbal Immersion Program is the most comprehensive handcrafted online herbal course available, covering botany, foraging, herb cultivation, medicine making, and therapeutics.

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Goldenrod Uses: A Round-Up of Herbal Recipes + Resources

 Uncategorized
Aug 212019
 

Written by Meghan Gemma
Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor
(except where credited)

Goldenrod Uses: A Round-Up of Herbal Recipes + Resources

Among herbal wildflowers, goldenrod (Solidago spp.) has grown itself a special place in our hearts. Lighting up the late summer landscape with a warm glow, this native North American herb has an endearing repertoire of gifts: it’s a natural dye plant, an edible and medicinal herb, and a nectary flower for pollinators. 

In homage, we’re placing inspirational information about this golden bloom directly in your hands! We’ve rounded up our favorite articles on using, preparing, and getting to know goldenrod. 

Before browsing, I highly recommend listening to this song about Solidago by Josh Fox!

Handmade botanically dyed quilt using goldenrod, turmeric, onion, and sumac. Quilt, dyes, and photo by Kiva Motnyk of Thompson Street Studio.

Handmade botanically dyed quilt using goldenrod, turmeric, onion, and sumac. Quilt, dyes, and photo by Kiva Motnyk of Thompson Street Studio.

Dyeing with Goldenrod

Goldenrod’s flowers yield a warm yellow dye that brings the color of soft autumn sunshine to cotton, wool, and silk fabrics. I recommend this tutorial on dyeing with goldenrod by Salt in My Coffee. You can also pick up wonderful information on making successful plant dyes with master dyer Rebecca Desnos here.

Goldenrod Recipes

Goldenrod has a wonderful resiny flavor that infuses beautifully into tea, honey, and baked goods. It can be imbibed or eaten for both medicine and pleasure. The blooms and leaves can also be used to craft medicinal oils and salves for topical use on the skin (see our article on making calendula oils and salves and swap in goldenrod flowers and leaves). These are a few of the most enticing goldenrod recipes I’ve encountered:

  • Goldenrod Tea: An Herb for Urinary Tract Infections. This is our personal recipe for clearing up pesky urinary tract infections. Best of all: it’s delicious and features marshmallow, corn silk, and uva-ursi.
  • Goldenrod Tincture: A Sinus Formula for Allergies, Colds, and Flu. Our go-to formula for sinus congestion related to allergies, colds, flu, and sinus infections.
  • Holding Onto Gold - A Tea for Darker Days by The Wondersmith, featuring the uplifting medicine of goldenrod, rose, and anise hyssop.
  • Goldenrod Cornbread, also by The Wondersmith. A gluten-free recipe seasonally flavored with goldenrod flowers, sunflower seeds, and pecans.
  • Goldenrod Infused Oil by Robin Rose Bennett. This medicinal oil is a traditional remedy for aches, strains, and sprains.

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Holding Onto Gold: A Tea for Darker Days by Miss Wondersmith

Holding Onto Gold: A Tea for Darker Days. Miss Wondersmith.

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Goldenrod Ecology and Ethnobotany

Goldenrod Benefits: The Bee's Knees for Allergies, Sinus Infections, and Urinary Tract Infections. Check it out! This is a special sneak peek from our Online Herbal Immersion, and it includes detailed information on identifying, gathering, preparing, and using goldenrod. 

Goldenrod and Asters: My Life With Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. This is an excerpt from Kimmerer’s heart-stirring book, Braiding Sweetgrass. I recommend her book and writing to just about everyone! She is a plant ecologist, writer, professor, and citizen of the Potawatomi Nation.

Goldenrod Solidago spp

Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)

Meet Our Contributors:

Juliet Blankespoor

JULIET BLANKESPOOR founded the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine in 2007 and serves as the school’s primary instructor and Creative Director. She's been a professional plant-human matchmaker for close to three decades. Juliet caught the plant bug when she was nineteen and went on to earn a degree in Botany. She's owned just about every type of herbal business you can imagine: an herbal nursery, a medicinal products business, a clinical practice, and now, an herbal school.

These days, she channels her botanical obsession with writing and photography in her online programs and here on her personal blog, Castanea. She's writing her first book: Cultivating Medicinal Herbs: Grow, Harvest, and Prepare Handcrafted Remedies from Your Home Garden. Juliet and her houseplants share a home with her family and herb books in Asheville, North Carolina.

Meghan Gemma

MEGHAN GEMMA is one of the Chestnut School’s primary instructors through her written lessons, and is the principal pollinator of the school’s social media community—sharing herbal and wild foods wisdom from the flowery heart of the school to an ever-wider field of herbalists, gardeners, healers, and plant lovers.

She has been in a steady relationship with the Chestnut School since 2010—as an intern and manager at the Chestnut Herb Nursery; as a plant-smitten student “back in the day” when the school’s programs were taught in the field; and later as a part the school’s woman-powered professional team. Meghan lives in the Ivy Creek watershed, just north of Asheville, North Carolina.

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Are you intrigued with the idea
of foraging but intimidated by where to start?

The course begins with the basic ground rules of foraging safety and ethics, and then moves on to botany and plant identification. Before you know it, you’ll have the skills and confidence to safely identify and harvest wild plants.

You’ll befriend THE most common edible and medicinal wayside plants, including dandelion, stinging nettles, violet, yarrow, burdock, rose, goldenrod, and many others. The printable manual is hundreds of pages long and filled with close-up photos for identification, medicinal uses, and loads of easy-to-follow recipes. In fact, most of our plant profiles contain more detail than you’ll find in any book on wild foods and herbs.

Registration for the Foraging Course will re-open in 2020.

