MyHerbCorner

There is an endless use of herb powders like spices in the kitchen or the well known wound powder as well as baby powder.

I already mentioned yarrow (Achillea millefolium) powder in my previous post and like to add here some other wound powders.

A wound powder which is preventing infections to open wounds is skin healer calendula (Calendula officinalis) flower and leaf. Grind dried herb like shown in the previous post and fill into an empty dry jar.
If you combine yarrow powder and calendula powder you got a powerful wound medicine.
Make different powders by combining different amounts of each herb.
Say for a blood stopping anti-infection powder take 2 parts yarrow and one part calendula.
For wounds with less bleeding use 2 parts calendula and 1 part yarrow.

Another magical powder is clove (Syzygium aromaticum)
You might know this nasty cuts you can get from paper. Just stick your finger into clove powder and the pain will be gone. Clove powder acts anesthetic and antibacterial.

A helpful powder against infected skin conditions such as boils or weeping, infected eczema is the purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Grind dried root and fill into a jar. This powder can also be used as umbilical powder for babies.

For internal use herbs are also grounded and filled into capsules or just blended with honey, yogurt or mixed into finished meals.
Some people also use the soft part of fresh baked bread and knead it with herb powder, then form small balls or tablets which can be dried (guess this is easy and convinient instead of gelatine capsules)

Taking freshly ground powder is a good source of plant medicine if people are not able to take a high amount of herb medicine in infusion or tea form, as well as refusing to take alcohol tincture or vinegar.

Since the capsule or powder mixed with honey or other things goes through the digestive tract, this can be very helpful in problems of the digestive tract.

A carminative powder (this relieves flatulence, digestive colic and gastric discomforts) can be made by grinding carminative herbs like caraway (Carum carvi), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) or others and using after or before meal (1 tsp in yogurt or other source like mentioned above)

A lovely carminative mixture contains 2 parts peppermint (Mentha piperita) leaves, 1 part aniseed (Pimpinella anisum), 1 part fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Grind peppermint by it self and blend then with the powdered seeds which can be pestled together.

Mucilage herbs like marshmallow (Althea officinalis) can be used for stomach linen problems since it is soothing to inflammation.
Marshmallow root powder can also be mixed with honey and taken to sooth a sore throat or cough.

From the book ‘Herbal medicine’ by Dian Dincin Buchman I learned to make an ‘Antinausea powder’ which can also be used by weak digestion.

Antinausea powder:
3 small thin sticks or one big stick cinnamon bark
8 cardamon seeds
1 medium nutmeg
Grind all together and give into a jar. Use 1/4 tsp for an adult or a tiny pinch for a child when feeling sick.

Powdered herbs make also a fine tooth powder and you can find a few recipes here.

And in the kitchen you can use powdered herbs not only as spice, but also for herbal salts.
Click here for some recipes.

Hope you find a good mortar and have fun by pestle your own medicine

One of the most effective and my favorite wound powder is yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
It stops bleeding immediately and since my husband got sometimes cut when shaving he loves this powder too

For this super styptic (a professional word for something that stops bleeding) powder I use dried leaves only.
The right mortar is very important and so I use a stone mortar which is used not only for powdering but so many other things like cracking nuts or crushing whole dried ginseng and so on.
If you like to make your own medicine this stone mortars are an investment for a life long guarantee (never heard someone broke this thing… )

Before you start to make your powder get some things ready.
First important thing is a clean surface and mortar (wipe it out with a dry cloth since you don’t want dust or powder from other herbs in your product)
Then get your herb(s) ready and also a small bowl and a sieve.
A small dry glass jar as well as pen and a label.

Place the mortar onto a tea towel or other fabric so it wont slip away while you are working.
Don’t use to much herbs at once, you will be more successful when pestle just 2-3 tbsp full of dried herb.
Hold the pestle with a firm grip and start circling counter clock-wise.
I make a pattern by circling 4 times around and then go back and fore twice in the middle and repeat circling again then back and fore…
When you do this in a steady motion it is like a rhythmic song.

When most of the herb is powdered you can stop the process.

Sieve the powder though a sieve and set the coarse things aside for some tea or what ever you want to do with it.

Since powder should be used within 3-6 month it is important to label your jar with the ingredient and date of production.

If you have a bleeding wound sprinkle some yarrow powder over it.

