This is my kitchen counter apothecary. It is not my complete arsenal of remedies and nutritional support. It’s just the majority of my tinctures as well as supplements being used on a regular basis or tools for processing and labeling herbs I collect and process from our property. Today I am going to discuss some of the items pictured here. But first things first. My disclaimer — I am not a licensed medical practitioner. All my knowledge has come from first hand personal experience with my own body, reading and research (reference books will be listed at the end of the article), as well as suggestions from licensed wholistic medical professionals. Please consult your own trusted physician before trying any of these things. Some herbs can have severe side effects if used in conjunction with conventional meds or are counter indicated for some medical diagnosis.
OK. Now that’s all out of the way, I want to talk about thistles. In the opening image in the front to the far right I have a bottle of Milk Thistle gel-cap supplements. Perhaps the most popular thistle around is the artichoke. You know…those big hard heavy green alien like flowers that bloom to have a fuzzy purple center. You know…those strange green things we out here in California love to steam and grill and serve with butter and garlic or use to make dip or put in our frittatas. Yum.
The artichoke, like all thistles, belongs to the Asteraceae, or Daisy Family. There are many types of thistles. The most notable thing about the thistle is its aggressive body armor. Even artichokes have barbs on the leaves and the tips of their petals. But as so often is the case in nature, these hardy aggressively clad plants pack a heavy medicinal punch.
ALL thistles are good for the liver. Milk thistles, in particular, are food and egg laying sites for Monarch Butterflies. Why am I taking thistle supplements? Well, for a few reasons. Toxins that end up in the body are largely filtered through the liver. This includes toxins from medications, environmental pollutants and alcohol consumption. A healthy liver is a very important part of a healthy immune system and vibrant skin. Since I take a range of supplements that are or may be filtered through the liver, consume alcohol, am exposed to environmental pollutants such as wildfire smoke, and have in the past taken strong medications prescribed by allopathic physicians, I use a milk thistle supplement to help keep my liver clear and in shape. I also include thistle in my morning tea blend. This past spring I harvested nearly five pounds of young thistle plants including leaves, roots, stems and small flower buds. I washed then dried the material in my dehydrator. Once all was nice and dry I processed the material in a food processor and placed it in a jar in my home apothecary.
Most people think of the thistle as a noxious weed. While it is rather spiked, it is a very very nutritious and helpful herb to have on hand. Next spring I will be sure to process three times what I processed this past spring. I have already used nearly half my dried supply in my tea. It has been over a year since I have seen thistle tea on store shelves and store bought supplements are pricey. Thistle is also safe for dogs and cats. I have been especially conscious of taking thistle since the COVID pandemic because I have upped my intake of immune support supplements and all of these things are filtered through the liver as are other waste products naturally produced by the body.
Watching the bees in the pasture hop easily from thistle blossom to thistle blossom I am grateful for my thistles. Thistle honey is so good for you too! When harvesting thistles for home use it is best and easiest to harvest young plants still in rosette or just starting to bolt to flower.
As it is with most medicinal herbs, this is when the plant is its most potent. The nutritional properties are most concentrated plus the barbs are smallest and most easily handled. I wore thick gloves when digging up young thistles for processing. They will poke you.
Another pokey herb that grows wild on the Kitty Pants Ranch are stinging nettles.
In the opening image you can see two bottles in the back left containing a dark liquid. One of them is stinging nettle tincture I made using young spring nettles. Right now the nettles are blooming and the air is heavy with their pollen. It makes me sneeze and my eyes water.
Stinging nettles will sting you if they touch your skin. The tiny spines on the stems and under side of the leaves may also sting through thinner materials like T-shirts. When I’m stung by nettles my nose and eyes run and I sneeze and I get a mild raised stinging rash at the site of contact that lasts for two to three days. Nettles are used to treat enlarged prostate. So it is very good for men’s health, so I hear. I use it for respiratory distress and menstrual support. In the spring I collected five pounds of young nettle shoots. The very tip of the shoots I cleaned and used to make a soup. The rest of the plant material I washed and dried then used to prepare the tincture in the bottle. After drying my nettles I ran them through the food processor and put them in a large mason jar and filled it with a high quality vodka. I label the jar with the contents and date then sit it in a cool dark place for a minimum of two weeks before I strain out the plant material and bottle the liquid. So, all you jerks out there who assume I just chug all the vodka I buy think again. I use a good portion to make medicinal tinctures and no…no-one chugs tincture. No one. Nettle is supposed to also be helpful in treating UTIs and high blood pressure. Perhaps next year I will keep some of the dried material for tea. This year I only made soup and tincture. The soup is not the most delicious, but it is not unpleasant either and eating it once a year in the spring is a nice way to prime the immune system for allergies and colds as well as tone the kidneys. I make my soup as a puree including potato, celery, onion, nettle, ginger root, lemon, garlic, salt and pepper. Nettle is recognized as a natural diuretic.
This little gem is lemon balm. Lemon balm smells lovely and adds a delicate lemony flavor in teas and salads. The slightly fuzzy leaves release a lemony scent when you roll them between your fingers. Lemon balm is in the same family with mint and has anti-viral properties. It is also used by some to promote relaxation and ease the heart palpitations that are associated with menopause. Used in poultice, lemon balm is helpful in treating wound pain topically. Some people have found lemon balm to make thyroid function sluggish. I harvested a pound of lemon balm earlier in the season and dried it. It is in a jar in my cupboard and I add it to teas and jams.
