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ethical use of herbs
drying herbs
dangerous herbs
trees that heal
herb articles by members
herb flavors and properties
herb list with uses, properties and characteristics
Ethical Use of Herbs
As you probably know, some of our most well-known herbs are rapidly heading towards extinction because of demand. If you use herbs you should find out which ones these are and go from there. That means, find out what are good substitutes and try them. If you decide you must continue to use your old endangered favorite at least make sure you're obtaining it from a responsible source. Walmart and Ebay won't do. I love Ebay but I don't think I'd ever use an herb company that sells on it (unless I knew who they were first) I did a search on ebay last week to see just how expensive the herb goldenseal is there (this herb is in real trouble so the cost of it is soaring at good sites). I was shocked to find that it is sold there as a urine cleanser to help you pass drug tests!! Not only is this herb being overused by the public as a natural antibiotic but now by druggies as well! I hear they sell it at truck stops.
Sorry I rambled on so - it's something I recently realized and converted to so I'm still on my soapbox. I used to buy the cheapest herbs I could find, now I have a handful of companies I feel are responsible and only buy from them. Jean's Greens isn't the only one - just the first catalog I grabbed and the one that I've found is normally the most inexpensive of those I buy from.
To find out more about endangered herbs, look up UPS "United Plant Savers", you might visit www.sagemountain.com and look for a link. OR you can start growing your own.
When I first got involved with herbs I'd look at the prices at the local health food store, shake my head and run to Walmart or the grocery store for mine. I'd buy the cheapest bulk herbs I could find online without second thought. Now that I've learned more about them I realize that I should be more choosy. Now, I'm not saying that Walmart's herbs are inferior to some I pay twice as much for. Maybe they are high quality - I don't know. Perhaps they do have pesticide limits OR know if it was imported. They probably don't know if the harvest completely depleted an area.
I've heard that many of the cheaper herbs are imported. They come from countries where pesticides that have been banned here for years are commonly used. Even if they were grown organically, they had to sit in warehouses in quarantine for long lengths of time - often sprayed for bugs. There are no regulations regarding herbs - only those self-imposed by companies. My step-father helped "fine tune" DDT as a chemist and always said, "There's nothing wrong with DDT except that it produced a few broken eggs." Why risk feeding our birds herbs that have been sprayed with DDT in some foreign country?
Lastly, if you're interested in using herbs, you might visit www.plantsavers.org to get a better understanding of the problems herb users face in the future. It has helped me realize the importance of my responsibility as one person. I've decided to continue using some of the "at risk" herbs - but I either grow my own supply or buy them from a source I trust (mainly companies that belong to United Plant Savers). Sometimes the costs are higher but I feel better about myself.
Mary Ann
Drying Herbs
I dry a lot of herbs and Ifind the ones without a fan in them to be more gentle at drying the herbs than the fan forced which tends to dry out the tips to fast, making the herb too dark, and killing the enzymes. This of course can be remedied by venting more... prop the lid or what ever so the heat does not rise so high. Enzyme death occurs around 110'f so optimal drying temp is 104'f or 40'c. You can use lower temps than this, but if you have very moist material, you run the risk of growing moulds and bacteria instead of drying your herbs... the key is in rotation of the shelves/herbs and air circulation.
The one (with the fan) of course is the dehydrator of choice for doing meats and fruits. More dense material than herbs. You just have to make sure you rotate the shelves often (in both models this is necessary anyway) and flip "whatever you're drying" over at the same time you rotate the shelves.
Dehydrators without fan forced air will also dry dense things; it just takes a bit longer to achieve the right degree of dry. I did have the opportunity to use a dehydrator that cost $150 once and I can't in all honesty say that it did a better job. You still had to rotate and flip periodically for even drying. I purchased all my dehydrators at yard sales for under $5 each from folks disenchanted with storing their garden harvest and making fruit leather (I guess).
As someone pointed out air drying is the best method, but simply not an option for some of us who live in damper regions. A lot more losses due to moulds and uneven drying in my experience. If the temps are kept below 104' f there should be almost no nutritional losses.
What do I dry you ask? Here's a short list.
| Horehound Melissa Bergamot Lavender Sage Dill |
Oregano Basil Chive Garlic Comfrey Russian Caraway Feverfew |
Calendula Lady's Mantle Mullein Mints Echinacea Yarrow |
Roses/Hips Nettles Hops Tarragon Chamomile Tansy Rue |
Thyme Delphinium Cat Nip Parsley Valerian Parsley Rosemary Savory |
Dried herbs are often better for making infused oils as you don't get the moisture with dried herb that you do using fresh herbs that causes problems in the infusion or what ever formula you are using the herb in. Even when using fresh herb you should let it dry and wilt a little, to cut down on the amount of moisture content in your oil which causes bacterial/mould growths. I use herbs for medicinal and culinary use.
