Part of keeping yourself and your animals healthy is making sure you have a good supply of medicinal herbs on the land or in the garden. Here on the farm we plant herbs in our landscape. As you see here on the left we have planted echinacea (far right), lavender (fore front) and calendula (yellow flowers). A secondary bonus is our honey bees love all three of these flowers and use them for their benefit.
I use St. John’s wort a great deal in my business Russian River Massage. It is an amazing
anti-inflammatory and gives quick relief to sore muscles. I also use the calendula I grow here. It is a medicinal variety high in oils that are great for the skin; including sunburn, rashes and poison oak. Poppies (pic on right) are always cultivated here not only for there beauty, bee food, but there roots make a wonderful sedative. There are many local plants that we wild-craft including: St. John’s Wort, elderberry, blackberry root, plantain, walnut, etc…
We use tons of kitchen herbs to flavor our food fresh and dried from the garden. These herbs include: dill, rosemary, oregano, thyme and mint just to name a few.
A few recipes to keep your critters healthy
COLIC
3 TBL mint, 3 TBL Thyme and 1 pint water.
Heat to almost boiling, cover, remove from heat. Let stand for 40 minutes. Feed to animal. Add molasses if needed to entice the animal to drink. Continue 2-4 times daily until relief comes
LICE, TICKS, FLY GALLS
1 pound tobacco dust, 2 quarts elder leaf brew and 1 tsp eucalyptus oil
Mix together and use as a rinse or dip for insect burdened animals, once daily.
If your serious about herbs get Medical Herbalism. I studied w/David and the man is world renowned for his work in this field. This book is like a bible in size and content. Not a beginners book though! The others listed to the side/below are great books that are easy to follow and I’ve used for years. It goes without saying, but if your on the West Coast get Michael’s book and everyone else get the Peterson Guide for Central/Eastern U.S.
