Preparing for flu and cold season

On a bright shiny August afternoon I decided to prepare for cold and flu season. Kinda weird to think about sickness on such a fabulous day but the plants were calling me. Boneset and Echinacea were blooming and dancing in the wind; you can say they were waving me over. They were reminding me that I should prepare for days of fever and runny noses.

EchinacheaEchinacea (Echinacea spp.) is a first line of defense herb. It is best to take before a full-blown cold or flu has taken hold of your body. It’s perfect to take when you feel something brewing, like a scratchy throat or you just don’t feel like yourself. It works in concert with a person’s natural healthy immune system and helps boosts it by stimulating the activity of macrophages and natural killer cells. It accelerates phagocytosis, our body’s mechanism where macrophages and other antibodies attack and remove bacteria. This is an important way the immune system removes various pathogens, bacteria and other cellular debris. Echinacea also helps to reduce the production of an enzyme that breaks down hyaluronic acid (an important and highly viscous fluid that holds and binds cells together, lubricates body tissue, and blocks the spread of microorganisms). Because of how Echinacea supports the immune system, its principal usefulness depends on a healthy immune system. Without a healthy population of antibodies to work with, Echinacea’s ability to fight infection is limited. This means timing is critical to its effectiveness ~ it should be taken at the first onset of symptoms, otherwise it’s not really that effective for colds and flu. Finally, it is not the herb for people who have frequent colds and a weakened immune system brought on by poor diet and lifestyle choices.

In addition to Echinacea being a powerful immunomodulator, it is anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, a vulnerary, a lymphagogue (promotes lymph flow), antibiotic, detoxifying, increases sweating, and heals wounds. Besides being the first line of defense, it is ideal for relieving the pain and inflammation of insect, spider and snakebites. If a snake bites you, take Echinacea but also go to the hospital. One should take it internally and apply topically for relief.  Furthermore, it helps heal wounds, acne, boils, abscesses, septicemia (bacterial infection enters the bloodstream), and mouth infections.

I harvested the Echinacea flowers and leaves, which contain polysaccharides that are known to activate the immune system. I will harvest the roots in the fall after the flowers have gone to seed. I make two separate tinctures, one with flowers and leaves and another with roots. Once they are both decanted, I will then combine the two. There are several closely related species of Echinacea so, I like to test the plants potency by chewing on the fresh seeds. They have a beautiful spiky seed head and it is no big surprise that the Greek meaning for Echinacea is hedgehog. When you taste a potent Echinacea seed, you’ll immediately get a tingly sensation on your tongue followed by a mouth full of saliva (known as sialagogue). The increased salvia helps heal mouth infections and promotes digestion along with validating it potency.

Harvested Boneset

Harvested Boneset

If you weren’t fast enough to utilize the medicinal powers of Echinacea and a bad cold or flu has gotten its grips on you, Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) is the remedy for you. It really knocks the socks off any cold or flu, especially when a cold just seems to linger for months. I think of it as the bouncer for your body and it kicks out the nasty germs that have overstayed their welcome. I like to harvest the blossoms and leaves when less than half the flowers in a cluster are just starting to open, when the vital energy is rising. Boneset is ideal to have in our travel First Aid kit.

When you collect any herbs, please keep in mind:

  • Be sure you have made a definite identification, so use a field guide.
  • Harvest it in a respectful way, leave some, please do not overharvest, and make sure there will be a healthy crop for the future and the pollinators.
  • Harvest away from traffic and areas where chemicals have not been sprayed or animals relieve themselves.
  • If you are unsure, it is best to move on and not harvest in that area.
Now we are ready!

Now we are ready!

Harvesting herbs is a wonderful activity for a sunny August afternoon and good insurance for a healthy future.

All information is shared for educational purposes only and has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

What’s under there?

If you have been reading my blog, I am sure you know by now that gardening does not come naturally to me. Foraging does. Perhaps I am approaching gardening differently this year, because the very act of removing last year’s dead stems and leaves from my little medicinal garden was thrilling. It reminded me of when I would take Mathew into the woods to see what critters were living under logs and rocks. We would very slowly and carefully pick the object up, to see who was there. It was always very exciting.  That is how I’m approaching my little garden this year. Mind you, it is a very small garden perhaps only 10′ x 7′, but an enormous amount of love and intention goes into it.

waking up the gardenAs I started to remove last year’s detritus, the first plants to reveal themselves were Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris), Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) and Catnip (Nepeta cataria). I think I could also see a very shy Echinacea (Echinacea spp.) peaking through. Since I removed everything that would impede their journey to the surface and as long as the weather continues to be “spring like,” I suspect now all the plants will have an easier time revealing themselves, and by the end of the week more will breaking through the earth.

Waking up Lady's Mantle

Waking up Lady’s Mantle

This will be the 4th year I will be nurturing the garden. Every year, I add one or two more herbs to get to know and learn. Some of them I had never worked with before, so it has been very interesting. Gratefully, most of the herbs love the garden, coming back and thriving year after year. Unfortunately, some have enjoyed the garden a little bit too much. Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) and Catnip (Nepeta cataria) adore the garden but since they thrive all over our land, there is no reason for them to take up space here.  Other plants have found their way into my garden and are welcome, such as Red Clover (Trifolium pretense). Last year, I learned how tenacious Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) was, silly me, I planted it in the center of the garden, thinking it would look nice. It really did until it started to crowd all the other plants who were stifled by its beautiful large overbearing leaves and flower stalks.  Last fall, we tried our best to take it all out so the other plants could breathe again. We replanted the comfrey between Mike’s baby apple trees, where is will help the trees thrive. Comfrey’s root system efficiently mines potassium, calcium along with other minerals enriching the soil around it. Hopefully, we did a good job eradicating it from the garden. Truthfully, I am not too sure that it is possible but I guess time will tell. It is a fabulous reminder that we really cannot manage nature. One of the very reasons I am more of a forager at heart than a gardener.