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Looking for more blog articles about goldenrod?

Check out our golden guide to gathering, growing, and using fall’s most iconic wildflower.

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Goldenrod Tea: An Herbal Blend for Urinary Tract Infections

 Uncategorized
Jul 302019
 

Written and Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor

Goldenrod Tea An Herbal Blend for Urinary Tract Infections

Need to get your urinary tract back on track? This tea blend is helpful for addressing the symptoms and the root cause (primarily, bacterial infection) of urinary tract infections (UTIs). The herbs in this formula soothe inflamed urinary mucosal membranes through their demulcent, astringent, and anti-inflammatory actions. They are also antimicrobial as well as diuretic—they help flush out bacteria by promoting urination.

It’s important that the tea be drunk at room temperature, which augments the herbs’ diuretic effect. It is also prudent to take an immune-stimulating tincture—along with the tea—to enhance the body’s innate immune efforts in combating the bacterial infection. Good immune-stimulating medicinals for UTIs include echinacea (Echinacea purpurea), spilanthes (Acmella oleracea), and usnea (Usnea spp.) Additionally, you can drink unsweetened cranberry and blueberry juice along with the tea. Avoid sugar and natural sweeteners until the infection clears.

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Admiring a golden friend (Goldenrod - Solidago spp.) in the wild

Admiring a golden friend (Solidago spp.) in the wild

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If the infection worsens or fails to clear up after three days, consult your health care provider—antibiotics may be necessary. If you develop a fever, lower back pain, or feel really sick and achy, you may have a kidney infection; seek immediate medical attention, as kidney infections have the potential to irreparably damage the kidneys and are best resolved by antibiotics, not herbs. 

Most UTIs are caused by bacteria found in the vagina or genitourinary tract (much rarer) but sometimes they are caused by a sexually transmitted infection (STI). If you have had unprotected sex, or your partner has potentially had unprotected sex, you’ll want to rule out an STI as the cause of infection.

  • 1 Tablespoon goldenrod flower and leaf (Solidago spp.)
  • 1 Tablespoon marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis)
  • 2 Tablespoons corn silk (Zea mays)
  • 1½ Tablespoons uva-ursi leaf (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

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If the uva-ursi leaf is whole, crush it with a mortar and pestle or grind in a coffee grinder. Add the uva-ursi and marshmallow root to 32 ounces (1 L) of water in a small pot. Simmer covered for twenty minutes. Turn off the heat and add the corn silk and goldenrod. Infuse covered until the tea cools to room temperature and strain. Adults may drink up to 4 cups (32 ounces or 1 L) a day for up to one week.

The measurements in this blend are for dried cut and sifted herbs (store-bought). If you’re using homegrown or wildcrafted herbs—or fresh herbs—use larger quantities. See below for important precautions regarding uva-ursi.

Safety and Contraindications: Goldenrod can be overly drying as a beverage or tonic tea for people with a dry constitution, as it is diuretic, astringent, and decongestant. Short-term usage shouldn’t be a problem. Do not use in pregnancy. Although rare, goldenrod has caused allergic contact dermatitis after both handling and oral administration.1 Those with Asteraceae allergies should exercise caution with goldenrod. If you are harvesting your own goldenrod, be sure to gather only true Solidago species because there are deadly look-alikes (please see my in-depth article on goldenrod for details).

Herbs for UTIs (Urinary Tract Infections):
Co-Starring Herbal Featurettes

A bee pollinating goldenrod (Solidago spp.)

A bee pollinating goldenrod (Solidago spp.)

Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)

Goldenrod has a wonderful affinity for the urinary tract and is beneficial as a diuretic, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory herb to soothe urinary tract infections. The diuretic property of goldenrod is also helpful in addressing edema, gout, and kidney stones.

You can find information on goldenrod’s Safety and Contraindications above, and please take a peek at my article on goldenrod's medicinal uses for even more information.

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Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis)

Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis)

Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis)

Marshmallow’s demulcent roots and leaves have been used for medicine since ancient times. This perennial wildflower and garden herb is well-loved by herbalists for its soothing, demulcent properties, especially for addressing issues with the urinary, digestive, and respiratory tracts.

Marshmallow can be taken internally as a warm or cold infusion (tea), powder, or food herb (add to salads, smoothies, or just have a nibble).

Safety and Contraindications: Marshmallow has no known adverse side effects but some herbalists still caution about its use during pregnancy, as there are no studies confirming its safety.

Corn Silk (Zea Mays)

Corn Silk (Zea mays)

Corn Silk (Zea mays)

When shucking corn over the summer, save your corn silk, as it’s valuable medicine. Corn silk is one of my most treasured remedies for the urinary tract with its soothing, cooling, diuretic and anti-inflammatory properties. It helps to relieve urinary tract infections and also eases general urethral irritation, as in interstitial cystitis. It is better as a tea than a tincture, as its demulcent properties are not alcohol-soluble; plus, the extra fluid inherent in tea is helpful when working with urinary problems.

Safety and Contraindications: Only use the silk from organically-grown corn. No other known precautions.

Uva-Ursi (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

Uva-Ursi (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

Uva-Ursi (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

Uva-ursi, also known as bearberry or kinnikinnick, is a native North American evergreen herb related to cranberry. In my experience, it’s the most useful antimicrobial and astringent remedy for UTIs. Of any herb, it’s the most likely to effectively throw off the bacteria causing an infection.

Safety and Contraindications: Contraindicated in pregnancy and breastfeeding.1 Due to its high levels of tannins, it should only be used on a short-term basis and is contraindicated in constipation, iron deficiency anemia, and malnutrition. GI irritation is possible due to tannins as well. Use cautiously in the presence of ulcers and inflammatory digestive conditions.1

Want to know even more about goldenrod? We share all about identifying, growing, gathering, and using this native wildflower here.