Other powder suggestions and uses will follow soon

As many people in the world I’m a terrible coffee addict.
On the search of substitutes I sipped a lot of different cups…
Traditional dandelion and chicory roots have been my first experiment (some 20 years ago…) and I love them still.
Then followed barley which first has to be sprouted before roasting.
I can tell you the sprouting time was the worst part since it smells terrible (actually stinks like malt beer) but the roasted product tastes yummy, even sweet.
Since I like my drinks unsweetened I kind of disliked this malt tasting barley product and started to roast whole spelt or other grains.
That kept my pure coffee drinks to a limit but still, it’s not like the REAL thing…
In Dian’s book I learned about roasted chickpeas and made them today.
I started as usually by roasting in a pan (always roasted my grains in a cast iron) but since chickpeas are big I thought about roasting them like my beloved acorn coffee…
That was great, the oven heated to 150 degree C and the peas for around half a hour on a baking tray and they smelled strong roasted. I gave the tray then and now a shake so the peas got evenly roasted.

The cooled product went into my coffee grinder and I tried my first cup by making it in an espresso machine (which is the best form to make coffee since it will have a strong coffee flavour without so much caffeine like found in filtered coffee)
Problem was, chickpeas swell when getting wet and the steam couldn’t go through the machine.
So I switched to the old form of coffee making… in a pot I brought 2 tbs chickpea coffee to boil with 2 cups of water.
What came out was a great dark ‘coffee’ which tasted like barley coffee but wasn’t sweet.
It actually could be drunk instead of coffee and I guess some people will think it is, but I prefer acorn coffee or… yep, the real thing

Coffee is not all that bad most people might think.
Oh yeah, there ARE positive effects, otherwise it wouldn’t be served for patients in hospitals, right?
It is as all things in live a matter of balance.

Your body tells you when it doesn’t like an acid kick of coffee…
Every time I got pregnant I couldn’t even SMELL coffee and I heard of pregnant women actually needing a quick run to the bathroom when smelling coffee… yep, our body can talk if we listen and is doing that sometimes in powerful ways

If you feel jittery or get headache or stomach ache after a cup of coffee your body is telling you to make a change in this habit.
You might like to try one of the substitutes mentioned above.

Don’t drink a cup of coffee before going to bed since it will raise your heart beat and you can’t find a relaxing, recharging sleep.

If you love coffee, then LOVE every cup!
It is worse to THINK that you shouldn’t drink so much coffee then actually drink it by joy.
Our thoughts can be more harmful to our body system then the things we eat or drink.

If you nurture negative thoughts it will change your body chemistry into an acid ground.
Positive thoughts nurture the more relaxing, calming, soft stimulating chemicals in our body.
I once learned that the spit of an angry or negative thinking person is so acid it could kill a mouse!
Now if that is not true.
Angry people poison them self by swallowing their spit and I guess you heard of the saying ‘Spit it out!’ which can give you here a new meaning.

If you drink a lot of coffee you might like to increase your yogurt intake or other calcium sources like stinging nettle infusion, alfalfa leaves as salad, red beetroot or lots of parsley.
Also a bit yellow dock (lot of iron) would be a good idea. Make a vinegar with yellow dock roots and add them to salad or a cup of water.

There is nothing against a cup of coffee in the morning and one in the afternoon. It will actually raise your awareness, concentration and accuracy.
However you don’t need to drink one cup after the other for this enhancing qualities. That would over stimulate your brain and make it more slow (really contra productive…)

One word to decaffeinated coffee! It is far better to drink the real thing in moderation then decaffeinated coffee. This was chemically decaffeinated and the rest substances in your nice decaf makes it worse then the caffeine in a good cup of coffee.
Mary Summer Rain mentioned in her book Earthway, that decaffeinated coffee would raise levels of serum cholesterol in the bloodstream.
I think this are enough points against decaf.

So if you want to decrease coffee, try out the above mentioned substitutes.
If you are healthy, enjoy your coffee… and remember, it is all a matter of balance, you can drink four cups of coffee if you feel good, but increase iron and calcium intake in your diet.
Also drink a lot of water daily (2 liters would be great)
This helps to detox and gives the kidneys a break in filtering other substances.

Don’t be hard on yourself because if you say to yourself you ‘should drink less’ you can find your self drinking even ‘more’
That’s the psychological effect which is like a little child in our head.
If someone wants to take away a child’s beloved pacifier (in this case coffee) it want’s it more (and so do you, right?)
Play it easy and just enjoy what you drink. Do it fully aware and just try to drink less without ‘forcing’ yourself or add more water to your coffee.

On Wikipedia you can find info of newest insights and you can see that coffee is no longer thought to be a risk factor for coronary heart disease. Please click here for some more good news about coffee on Wikipedia.

Lately I was thinking about herbs to calm down my temper since I was jumpy and snappy and pretty nervous.
Normally lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) always helped me so I tried it… without success.
Then I switched to mood lifting St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) but I didn’t took it regularly (which you should over a long period of time) and… I was still unhappy with myself.

