Medicine plant of the Day

[joel]

PEANUT, I need your help. I have a large kidney stone they are going to remove. How can I prevent any more kidney stones? What herbs or plants can help me? I REALLY need to drink more water.

FIL stop using dairy to stop the stones.

 

[joel]

Another awesome plant is Plantago Major commonly called . Steep the leaves lightly and place on open wounds or infections. View attachment 158260

A use as country toilet paper, if you do not have mullain.
I carry a roll of TP in my truck, but should you be without it, Plantago will work in a pinch.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

FIL stop using dairy to stop the stones.

Just a note here that not all kidney stones are made the same. There are actually numerous causes. The way to figure this out is to MAKE SURE your surgeon has the stone/s analyzed and lets you know what they are made of. That way you have a clear path to stop a repeat.

 

[joel]

FIL stop using dairy to stop the stones.

It worked for him, however my DW was a Lab tech & she did say there were many causes to the stones.

 

[Peanut]

Finally got all the crossvine processed, cut up into little pieces. I ended up with 6quarts and a pint of tincture. This is a big relief, I've worried about this for a decade. Worried since I couldn't find crossvine in quantity close to my home. Back in June I found a little patch within 3 miles. I could harvest a little less than a quart of tincture in an emergency. But it wasn't big enough to harvest from regularly. The place I found last week has plenty but it's about 10miles away by the road. But with this batch of tincture I won't need to harvest again for a decade. Happy dance! No more driving 400miles to harvest crossvine.

 

[LadyLocust]

@Peanut I have one of those odd questions for you. I will ask first then explain. What are the half dozen most useful medicinal plants (could be more, I'm not really counting) that are used for a variety of issues?
The reason: I am on a bit of a mission to gather some seeds and grow some of these - or try. There are a couple I would like to get growing that I know would grow here. A couple others I would like that I have to do more research on as far as growing conditions to see if I could keep them indoors. I have a list started and I have a couple things growing, but would like a more organized approach.

Obviously if anyone else has input, feel free - please.

Thanks in advance.

 

[RATPACKER]

Tea from Dandelion Root . Might make you go “P @@p”.
Lotta phytonutrients.

 

[LadyLocust]

Tea from Dandelion Root . Might make you go “P @@p”.
Lotta phytonutrients.

Have you ever tasted it? People say drink it as a replacement to coffee - wrong! And it's expensive which I find peculiar.

 

[joel]

Have you ever tasted it? People say drink it as a replacement to coffee - wrong! And it's expensive which I find peculiar.

Okra was used in the war between the states.
Just because people use it as a replacement, does not mean that it taste like coffee or that it taste good, it means someone thinks it is better than nothing. I think tea is the best replacement, defining tea as herb leaves dried & boiled. You need to try different herbs in a tea garden. That way you have tea that grows well or easy, that you like. Remember with herbal tea too much of a good thing can be bad.

 

[Patchouli]

@LadyLocust Red raspberry bushes, the leaves are good for a tea.
Mullein, it is not that tasty alone as a tea, dark and strong, while I used it for glandular others use it for lungs.
Peppermint and spearmint, great tea!
White oak tree, the bark is used for healing skin issues. There are so many good things to have growing nearby or on the property.
Black walnut tree, same as the white oak, except black walnut also addresses things like plantar's warts.
just for starts...

 

[Peanut]

@Peanut I have one of those odd questions for you. I will ask first then explain. What are the half dozen most useful medicinal plants (could be more, I'm not really counting) that are used for a variety of issues?
The reason: I am on a bit of a mission to gather some seeds and grow some of these - or try. There are a couple I would like to get growing that I know would grow here. A couple others I would like that I have to do more research on as far as growing conditions to see if I could keep them indoors. I have a list started and I have a couple things growing, but would like a more organized approach.

Obviously if anyone else has input, feel free - please.

Thanks in advance.

Haven't forgotten you, been thinking on how I want to do this. Instead of specific species I think it best to give you categories. Allow you to chose which is easiest for you to acquire and grow within each category.

