If you are interested in building out an herbal first aid kit, let me take a moment to warn you: it can easily become a bit of an obsession. There are many different styles and purposes of kits to explore. You may find that you become preoccupied with experimenting on new ideas, potential scenarios, and…
Welcome to Day 35 of the 40 Day Herbalist Challenge! We’ve been focused on herbal first aid all week, and you can’t really talk about herbs and first aid without at least mentioning an herbalist’s approach to pain! I’ve covered this topic in a series of blog posts for the Herbal Academy, so I’ve linked…
Although it’s easy enough to find information on yarrow, plantain, and even comfrey for herbal first aid uses, there are several other plants that are nice to have on hand after traumatic injuries like sprains, strains, tears, and broken bones. We’ve already talked about two of them (mullein and black cohosh), but let’s take another…
You’ve probably seen lists like “Top (you name the number) Antibiotic Herbs” or “X Number of Natural Alternatives to Antibiotics” in magazines and online that talk about the antibiotic properties of plants. I hate to burst your bubble, but the place where bacterial infection and herbalism intersect isn’t that simple. Let’s go ahead and…
Mullein, valerian, dandelion, plantain, and calendula are five excellent first aid herbs to become familiar with. Let’s take a look at each along with their herbal actions. Mullein Verbascum thapsus Mullein is well known as an ingredient in topical oils meant for the ears, but it’s a good plant to have on hand for a…
Today, let’s look at herbs that you might want to include in a basic herbal first aid kit for home use if you are looking at using simples. When I first started putting together my herbal first aid kits, it was much easier to focus on individual herbs and learn to combine them as compounds…
First aid is an important set of skills on it’s own, separate from herbalism, but adding herbs brings several valuable things to the table. For today’s Challenge, I’d like to talk about a few different levels of herbal first aid and point you to some of my favorite resources. There are plenty of opinions…
In the southern states, May and June are the perfect months to learn about the herbal uses of plantain because that’s when this herb is abundant and at the peak of its growing season. This is one of the most versatile home herbalists and foraging enthusiasts can learn. If you go out looking for plantain,…
Many herbs can be used for emotional support during and after stressful events and emergencies. Essentially, herbs for these types of situation all come from the same class of herbs called nervines. Lavender, linden, rose, skullcap, motherwort, valerian, passionflower, and lemon balm are all examples. Four of my favorites are rose, hawthorn, angelica, and albizia. Rose…
Willow trees have long been used in healing, and there are many traditional medicinal uses for willow. When most herbalists turn to willow, they reach for white willow, Salix alba, which is easy enough to find at health food stores. Otherwise, the word ‘willow’ typically conjures up images of the graceful landscape tree with long, trailing…