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References

  1. Mills, S., and Bone, K. The Essential Guide to Herbal Safety (Elsevier Health Sciences, 2005).

Meet the Green Mastermind Behind Blog Castanea:

Juliet Blankespoor

JULIET BLANKESPOOR founded the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine in 2007 and serves as the school’s primary instructor and Creative Director. She's been a professional plant-human matchmaker for close to three decades. Juliet caught the plant bug when she was nineteen and went on to earn a degree in Botany. She's owned just about every type of herbal business you can imagine: an herbal nursery, a medicinal products business, a clinical practice, and now, an herbal school.

These days, she channels her botanical obsession with her writing and photography in her online programs and here on her personal blog, Castanea. She's writing her first book: Cultivating Medicinal Herbs: Grow, Harvest, and Prepare Handcrafted Remedies from Your Home Garden. Juliet and her houseplants share a home with her family and herb books in Asheville, North Carolina.

Want to take a deeper dive into medicinal herbs and their uses?

Our 1,000-hour Herbal Immersion Program is the most comprehensive handcrafted online herbal course available, covering botany, foraging, herb cultivation, medicine making, and therapeutics.

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Herbal Digestive Calendula Tea: A Remedy for Heartburn and Peptic Ulcers

 Uncategorized
Jul 102019
 

Written and Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor

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If you’re looking for an herb to soothe and repair digestive issues, the cheery flowers of calendula (Calendula officinalis) will be one of your primary allies. Calendula tea is commonly used to help remedy peptic ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It supports the healing of gastric and intestinal inflammation from infection or irritation through its vulnerary (wound healing), anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial actions.

Calendula can be combined with licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), slippery elm (Ulmus rubra), marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis), and meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) as a natural remedy for GERD, which commonly affects people with the symptoms of heartburn. In the case of peptic ulcers, calendula can be taken concurrently with antibiotic therapy (to address the presence of the bacterial infection of H. pylori or Helicobacter pylori), and then continued for two weeks after finishing treatment. See the notes below for important contraindications.

For a more detailed guide to calendula’s expansive medicinal benefits, visit my article on Growing and Using Calendula.

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Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) harvest

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) harvest

Safety and Contraindications: Do not use calendula internally during pregnancy since it has traditionally been used to bring on menses. As calendula is in the aster family, it may cause a reaction for people who are highly sensitive to plants like ragweed (Ambrosia spp.) and chamomile (Matricaria recutita); this possibility is rare, but sensitive individuals should proceed with caution when using calendula for the first time. Rare incidences of allergic contact dermatitis have occurred with the topical use of calendula.

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Digestive Calendula Tea

This tasty tea blend is helpful for acid reflux and helps to reduce heartburn through the anti-inflammatory, astringent, and demulcent actions of the herbs. This tea is also helpful for soothing sore throats, peptic ulcers, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It can be sipped on as needed or taken daily to help reduce the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). See below for contraindications for the herbs in this formula.

  • 2 parts meadowsweet leaves and flowers (Filipendula ulmaria)
  • 1 part marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis)
  • 1 part calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis)
  • 2 parts licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra or G. uralensis)

For every 8 ounces (240 ml) of water, use 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of the herb blend. Place the desired amount of herbal blend and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for twenty minutes and take off the heat.

Strain and sweeten with honey or maple syrup if desired. Drink one to three cups a day.

Because this tea is best taken tonically (daily), I find it’s helpful to pre-mix a jarful of the dried herbs (in the proportions given above) to store in your cabinet and dip into whenever you’re brewing a batch. Along these lines, I prefer to infuse one to two days’ worth of tea at a time (stored in the fridge). Dosage is up to three cups per day.

Safety and Contraindications: This formula should not be taken internally during pregnancy because of the calendula and licorice (instead use slippery elm alone). The use of meadowsweet is cautioned in people who have aspirin sensitivity (or sensitivity to other salicylate-containing drugs). Meadowsweet may thin the blood; therefore, monitor coagulation values with people who are taking pharmaceutical blood thinners (the evidence for meadowsweet’s effect on coagulation is inconclusive). Marshmallow has no known adverse effects.

Licorice is contraindicated in pregnancy, water retention (edema), heart conditions, and high blood pressure. If licorice is not advisable, omit the licorice from the tea blend, and use a DGL licorice (deglycyrrhizinated licorice) preparation instead. Use the same proportions for the remaining herbs in the formula if you’re omitting the licorice.

See the notes above for contraindications pertaining to calendula.

Meet the Green Mastermind Behind Blog Castanea:

JULIET BLANKESPOOR founded the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine in 2007 and serves as the school’s primary instructor and Creative Director. She's been a professional plant-human matchmaker for close to three decades. Juliet caught the plant bug when she was nineteen and went on to earn a degree in Botany. She's owned just about every type of herbal business you can imagine: an herbal nursery, a medicinal products business, a clinical practice, and now, an herbal school.

These days, she channels her botanical obsession with her writing and photography in her online programs and here on her personal blog, Castanea. She's writing her first book: Cultivating Medicinal Herbs: Grow, Harvest, and Prepare Handcrafted Remedies from Your Home Garden. Juliet and her houseplants share a home with her family and herb books in Asheville, North Carolina.

Want to take a deeper dive into medicinal herbs and their uses?

Our 1,000-hour Herbal Immersion Program is the most comprehensive handcrafted online herbal course available, covering botany, foraging, herb cultivation, medicine making, and therapeutics.

