Medicinal Uses of Yarrow

Fevers/Colds/Flus:
Yarrow has long been used to treat feverish conditions. It is often used at the beginning stages of a cold or flu and is commonly combined with elder flower to help lower high temperatures. For a herbal tea infusion with yarrow, see below.

To Lower High Blood Pressure:
Yarrow reduces high blood pressure by dilating peripheral blood vessels. It combines great with hawthorn berries to reduce high blood pressure. For a herbal tea infusion with yarrow, see below.

To Stop Bleeding:
Yarrow has a medicinal quality that helps stop or slow down bleeding from cuts and scrapes. Clean the wound. Then apply a compress or a poultice made of yarrow. Dip the leaves in hot water briefly before applying to sterilize them.



Herbal Tea Infusion:
*Infuse 1 teaspoon of dried yarrow (flowers and leaves) in boiling water. Let it steep for 20 minutes. Strain and drink 3 cups per day.

For additional information, see: references and warnings

Hawthorn recipes for the Heart

As previously mentioned (see: Hawthorn article), ripe Hawthorn berries are the best thing for your heart. They help out with almost every heart condition including blood pressure, cholesterol levels, vascular diseases, etc. Here are some Medicinal recipes to help out your heart that use hawthorn:



Hawthorn Infused Herbal Tea
To help with practically all heart conditions, try out this herbal tea:
*Infuse 2 teaspoons of berries (fresh or dried) for 20 minutes in 1 cup of boiling water and drink 1 cup up to 3 times a day for an extended period of time. For exceptionally high blood pressure, combine hawthorn berries with yarrow because yarrow dilates peripheral blood vessels.


Hawthorn Tincture
Tinctures are super concentrated liquid extracts with extra strength. If you don't like the taste of herbal teas, you can make tinctures for practically any herb and hide the taste by putting a few drops of the tincture in juice while still getting the medicinal results. Here's what you do:

In most cases you should choose to make alcohol tinctures because of its superior qualities. Alcohol will extract volatile oils and most alkaloids from your herbs and will preserve your tinctures longer. Most herb tinctures will maintain their potency for many years. A selection of dried herbs in your medicine cabinet has a shelf life of approximately one year. Alcohol also acts as a carrier for your herbs causing them to be rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream when you take them.

If you don't wish to consume alcohol it is possible to put the required dosage into a cup of boiled water. The heat will cause the alcohol to evaporate leaving the therapeutic qualities of the herb in the water. For recovering alcoholics, liver problems, children or sensitivity to alcohol it is possible to make your tinctures using vegetable glycerin or raw vinegar. Both glycerin and vinegar tinctures will be less potent and have shorter shelf lives.

To make an alcohol tincture you will need the herb, 100 proof alcohol and a labeled glass jar. An alcohol tincture is most often 50% alcohol and 50% water. 100 proof vodka naturally contains the appropriate ratios of water to alcohol. You can use gin, brandy or rum if you prefer. Do not use isopropyl rubbing alcohol which is very toxic when ingested!

Choose fresh plants for making your tinctures whenever possible. Fresh plants may contain properties that are lost or altered when the plant is dried. Dried herbs may be used when they are of good quality. Do not harvest plants that have been exposed to pesticides, herbicides, car emissions and other toxic substances.

Manually remove any dirt from your plants. Chop the plants up into small pieces so that the alcohol will be able to contact a lot of surface. Sometimes a blender is useful for the chopping hard roots. Use 100 proof vodka if you need liquid in the your blender to chop the herbs effectively.

Place the chopped herbs in a glass jar and cover with alcohol plus another inch of alcohol above the level of the herbs. Shake the mixture well to expose all the surfaces to the alcohol. Label the jar with the contents and the date. 

If you make your tincture using dried herbs they may absorb a lot of alcohol in the first couple days. If this happens simply add enough alcohol to cover the herbs again. Shake your tincture everyday throughout the next six weeks. 

If necessary, you may begin to use your tincture after two weeks but allow at least six weeks extraction time before straining. I often leave my herbs in the alcohol much longer than six weeks and strain it only when I've taken out enough tincture to expose some of the herbs to air. It is convenient if you have small amber dropper bottles to put your finished tinctures in so you can easily carry them with you and measure dosages. 