The first one is easy. The most important plant a prepper or anyone should have is an adaptogen. They do more for your overall health on a continuing basis than the rest combined. Not only keep you healthy day to day they lay the foundation to heal yourself quickly from any illness or injury using other herbs. World wide there are over 200 species classified as adaptogens. My favorite is crossvine, others commonly found in n. america include.... ginseng, astragalus, ashwagandha, rhodiola, cordyceps, holy basil.

Still thinking on the next category...

 

[joel]

@LadyLocust Red raspberry bushes, the leaves are good for a tea.
Mullein, it is not that tasty alone as a tea, dark and strong, while I used it for glandular others use it for lungs.
Peppermint and spearmint, great tea!
White oak tree, the bark is used for healing skin issues. There are so many good things to have growing nearby or on the property.
Black walnut tree, same as the white oak, except black walnut also addresses things like plantar's warts.
just for starts...

This is from a pregnant woman on line, my DW used Raspberry leaf tea.

I drank 2 cups daily starting at 20 weeks and 3–4 cups daily in the 3rd trimester with my first pregnancy. I went 8 days past my due date before having to be induced for medical reasons.

It obviously didn’t induce labor, but that’s not what I was using it for. I arrived at my induction 4cm dilated. According to the monitor, I was having contractions but couldn’t feel them. Once they broke my water and started Pitocin, I could definitely feel the contractions, but they were manageable with breathing, relaxation techniques, and squeezing a comb into my palm.

 

[LadyLocust]

Haven't forgotten you, been thinking on how I want to do this. Instead of specific species I think it best to give you categories. Allow you to chose which is easiest for you to acquire and grow.

The first one is easy. The most important plant a prepper or anyone should have is an adaptogen. They do more for your overall health on a continuing basis than the rest combined. Not only keep you healthy day to day they lay the foundation to heal yourself quickly from any illness or injury using other herbs. World wide there are over 200 species classified as adaptogens. My favorite is crossvine, others commonly found in n. america include.... ginseng, astragalus, ashwagandha, rhodiola, cordyceps, holy basil.

Still thinking on the next category...

Thank you! That’s even better than my question. I will look into which ones are more cold hardy. I’ve not seen crossvine here that I’m aware of. That’s one that I think I would notice because I tend to like vining plants- especially from a gardening standpoint. This helps give me some direction. Online sources seem to be all over the board and obviously not local.
Much thanks again.

 

[Peanut]

Still trying to fight my way back from the flu so I had no intention of going anywhere today. But a cousin called, he was doing some bush hogging in a pasture cleared a couple summers ago.

He knew I’d been looking for boneset. He found boneset, turns out it wasn’t the right species. He found ‘Late Boneset”, a plant that can be used but not the preferred species.

While there I noticed that when the field was cleared the stumps had been pushed into piles and burned. Those piles were now full of Poke Sallet.

I didn’t even have to dig up the roots. They were just laying on the ground in plain sight. The bushhog had knocked several plants over and pulled up their roots. Enough for about a quart of tincture. So I’ll be making tincture tomorrow if a friend doesn’t want them.

 

[Peanut]

Well, 4 years have gone by since I last made Poke Sallet tincture. An excellent anti-inflammatory and a great antiviral. (it contains an antiviral protein so powerful that when concurrent medical studies were run it killed the aids virus in mice). I use it for my arthritis as do many people. Maybe once a week, or when my arthritis acts up. I get the added protection from flu and cold viruses too.

It is a toxic plant so dosage is small. 1 to 3 drops from a medicine dropper 3 times a day. I can only take it 3 or 4 days in a row before getting gastritis. Some folks can take it continually, others like me can only take it a few days. Other people can’t take it at all, almost instant stomach issues. Caution should be taken by folks who try poke tincture, be aware of it’s toxicity.

I make tincture from the roots which are tough to chop or dice. Just a little softer than pine roots. I wash the roots first then peel them with a good blade. I’ve noticed if I put them in the fridge for 2 or 3 days they will soften a little.

