Hi'iaka's Healing Herb Garden

Taking Your Medicine

When we think about plant medicine, should we eat raw plants in the hope they will help heal our ailments? Usually, that’s not the preferred method of administering most herbs. “Direct consumption” is indicated for certain plants and ailments: as Richo Cech says in his book, Making Plant Medicine, you can chew a fresh leaf of some herbs such as rue or wormwood to gain their benefits. But it’s hard to get a therapeutic dosage this way and herbalists agree that making a simple tea or tincture is the best way to take your plant medicine.

Herbal preparations include the following:
•   Tea (infusion): a beverage that combines plants and water.
•   Decoction: a strong tea (often the base for a poultice).
•   Gelatin capsules: pills that make taking herbs easier.
•   Liniment: an herbal extract you rub onto the skin.
•   Oil: an infusion of an herb in oil (often olive oil), usually for external use, or an "essential oil," a
     distilled extract.
•   Poultice: a moist mass of herbs applied to the skin to relieve bites, wounds and sunburn.
•   Salve (ointment): made from herbs, oil and beeswax.
•   Smoking: a direct way of getting the benefits of an herb to the lungs for help with some coughs
     and bronchial congestion.
•   Syrup: a liquid remedy, often used for coughs and sore throats.
•   Tincture: a concentrated herbal extract in alcohol, cider vinegar, or glycerin.

Which Herbs Go Into Which Preparations?

TEA: You can make tea out of hundreds of plants. Common ones are lemon balm, mint, sage, rosemary, and the scented basils (lemon, clove, cinnamon). Tea is as easy to make as boiling water and for most plants, you don’t cook the herbs after you pour boiling water over them. Use fresh plant material if it’s available. Fill your teacup or pot about one-fourth full of herbs (INCLUDING FLOWERS), and then fill with boiling water. Let it sit, or “steep” for 5-10 minutes, then strain. For a medicinal dosage, drink 1 cup 3 times each day.

DECOCTION: Simmer plant material in water for 20 minutes to extract essences from coarse stems, bark and roots. Plants commonly used in decoctions include burdock (gobo), echinacea and valerian root for internal use, and comfrey and plantain for external use as a poultice.

CAPSULES: Sometimes it’s easier to remember to take a pill than to make your own medicine. That’s how I started with herbs. To make herbal capsules, purchase “0” or “00” empty capsules and fill with powdered herb. For most herbs and ailments, take 2 capsules 3 times each day.

LINIMENT: For sore muscles, sprains and other pains. Place 4 oz. of dried herbs in a jar, and then add 1 pt. vinegar or isopropyl alcohol. Shake it and let it extract for 3 days. Strain before using topically (NEVER drink isopropyl alcohol). Some herbs that are good to use in liniments are eucalyptus, lavender, rosemary and many Chinese herbs.

OIL: Pound 2 oz. fresh or dried herbs in a mortar and pestle add 1 pint olive or other oil and bake at 170 degrees for 3 hours. Strain before using. Calendula, eucalyptus, lavender, noni, St. John’s wort and tea tree are often made into herbal oils. Essential oils are made in laboratories and require specialized equipment.

POULTICE: Prepare fresh herbs as a decoction or moisten powdered herbs with hot water and spread on. If you’re in the wilderness, you can chew fresh herbs, then smear it on your wound. Common herbs used in poultices include comfrey, echinacea, plantain, vervain and yarrow, which can help stop bleeding.

SALVE OR OINTMENT: Make an herbal oil, then strain before using. Heat, then add melted wax and essential oil for fragrance. Salves are made from many herbs that are healing for the skin, such as calendula, comfrey, echinacea, noni, plantain, and tea tree.

SMOKING: Who would have guessed that any form of smoking could be good for your lungs? But it’s the most direct method of application for certain ailments, such as helping the lungs when you’re quitting smoking tobacco. Dry your plant material, then roll it into cigarettes or smoke it in a pipe. Inhale the smoke about 6-10 times for each treatment. Coltsfoot, mugwort, mullein, rosemary, Chinese licorice and yerba santa are all smokable. Please talk to your health care practitioner before you smoke herbs for any lung disease.

SYRUP: Add 2 oz. of herb to 1 quart water. Simmer down to 1 pint. Strain, and while still warm, add 1 or 2 oz. honey, molasses or glycerin. Add flavoring of licorice or wild cherry bark if desired. Take one-half to 1 tsp. as needed. You can make syrup from anise, echinacea, fennel seed, Irish moss, slippery elm, thyme and many other herbs.

TINCTURE: Fill a glass jar one-third full with herbs, then fill with vodka, glycerin or vinegar. Cap tightly, store out of the sun, and shake daily for four weeks. Strain and store in a dark place. For many herbs and ailments, take 2 droppersful 3 times each day and continue after your symptoms are gone. Almost any herb can be tinctured. Commonly used are chamomile, echinacea, feverfew, nettle/mamaki, milk thistle, noni, red raspberry, saw palmetto, skullcap, St. John’s wort, valerian, vervain, and yellow dock.

This information comes from the book The Way of Herbs by Michael Tierra.

The book Herbal Remedies for Dummies, by Christopher Hobbs, has easy-to-follow directions for making all of these herbal medicines and also includes two nifty appendixes that list ailments and herbs.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

February 18 I will host a free Open Garden Party at Hi`iaka’s Garden from noon-4:00. Check www.hiiakas.com for directions.

February 24 is the Amy Greenwell Garden Grow Hawaiian Festival, from 9:00-2:00. FREE. Weavers, dancers, kapa makers, and other practitioners of traditional Hawaiian culture will converge with biologists, conservationists, and horticulturists to explore their common passion for Hawai‘i’s plants. The Garden is in Captain Cook, just north and mauka of Manago’s Hotel.

ON THE WEB:

www.horizonherbs.com (Richo Cech’s company)
www.planetherbs.com (Michael Tierra’s web site)
www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/greenwell/greenwell.html (Amy Greenwell Garden)