-

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The Best Herbal Immune Stimulants for Cold & Flu Season

 Uncategorized
Feb 082019
 

By Juliet Blankespoor and Meghan Gemma
Photography by Juliet Blankespoor

The Best Herbal Immune Stimulants for Cold and Flu Season

Winter is rife with viral booby-traps—there’s a head cold and cough waiting at every gas station pump and pin pad across the land. A strong immune system is adept at navigating pathogenic obstacles, but some scenarios call for a boost, herbal-style. When I know I’ve been exposed to a cold or the flu, I don’t waste a moment in reaching for my tried-and-true immune stimulating herbs.

When to Use Immune Stimulants

Immune stimulants—also called immunostimulants—help the body to resist illness after being exposed to a pathogen and during the initial stages of an infection. Immunostimulants work through augmenting our bodies’ innate antimicrobial efforts, primarily through affecting white blood cell activity.

This class of herbs can also be called on to stimulate immune activity throughout the duration of an infectious illness, which ultimately can help a person get over the sickness more quickly. Consider calling on immunostimulants if you are:

  • Flying on an airplane
  • Caring for a sick family member
  • Attending a four-year old’s birthday party in January
  • Feeling the first signs of a cold
  • Fighting an infectious illness, like a cold or the flu

Immunostimulating herbs have an immediate but short-lived effect, and thus need to be re-administered frequently to maintain their effectiveness. In my experience, higher doses of these herbs are often needed to treat infection.

Foundational Self Care is Essential

Remember, herbs are handy allies, but it’s all too easy to “prop ourselves up” with immune stimulants while we continue to neglect the care of our body, emotions, or spirit. If we consistently ignore the basics of good sleep, nutrition, hydration, and lifestyle, we have missed the point.

See our in-depth article on Herbs for the Immune System for basic tips on staying healthy this winter. You’ll also find loads of essential information on the full spectrum of immune-boosting herbs, including immune tonics and herbal antimicrobials!

Also, check out our articles on Immune Tonics and Herbal Antimicrobials.

Play Smart, People

Please note that this article is introductory in scope and doesn’t fully cover each medicinal. If you plan to forage any of these herbs, you’ll need to seek out identification tips. You’ll also need to learn foraging ethics and guidance before you harvest any plant from the wild! There are deadly poisonous plants out there, so proper identification is paramount.

See our blog articles on Foraging and Wildcrafting for more guidance.

Safety First: Learn When to Seek Medical Care

Also, it’s important to realize that herbs aren’t always the only support you might need to combat infections. Antibiotics and conventional medical care have their place, especially with babies, young children, and elders, as well as in the case of serious infections. For a list of warning signs that indicate the need for medical care, please visit our comprehensive article on Herbs for the Immune System.

If you have an autoimmune condition, please be aware that immune-stimulating herbs have a potential to increase autoimmunity, although this is more the exception than the rule.

Spilanthes (Acmella oleracea)

Spilanthes (Acmella oleracea)

1. Spilanthes, Toothache Plant, or Paracress (Acmella oleracea, Asteraceae)

Parts Used: Leaves, stems, and flowers

Preparations: Tincture, tea, nibble

Herbal Actions:

  • Immunostimulant
  • Antimicrobial
  • Anti-inflammatory
  • Sialagogue (stimulates salivation)

Spilanthes has been one of my top ten herbal allies for the past two decades—I became a devotee the first year I began growing it and using it for medicine. Its leaves and gumdrop-shaped flowers can be called upon for a wide spectrum of infectious illnesses; including colds, flu, sinus infections, and ear infections. Clinical studies demonstrate that spilanthes has strong effects against pathogenic bacteria.

One of the most common ways I use spilanthes is to augment the body’s internal immune defenses. I typically combine it with other immune-stimulating herbs like echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) and honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica). At the first sign of an achy throat or the sniffles, I add spilanthes to homemade saline gargles and neti pot solutions, along with goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis).

Remember that higher doses—to the tune of 3 to 4 droppersful of the tincture every few hours for the first day or two—are often necessary to fight infection and avoid antibiotic use. If an infection does take hold, I add other antimicrobial herbs like usnea (Usnea spp.), goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), and honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) to the formula.

Be forewarned that the tincture and fresh plant will set your mouth to drool! Spilanthes is a traditional toothache remedy because of its antimicrobial, numbing, and stimulating qualities. Along with the stimulation of blood to the gums, the herb will also prompt copious salivation.

Precautions and Contraindications: Because spilanthes is in the aster family, it may cause a reaction in people who are highly sensitive to plants like ragweed and chamomile; this possibility is rare, but sensitive individuals should proceed with caution when taking spilanthes for the first time. Take care not to squirt the tincture on the back of your throat or chew too large a wad of spilanthes, as the throat may take offense and clamp down—not a fun exercise!

Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea)

Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea)

2. Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea; E. angustifolia, Asteraceae)

Parts Used: Roots, flowering tops, aboveground parts gathered in full bloom

Preparations: Tincture, decoction (roots), infusion (leaves and flowers)

Herbal Actions:

  • Immunostimulant
  • Antimicrobial
  • Anti-inflammatory
  • Anticatarrhal (decongestant)
  • Lymphagogue
  • Sialagogue (stimulates salivation)
  • Alterative

The roots, seeds and fresh flowers of echinacea are all medicinal and make a tingly tasting, immune-stimulating tea or tincture. Echinacea can be used to fight any infection in the body, but is particularly effective against infections of the upper respiratory tract. I use it as a short-term remedy for warding off colds and flu. Studies show that echinacea is safe and effective against the common cold and that it is protective against lowered immunity due to stress.