Michael Moore's site is very good for Herb research http://chili.rt66.com/hrbmoore/HOMEPAGE/NameIndex.html
as is Henriette's Herbal Homepage http://metalab.unc.edu/herbmed/
http://libertynatural.com/database/database.htm http://www.hort.purdue.edu/sitemap.html http://www.herb.com/fea.htm
Therapeutic herbs - researched and written by list members
Aloe
Raw whole leaf Aloe vera juice has a yellow color and a bitter taste. In the early 70's processors discovered that carbon filtration eliminates Aloe's yellow color and lessons its bitter taste. Unfortunately they have failed to mention that carbon filtration; strips the plant of its nutritional value by removing vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, fatty acids, etc.; greatly reduces Aloes healing effects because it removes almost all of the plants healing agents, with the exception of Aloe mannose and lectins.
The agents removed include: Aloin, emodin, B-sitosterol, and the plants other anti-inflammatory plant sterols, salicylic acid, cinnamonic acid, phenols, sulfur, urea nitrogen, lupeol, and other hydrochlorides. While carbon filtered Aloe looks like water it does not taste like it. If it tastes like water, it probably is. Pat B
Alfalfa
Steven Horne, master herbalist, discussed at one of his lectures how the function of some herbs could be intuited by their growth habits and the environment in which they thrived. Herbs that grew in hot dry regions often provide soothing and cooling mucopolysaccharides, as aloe and other cactus species do.
Alfalfa has a deep root system that enables it to thrive in less fertile areas where shallower rooted plants would fail. Alfalfa is a strong plant that can thrive in adversity and endow those who consume it with strength and health.
Because its roots go so deep into the soil (often 125 feet deep, according to herbalist Laurel Dewey) the plant has the opportunity to absorb minerals from deep within the earth. Alfalfa is an extremely nutritious plant loaded with vitamins A, B1, B6, B12, C, D, E, K, P, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, folic acid, saponins, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, zinc, copper, iron, and digestive enzymes.
Feed it to cows and you get better milk. Feed it to chickens and they will lay more eggs with a higher nutritional value.
Alfalfa has numerous applications for disease prevention simply by the fact that through its excellent nutrition it provides the body with many of the tools needed to resist disease. In addition to that it has specific benefits to 1. heart disease because the saponins lower cholesterol and help to regulate blood pressure 2. arthritis and bursitis caused by acid blood....alfalfa helps to alkalize the blood (but refined flours and sugars must also be reduced in the diet because they cause the blood to be acid) 3. gland support: it nourishes the ovaries, pituitary and adrenals 4. fights illness: because it pours nourishment into the body
The properties of this herb are salty, slightly bitter, cooling and neutral but alkalinizes. It also thins the blood.
Cautions: Alfalfa seeds have a toxic protein called canavanine which can cause a blood disorder called pancytopenia (a form of severe anemia that also affects the platelet portion of the blood.) Sprouting the seeds inactivates the toxin. The leaves are safe and healthy unless you have an autoimmune disease like HIV or Lupus. People and birds with autoimmune diseases should not consume alfalfa or alfalfa products.
If you drink it in a tea, add peppermint or other herbs to it to 'pep it up' it has a very GREEN flavor that some find unappealing.
gloria
Mullein
There was some interesting information about the herb mullein in the latest issue of Herbs for Health in the Pet section. The author, Randy Kidd D.V.M. discussed how he used to watch deer munching away at a particular plant in the field. They only seemed interested in this one plant, so I too the trouble to identify it. It was Mullein.
Mullein has greyish green large furry leaves. If it is allowed to grow, it forms a tall spike, about three to four feet tall. It will develop small yellow flowers along the length of the spike. It is a common roadside and yard weed.
Among its uses, mullein alleviates lung problems. According to the article, old-timers fed mullein to their cattle or burned the leaves in the barn to help prevent pneumonia. The deer he watched consuming Mullein may have been preparing themselves for winter as a natural preventative.
To use for pets, make a tea brewed from the leaves and add to pet's fod. You can also use it as an extract externally for ear infections. Fill a jar with well-packed chopped mullein leaves. Fill to the top with olive oil. Close tightly and let it sit for three to four weeks. Strain. Massage several drops of the oil into the ear canal. Store the mullein extracted oil in the refrigerator, but warm what you use to body temperature first.
gloria
Pau d'arco
How do you pronounce it? I've heard it pronounced two ways and probably neither is correctso I don't know for sure, but one way is: pow de ARK oh and the other way is: pow DARK oh
Pau d'arco is an evergreen tree that grows in South America. The bark is harvested and it is the inner lining of the bark that contains the active component, lapachol.
Its properties are sour, astringent, cooling and drying.
My first introduction to the herb was for its use as an anti-fungal. According to reputation, fungus and moss do not grow on this tree. I've heard of people recommending it for the treatment of yeast in handfeeding babies but have not used it for this purpose myself.
Pau d'arco is also an immune system stimulant and is being researched as a treatment for cancer. It has been show to be effective against cancers, tumors, and skin disease. There are documented (Daniel Mowbry, PhD) cases where those who had been riddled with cancer and hope had been given up for them, tried Pau d'arco as a last resort. A quart of Pau d'arco tea a day was consumed and for some, it did the trick, for others it didn't.
The active component stimulates the production of red blood cells in bone marrow. It also destroys some viruses, so has been used to fight colds and flu, herpes, and other diseases of viral origin.
For humans the preventative dose is two cups of the tea daily. When fighting an active case of illness, then increase the dose to three cups, which may be taken for up to 6 weeks.
Side effects, if any, are detox type effects like nausea and diarrhea.
gloria
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