The other large bottle of dark tincture in the far back left of the image is catnip tincture. There are large amounts of catnip that grow on The Kitty Pants Ranch.
Of course, I do harvest and dry some of this plant for Sassylass to enjoy, but catnip is also helpful for humans as a head ache remedy. I use dried catnip in my tea blend and the tincture is for tension headache. Like lemon balm, catnip is closely related to mint. The tincture is prepared in the same way I described for nettles. Bees love catnip too.
The bees in my garden are very happy. In particular they seem to love love love the oregano. Any time I walk past the oregano, flowers are bouncing up and down under the weight of the bees collecting their pollen. This oregano plant has quadrupled in size since I planted it last spring. I’m going to try allowing it to self seed and spread. You can never have too much oregano and the more supplements and culinary herbs I can cultivate for myself and my family the better. Plus, it’s ALWAYS a good thing to keep the bees happy.
Brody is happy too.
Some other things you can see on my kitchen counter are activated charcoal, psyllium, propolis tincture, Manuka honey, adrenal support supplement, rhodiola tincture, ginger root, twine and Clorox wipes. There are other things too, but these are the ones I’m going to talk about.
So, the charcoal and psyllium fiber are for supporting gut and digestive health. The charcoal helps ease any undesirable odor from gas by attaching to nasty things stuck in your digestive tract that slow down or otherwise harm the lining and inhibit optimal nutrient absorption. The psyllium husk helps to “sweep out” lingering debris as well as serves to quell over-active appetite that can arise in stress situations. It is always a good thing to have healthy bowels and bowel movements. A good poop always feels good.
The propolis tincture is not one I made. It is one I purchased. If Omar and I ever get to set up our own hive I will be sure to make my own tincture. Propolis is naturally anti-fungal, anti-microbial, anti-biotic, and anti-viral. Propolis is the “glue” bees make and use to seal their hives. It is the dark solid that is rendered out of bees wax. It has a slightly sweet flavor that tastes like concentrated bees wax with a touch of floral-ness. It is VERY potent. I also use propolis when I make skin care products and healing salves for myself. Internally it helps to address any wounds or lesions there may be in the delicate lining of the digestive tract as well as treat infection internally.
The Manuka honey is what I use to sweeten my tea in the morning. I use Manuka honey because it has properties of the Manuka plant that help to support the immune system beyond that of any other honey. The only other honey I would use for internal medicinal purposes would be a honey from bees on our own property. Honey has all those wonderful anti-properties I was discussing about propolis, particularly when used in topical treatments. Honey and bee pollen, however, only are effective in treating allergies when the honey is immediately local. Honey and bee pollen that come from someplace other than your local community may not be as effective because they are produced from plants that are not around you and therefore are not the source of your allergy. All bee pollen, however, is nutritionally dense, particularly in B-vitamins, no pun intended. Manuka honey comes from New Zealand where the Manuka plant grows, and is kind of pricey. But if you are using it for medicinal reasons it is worth the price.
The adrenal support supplement is one that I do not take every day. It is something I will take from time to time when I feel the need. It is a blend of different herbs and there are many companies that make some version. Your adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys like little hats. They are the gland that produce and secrete adrenaline. Stress and extended use of some herbs such as (but not only) cannabis can tax the adrenal glands causing fatigue, sluggishness, and quick temperedness. Caffein consumption can do the same as can many prescription and over the counter medications. The Pandemic has been a great source of stress and I use low doses of cannabis to manage chronic pain. As such, from time to time I will take an adrenal support supplement.
Then there’s the rhodiola tincture. I have found this tincture to be helpful in lessening the impact of my menstrual flow. Since adding it to my cyclical self care I have found that instead of four days of very very heavy flow, I have only two or three. It has been used traditionally as a treatment to battle fatigue and improve physical stamina.
The ginger root is for cooking. Ginger is delicious and a wonderful anti-inflammatory, particularly for the gut and joints. It is also safe for dogs. I don’t know about cats. I use it in cooking for Omar and I as well as when I make prepared foods for Brody. Ginger is also an ingredient in my morning tea.
Finally, I use the twine to tie and bundle herbs for drying and the Clorox wipes are for wiping surfaces. I use them after dusting. In these times of Pandemic, surface sanitation is very important and a little bleach goes a long way. I use the wipes on door knobs and light switches regularly.
So…..
Here are a couple happy looking sunflowers in the garden right now. I just felt like I needed to share something a little more pleasant than the past few posts have been. A spoonful of Manuka honey can really help the medicine go down and who doesn’t need a good dose of helpfulness these days?
If anyone from my family is reading this…you know, instead of actually writing to me or calling me…I hope you are doing OK. I hope everyone is safe and healthy. Even if we aren’t talking or you hate me, or I don’t like you, or whatever, I still Love you all and don’t want you to be suffering. The things I have written about in this article are things that have been helping me.
May the Peace of Jesus Christ be with you now and always.
As I always am,
Larissa
Books for reference:
Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC and James F. Balch, M.D.
The New Healing Herbs by Michael Castleman
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