This led me to the right path because, just lets face it, coping with stress can be supported by herbs which are called adaptogens (adapt to stress) but constant stress calls for a lifestyle change!

So since I took all this good remedies which help our nervous system (lemon balm tincture or St john’s wort tincture first thing on empty stomach in the morning, then calming oat muesli, nettle infusion over the day and short breaks with deep breathing) I was still pretty jumpy.

Now I made what our body is calling for, I sat me down (actually I lay down) and thought about the reason why I am so stressed.
Ha, that was great because I found sooooooooo many reasons and then I thought if it is really worth to be so active.
If I would take a rest I could finish much more in a shorter period of time (and with a clearer mind…)
And, do I really have to do all that stuff when the kids have holidays which is stressful enough

So if you are under stress just take a moment and find out what the cause is.
If you can do something against it (lifestyle change) do it.
If you are a mum with only one or more kids get help (yes we all need help and a break in such an important job! A mother is teacher, nurse, cook, day and night care… you deserve a break!)
If it is because of emotional stress (break up, lost a loved one…) take adaptogenes like

• St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) tincture more times a day
• Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) tincture and tea more times a day
• Hops (Humulus lupulus) tea before bed time or sleeping pillow
• Ginseng (Panax ginseng.) a tea late morning and after lunch
• Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) just chew on a piece of root or infuse with a tea of your choice
• Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) as infusion
• Oats (Avena sativa) porridge, muesli, Sagelets or other cooked oat

To strengthen your nerves use the following nervine tonics

• Oatstraw (Avena sativa) as nourishing and tonic infusion
• Vervain (Verbena officinalis) in tincture form or tea
• Sage (Salvia officinalis) tea or tincture as well as in cooking
• Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) tincture or tea before bedtime

If you have difficulties to relax or sleep, make one of the following teas and sit down drinking every sip consiously

• Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla)
• Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata
• Valerian (Valeria officinalis)
• Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)
• Hops (Humulus lupulus)

Some people find also help in meditation or yoga.
Unfortunately my mind runs in such a speed I never can relax in form of meditation BUT I find help by just going outside and breath the clean, fresh air surrounding our garden.
Watch the wide open space with it’s stars (how little am I in such a huge cluster of stars… and how wonderful to have the opportunity to be alive… )
A little walk under the forest trees and some deep inhaling breaths and I am calmed in any situation.
If I have no time to go outside (no time means REALLY bad stressful situation) I still pick up a flower or herb and hold my nose to it. Best for this is a herb with aromatic volatile oil like lemon balm, lavender or rosemary.
Herbs, trees, flowers just nature has such a healing effect to our body.

Even making a simple tea has a therapeutic effect.
You have to stop and bring water to boil, place some herbs into your cup and let it infuse. Sure you can do this with thousands thoughts on your mind but just try to make a break and do it fully aware.
If I see the herbs infusing I can let my fast thinking mind go and give it all a rest.
Smelling the infused herb is… just heavenly. Simple water and a few plant people celebrate their combination to help me…

When we just talk about water… there is nothing more relaxing then soaking in a wonderfully bath by candlelight
Use any of the above herbs and add some sea salt.
Sea salt has a relaxing effect to our body and many people have enjoyed this in their holidays at the beach.
The salt is not only cleansing to skin but also removes toxins.
I think I will write about all good (and bad) things about salt in another post… see, just writing a post and other things pop up which led to other posts and others and others…
Here comes a priority list handy.

If you have constant stress make a list and look what you have to do first and give your self a rest then and now. You will finish things much faster and better when you have enough breaks to recharge your batteries.
So, now I take a break make me a tea and go into my rocker, thinking about the next post of salt… oops, I mean, I make a break and just enjoy my tea and relaxing music

The last few days the sky had a magnificent deep blue and we made a daily walk around our area.
Not far an amazing lovely birch is stretching her twigs up to the the sky.
It is nearly time to get some pipes for birch water harvest… hope to be able for some pictures when the time is right…

David my little herbalist is always collecting something. At the moment he loves dandelions which go to the rabbits, our meal, ‘Fairy spread’ (click here for the recipe) or a nice hot tea.

Here is our little bundle for tea with yarrow herb and plantain leaves.

Sometimes I am over whelmed by the sight of such an abundance of chickweed. Here would be enough for a daily succus for a blood cleansing cure or spring cure.

Some of the willows have already catkins while others still sleep. I collected some twigs and munched the buds while walking. They tasted great
I use willow twigs for many things (click here to find out medicinal uses and here for art projects)

On the next picture you see that we live in New Zealand because we can have all seasons in one day. Here it looks like autumn but we are near to spring and have even freezing nights which is in my area our kind of winter. Only the tops of the highest mountains have snow, and our pass was white only once this winter.