Oh Yarrow

Photo by Rachael Witt

Common Names: Achillea, Devils Plaything, Devils Nettle, Soldier’s Woundwort

Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium
Plant Family: Asteraceae, Aster family
Parts used: Whole plant: Flowers, leaves, stems (not as medicinal) and roots
Taste: Aromatic, bitter
Energetics: Warm (and yet cooling), dry, spicy, bitter

Actions: Anti-inflammatory, antirheumatic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, anodyne (relieves pain), aromatic, astringent, carminative, diaphoretic, digestive, expectorant, hemostatic, hypotensive, stomachic, tonic

Identification:

·       Yarrow has alternate leaves that are in finely cut segments, giving each leaf segment a feathery appearance (a.k.a “bipinnate” or “tripinnate”).

·       Yarrow flowers in the summer and, A.millefolium has white flowers while other species or subspecies have pink, yellow or red flowers. The flowers look like tiny little daisies (both ray and disk flowers).

·       The cluster of flowers (a.k.a “inflorescence”) is flat-topped and has loose heads (cymes) that are terminal (at the end of the flowing stalk).

·       The whole plant has white, silky, appressed hairs, making it “pubescent”.

·       But, most of all, people recognize yarrow by its strong sweet scent, that you will also taste in teas or tinctures of the herb.

·       Yarrow is commonly found growing in dry soils of grassland, meadows and other clearings or roadsides. Once you i.d. it, you’ll start to see it everywhere.

·       Depending on the environment it can grow from 1-3 feet tall.

Yarrow Medicine

According to Greek mythology, Achilles painted himself with a solution of yarrow to make himself invulnerable to arrows. His commitment to using this herb was said to have spread throughout his regime. As men who fought with him carried dried yarrow to make spit poultices and stop bleeding amongst wounded soldiers.

The Micmac people of Maine, New Brunswick and Nove Scotia chewed the stalks to induce sweating to break fevers or help restore the body when taken by a cold. They also made poultices with the stalks to apply to bruises, sprains and inflammation.

Though not “medicinal,” yarrow can even be found in Chinese culture, yet mainly for consulting the oracle by manipulating yarrow stalks in reading the I Ching.

From folklore tales, historical uses and medicine case studies, we’ve concluded that yarrow can be used for the following:

·       Yarrow can stop heavy bleeding (pretty miraculously). It is commonly used for hemorrhoids, cuts, scrapes, post-partum care, and bruises. It can even be used to treat mouth sores.

·       Yarrow can also stop internal bleeding. Examples include excessive bleeding associated with uterine fibroids, bleeding hemorrhoids, urinary bleeding, coughs that produce bloody mucous, nosebleeds, and bleeding ulcers. (Rosalee de la Foret)

·       And also promotes circulatory flow, hypertension? Vericose veins?

·       Yarrow root for toothaches or spongy gums (make a tincture of the root and take internally) (Michael Moore).

·       Yarrow works as a wonderful bug repellant. 

·       It can be used for colds and flus, especially when a dry fever is present. Yarrow’s ability to promote sweating has made it a sacred herb used in sweat lodges.

·       Yarrow is an anodyne, quite effective at relieving pain. It can be used topically on bruises, musculoskeletal pain, and even arthritis. (Rosalee de la Foret)

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Yarrow is my go-to herb. I always have a tincture at hand or dried flower and leaf material. I find that yarrow can help with nearly any problem I am dealing with. Even if I have a stomach ache I’ll take some yarrow to help ease my digestive pains (but I do prefer other herbs for digestion, if they’re around). Mostly, I use yarrow as a “disinfectant”. When I cut myself or need to clean a wound, I use yarrow. When I feel the onset of a cold, I use yarrow.

Spend time with yarrow, smell her sweetness and taste her bitterness. See what herbal remedy she brings to you..

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Yarrow Remedies

Combinations:

Fever: elder flower, peppermint, boneset, cayenne and ginger

High blood pressure: hawthorn, lime blossom and mistletoe

Tea:

In a small pan, combine 1 tsp of the dried herb, chopped or crumbled, with 1 cup cold water. Cover the pan and bring the mixture to a quick boil, letting it steep for a while before straining it. A daily dose is 3 cups.

Tincture:

Mix the fresh juice with an equal amount of wine spirits (70% alcohol). Let the mixture steep in a closed container for 3 weeks before straining it into clean dropper bottles. A dose is 30 drops taken 3 times daily.

First Aid Kit:

Keep a tincture in your first aid kit, or have a container with dried, ground yarrow flower and leaf. Use the tincture to clean wounds and stop bleeding. Put dried herb on open wounds to help stop bleeding.

Yarrow Natural Insect Repellent:

Gather enough yarrow leaves and flowers to fit snugly in a jar.

Chop them up and put them in the jar.

Pour in vodka to the top of the jar.

Shake it every day for a first week.

Strain after 2 to 6 weeks.

Pour desired amount into a spray bottle and add catnip, lavender, lemon or lemon verbena essential oils.

Vinegars

Vinegar Infusions

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This site would not be complete without me posting a thing or two about VINEGAR.

I truly love this menstruum. The more I learn about it and use it in my daily diet, the more I appreciate it.

Vinegar is commonly found in most everyone’s household. Whether you use it for cleaning, for pickling, for cooking, or as a salad dressing (or even on your potato chips), vinegar is abundant and often overlooked.

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A little Vinegar History

Since the days of Hippocrates, medicinal vinegar preparations were made by macerating both medicinal or culinary plants.

