What could be easier to grow an herb garden without much effort? Of course, you must harvest your weeds, but would do it anyway: it's called weeding.
Spring is a particularly fertile time for harvesting your weeds - roots and all - and drugs. Here are some tips on finding, preparing for the harvest, and use a dozen (13) common weeds that grow around you probably already have.
To give the medication you need different glassesMeasurements with members cover. And at least a quart each of apple cider vinegar (pasteurized), vodka (100 proof is best, but do 80 tests) is, and pure olive oil (not extra virgin) or good quality animal fat such as lanolin , lard, or belly fat from a lamb or children. You want to pay a knife, a cutting board, and some rags to clean.
Typically, you fill a glass (any size) with coarsely-chopped fresh, but dry, plant material. (Do not wash any part of the plant except the roots, ifThey are used, and be sure to overwrite the first with a towel to dry them in your vase.) Then you fill the glass with the menstrual cycle, is that the vinegar, oil or alcohol. Label well and leave at room temperature away from sunlight for at least six weeks before settling and use. (See my book Healing Wise for more information on the preparations.)
A guide field is useful for positive identification of your weeds. That is my favorite: A Guide forIdentification of New Zealand Common Weeds in color, full EA Upritchard. (Available from New Zealand Weed and Pest Control Society, PO Box 1654, Palmerston North) This book also shows how the weeds look when they are becoming.
Ready? OK! Let's go out with a guide or expert botanist and plant ID to see what we can find.
Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa pastoris) is an annual of the mustard family. Cut the top of the plant when he formed hissmall heart-shaped "purses" (seed pods) and a tincture (with alcohol) that is used to stop the bleeding. Midwives and women who bleed heavily during their praise of the rapid effect. Gypsies claim it works well on the stomach and lungs. One dose is one dropper (1 ml), which can reach up to four times a day to repeat.
Cleavers (Gallium aparine) is a persistent, sticky plant which grows abundantly in many abandoned agricultural land and borders. The whole system isstrengthen lymphatic activity. I cut the first two thirds of each plant while in flower (or setting seeds) and the alcohol to make a tincture, tender, swollen breasts, PMS symptoms and reduces allergic reactions. A dose is 15-25 drops (0.5 to 1 ml), repeated if necessary.
Chickweed (Stellaria media) has many applications, including a delicious salad. I cut the top of the whole plant and eat or use of alcohol, make a tincture, which dissolves cysts, strengthens the thyroid, and aidsweight loss. One dose is one dropper (1 ml), up to three times a day.
Daisy (Bellis perennis) is a common perennial herb of meadows and open spaces. Very different than the native daisy (Lagenifera petiole), is the little English daisy feverfew related and has similar functionality. I use the leaves and flowers, a tincture (with alcohol) or medicines to make a vinegar-free headache, muscle aches, and allergic symptoms. A dose is a dropper full of tincture (1 ml), up to twiceDay or a tablespoon of vinegar in the morning.
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinalis) is a persistent perennial of lawns and gardens and one of the best known medicinal plants in the world. (The native dandelion of New Zealand - Taraxacum magellanicum - is on drugs.) Those who love a pure green lawn for Pirates of sunny yellow flowers of the dandelion. But those who are willing to see the beauty in the world (such as children and herbalists) treasure trove of this weed. You can use any part ofDandelion - the root, leaves, flowers and stems of flowers - a vinegar tincture or medicines that can strengthen the liver. A dose of 10-20 drops of tincture (0.5-1 ml) relieves flatulence, heartburn and indigestion, as well as promoting healthy bowel movements. One tablespoon of vinegar is fine, too. More importantly, before meals, dandelion increases the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, making bio-availability of many nutrients, especiallyFootball. Fresh or cooked green leaves with carotenoids, anti-cancer, anti-heart disease helpers loaded. And the oil of the flowers is a massage balm important for maintaining healthy breasts. (There are a lot more information on dandelions in Healing Wise.)
Dock, as well as yellow dock, curly dock, and dock off a perennial plant that my grandmother is the use of Native Americans for "all the problems of women." The Maori call Paewhenua or rune. There is another plant that does not agreewith sheep, especially if the land is overgrazed. I like the yellow roots of Rumex crispus or R. obtusifolius and tincture in alcohol use as an ally when the immune system or liver needs help. A dose is 15-25 drops (0.5 to 1 ml). I also collect leaves and / or seeds throughout the growing season and vinegar to make a doctor put a tablespoon at a time, to increase the concentrations of iron in the blood, reduce flood levels and hormonal and menstrual cramps. If the choppedIn the roots are immersed in oil for six weeks, the ointment is that it is useful to keep your breasts healthy.
Ragwort (Senecio vulgaris) and Ragwort (Senecio Jacobea) are perennials that have a reputation for poisoning livestock, like their cousin tansy. Although it is not good for the sheep, these two Senecios some of the oldest medicinal plants in the world, having been found in an old grave 60,000 years ago. You can use the flowering tops and leaves with alcohol, make a tincturewhich acts slowly to tonify the reproductive organs of sleep, ease severe PMS and menstrual pain. A dose is 5-10 drops (.2 -. 5 ml) per day, used only once a day, but for at least 3 months. (A larger dose is used to speed up work.)
