Category: herbal traditions

NOPE! They’re not dandelions!

Hello Friends!

Spring is finally here, but those little yellow flowers that you are seeing growing by the sides of the roads aren’t Dandelions!  NOPE!  They are called “Coltsfoot” – Tussilago farfara is the Latin term, “tussi” being the Latin stem for “cough”.  It’s one of the first wild & medicinal herbs that you can find in the springtime and is used to calm and heal coughs.  Both the flowers and the leaves are effective, but this plant is unique in that the flower appears before the leaves.  The leaves are shaped like a colt’s foot, hence the common name, “Coltsfoot”.

Here at Mystical Rose Herbals we add hand-gathered, Berkshire Coltsfoot self-seeded on our own little herb farm to our very effective and popular Cold & Flu Formula as a main ingredient for addressing the nagging coughs that accompany a cold and sometimes seem to hang on forever.

(NOTE: The leaves growing here with the Coltsfoot flower are NOT the leaves from the Coltsfoot plant.  They are early Cleavers (Galium hed.) that are quite friendly with Coltsfoot.  Coltsfoot leaves will show up about a week and a half after the flowers are finished.)

http://www.mysticalroseherbals.com/herbal-extractions/cold-flu-relief/

Check out our picture-story below to see how it’s made!


 

 

 


Label your mixture!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let the herbs soak for at least two weeks, strain off through cheesecloth, squeezing tightly to get every last drop from the flowers, and you have your Coltsfoot extraction.  This will keep for years if it is kept tightly closed and out of the sun.  1 teaspoon is the equivalent of one cup of tea.  For stubborn coughs, take 1 tsp 3X/day.

 

 

Are you paying attention?

To your health, that is?  Avoiding non-nutritive foods?  Eating healthy and “real” foods? Getting outdoors in the fresh late-summer air?  Are you moving – I mean so that your heartbeat increases for at least 30 minutes a day?  These are some of the things that we’ll be talking about on this Saturday’s upcoming radio show.

Join us!  Tune in on your computer this coming – and every – Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time to hear the show.  (Adjust times accordingly as you move west).  If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail them — we may even address them on an upcoming show!

Note: Sometimes you may have to give the show a few minutes before it loads, leaving some “empty” time (music plays) after the posted show-time but before you hear the interview.  Thanks for your patience while Mike works this bug out of the system. (You may also be able to set a timer on your computer so the show will simply come on at the set time.)

http://www.magnificatmedia.com/mysticalroseherbals

Hope you enjoy the show!  (Note: Pictured above are pole beans.  It’s not too early to start thinking about planting a garden next spring!  And remember that you can always try to grow lettuce and herbs indoors in a sunny spot at any time of the year.)

Stay healthy,

~Jean Pollock, HHP,                                                                                                                   Mystical Rose Herbals

Disclaimer: the views aired on magnificat media are not necessarily those of mystical rose herbals

Elderberry flowers are coming!

Greetings on this first weekend of the Summer of 2017!  On this Saturday’s radio show I will tell you about the Elderberry (Sambuca nigra) bush.  This “wonder-full” plant is called “Elder” because it is chock-full of health benefits; it is one of the “elders” of the plant world.  (It has so many uses that Hippocrates called it his “Medicine Kit”!)  The Elderberry plant grows easily all over the country except in the most arid and hot states, and is beginning to flower now.  Keep an eye out for this great friend of humanity, and if you’d like to know more about it, listen to my show!  To join us, tune in to magnificatmedia.com/mysticalroseherbals at 7:30 a.m.; 2:00, 4:30 & 6 p.m. EASTERN STANDARD TIME (adjust according to your own time zone) on your computer.  Having trouble finding the show?  Go to the magnificatmedia.com, then click on the “RADIO” tab, and then “Broadcast Schedule”.  Scroll down and you’ll find Mystical Rose Herbals days & times to be broadcast.  I hope you enjoy the show!

Jean Pollock, HHP

Elderberry is used in our Cold & Flu Formula. http://www.mysticalroseherbals.com/herbal-extractions/cold-flu-relief/ You can also purchase it as a “simple”, meaning that it is “simply” Elderberry Extraction.

 

Disclaimer:  The views of Magnificat Media are not necessarily those of Mystical Rose Herbals

 

Calendula Flowers

Foraging for Wild Medicinal Herbs

Spring is the time of year when plants begin to poke their little leaves and shoots up above the ground to absorb the sun’s warming rays.  Unseen to us, as we’ve been cooped up inside during the last cold days of late winter and the rainy days of early spring,  there’s been a lot going on under the ground already!

                                                    Yarrow                                      Wild Ginger
The ground has been thawing and warming, allowing the roots to ever-so-gently be awakened as they respond to the warming soil around them.  Energy from the sun has permeated the earth’s surface and stirred the slumber of the plants and they readily absorb this energy.

                                                                        Young Ground Ivy
The cycle of life is renewed and as the roots fill to bursting with new life, they must express their fullness by sending forth new signs of the life that is within.  New little sprouts of differing shades of green can be seen poking their leaves up to renew this world that has been waiting for their appearance.

                                                         Lemon Balm                           Herb Robert

While we have been inside, longing for the clouds to clear, the sun to come out and the rain to stop, the plants have been long awakening and when we finally emerge from our warm homes on that long-awaited first day of balmy spring weather, we can see signs of the plant life that has preceded us in our foray into the warmth, for them it has been warm for weeks.


             Speedwell                                Maidenfern

 Early April is the perfect time to take a walk to explore the plant life that’s been busy for the past month or so.  You’ll be able to spot clumps of day-lilies, which are edible from their first sprouting leaves to the buds & flowers.  

You might also see “Cleavers” (Galium aparine).


This plant emerges nice and early and has been used since time immemorial for a myriad of specifics, including early spring fresh cleansing tea or as an addition to a fresh-picked, wild salad (for images of this and other herbs, visit wikipedia.com; they usually have wonderful descriptions and pictures).  Cleavers herb was known in ancient times as a “strewing herb”.  Because it helped repel insects, it was used in mattresses, in thatched roofs and strewn on the floors of homes.  Valued for its multitude of uses, it was brought to America by early settlers.  Medicinally it is considered an “alterative” herb, meaning that it brings cleansing to the body and an over-all strengthening to the system.  It is a specific for cleansing the glands.

“Coltsfoot” (Tussilago farfara) is one of the earliest flowers to appear in spring.  A specific, long used to alleviate coughs (hence the Latin name “Tussilago”, which means “cough”), the little, low-growing yellow flower is often mistaken for a dandelion.  Both the flowers (which appear before the leaves) and the leaves can be used to make herbal medicine.

Wild Garlic, also called Wild Leeks or Ramps, are in abundance in the Berkshire woodlands and a wonderful cleansing herb.
We would be remiss not to mention the humble violet, emerging in her own quietness, soon to cover our lawns with her simple, aromatic blooms.  Gather a few of these leaves and make them into a fresh tea.  The leaves and flowers of violets have been known to reduce cysts, especially of the ovarian type.
On The Gathering of Wild Herbs: 
Please always be very cautious when using wild herbs.  It is of the utmost importance to be sure the plant is really what you think it is.  Double-check your sources by having a book with numerous colored pictures with you.  Peterson’s Field Guides are easy to use and contain fairly good pictures for most of the species they cover.  If you can obtain a copy of the Reader’s Digest Guide to Plants and Flowers, that is even better, although it is in hardcover, which is cumbersome to carry along on a walk in the wild!