Herbalist Rosemary Gladstar reminds us that echinacea is both “preventative and curative.”1Unfortunately, many people stop taking it once they are sick, thinking it can’t help them anymore. However, echinacea stimulates many aspects of our immune system to fight infection more quickly and continues to be an important ally even once we become ill. I often combine it with spilanthes (Acmella oleracea) to round out its immunostimulating qualities.

Echinacea purpurea growing at Gaia Herb Farm in Brevard, NC - photo courtesy of Gaia Herbs

Echinacea purpurea growing at Gaia Herb Farm in Brevard, NC

Echinacea is readily available anywhere herbal teas and tinctures are sold. Please only buy the cultivated root, as several echinacea species have been over-harvested from the wild. If you make your own medicines, I recommend using freshly harvested echinacea from the garden rather than dried, as I find the fresh preparations to be more potent. I like to combine the root tincture with the seed tincture in equal parts.

Contraindications: Echinacea is not recommended for continuous use as a tonic during the cold and flu season. Instead, use immune tonics, like the ones outlined in this article. Use caution when ingesting the fresh juice or tincture, as it can irritate the throat to the point of decreased airflow. This appears to be idiosyncratic, but I have seen it a few times, so it warrants mentioning. Dilute the medicine and avoid letting it contact the back of the throat. Those with Asteraceae allergies may experience side effects; however, such reports are extremely rare.

Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

3. Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica, Caprifoliaceae)

Parts Used: Floral buds, opened flowers, stems, and leaves

Preparations: Tincture, decoction, infusion, honey, syrup, poultice, douche, and compress

Herbal Actions:

  • Immunostimulant
  • Antiviral
  • Antibacterial
  • Anticatarrhal (decongestant)
  • Expectorant
  • Anti-inflammatory
  • Astringent
  • Diuretic
  • Antioxidant

I use Japanese honeysuckle flowers to address hot, inflamed conditions like head colds and the flu, as well as a range of related infections—laryngitis, sinusitis, tonsillitis, pneumonia, bronchitis, croup, and whooping cough. The fresh blooms are powerfully antimicrobial, cooling, and anti-inflammatory—making them specific for malaise and feverish conditions.

They are one of the most widely used medicinal herbs in the world, especially in China where the herb is extremely popular, both with trained herbalists and as an over-the-counter herbal medicine. Japanese honeysuckle’s popularity amongst western herbalists primarily comes from being inspired by traditional Chinese herbalists.

For a scientific review of Japanese honeysuckle’s antimicrobial benefits, visit this link.

Japanese honeysuckle is a common invasive plant here in North America, but you won’t find its medicine readily available in commerce except in establishments that sell Chinese medicine. Thus, you’ll likely need to harvest your own. The flowers can be gathered as buds and as opened blooms, and tinctured fresh in alcohol. In Chinese medicine, the buds are considered to be the most potent, but I find the buds and the freshly-opened flowers to be similar medicinally. Honeysuckle is also effective as a tea; I combine it with mint (Mentha spp.) and lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) to mask its slight bitterness.

I would venture that most of you are intimately acquainted with the blooms of this memorable vine and have partaken of her nectar. All you sucklers will be happy to know that the familiar honeysuckle of your childhood is the very same potent medicinal we’re discussing here.

Many species of honeysuckle have been used medicinally throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. However, their traditional use and the part employed (bark, leaves, flowers, etc.) varies among species; the biochemistry of the genus is also variable. For example, some honeysuckles have poisonous berries, and some have leaves and bark that can cause vomiting and diarrhea.

Subsequently, we can’t make broad speculations about the medicinal qualities of the entire genus. We’re only talking about Japanese honeysuckle in this article—don’t extrapolate the information here to all honeysuckle species!

You can’t free it up with the honeysuckles, no matter how fun that sounds!

Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) blooms

Japanese Honeysuckle blooms (Lonicera japonica)

Japanese honeysuckle is native to eastern Asia. It has spread throughout much of the world and can now be found in South America, North America, Oceania, and Europe. In the United States, it is especially prolific in the Southeast, but can be found in almost every state, including Hawaii. Do not plant Japanese honeysuckle as it’s seriously invasive. Harvesting it for medicine is one way to slow its spread!

Japanese honeysuckle is a perennial woody vine that twines around its host, reaching 30 feet (9 m) in length. It can be found in thickets, pastures, and young, open forests and along fencerows, roadsides, and the forest’s edge. It is not a shrub, unlike many other honeysuckle species.

The leaves are elliptical to oblong and leathery when mature (they feel thickish); they are opposite. The leaves grow to 1.2–3 inches (3-7.5 cm) long and have ciliate margins (tiny hairs, like cilia, growing from the edge of the leaf). The vine has peeling, brown bark.

Here are some resources to help you properly identify Japanese honeysuckle:

Contraindications:  Some species have been used to stimulate the menses and childbirth, so I would avoid the internal use of honeysuckle in pregnancy to be on the safe side. Make sure to only gather this species; other honeysuckles are not necessarily safe or used medicinally in the same fashion. The berries are poisonous.

Prickly Ash, Toothache Tree, or Hercules’ Club (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, Z. americanum, Rutaceae)

Prickly Ash, Toothache Tree, or Hercules’ Club (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, Z. americanum)

4. Prickly Ash, Toothache Tree, or Hercules’ Club (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, Z. americanum, Rutaceae)

Parts Used: Bark and berries

Preparations: Tincture, decoction

Herbal Actions: 

  • Immunostimulant
  • Lymphagogue
  • Antimicrobial
  • Diaphoretic
  • Circulatory stimulant
  • Sialagogue (stimulates salivation)
  • Antirheumatic
  • Astringent
  • Antibacterial
  • Antiprotozoal

Prickly ash may be less familiar to you than the other herbs featured in this article, yet it’s one of our finest lymphatic herbs, immune stimulants, and circulatory stimulants.

