|
by Melanie Brown  A walk in the woods for winter plant medicine is a much needed respite during the darker days of the year. The evergreens gift us with color and life to an otherwise despondent landscape. Evergreens are one of the oldest species of trees to habitat this earth. There is a deep wisdom residing within their austere beauty as well as a magnificent ability to adapt to an array of environments around the world. Walking among pine, spruce, fir, and cedars we are essentially stepping into a space of timeless magic and mystery. Come January we are in complete hibernation mode and missing many of our plant friends dearly. Simply rubbing a few needles between fingers or allowing some sticky resin to linger on our skin does wonders for our sense of smell and psyche. Wintergreen playfully covers the forest floor with a pop of cheery red berries beckoning us to taste their spicy, sweet and cooling flavor. White pine needles gently decocted transforms water into a deliciously potent tea full of vitamin C, perfect for mid-winter blues, colds, and flu. The inner bark of lovingly harvested branches (I prefer the freshly fallen ones for little to no impact on the tree) can be made into a syrup with excellent warming, drying and expectorant qualities. Combine with other immune system loving plants such as mushrooms, elderberries, astragalus, Siberian ginseng, rosehips, autumn olives and mucilaginous plants like mallow, violet leaf, fenugreek and mullein for your go-to healing powerhouse formula. All parts of Pine and other conifers are anti-microbial, anti-oxidant and diuretic as well. The materia medica is extensive and well worth diving into.
For now, here is one of my most beloved apothecary must-haves for respiratory distress. Most commercial “vapor” chest rubs are created using petrolatum as its main ingredient. In the 1850s, chemist Robert Chesebrough started the process of distilling and cleaning the thick gel found on oil wells to create a cheap, non-renewable, and possibly unsafe addition to our body care products. It has been shown to cause dermatitis and contain cancer-causing chemicals and crude oil by-products. Knowledge is power. Being an herbalist and mother, I wanted to create my own version for relief to congested airways on my child’s delicate skin. Below is my tried and true formula and recipe for a plant-infused salve that can be applied to the chest, back, and bottoms of feet:
 Melanie Brown is a native New Englander who always had an early connection to nature and the outdoors. Together with her four year old son she gathers the ingredients to make small batch plant based body care products which you can find at her herbal apothecary, FIR&ELM. She is a graduate of Boston School of Herbal Studies and currently apprenticing with Margi Flint of Earthsong Herbals. Her passion is to share and spread the message of community herbalism that lies right outside in our own backyards.
by Patrice Green Lately I’ve been thinking about herbs in a slightly different way. In the beginning of my herbal adventures, I was eager to get to know all the different plants, and furiously made a profusion of tinctures, oils, glycerides and the like. This is common for beginning herbalists. After a while, I realized that I had a larger apothecary than I needed. As time passed and glycerides and oils had to be tossed because they were losing potency, I began to get a better understanding of what my personal needs were, and felt guilty for taking more plants than I used. Plants give us everything. I’ve said it before and I will say it again: they give us oxygen, food, medicine, and ask for nothing in return except our carbon dioxide and maybe the hope that we won’t destroy this planet we share. When I realized I was taking more than I used, I began to make conscious choices about what to stock, and how much. More recently I’ve gotten even more specific, identifying those herbs that are “must haves” for me – the “Go To” plant allies which, season to season, I always have on hand. I consider them my personal arsenal. Here are a few: Yarrow: There is never a time when I don’t have beautiful yarrow in my apothecary. I absolutely love this herb and admire its versatility and strength. The dried herb in tea form is wonderful to ease fevers and severe colds. The infused oil is a must have ingredient for healing salves. I also like to use the infused oil with castor oil packs to heal deep bruising or severe menstrual cramping. The tincture is a without parallel if you’re trying to heal a severe injury and need any stagnant blood to break up and move out. It is also the premiere herb for treating fibroids. The essential oil smells heavenly, is one of the beautiful “blue” oils and is wonderful as part of a PMS remedy. Cautionary note: avoid while pregnant. Yarrow flower essence is a strengthener of the auric field and for those who are easily hurt by others.  St. John's Wort flower essence St. John’s Wort: Another must have for me is St. John’s Wort, specifically it’s beautiful cranberry-colored oil. Every year I make a fresh batch of this wonderful oil so that it’s readily available for use. Its analgesic properties are legendary. This beloved plant ally is a staple of my arthritis remedies/salves.When getting a massage, I always make an aromatherapy blend with St. John’s Wort oil as the carrier and ask the massage therapist to use it during my session. You can almost feel the heat of the sun warming the affected area when using this amazing plant in oil form. The flower essence is wonderful for those afflicted with Seasonal Affective Disorder. Another cautionary note: if you are taking anti-depressants, stick with St. John’s Wort flower essence rather than tincture, as the tincture is contra-indicated. I hope some of you reading this may start to think about your use of the herbs as well, and how we can ease the burden on Mother Earth so that there continues to be plenty of Her bounty for all of us.  Herbal oils infusing in the sun  Patrice Green is an Herbal Educator, Certified Aromatherapist, Energy Medicine and Reiki Practitioner and founder of Green Aromatics. She is also the Assistant Director at the Boston School of Herbal Studies. She received her herbal training at the Boston School of Herbal Studies, and shamanic training from Isa Gucciardi, Ph. D. at the Sacred Stream in Berkley, CA. Inspired by time spent among the coastal Redwoods of Muir Woods and its beach, Green Aromatics strives to imbue its products and services with the same resilience, joy and equanimity of these majestic beings. Patrice may be reached through the Green Aromatics website.
|
Archives
November 2023
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed