Calm, rest and sleep - the gifts of Valerian: Home Medicine Cycle 38

My five-year-old daughter raced off the school bus bouncing with delight. 

"Mama! Mama! We had green jello!" she gasped in excitement.

My joyful grin froze in place. I tried not show my trepidation. We had begun to suspect that our daughter has a particular sensitivity to artificial food dyes and I'm told green and red are the worst. 

Still I could hope...

I did get her into the house at least. But when her three-year-old brother touched her she flew into a rage and hit him, then bit him. I pulled her away, but now they were both screaming. I comforted my startled and hurt son, while holding my daughter firmly on the other side. She fought and kicked, squirmed and screamed. And she tried to bite me.

For most of the next three hours, I held her on my lap while she shuddered and cried. After the first hour or so, she simply whimpered, "I can't stop! I can't stop!"

That was two years ago, when my daughter spent a few days at an American kindergarten, where things like green Jello are all too common. 

Due to the specific circumstances of our family, I know something about sedatives and their effects. Both of my children were adopted from Eastern European orphanages and my son--the little brother--was drugged with sedatives from the age of two months until we adopted him when he was ten months old. This delayed his neurological development and he went off of the drugs cold at the time of the adoption, because we were not informed about them..

The following year and a half was a trial for all of us. He was often terrified and he flew into a panic if I moved more than ten feet from him, even within our own home. For a year, we couldn't have visitors, because he was so terrified of strangers.

Creative Commons image by S. Rae of Flickr.com

For that and other reasons, my trust in pharmaceuticals is not great, but the situation with my daughter was nearing the point where I thought she might need some sort of medication for what appeared to be hypersensitivity and some fairly extreme stress reactions. 

After several very difficult years, I discovered almost by accident, that dried valerian root may be the answer we've been looking for. I found online forums where parents of children with ADHD said valerian did more for their children than pharmaceutical medications. And it just so happened that a fellow herbalist had just sent me a bit of valerian root from across the ocean. 

I researched it and found that the best way to administer it is as dried powdered root, so I learned a new herbalist skill--making capsules. It isn't nearly as difficult as I would have thought. You simply buy empty jell capsules, grind the root in a mortar as well as possible and fill the capsules with the powder. 

I could even ensure that my daughter got a child's dose this way. And the effect was amazing. If I give my daughter a capsule of valerian when I expect there to be a situation that might trigger her hypersensitivity, she is much calmer. Even in the midst of a meltdown the effects are noticeable a half an hour to an hour after she has swallowed a capsule. Getting her to swallow them is another matter. It was relatively easy at first, but then became more difficult for her to swallow the capsules. If the powder is ground finely enough, she will eat it in honey, which is another option.

Using Valerian

It is interesting that doctors may prescribe valerian for people who are trying to break an addiction to sleeping pills. It helps them sleep as they lower the dose of their pills. However, in this modern age, few doctors will do the obvious thing and just prescribe valerian in the firt place. 

Valerian is a gentle, natural sedative without the addictive side-affects of many synthetic sedatives. It helps to calm anxiety, deepen sleep and settle nerves. It is also used for nervous asthma, menstrual cramps and stress-related migraines. 

Although there are few reports of adverse effects from taking valerian, it acts on the brain much like a synthetic sedative and one should not drive or operate machinery in the hours after taking a dose of valerian. The United States Food and Drug Administration rates valerian as "generally accepted as safe," but there has not been enough research to determine if it is safe for pregnant and nursing mothers. 

The part of the plant used is the root. Besides making capsules or hiding the powdered root in honey, you can tincture the root (see my recipe for tinctures here) or dry it and use it as a tea (see my tips for brewing the most potent herbal teas here). It makes a very bitter tea and powdered root may be more effective than tincture for some people.

Growing Valerian

To my great sorrow, valerian is not easy to grow, or more importantly, it is not easy to germinate. I have tried to grow valieran for four years now and I have never been able to raise a good-sized seedling.

Valerian seeds require stratification, which is a process that simulates the effects of a winter spent outdoors. The general directions for stratification are that you should place the seeds on a piece of wet gauze, enclose it in a plastic bag and freeze it for a week, then refrigerate it for a week and repeat this two more times. Then take the seeds out and plant them. 

I have tried this for four years now without success, but I know of one herbalist who got these directions from me and followed them and grew valerian. So, it may be more to do with the specific growing conditions of my garden than with the directions for stratification. Good luck to you, if you do try to grow it. I wish you much success, and please come back and tell me if it works. I would much rather grow my own herbs than buy them from unknown sources.

Please feel free to leave comments below about your experiences with herbs, home medicine and growing medicinals. I love hearing from you.

The way of the gatherer

Wildcrafting is the ancient craft of gathering wild medicinal and edible herbs. It is a craft with skills and standards--not a momentary impulse to tear up an interesting plant. The rules needed to ensure both personal safety and a good supply of wild herbs in future have been known for thousands of years. Wildcrafting is more a long-term study of plants and a careful use of them than it is a single harvest. 

I have written a lot about how to grow medicinal herbs and make your own medicine from them. This is my primary focus, because our wild environment is already under enough strain and many herbs which you can grow in your garden are endangered in the wild. 

Creative Commons image by  Elizabeth Ashley Jerman

However, many people do not have the luxury of space to grow a garden. Yes, anyone can grow a few herbs in pots, but that won’t truly supply you with all the fresh herbs you need. And in this age of toxic food, there is also the need for chemical-free food. Beyond that, there are some herbs that are very difficult to cultivate and other herbs that are simply so prolific in the wild as to make cultivation a ridiculous idea. As a result many people still turn to gathering medicinal and edible herbs in wild places.

The ethical practice of gathering herbs and edible plants and mushrooms is called “wildcrafting.” Much the way I have called garden herbalism “homecrafting,” the term wildcrafting implies not only the act of grabbing some leaves off of a bush while you’re out on a walk. It is a craft, a practice, and as such it has both skills to be mastered and standards to be met. It can be great fun and connect you to the land in a wonderful way, but it is also a serious responsibility. 

Although some people will go out an pick wild huckleberries once a year, this isn’t true wildcrafting. Neither is picking a plant just because you think you saw it on a blog post about herbs. Wildcrafting is a craft that you have to practice diligently or it can become quite dangerous. 

My husband was a paragliding hobbiest for ten years. He abandoned this hobby when he found that he didn’t have time to do it more than a few times a year. He observed that those paragliders who were injured and (in the case of one of his friends) killed in a fall were those who did not practice regularly and thus became rusty. Wildcrafting is similar. There are poisonous plants that can and will harm the fair-weather scavenger. I personally knew someone who died from eating poisonous mushrooms. And if you are lucky enough to avoid that, poorly practiced herb gathering will ensure that the herbs will not be there when you return.

I can’t cover all the plants you can gather and exactly how to identify them or what to be wary of in a blog post. For that, you need a good plant guide book and you need to study botanical identification criteria. Plant identification is a whole science in itself and before you embark on wildcrafting, it’s advisable to learn at least a bit about it and then to be aware of the limits of your own knowledge.. You don't have to be a plant expert to wildcraft, but if you're not an expert it's a good idea to use guide books and be meticulous about identification. 

Beyond identification, there are some general tips for beginning and experienced wildcrafters that can make your experience safer and ensure that you and others can continue to harvest the wild bounty of the earth. 

Creative Commons Image by Sterling College

Practical tips of the wildcrafter:

1. First, determine if you need to wildcraft. Echinacea is going extinct in the wild in North America due to wildcrafting and yet it isn’t that hard to grow and it's fully potent when grown in your garden or an empty lot. Whenever you can, grow your herbs yourself. This is better for the environment and safer. You are much more likely to be sure of your plant identification if you have once seen the plant grow from a seed, tended it, smelled it and tasted it fresh. However, there are some plants that grow very successfully in the wild but are difficult to cultivate. St. John’s Wort and plantain come to mind for me. I’ve tried to grow both with no success. So, I wildcraft them—St. John’s Wort in the empty lot next door and plantain in my own yard. It’s wildcrafting, even if it’s in your yard, if you didn’t plant it. 
2. Observe whether or not the plant you want is prolific in your area. If, like my St. John’s Wart and plantain, it is then you can safely gather it in moderation. Even if it is prolific, it is important to only gather at most one third of any given stand of the herb. This is the only way to ensure that you won’t have to go further and further afield each year as you force your herb to retreat far from human populations.
3. If the herb you want is not prolific, you may still be able to gather it, but you need to be very careful in doing so. Make sure it is not a legally endangered species, where gathering it may incur stiff penalties and make it even less likely that the herb will recover in your area and become available to you. If you can legally gather it, be certain that you don’t destroy the only plant in the immediate area. If the herb is scarce, you should avoid taking the entire plant at all costs. Even though the roots may be the most potent part, it is best to take the flowers or leaves and not all of those. You can return again for more of them. If there are seeds, scatter them before taking the flowers. Rather than limiting yourself to one third a stand, it is best to count at least ten plants before taking a scarce herb. 
4. Find the best place to gather: 
   • Never gather near a road. Gather at least 20 feet from small roads and 100 feet from larger roads. 
   • Do not gather within sight or smell of chemical or plastics factories.
   • Do not gather the first plants you see of a particular herb. Ensure that there are enough plants before beginning to gather them. 
   • Try not to gather in areas where you know other wildcrafters go. You can easily “overgraze” an area even if each individual wildcrafter is responsible. 
   • Be aware of the fragility of certain environments. Don’t gather on steep slopes where plants have a tenuous hold. 
5. When possible it is best to focus on herbs that are prolific in your area. Many herbs have similar properties and if one herb is scarce, you can choose to use another one with the same uses which is more prolific in your climate. While arnica is great for bruises, it is scarce in many areas and comfrey will work just as well.
6. When you really need a specific herb, you have to know the plant and its preferences. Read about the specific plant and put yourself in the plant's roots in your thoughts. Be aware of what type of environment the plant likes--whether damp and shady or dry and rocky. Does the plant like disturbed areas or the true wilderness? Does it grow well near evergreens or not? Does it tend to get choked out by grass? The more aware you are of the type of environment where the plants you want do well, the easier your search will be.
7. Gather only as much as you need. It can be difficult to estimate how much of an herb you will need. In the beginning, it is best to gather only small amounts. Test to make sure you are not allergic to them and then determine how much of an herb you will actually use. When you see that you have a lot of a particular herb left over, gather less of it the following year.

Creative Commons image by  Karen Roe 

Setting out on a wildcrafting expedition:

1. Make sure you wear long pants and bring some gloves. Nettles, thistles and thorns always tend to be worse than you expect. 
2. Bring some sort of bug repellent. I prefer natural substances. A dab of geranium essential oil on your hair and lower back will (and any four-legged companions) will keep ticks away. Vinegar smeared on your skin will cut down on the mosquitoes.. 
3. Wear a hat and a shirt with shoulder coverings. Bring sunscreen. We have simply damaged the ozone layer too much to be entirely free in nature. 
4. Bring water. Even in areas that are not arid, you can become dehydrated quickly and there is virtually no more surface water that is safe to drink on the planet. 
5. Bring a small first-aid kit. Even though you are going out where the medicine is, it is good to have a role of bandages and some disinfectant (St. John’s Wort or Yarrow tincture work well) on hand. My family has been injured more than once using sheers while wildcrafting.
6. Speaking of sheers, bring sheers and clippers. This is not cruel to the plants. On the contrary! Tearing plants with your hands is the worst thing you can do. A plant can recover much more easily from a clean cut with sheers or clippers than it can from being pulled and torn.
7. Carry a reputable plant and mushroom guide with you. Do not gather mushrooms if you are not absolutely certain of their identity. I personally would never gather mushrooms based only on a book. I would need to have experience gathering them with someone who had experience with that particular type of mushroom. But depending on your level of skill, you may be able to gather using a book. With herbs, it is still important to be certain of the plant identification. Use only a small amount of any herb you have identified through a book to be certain it is not a poisonous look-alike and that you don't have allergies.
8. Use all of your senses. As you go on more and more wildcrafting expeditions, you will become proficient and find that plant identification is best done with taste, smella nd touch as well as by sight. While the taste, smell and feel of the plant cannot be conveyed well in a printed guidebook, your experience with these other senses will make subsequent identification much easier and safer. 

Creative Commons image by Sarah Zucca

Ethics and Common Sense

1. 1Many wildcrafters have a practical, earthy spirituality. Whether it is religious or scientific, we know that we are dependent on the earth and that the plants we gather are not unlimited. The ecosystems we walk in are fragile. That is why true wildcrafters always give thanks in some way or another. This can be simply sitting quietly for a moment to absorb the environment of the herb you need or it can be a specific religious practice, often a prayer or an environmentally friendly gift. Either way, giving thanks is not simply good moral hygiene, it will also make identifying herbs much easier for you in practical terms because the mindful practice of it will clue your brain on how to find and identify the herb more easily in the future. 
2. Leave each gathering place in better shape than you found it. Collect some litter, cut back dead stalks to allow new ones to grow, clear out non-native species from around a delicate native plant, plant a native-species start you’ve grown or use rocks to slow erosion in a hard-worn gully. This is partly another form of giving thanks and partly it is a practical step to ensure that your local environment will produce more useful herbs. 
3. A note on commercial use: With very few exceptions, I don’t believe that wildcrafting should be used to make medicines or food for sale. I don’t buy products labeled as wildcrafted. It may sound romantic, but the impact of such commercial gathering is extremely harmful. Some exceptions may be found among native peoples who are  skilled in protecting their source of livelihood over many generations and thus do not harm the environment in the way that industrial production does. Another rare exception may be found with herbs that are invasive and very prolific. I urge you to use wildcrafting only when you have no other safe source of an herb and to use it for your own close circle to mitigate the impact.

Good luck and may your adventures in wildcrafting be pleasant, useful and safe. 

Chickweed: A tasty, early spring green with mild medicine suitable for kids and adults - Home Medicine Cycle 35

“You want us to eat weeds?” the eight-year-old gasped in horror.

“And flowers?” the ten-year-old added.

“It tastes a lot like spinach, except better,” I coaxed.

The older girl tried one and her skeptical expression slowly changed like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. “Hey, that’s pretty good.”

Her younger sister would have none of it. 

Creative Commons image by Dean Morley

But I’ve been around the block a few times and I don’t give up easily. I got the girls gathering a small bowl full of the starry flowers and delicate early spring leaves from the massive chickweed patch behind my greenhouse. 

I used to not have any chickweed at all. Now I have a carpet of it in parts of my yard. Be careful what you wish for. I have been known to plant certain weeds—to the horror of my neighbors—due to their medicinal properties. But I didn’t even plant this. I really did just wish for it and it came. 

Once we had our tasty little herbs, we went down to the house and I set the girls to buttering slices of bread, while I preheated the oven. They put small handfuls of chickweed on the bread and covered it with a slice of cheese. The younger girl put only a few tiny leaves on her sandwich.

We put them on a baking tray and pushed it into the oven. Then we set to work writing down what chickweed is good for. That was the girls’ ESL lesson. They aren’t specifically supposed to be learning about herbs, but their mother is open-minded and I have the luxury of doing fun things with them instead of classical school work.

Chickweed is a diminutive herb and “weed” is the operative term for finding it. It loves to invade my garden. It's tiny starry flowers are distinctive. They are really five cleft petals but they look almost like ten individual petals, the cleft in the middle of each petal is so deep. It will grow in full or partial sun very early in the spring before even the grass starts growing again. This is part of what makes it so valuable. It provides the earliest spring greens, before even dandelions and nettles. And it’s packed with vitamins and minerals. 

Creative Commons image by Dawn Endico

Chickweed can also be dried and used as a medicinal tea for coughs, hoarseness and constipation (it works as a mild laxative). It’s a good post-partum tonic and helps with kidney problems too. New research is coming out showing that it is also an effective antihistamine, which could end up being its most popular medicinal property in the future. Medicinally it is probably best used dried as a tea. 

It can also be used fresh as a poultice in the field if you happen to get a scrape or cut outdoors in the spring when it’s plentiful. It has good healing properties for the skin, including healing itchy rashes of various types. A clean rag soaked in chickweed tea laid over the eyes while resting is a good cure for pink eye.

But it really is quite delicious and nutritious as well. 