Prickly ash’s name is derived from its leaf arrangement bearing a loose resemblance to the unrelated ash tree (Fraxinus spp.) and its formidable thorns, found along its branches and trunk. The tree’s fearsome armament inspired its alternate name, Hercules’ club. (Note: the common name Hercules’ club is also used for the unrelated Aralia spinosa.)

When I was in college one of my botany professors pulled a prank on me in front of my classmates. He invited us to try some of the tree’s fruits, and being an adventurous fledgling herbalist, I gamely chewed on a handful.

Immediately, my mouth became tingly and numb. I began drooling, bent over in an attractive spit-hunch to release the flood of saliva upon the ground. That experience was an unforgettable introduction into the profound physiological effect of alkamides, immune-stimulating and saliva-inducing compounds that are also shared by echinacea and spilanthes. This distinct mouth-numbing quality prompted yet another common name—  toothache tree.

Prickly ash’s yellow bark played prominently into the materia medica of Native Americans and subsequently the European settlers, due to its wide medicinal applications, including powerful antimicrobial qualities. The bark is colored yellow by a potent antimicrobial alkaloid, berberine, which is also found in goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), barberry (Berberis, multiple species) and Oregon grape root (Mahonia, multiple species).

The tea and tincture of the bark are used in a similar fashion. Be warned that the tea is tingly and strong tasting. Many herbalists put a small amount of prickly ash in their herbal combinations as an adjuvant—an herb that directs, or orchestrates, the actions of the other herbs in a formula. Think: botanical rabble-rouser.

Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, Z. americanum)

Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, Z. americanum)

Prickly ash bark is taken in small amounts tonically to move the lymphatic system, innervate the immune system and stimulate circulation. In larger amounts, it is used to treat varied acute digestive issues, and is especially helpful in treating transient, foodborne gastric infections.

Toothache tree can be used to numb the gums in dental infections, and also offers antibacterial assistance. The bark can be used topically—chew on twigs or brush with the powder daily to improve gum health in periodontal disease. Toothache tree’s oral benefits stem from increased circulation and tightening loose gums, as well as its antimicrobial qualities.

Various species in the Zanthoxylum genus produce spicy fruits called Szechuan pepper, a pungent spice used in Asian cuisine, notably Chinese five-spice powder.  Many other species are used medicinally in India, China, Korea and Japan. Both Z. americanum and Z. clava-herculis are considered interchangeable medicinally.

Contraindications: Prickly ash may affect anticoagulant therapy—this precaution is based on studies with animals using isolated constituents; the herb hasn’t been studied on humans in this capacity. Accordingly, proceed with caution if taking blood thinners. Prickly ash shouldn’t be used in pregnancy.

Garlic (Allium sativum)

Garlic (Allium sativum)

5. Garlic (Allium sativum, Amaryllidaceae)

Parts Used: Bulb

Preparations: Raw, tincture, fire cider and other infused vinegars, honey, oil

Herbal Actions:

  • Immunostimulant
  • Immune tonic
  • Antimicrobial
  • Diaphoretic
  • Hypotensive (lowers blood pressure)

Herbalist David Hoffman writes that: “Used daily, garlic aids and supports the body in ways that no other herb can match.”2Among its many gifts, garlic is one of our finest remedies for supporting immune health—it’s an essential staple in my kitchen as a potent immune stimulant and antimicrobial herb (it both kills pathogens and boosts immunity).

It can be highly effective in preventing infections such as the common cold and flu, as well as combating pathogens if an illness takes hold. Clinical studies support the ancient folk wisdom that garlic does indeed activate the immune system.

Pungent and warming, garlic helps to break up mucus in the body; it’s specifically beneficial for respiratory congestion. Raw garlic is the most effective preparation for avoiding and treating acute infections. Crush or chop a clove and allow it to “wilt” by leaving it alone on the cutting board for 10-15 minutes. Then add to honey, oil*, soup, vinegar, or tea.

Garlic scapes (Allium sativum)

Garlic scapes (Allium sativum)

Garlic is metabolized via the bloodstream, so applying garlic oil to the bottoms of the feet is an effective way to get its medicine flowing through the body (an especially great application for kiddos!).

Garlic doubles as an immune tonic, which means that it can be taken regularly to bolster the immune system over time. One clove per day, minced and added to food raw, is optimal.

My favorite garlicky preparation is fire cider—a sweet and spicy tonic made with apple cider vinegar. I recommend trying our rich red recipe for Hibiscus Pomegranate Fire Cider. I like spooning it over salads, and always take a tablespoon or two when I feel a sore throat or runny nose coming on.

Contraindications: Garlic can aggravate heartburn and gas, especially if ingested raw or in large quantities. It can also aggravate peptic ulcers. Coating garlic with olive oil or preparing it in an oil-based sauce helps minimize these effects. Avoid high doses of raw garlic one week before surgery due to its blood-thinning qualities. If taking blood thinners, consult a cardiologist before taking high doses of raw garlic. *Note that garlic preserved in oil can create a perfect breeding ground for botulism. Garlic-infused oil should be used fresh, or kept in the refrigerator and used within a few days.