I used a razor sharp Buck 650 Nighthawk to slice up the roots. Then used meat shears and a mezzaluna knife to dice it up. I used 100proof vodka as the menstrum.

I ended up with 3 quarts of unprocessed tincture. They'll sit on the shelf a few months before I finish processing them.

 

[Tommyice]

Well, 4 years have gone by since I last made Poke Sallet tincture. An excellent anti-inflammatory and a great antiviral. (it contains an antiviral protein so powerful that when concurrent medical studies were run it killed the aids virus in mice). I use it for my arthritis as do many people. Maybe once a week, or when my arthritis acts up. I get the added protection from flu and cold viruses too.

It is a toxic plant so dosage is small. 1 to 3 drops from a medicine dropper 3 times a day. I can only take it 3 or 4 days in a row before getting gastritis. Some folks can take it continually, others like me can only take it a few days. Other people can’t take it at all, almost instant stomach issues. Caution should be taken by folks who try poke tincture, be aware of it’s toxicity.

I make tincture from the roots which are tough to chop or dice. Just a little softer than pine roots. I wash the roots first then peel them with a good blade. I’ve noticed if I put them in the fridge for 2 or 3 days they will soften a little.

I used a razor sharp Buck 650 Nighthawk to slice up the roots. Then used meat shears and a mezzaluna knife to dice it up. I used 100proof vodka as the menstrum.

I ended up with 3 quarts of unprocessed tincture. They'll sit on the shelf a few months before I finish processing them.

View attachment 161035View attachment 161036View attachment 161037View attachment 161038View attachment 161039

Your dog really does photobomb you at any given chance. I see paws just past the grape tomatoes.

What is the rest of the process you’ll do in a few months?

 

[Peanut]

Your dog really does photobomb you at any given chance. I see paws just past the grape tomatoes.

What is the rest of the process you’ll do in a few months?

Normally I’d just strain out the plant material or use my vegetable press. The liquid I press out is finished tincture ready for use.

But this isn’t a normal situation… it got very complicated. The standard ratio tinctures are made to is 1 part plant material to 2 parts menstruum (vodka), or stated as a 1:2 volume tincture. Because the root is so dense the ratio in the jars is actually 1:1.2, extra concentrated. Not enough menstruum in each jar.

In about a month I’ll use another quart jar and create a 4th tincture with parts of the first 3 jars, adding menstruum to each to get the proper ratio. Each jar has it’s actual current ratio written on the label so it’ll be easy to figure out how much alcohol to add later. I was too tired to do that today, ran out of energy (cfs). I just wanted to get the root in jars and be done with them for now.

 

[Peanut]

For 10 years I’ve searched for passion flower, aka May Pops here in the south. I’ve only found single vines. Never enough to harvest and tincture.

Among other uses its also a very good sleep aid, something I very much need. Since I couldn’t make it I’ve been buying it from a friend but he retired last year. I’ve been carefully hording my last little bottle for months.

I was talking to my cousin last night whose farm joins mine to the west. She said “The boys said there were may pops at my cross-over field” (small, about 4 acres).

We went over there this afternoon. There are literally 1000’s of vines, they covered the ground. Couldn’t walk without stepping on them. I harvested a 5g bucket packed full in about 20min. Score! She said “It grows here every year!”

Guess my worries for a great sleep aid are over! I could kick myself, I’ve searched for years, driven and walked miles looking for it… and the entire time there was more than I could ever use 300yrds from my property line.

 

[joel]

I plowed up behind my blueberry plants a space about six feet by twenty feet & the ground was covered with may-pop in a few weeks.

 

[Peanut]

Went to harvest yellowroot with friends today. Had a good time, beautiful creek, not to hot but the water felt good. It was deeper than my muck boots in a few places so I got soaked. Found out I was old, kept trying to get a foot high on the bank so the water would drain out of my boots. Guess I’m not as limber as I used to be.

Oh, gave myself a black eye and my glasses cut the bridge of my nose pretty good. This creek is loaded with yellowroot and cottomouths so I brought a hoe. Creek has a rock bottom and it’s very slippery. I was using the hoe to keep from falling and protection from snakes.

