Photos by Dawn Frary from our Herb Walk for Little Village Magazine

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Mullein

Out here on the prairie the mullein flowers are unmistakeable. Bright yellow and sometimes over six feet tall, and everywhere. Let's get up close and personal with mullein and talk about its healing properties.

Mullein is well known for aiding the respiratory system.  Mullein is in almost all of my respiratory tea blends, and is gentle enough for children. It's also quite a nice relaxing nervine tea. It tastes nice and can really help expectorate mucous from a dry, irritating cough.  Mullein helps to relax and dilate the bronchioles. You can also burn mullein and breathe the smoke to relieve chest and breathing constriction. To do this you can simply burn a mullein leaf and gently waft the diffused smoke towards you and breathe it in.  This has been one of the most relieving things for my (mild) asthma.

I've also called upon mullein's healing for childhood ear infections. Mullein flower oil can be used in the ear when the ear infection is due to a wax blockage. We've got a mullein flower & garlic oil in the works for just this purpose! Herbalist Kiva Rose likes to use mullein tincture for bacterial ear infections, saying the alcoholic preparation of mullein can aid in the drying needed for such an infection. Please don't put anything in the ear if there is a chance of a ruptured ear drum, see your doctor instead.

In looking at the flowering stalks of mullein, we can easily see how it represents the spine. The stalk is strong and flexible, like a healthy spine. Mullein medicines can also be used for reducing pain and inflammation caused by the misalignment of the spine and/or hips. Mullein root more effectively used with chronic kinds of disorders, whereas the upper parts of the plant are used for acute pain and inflammation of this kind.  Because it is also a nervine, mullein (nicely pairs with skullcap or vervain for this) can help relieve sciatica and other nerve pains associated with misalignment. A mullein oil infusion or a warm leaf poultice directly on the area, as well as internally taking the plant's tincture can help reduce pain and aid in healing.

Mullein tea or tincture is also helpful with childhood bedwetting associated with a weak trigone muscle. Not only for bedwetting and children, I'm sure some of you multip-mamas know what I mean.  After a few children, going for a run can be, well, leaky.  Mullein can help, as well as practicing those Keagals!  

I also want to add that mullein is a gentle and strong plant ally.  It's fairly neutral in nature (neither warming nor cooling), and has many generous offerings of healing. Go outside and find some mullein, it has so much to teach us!

July Box

Contents and instructions for our July subscribers....

Happy Heart Elixir- elderberry, hawthorn berry, rose hips, skullcap, cinnamon, brandy, honey.

The Happy Heart Elixir tastes good enough to make anyone happy, but its benefits go far beyond its amazing flavor.  It includes gentle herbs which are tonic to the heart and circulatory system, blood pressure stabilizing, immune-boosting, and full of vitamin C. Skullcap herb helps us confront stressful, even heartbreaking, moments with calm. You can enjoy a teaspoon full daily in tea, water, or other beverage of choice, for any length of time. Not for kids.

After-Sun Rose Vinegar Spritz-  
rose petals, apple cider vinegar, distilled water

Rescue your skin from over-exposure to sun. Relieves pain of sunburn while it nourishes and restores skin tissue. Also nice applied after a bath for cool moisture, astringency, and to otherwise treat your skin. Gentle enough for the face.  Also edible, spritz on your salad for rosy deliciousness!

Bitters Tincture- 
dandelion root, gentian root, ginger root, orange peel, fennel seed, lemon balm, licorice root, alcohol

This tincture prepares the body for better digestion. This is a warming, gingery formula which also soothes the stomach after a meal and dispel gas. Take 5-20 drops in a cup of warm water 30 minutes or so before eating a meal. Add a touch of honey or maple syrup if you like. Makes a great addition to barbecue sauce. Do not take during pregnancy, and do not give to children.

Spring Beauties Tea Blend- 

strawberry leaf, nettles, violet flowers, red clover, spearmint

Nourishing, wildcrafted herbs especially high in iron and vitamin C, as well as important minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and potassium. This blend works to cleanse blood and move lymph. It also helps clear congestion. Gentle enough for children and pregnancy.