Mallow (Malva neglecta, M. parviflora, M. Sylvestre) grow well in neglected gardens and are surprisingly deep. The flowers, leaves, stems, seeds and roots are rich in sticky mucilage which is best extracted by steeping the fresh plant in cold waterone night or more, by a drug or vinegar. The starch is extraordinarily soothing internally (easing sore throats, stomach pain, heartburn, irritable bowel, colic, constipation, food poisoning) and externally (relieving bug bites, burns, sprains, and sore eyes). 'S, flowers, leaves and bark (especially) the local Superior (Hoher populnea) are exactly the same way used by Maori herbalists.
Plantain, also called plantains, pork ear, and the floor is a common plantWeeds from lawns, walkways, parks and playgrounds. Identify the five parallel veins, the length of each sheet. Broadleaf plantain can (Plantago major) found with broad leaves, narrow leaves or plantain (Plantago lanceolata), with lance-thin sheets. Or is it an envelope or a relaxing oil by one of the best wound healers to consider. Not only to increase the rate of healing plantain, but also relieves pain, stops bleeding, draws out impurities,soothe the itching, prevents and stops allergic reactions from bee stings, kills bacteria and reduces swelling.
Try a patch or a generous application of plantain oil or ointment (made by thickening the oil with beeswax) on sprains, cuts, insect bites, rashes, chafing of the skin, boils, sores, chapped lips and chapped, rough hands or pain, baby diaper area, and burns.
Poultice of a banana fresh: Choose a leaf and chew well and put on the boo-boo. "As if by magic" the pain, itching,and swelling disappear quickly! (Yes, you can dry plantain leaves and carry them in your first aid kit. Chew like you would fresh leaves.)
To make plantain ointment: Pick large fresh banana leaves. Chop coarsely. Fill a clean, dry glass, with chopped leaves. Pour pure olive oil in the leaves, poking with a stick, will be released until the glass is completely full of oil and all air bubbles. Cap well. Jar placed in a small bowl to give, to collect overflow. Six weeks of waiting. ThenOil pollution from the plant material, squeezing well. Measure the oil. Heat gently, adding a tablespoon of grated beeswax for every liquid oil oz. Pour into jars and let cool.
St. Joan's wort / Wort (hypericum perforatum) This beautiful perennial wildflower may be hated by sheep farmers to be, but herbalists love. The flowering tops are harvested after they begin to bloom (traditionally on Solstice, June 21) and prepared with alcohol and oil, two of the most importantuseful remedies in my first aid kit. Tincture of St. Joan's wort St. John not only gives a sunny, reliably relieves muscle aches, is a potent anti-viral, and it is my first choice for the treatment of herpes zoster, including sciatica, back pain, neuralgia, migraine and headaches. The usual dose is 1 dropper (1 ml) as often as necessary. In extreme pain from a muscle cramp in the thigh, I used a dropper every 20 minutes to 2 hours or until the pain has diminished at all. S.St. John's wort oil stops cold sores Joan in their tracks and can also relieve the symptoms of genital herpes. I use it for sun protection. Run contrary to popular opinion, not St. John's wort does not cause sensitivity Joan sun, preventing it. It also prevents burn from radiation therapy. Eases sore muscles as well.
To heal (Prunella vulgaris) This perennial mint odor is one of the great unsung healers of the world. The leaves and flowers contain more antioxidants - which prevent cancer and heart disease belowother health properties - than any other plant tested. And as part of the mint family, is to heal yourself with many minerals, especially calcium saturated, making it a very important ally for pregnant, breastfeeding, menopause and post-menopausal women. I have to heal itself leaves in salads in the spring and autumn, a vinegar doctor with flowers in summer, and cook the flowering tops (fresh or dried) in winter soups.
Usnea (Usnea barbata) is that many gray lichens hanging filamentfrom the branches of apple trees or planted in the plantation of Monterey pine trees there, or almost every tree native to the Alps in the fields of the South Island, where he is known as the Maori angiangi. If in doubt of your identification: Pull a thread gently apart with your hands, looking for a white fiber inside the fuzzy gray-green outer coat. To prepare Usnea, collected at any time of year, even if not taken care of too. Usnea grows slowly. Put your harvest in a pan andjust cover with cold water. Bake orange for about 15-25 minutes, or until the water is reduced by about half. Usnea and pour water into a glass and filled to the brim with vegetable substances. (Water should not be more than half of the glass.) Add the highest proof alcohol you can buy. After 6 weeks this tincture is ready for you as an excellent anti-bacterial, infection meet somewhere in the body work. One dose is one dropper (1 ml) with a frequency of every two hours in acuteSituations.
Yarrow (Achellia millefolium) This lovely perennial herb grown in many gardens, it has a variety of applications. Cut the flowering tops (flowers only white yarrow) and use the alcohol for a strongly scented tincture that can be taken internally to do to prevent colds and flu. (A is 10-20 drops, or up to 1 ml). I bring a little 'bottle spray yarrow tincture with me when I'm out and wet my skin every hour or so. A study of the U.S. military showed yarrowDyeing to be more effective than DEET to repel ticks, mosquitoes and sandflies. You can also make a healing ointment with yarrow flower tops and your oil or grease. Yarrow oil is antibacterial, pain, and incredibly helpful in healing all types of wounds.