D.C. Jarvis, M.D. wrote a book called Folk Medicine. In his book, Jarvis discusses the medicinal properties of apple cider vinegar. Apparently, before the mainstream pharmacy came into being, apple cider vinegar, along with wine, oil and honey, was used in folkloric practices as a health-enhancing menstruum. So, in the eighteen hundreds both culinary herbalism and folk medicine used vinegar as a menstruum to extract healing qualities of herbs. A popular example of the use of medical vinegar in the pharmacopoeias of many countries is the FourThieves Vinegar.

It wasn’t until the early nineteen hundred when medical administrators decided to eliminate the use of vinegar as an official menstruum in pharmacies. One can only guess why the medical industry began to take vinegar and wine off the pharmaceutical market, but I wonder if it has something to do with the uncontrolled fermentation process. There is a lot of good bacteria in vinegar, but in the mainstream medical world, distilled alcohol and harsh solvent-preservatives are far more “controlled”.

Why Vinegar?

Vinegar extracts the medicinal constituents of plants, yet also carries many healing properties of its own. Since it is a derivative of apples or grapes, it contains natural sugars, starch, gluten and gum, and most importantly the fruit’s minerals (such as potassium). And as herbalist James Green writes, “potassium…plays a major role in human metabolism, respiration, blood conditioning, and nervous system vitalization.”

Vinegar tonifies.

Have you ever wondered how a chicken stays so moist when you bake it? Well, what ingredients are recommended to marinate or baste your chicken with? Vinegar helps keep your meat firm and moist. It’s technically tonifying your chicken and it has the same effects on our body. Many herbalist use vinegar as a facial/hair cleanser and tonic because it both tightens our skin and moistens our cells. It’s what witch’s use to retain their youth and beauty ;)

Here’s a list of benefits that I’ve gathered from James Green’s book, The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook:

-PURE vinegar promotes the flow of saliva, helping to diminish thirst

-Vinegar helps manage fever by diminishing the frequency of the pulse and the heat of the skin

-Externally, it cleanses, tonifies and conditions the skin

-Vinegars antiseptic properties help relieve skin inflammations, sunburn and itching

-Applied to the skin it’s cooling, which can help aid the healing of bruises and sprains

-Internally, naturally fermented vinegar is a tonic for the entire digestive tract

**It promotes secretions in the kidneys and respiratory mucous membranes, hence speeding up the metabolism

-It’s a food source that is high in minerals

-Vinegar in NON-TOXIC

If you ever have more questions about vinegars, please contact me. I make many vinegar infusions, including oxymels and shrubs (vinegar and honey herbal infusions), and I love to share them with people. In the meantime, enjoy making your own infusion…

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How to make a Vinegar Infusion:

Culinary purposes

1.     Harvest fresh herb (flower or leaf in this case) at appropriate time in seasonal calendar

2.     Fill one-pint jar 1/3 full with leaves/flowers/fruits **You can macerate or chop the herbal material if you’d like the vinegar to infuse faster

3.     Cover leaf/flower/fruit with room temperature apple cider vinegar (or vinegar of choice) and fill jar to the first grooved line at the top (a common place to stop for canning)

4.     Cap your jar with a plastic lid or put a plastic bag/wrap between the metal lid and jar so that the vinegar won’t corrode the metal

5.     Label your jar

6.     Stir or shake the jar every day (or as often as you remember) for one week

7.     Let sit for 5-6 more weeks (or longer! The longer it sits the more flavor and herbal absorption is made by the vinegar)

8.     Strain or keep herbal material in and use it with the vinegar on your food

9.     Enjoy!

Vinegars normally last for about 1 year, but experiment and see how the vinegar changes over time :)

Medicinal Purposes

1.     Harvest herb at appropriate time or use dried herb (root/fruit/leaf)

2.     Macerate or grind herb to a coarse powder

3.     Fill one-pint jar ¼ full with macerated or ground material

4.     Cover herbal material with warm vinegar (not boiling, but warm enough to penetrate the dried or harder root material)

5.     Follow Culinary steps 4-7

6.     Strain after 5 weeks

7.     Heat the infusion to the boiling point (but don’t boil)

8.     Pour into sterilized glass bottle, and cap.

To start, Herbs to infuse in Culinary Vinegar:

Dandelion leaf

Chickweed

Herb Robert

Spruce tips

Strawberry or raspberry leaves

Lavender

Cilantro

Elderberry

Cherries

Figs

Etc.

To start, skin and hair herbs for vinegars:

Horsetail

Comfrey

Lemon Balm

Mugwort

Etc.

Miso in the morning

I worked up in Canada this past summer and I stayed at different friend’s homes in Vancouver. It was at one house where I was introduced to this unique combination of ingredients. And at another home where I discovered I could add different sources of protein to my breakfast bowl.

Start with the main ingredients and then experiment with other seeds or meats or sauces to start your day off with fermented, salty goodness!

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Miso Oatmeal Recipe

Ingredients:

¾ cups Old-Fashion Oats

1 ½  cups Water

1 Tbsp. Miso paste

1 tsp. Olive oil

A pinch of Cayenne

Top it off with:

Eggs, Steak, Tofu, Kimchi, Nutritional Yeast, or Siracha/other hot sauce.

Directions:

1.     Bring water to a boil

2.     Stir in half cup of oats and reduce heat to medium

3.     Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes

4.     Stir in miso until it dissolves into the oats

5.     Add olive oil and cayenne

6.     Serve in a bowl and top with any of the the suggestions above