Spring Beauties Tea Blend

Heal-All Salve- 
comfrey, calendula, plantain, yarrow, lavender essential oil, olive oil, beeswax

The Heal-All Salve is good for speedy healing on nearly any scratch, scrape, bug bite, bruise, burn, dry skin, etc.  The Heal-All Salve is pain relieving and soothing to the skin, and is a must-have-salve for any first aid kit or travel bag.  As with all salves, please be mindful that you clean the wound first so as to not seal in any infection or debris.  For burns, wait "until the fire is out" (cold water, lavender essential oil, or rose vinegar spritz can help with initial cooling) to apply the salve.

Body Butter Bar- 
cocoa butter, shea butter, olive oil infused with calendula, comfrey, cottonwood, coffee and oats, beeswax, clary sage essential oil
Rub on for healing and moisturizing that lasts. Great for tough, calloused skin, and areas that tend to dry out more quickly.

Kombucha- 
Enjoy your kombucha on its own, or try it with a teaspoon of the Happy Heart Elixer. Did you know that kombucha can be used topically for fungal & candida overgrowth? It sure can! Just make sure that you let it sit out and ferment a bit longer so that ALL of the sugars are metabolized out.

Disclaimer:  All information here within is for education purposes and is not intended for the diagnosis, treatment, or cure of any disease.  Consult your healthcare provider before self-treating.

Wild Rose CSA Launch Party

Christina, Mandy, Christy

Our CSA Launch Party was a great success!  Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy our herbals with us.  Remember, you can still be a part of our CSA- monthly shares are available on a first come, first serve basis (though advanced notice is appreciated so we know how much product to make!).  And if you decide you want to sign up for the rest of the season (through December)- we'll pro-rate you!

Thanks to Mandy and Eric (and little Selah and Griff) for hosting the party on your amazing patio!

The Comfy Tea kiddie pool was enjoyed by kids and adults alike. :-)  Our Herbal Insect Repellent was essential to enjoying the outdoor festivities without having to swat at those darn gnats! 

 Amongst the samples, we enjoyed the Happy Heart Elixer- which is good for physical and emotional heart health; and our new Wild Rose Honey Syrup- good for everything from external scratches and scrapes to taking internally for cooling down your body in this summer heat.  Did I mention how amazing both of these taste?!? 

I think everyone went home feeling rather blissful!

CSA Launch & Patio Party!

Celebrate the launch of our area's first herb-focused CSA. We will be serving some of our favorite herbal concoctions and snacks for your tasting and delight. Come chat about herbs and find out more about what we are doing. RSVP by Monday. We would love to see you!

Location: Mandy and Eric's yard and garden, 2022 H Street

Date: Tues, July 9

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm

Topping the menu are elderberry kombucha, cocoa-carob cream cordials with ashwagandha & damiana extracts, hawthorn-elderberry-rosehip elixir, and chocolate-maca mojitos. Joining these sipping pleasures are herbed chevre and crackers, tempeh bites with bitters barbeque sauce, and popcorn with shiitake-sage butter.

We will also have kid-friendly herb-infused popsicles and a kiddie pool stocked with calming bath herbs! 

Suggested donation of $10 per person, but whatever you can manage is just fine.

We will have sprays and salves for sample and purchase, a raffle for door prize, and some CSA boxes for anyone interested in signing up!

Harvests from the Rockies

We spent some time in the Rocky Mountains and the Deserts of Utah in the past month.  We camped with family, went on some hikes, vended our herbals and screen prints from The Luminous Flower, and relaxed in the high mountains west of Boulder. I was excited to see some familiar plant friends, and some plants that are not-so-common here in the Midwest as well.

Mountain Yarrow

 Some Happy Mullein

Uva ursi in flower... I'm sure there were some little fairies living with these plants...

Pasque Flower

Wild Rose with some rose hips leftover from last fall.  I was interested to find that the wild roses in the high mountains were about a month behind the plants in Iowa.

 White Sage

Juniper with the berries just ripening

 Harvests of an afternoon hike: yarrow, juniper berries, mullein, and white sage

I made these White Sage smudge sticks from the sage I gathered from the deserts of Utah.

I also gathered some of the plentiful pine resin that I'm excited to work into some herbal incense soon.  All in all, it was a great trip! It was also great to get back home with my harvests, to my home apothecary, with tinctures and oils ready to press, salves ready to make, inspiration, and a breath of fresh mountain air.