References

  1. Gladstar R. Rosemary Gladstar’s Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health: 175 Teas, Tonics, Oils, Salves, Tinctures, and Other Natural Remedies for the Entire Family. Storey Pub.; 2008.
  2. Hoffmann D, FNIMH, AHG. Medical Herbalism: The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine. Inner Traditions / Bear & Co; 2003.

Looking for more blog articles on herbs for the immune system? We’ve compiled our most comprehensive free herbal resources on the subject, and they’re all right here for your convenience.

Meet Our Contributors:

JULIET BLANKESPOOR founded the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine in 2007 and serves as the school’s primary instructor and Creative Director. She's been a professional plant-human matchmaker for close to three decades. Juliet caught the plant bug when she was nineteen and went on to earn a degree in Botany. She's owned just about every type of herbal business you can imagine: an herbal nursery, a medicinal products business, a clinical practice, and now, an herbal school.

These days, she channels her botanical obsession with her writing and photography in her online programs and here on her personal blog, Castanea. She's writing her first book: Cultivating Medicinal Herbs: Grow, Harvest, and Prepare Handcrafted Remedies from Your Home Garden. Juliet and her houseplants share a home with her family and herb books in Asheville, North Carolina.

MEGHAN GEMMA is one of the Chestnut School’s primary instructors through her written lessons, and is the principal pollinator of the Chestnut School’s social media community – sharing herbal and wild foods wisdom from the flowery heart of the school to an ever-wider field of herbalists, gardeners, healers, and plant lovers.

She has been in a steady relationship with the Chestnut School since 2010—as an intern and manager at the Chestnut Herb Nursery; as a plant-smitten student “back in the day” when the school’s programs were taught in the field; and later as a part the school’s woman-powered professional team. Meghan lives in the Ivy Creek watershed, just north of Asheville, NC.

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Chinese Herbal Medicine Cabinet

 Acupuncture
Jun 062018
 

Chinese Herbal Medicine Cabinet
by Justine Myers, Lic. Ac.

These Chinese herbal remedies are great to have on hand when you’re feeling ill.  Here’s what I always keep at home in my medicine cabinet and take as soon as I need them in order to feel better and recover quickly:

Yin Chiao: this is truly a miracle remedy for a sore throat at the start of a common cold.  With its powerful anti-viral properties it can help fight off a cold within 1-2 days when taken as directed so you don’t go on to suffer for 10+ days with a full-blown cold.
Indications: sore throat at the start of a cold.
Instructions: The key to success is to take 5 pills as soon as possible when your throat starts feeling sore, then repeat doses of 5 pills every 2-4 hours until your throat is no longer sore.  Your sore throat/cold should resolve within 1-2 days if you take it as directed.  (Note: if you don’t take it right away, it’s still worth taking it within 24 hours of the onset of a sore throat – but the likelihood of it preventing a cold progressing altogether is better the sooner you take it.  If your cold doesn’t resolve after 2 days of taking Yin Chiao, discontinue taking it.).
Helpful Tip: I keep a bottle at home and I also keep one in my purse, which I take with me to work, when traveling, etc.  You might want to keep one at home, and an extra bottle in your backpack, car, office or other location where you spend lots of time – so it’s with you when you need it.
Potential Side-effect: loose stools or diarrhea may occur 1-2 days after taking Yin Chiao, especially in people who are easily prone to these conditions.  If you have some Curing Pills on hand, taking 1 dose of 2 Curing Pills 1-2 times a day for 1-2 days can help mitigate the digestive side-effects and keep your digestion running smoothly.

Upper Chamber Pills (Cang Er Zi Wan): for colds and allergies with sinus symptoms and headaches, sinus infections
Indications: sinus congestion with thick nasal discharge, post nasal drip with thick phlegm, frontal/sinus headache and/or sinus pain/pressure associated with common cold, sinusitis or allergic rhinitis.  It can also help dizziness associated with sinus congestion.  Unlike Xin Yi Wan, these don’t help with loss of sense of smell.
Instructions: 12 pills, 2x/day (that’s a total of 24 per day) until symptoms resolve (may be several days to a week).  Or you can take 8 pills, 3x/day as directed on the label (I prefer twice a day for simplicity – it will work well either way).
Helpful tip: When I’m all stuffed up I will take these and use some saline nasal spray and/or neti pot and find it very helpful.  I never take other drugstore over the counter medications as I prefer this treatment much more and there are no side-effects.

Clear Wind-Heat Teapills (Sang Ju Yin Wan): these pills are helpful for an irritated/scratchy throat with a dry cough (different than the sore throat without cough, in which case Yin Chiao is more appropriate).
Indications: a dry cough and irritated throat typically occurring at the onset of a common cold or flu
Instructions: 12 pills, 2x/day (that’s a total of 24 per day) until symptoms resolve (typically 1-3 days), or you can take 8 pills, 3x/day as directed on the label (I prefer twice a day for simplicity – it will work well either way).
Helpful tip: These pills work best when taken as soon as possible after the onset of symptoms, and may help prevent the progression of the illness so you feel healthy again after 1-2 days.

Clean Air Teapills (Qing Qi Hua Tan Wan): these pills for coughing with phlegm/mucous help reduce the severity of coughing and lessen phlegm/mucous production.
Indications: coughing with thick phlegm that typically happens with a chest cold/upper respiratory infection
Instructions: 12 pills, 2x/day (that’s a total of 24 per day) until symptoms resolve (this could be a few days up to a week), or you can take 8 pills, 3x/day as directed on the label (I prefer twice a day for simplicity – it will work well either way).