I’d set my bucket and hoe down trying to get water out of my boots. Somehow I slipped and stepped on the hoe. The handle flew up and hit me in the face. At least it didn’t break my glasses but they cut me from eye to eye. Looked like something out of a cartoon..

I got plenty of yellowroot, a 6g pail packed, should have 3quarts of tincture, might be a little more.

On the way back we stopped so my friends could harvest some passion flower on my cousin's farm. They got plenty for drying and tincture. Got lots of fruits too.

 

[Bacpacker]

That was a hard fought bucket of yellow root. Glad you aren't damaged any worse

 

[TexasCharm]

I've never used poke root.. i have it all over my property.. i've eaten poke sallet, i've dabbled in the berries, but not the root............yet.

 

[TexasCharm]

I'm going to post a pic of my brother-in-laws house. Mr. TC was there a couple weeks ago and his place is OVERRUN with passion vine. I have 2 that my bff successfully transplanted into pots and I'm scared to try to put them in the ground. I've heard they don't like to be transplanted.. idk.

 

[TexasCharm]

 

[Peanut]

Worked late tonight, got the passion flower cut up and made into tinctures. It came out a perfect 1:2 volume, doesn't always happen depending on the plant. Also unusual, they are 95% alcohol, done with 190 proof pure grain alcohol. That was the recommended menstruum. I have 3quarts and a pint, should last me several years.

 

[Patchouli]

@Peanut how long do your tinctures have to “cure” in the alcohol before you can start using them?

 

[Peanut]

@Peanut how long do your tinctures have to “cure” in the alcohol before you can start using them?

A direct answer…. It depends entirely on the plant material you are tincturing and the methods you use. It takes time for alcohol, a solvent, and water, an even better solvent, to extract the chemical properties of the plant material. So roots and woody stems take longer than tender green leaves. So picking an arbitrary number and saying they’ll be ready in one week, two, a month really doesn’t apply to tinctures. But I see this done in books, blogs and videos all the time. So these statements are generalizations and should be thought of as such.

A tincture isn’t an ‘emergency remedy’ so personally I don’t even consider ‘time’ when making tinctures. I have tinctures on my shelves I made a year, even two years ago that still have the plant material in the jar. I haven’t pressed them out and won’t do so until I need them. I’ve been doing this long enough that I know what plants I might need next year. I harvest and make tinctures accordingly. To me, tinctures are a ‘long term’ project.

If you need a tincture quickly there are various methods to ‘speed up’ the process. Most use heat in some form and physical agitation, turning the jar over each day for example. I put a good book on tincture making in the library. It’s used in many herbal medicine schools. I suggest getting one and study it to learn what it possible.

 

[Peanut]

Finish up the yellowroot I harvested monday, 3qts of tincture. That's 11q in the last week, 15q in the last 3weeks. I harvested all the plants out in the woods, brought them home and processed them. I'm beat... but at least my refrigerator can be used normally again. After I clean out all the bits of leaf and stem!

I shouldn't have to harvest any of these plants again for several years. Might be 7 or 8yrs before I need poke again. I'll help a friend harvest poke in about a month but she'll be doing the work.

 

[Bacpacker]

Dr. Peanut's Apothacary

 

[Peanut]

The way I harvest and tincture may sound nuts to others so… by way of explanation. I like to keep 30 or so species on my shelves in tincture form.

1st example, in any given year half of those plants might have a good growing season, the other half might have a poor season, be hard to find and what I do find is poor quality.

Nature is cyclical but not every other year. There might be a good year followed by several bad years. That's closer to what actually happens in my experience.

So, when a plant species has a great season it’s better to harvest a lot of it. This allows me to wait out several bad years until there’s another great one. My last post above on yellowroot tincture... it'll be 4 or 5 years before I need to harvest it again. 3quarts sounds like a lot but not when it has to last many years.

Also, this means each year I might only be running low of a few species. It’s simpler to only hunt for a few species each season than have to hunt for 30+ every year. Year in, year out it’s far less stressful to make big batches. There is method to my madness!