Five minutes later my young students were smelling the good smells coming out of the oven and even the skeptical one was interested. We pulled out the sandwiches and they were snatched up in moments. My daughter came in and ate both her share and her brother’s. It’s a good thing there’s more where that chickweed came from.

“It’s really good!” the younger student said, her eyes wide with amazement. “We have to make this at home.” 

“I don’t think we have this weed in our yard,” the older one said anxiously.

“Don’t worry. You really probably do have it and if you don’t, it seems to come when called,” I told them. 

The easiest herbal syrup recipe: Home Medicine Cycle 27

It can be tough to get kids to take herbal medicine, especially if they haven't been brought up with it from day one. Herbs have taste and herbal medicines often retain a bit of earthy sediment. They are natural after all and today's kids are used to candy that looks like it's made of plastic, as well as food items that have been shaped, pressed and specifically colorized to look synthetic. 

Creative Commons image by Susy Morris

Add to that the problems of rendering alcoholic tincture safe for kids to consume and the homecrafting herbalist parent has a lot of technical issues to deal with. 

One of the best tools for conquering these problems is herbal syrup. It's sweet and with proper straining it can be sediment free and have a texture that kids associate with commercial medicine and candy. It is often dark brown or black in color, which can be an issue until they've tried the first taste. But once a child is convinced that "black honey" is like caramel, the struggles over medicine will dissipate. 

The other good thing about making herbal syrup is that it is simple and relatively forgiving of the novice. For one thing, you can safely start with either fresh or dried herbs, which means you can make a fresh batch of syrup at various times of the year. Here's how to go about it:

Creative Commons image by Angelina Earley

• Find a source of good-quality honey. Organic honey is good if you can get it, but the primary issue is to make sure that the honey does not include added sugar syrup, which many brands of honey purchased in grocery stores do. The easiest way to make sure your honey is good is to find local beekeepers and buy their honey. It may be a bit more expensive, but beekeeping is so crucial to your local environment that it this is one cost that is well worth it, even if your resources are limited.
• Obtain fresh or dried herbs. The most basic syrup can be made with plantain, which is found in many lawns, and it is excellent for sore throats, upset stomachs and coughs and will cover a wide variety of children's health problems safely and without a battle. Other common herbs for syrups include lemon balm, mullein leaf, marshmallow flowers and thyme. Lemon balm is good for sore throats, anxiety and hyperactivity, and the other herbs are all specific to coughs and bronchitis. If possible grow your own herbs, even if it's just in a pot on the window sill. If not, gather them in wild places or get to know an herbalist and make sure that the herbs you get are no more than a few months old and stored carefully.
• Now you're ready to make syrup. Pour a cup of boiling water over a double handful of your chosen herbs in a small saucepan (use enamel if possible or second-best stainless steel, as many medicinal compounds react with metals and lose potency). Add more herbs if they will fit and still be covered by the water. 
• Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Strain the herbs out of the water. What you have now is a strong infusion. 
• Measure your infusion with a cup (as some of the liquid will have evaporated) and add an equal amount of honey.
• Set your stove on a very low heat and simmer the syrup until all the water has evaporated. The time involved will depend on how hot your stove is. If you keep it at a regular simmer, you will have to stand over it and stir to ensure that your honey doesn't burn or boil over. And then you may be able to evaporate the water in just a half an hour. If you can set your stove to a very low heat, however, it may take hours to evaporate the water but require little supervision. 
• Don't boil the syrup too long or too vigorously. Not only will this reduce the potency of some herbs. At times I have also accidentally turned the syrup into candy, which would be okay, except that I poured it into a jar and then couldn't get the resultant mass of hard candy out of the jar once it cooled. If you do boil the syrup more vigorously, you can then drop it into greased molds and have candy of various consistencies. I prefer to simmer at a lower heat in order to retain as much of the herbal potency as possible.

A syrup that is about the same thickness as honey is ideal and primarily depends on how long you are willing to evaporate the water. The infusion of herbs will then be left in the honey, usually turning the honey a rich dark color. You should store this syrup in the refrigerator, but it can then last many months if properly evaporated. Both children and adults will enjoy it.

Be sure to share this simple recipe with your friends. It is one that even those without much herbalist experience can use to good effect and get a little of the earthy goodness of herbs to counterbalance pharmaceuticals and processed foods. Drop me a line in the comments below if you have any ideas or questions about this. Thanks!