Curing Pills: a classic Chinese formula for curing a variety of acute digestive conditions.
Indications: stomach virus, food poisoning, upset stomach, nausea, gas, bloating, diarrhea, loose stools.  Also useful as remedy for hangovers and overindulgence of heavy foods.
Instructions: 3 capsules, 1-3 times per day for 1-2 days depending on the severity of your symptoms and how quickly they resolve.
Potential Side-effect: constipation may occur 1-2 days after taking Curing Pills, especially in people who are easily prone to it.

Suan Zao Ren: for insomnia with anxiety
Indications: difficulty falling asleep and/or difficulty staying asleep with anxiety, also useful for night sweats.
Instructions: follow instructions on the label.  Can be used occasionally for acute bouts of insomnia, or nightly ongoing for chronic insomnia.

Dr. Guo’s 37 Healing Salve: a topical salve for musculoskeletal pain, stiffness and muscle tension.  Contains a blend of Chinese herbs and Western herbs, as well as arnica, camphor, menthol, Vitamin E and essential oils which help reduce inflammation, improve circulation and relieve pain.
Indications: for musculoskeletal pain, stiffness and muscle tension.
Instructions: apply 3-4 times per day to affected area.

Other remedies you may find helpful to have on hand:

Eight Righteous Teapills (Ba Zheng Wan): treat and prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs)
Indications: If you tend toward frequent UTIs, keep them on hand in your medicine cabinet and during travel and take them when you feel like your risk for getting a UTI is high, or when you start to experience symptoms of burning/painful urination.
Instructions: 12 pills, 2x/day (that’s a total of 24 per day) until symptoms resolve, or you can take 8 pills, 3x/day as directed on the label (I prefer twice a day for simplicity – it will work well either way).

Bi Yan Wan: for allergies/hayfever with itchy/watery eyes and/or sneezing, and allergic rhinitis and sinusitis with nasal discharge.
Indications: unlike Upper Chamber Pills and Xin Yi Wan, these pills address the itchy/watery eyes and sneezing aspect of allergies, along with runny/stuffy nose.
Instructions: 6 pills, twice a day (that’s a total of 12 per day), or if you prefer you can follow the instructions on the label and take 4 pills, 3 times per day.  Take them as long as you’re experiencing allergies.

Magnolia Flower Pills (Xin Yi Wan): for colds and allergies with sinus symptoms and headaches
Indications: common cold, sinusitis or allergic rhinitis with congestion, runny nose, post nasal drip, frontal/sinus headache and loss of smell.  Does not address thick nasal discharge or dizziness associated with sinus congestion (Upper Chamber Pills are better for those symptoms).
Instructions: 12 pills, 2x/day (that’s a total of 24 per day) until symptoms resolve (may be several days to a week).  Or you can take 8 pills, 3x/day as directed on the label (I prefer twice a day for simplicity – it will work well either way).

Free and Easy Wanderer (Xiao Yao Wan) and Free and Easy Wanderer Plus (Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan): these formulas are helpful for general physical and emotional balance with a variety of symptoms, and is also good for Women’s Health.  The plus type is better for people who tend to feel hot, and for stronger irritability.  Ask us which type is right for you.
Indications: reduces stress and irritability, improves poor appetite, reduces tension headaches, regulates digestion, and is useful for PMS and irregular menstruation.
Instructions: 12 pills, 2x/day (that’s a total of 24 per day) until symptoms resolve, or you can take 8 pills, 3x/day as directed on the label (I prefer twice a day for simplicity – it will work well either way).  This formula can be taken for 1-3 days for acute symptoms, or for chronic conditions it may be taken for several weeks or months.

Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan: helpful for menopausal and perimenopausal hot flashes and night sweats
Indications: perimenopausal/menopausal symptoms of hot flashes, night sweats, anxiety and insomnia.
Instructions: 6 pills, 2x/day (that’s a total of 12 per day).  This formula can be used long-term until symptoms resolve.

Tao Hong Si Wu Wan: for menstrual irregularities and and menstrual cramps.
Indications: irregular periods, late periods, scanty menstrual flow, menstrual cramps.
Instructions: 12 pills, 2x/day (that’s a total of 24 per day) until symptoms resolve, or you can take 8 pills, 3x/day as directed on the label (I prefer twice a day for simplicity – it will work well either way).  I recommend taking it daily through at least 3 cycles for irregular, late and/or scanty periods.  If cycles are regular with mild to moderate pain, take it 1 week prior to period and first 2 days of period.

Stasis in the Lower Palace (Shao Fu Zhu Yu Wan): for painful periods with PMS and premenstrual depression, endometriosis, fibroids and other menstrual irregularities.
Indications: moderate to severe menstrual pain, heavy periods, irregular periods.  Often helpful for the above manifestations which commonly occur with endometriosis and fibroids.
Instructions: 12 pills, 2x/day (that’s a total of 24 per day), or you can take 8 pills, 3x/day as directed on the label (I prefer twice a day for simplicity – it will work well either way). This formula can be taken long term.  It’s recommended to try it for at least 3 months, and may be continued as long as it’s needed.

Margarite Beauty Pills: for acne
Indications: primarily for acne, but may also be helpful for certain manifestations of eczema, rosacea, skin rash or hives, particularly when there is redness and pimples.
Instructions: 6 pills twice a day (that’s a total of 12 per day) until skin is clearer.  May be used short term for acute bouts of acne/hives/eczema, or longer term for chronic skin conditions, but only if it is tolerated well.  Ask Justine whether this formula is right for you.
Potential side-effect: loose stool or diarrhea.

Please ask us for help selecting the best herbs for your particular health conditions.  You’re welcome to come by anytime our office is open to ask for assistance and purchase herbs.
All doses listed above are for adults; please ask Justine for the recommended doses for children.

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