Dosage for hawthorn tincture is 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon 3 times per day

This tincture information was located at:  
http://www.wildroots.com/herbal.htm

For additional information, see: references and warnings

Medicinal Recipes: Using Peppermint

There are many ways to use peppermint medicinally. Here are a few suggestions:

At the first sign of a cold:
Take a mixture of elderflower, peppermint, and yarrow. Infuse 1 tsp. of each dried herb (or 1 tbsp. of each fresh herb) per 1 cup of boiling water. Let it steep for 20 minutes. Strain, and add 1tsp. of honey and 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper.

This should decrease the intensity and the discomfort of a cold or a flu. In addition, sipping this tea during a cold or flu will promote perspiration and reduce body temperatures.

To reduce nausea:
Peppermint is good for nausea because it has antispasmodic actions in the gastrointestinal tract.

You can either make a tincture and add 10-15 drops of the peppermint tincture to water, or you can infuse 1 tsp. fresh or dried peppermint leaves to each 1 cup of boiling water. Let it steep for 15-20 minutes. Strain. Take it 3-4 times per day.

For irritable bowel relief:
Peppermint is an ideal remedy for people with irritable bowel syndrome, again, due to its' antispasmodic effects.

You can either make a tincture and add 10-15 drops of the peppermint tincture to water, or you can infuse 1 tsp. of fresh or dried peppermint leaves to each 1 cup of boiling water. Let it steep for 15-20 minutes. Strain. Take it 3-4 times per day.

For additional information, see: references and warnings

Medicinal Recipe: Suggestions for the flu

Some of the best herbs for flu care are diaphoretics, because they stimulate sweating.
Diaphoretics support the body’s natural response rather than “fighting” the illness.
Some of the best diaphoretic herbs include: lemon balm, bee balm, yarrow, elder flowers & berries and ginger.

If you make an infused tea with any of these herbs (or all of them, or some combination), you should see great benefits in seeing comfort from your flu. An infused tea is simply using 1-3 tbsp. of fresh herbs or 1-3 tsp. of dried herbs per cup of boiling water. Pour the boiling water over the herbs and let it steep for anywhere between 10-30 minutes. The longer you let it steep, the stronger it will be medicinally. Strain and add honey, lemon, or stevia to taste.

Here is one such infused tea:
Elderberry and ginger make a delicious tea that you might want to drink all winter, whether you’re sick or not...

To make pink ginger tea:
Slice up 2-3 inches of fresh ginger.
Put the ginger in a pot and cover it with about a quart of water.
Add 2-3 tablespoons of elderberry (frozen, canned, juice, syrup or dried).
Simmer the mixture until it tastes strongly of ginger—usually at least 15 minutes. (The tea turns a muddy purple-brown as it simmers.)
When it’s ready, remove the tea from the heat, let it sit a minute to cool, and add good quality raw honey to taste. (Don’t boil raw honey. You’ll kill the enzymes.)
Squeeze the juice from one small or half a large lemon. Add it to the tea. Watch the color change from muddy to clear pink. :)

Drink hot, preferably while wrapped in a blanket.

Yarrow

Name:
*Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)


Description:
*tough, hardy perenniel
*best in zones 3-9
*the leaves added to compost piles speeds up decomposition
*some consider it a roadside, invasive weed. I think it is beautiful and hardy and it has a place in my flower garden

Parts Used:
*leaves and flowers, fresh or dried

Position:
*full sun to partial shade
*prefers well-drained, rich soil but is tolerant of almost any type of soil
*they are frost hardy and drought-resistant

Propagation:
*you can propagate from seed: use cold stratification for 1 month, then sow in pots and do not transplant outdoors until 6-8 weeks later (or when plant is healthy and frost danger is past) *OR* you can sow seed directly into ground in early spring
*you can also propagate by root division in the spring or fall

Maintenance:
*divide clumps every 3-4 years in late fall or early spring
*it is an invasive grower: to stop invasion, divide plant by digging up clumps and plant it somewhere else

Harvesting:
*harvest the flowering stalks when they are fully open and dry in small bunches hung upside down out of direct sunlight
*harvest leaves at anytime

Medicinal:
*used for quickly stopping bleeding and reducing inflamation
*helps with fevers by reducing body temperatures and encouraging perspiration (often combined with elder flowers for this)
*a valuable digestive remedy: helps with colic, indigestion, and improving appetite by stimulating bile flow and liver function
*used to treat menstrual complaints and heavy menstrual bleeding

Companion Planting:
*the plant doctor of the garden, its' root secretions activate the disease resistance of nearby plants. It also deepens other plants' fragrance, color, and flavor

For additional information, see: references and warnings