Experiments with herbal marshmallows: Home medicine cycle 26

I have been intrigued with the idea of making natural marshmallows ever since I discovered that the campfire candy of my childhood shares its name with an herb. As it turns out, marshmallows were originally made from powdered marshmallow root. It's high concentration of mucilaginous compounds makes it a good addition to a jelly-like treat. 

But I was initially skeptical about how much work this would involve and how appetizing the results would be. Furthermore, I am focused on homecrafting herbs. The goal in homecrafting is to grow or gather wild most of what you need and buy as few supplies as possible. This isn't just an exercise in self-sufficiency. When it comes to herbs the more local and the fresher they can be when you use them, the better. And you can't get more local than your backyard and your ability to process herbs gently and carefully will always be superior to even the most conscientious factory operation.

As a result, I was reticent to seek out and order powdered marshmallow root and making it myself would be so time-consuming that it was unlikely to become a top priority in my busy life. The other principle of my style of homecrafting is that it must be realistically achievable by busy people who live in the modern world. So, it took awhile before I cobbled together a marshmallow recipe that doesn't require powdered roots. 

Marshmallow root - Creative Commons image by Victor M. Vicente Selvas

Here's what I did.

• I dug up fresh marshmallow roots, cutting off the long deep tap roots and leaving the crowns of the plant to grow.
• Then I chopped them into small pieces (a quarter of an inch thick) and soaked them in a cup of cold water over night (I'm told all you really need is five minutes but overnight worked for me this time).
• In the morning, I strained out the liquid (a marshmallow cold infusion) and put half of it in a bowl with 4 tablespoons of natural gelatin. 
• I put the remaining half cup of liquid into a small pan with a cup of honey and three tablespoons of bitter cocoa powder (because I wanted chocolate flavored marshmallows). 
• I was supposed to heat the honey mixture to a boil and let it simmer for 8 minutes (at which point it was supposed to reach 240 degrees Fahrenheit). I heated it to a boil and used a candy thermometer to test the temperature. This is where my experiment started to get interesting. The mixture was at 220 degrees Fahrenheit and refused to get any hotter. I boiled it for 20 minutes (instead of 8), stirring all the while, and it never got over 221 degrees Fahrenheit. So, I finally gave up on that part of it.
• I then poured the hot honey mixture over the (now hardened) gelatin mixture in the bowl and beat the resulting mixture with a kitchen mixer. (This is the point at which I would have added any other flavorings beyond cocoa powder if I had wanted them. You can do this with mint extract or lemon juice or vanilla as well, but i prefer chocolate). 
• Again, my experiment was not going entirely according to plan. I was supposed to beat the mixture for 15 minutes until soft peaks formed. I beat it for 30 minutes and it was smooth and thick but still liquid. I am an intrepid explorer though, so I pressed on. 
• I now spread wax paper in a baking dish and poured the hot marshmallow mixture into it. I spread it out and let it sit for a few hours. 

The result was a slap of chocolate marshmallow candy, sweetened only with honey. I cut (with a greased knife!) it into small squares and took it to a party with friends, who gobbled it down.  Due to my difficulties with temperatures and forming peaks, my marshmallows were not very fluffy, but they were very edible. And this is a good lesson as well. Be careful with your ingredients and safety and the result will generally be good, even if it isn't exactly what you intended. 

I will continue with my experiments in hopes of producing a fluffy marshmallow. (I may have used too much cocoa powder but that did make them taste fantastic.) However, I can already recommend this recipe because it is healthy and delicious. Gelatin is very good for the joints of adults and the bone growth of children and we usually don't get to eat enough gelatin that isn't packed with artificial colors and chemical flavors.

These marshmallow candies melt in hot chocolate and if you use a greased ice cube tray as a form, they work on a stick over a campfire as well. You can in fact use any number of interesting forms to make shaped candies this way and use fruit juice instead of water to make different colors and flavors. 

I love to hear from you! Drop me a line in the comments below. Have you done any fun kitchen experiments where you got something you didn't expect but it was still useful or at least a good lesson? Share here and let me know if you know any tricks for getting marshmallows to fluff.