Healing Wise

Maitake mushrooms

Maitake mushrooms

Susun prepares and cooks up Maitake mushrooms.

 

Nourish Immunity with Food

Winter Wellness
Nourish Immunity with Food

Sauerkraut: A spoonful daily is the best preventative of colds and the flu. If you didn't make it last fall, it's not too late to do it now. It's ready to eat in a few days. Store bought doesn't work as it has been pasteurized.

Ginger: has shown activity against numerous infectious pathogens. Most notably, fresh ginger inhibits viruses that commonly cause respiratory infections.

Garlic: has been used to prevent infection for thousands of years; and it still works! No need to upset your stomach (and loved ones) by eating it raw; cooked garlic retains its antibacterial powers, so long as you eat enough of it. During plague times, some healers wore a stiff cone of paper or bark stuffed with garlic and spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg) tied over the nose to ward off contagion. That's a little cumbersome for modern times, but inhaling the aroma of a cup of spicy chai tea sweetened with garlic honey could help you stay well.

Read the rest here ...

 

Mullein infusion

Mullein infusion

To brew mullein infusion, I fill a quart canning jar about half full of cut and crushed mullein leaf and stalk pieces. (If using commercial herb, I use one ounce by weight.) I fill the jar to the top with boiling water, cap tightly, and let it sit at room temperature for four hours, or overnight.

Mullein leaves are fuzzy, and mullein infusion can be too. To protect my throat, I always strain my mullein infusion through tightly-woven cloth (like a handkerchief) before drinking. The dose of mullein infusion is 1-4 cups a day.

Mullein infusion will last for 5-6 days refrigerated. It brews up to a dark brown liquid with a smoky flavor that I find quite appealing, especially with milk and honey.

To relieve acute lung problems, such as bronchitis, pneumonia, SARS, even coughs, 2-4 cups of mullein infusion a day, plus elecampane, echinacea, and/or poke root tinctures are consumed until health has returned. To strengthen the lungs, or to restore health to lung tissues after "assaults" such as tobacco smoke or radiation: 1-2 cups of mullein infusion daily for six weeks is suggested. To relieve allergies and asthma, 2-4 cups of mullein infusion every day for 6-8 weeks is amazingly effective.

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Foods that Lower Blood Pressure.

Foods that Lower Blood Pressure.

Fruits: apple, banana, blueberry, cranberry, fig, grape, orange, pomegranate.

Vegetables: beets, broccoli, celery, dandelion greens, garlic, mushrooms, parsley, potatoes, seaweed, spinach.

Drinking eight ounces (a cup) of beetroot juice a day decreases blood pressure about as quickly and about as much as most drugs. It is loaded with nitrate, which turns into nitric oxide in the body. Nitro widens blood vessels and increases blood flow.

Read the rest of this article:

www.wisewomanmentor.com/wisdom-archive/foods-that-lower-blood-pressure

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External Uses of Infusions

External Uses of Infusions
What to do when your infusions are past safe for drinking.

A soak consists of an infusion that has been rewarmed after the plant material has been strained out. The affected body part is then soaked in the warm infusion.

If you soak your feet in an herbal infusion, it's a foot bath, an excellent way to soothe and heal the entire body, and absorb herbal benefits.

A sitz bath is a big soak! Two or more quarts of infusion are usually needed to fill a shallow bowl or pan big enough for you to "sitz" in.

A bath is an enormous soak, like steeping your body in an infusion. You can prepare an herbal bath by putting the herbs directly in the tub, but my plumber made it clear to me that herbs and drains are incompatible. Some herbals say to put the herbs in a cloth and allow the bath water to run over them but I find the resulting bath too weak. If you want a strong herbal bath, try it this way: Infuse two quarts of your favorite bath herb, strain, and add the liquid to your hot bath. Ahhhhh!

Read the rest here:
www.wisewomanmentor.com/recipe-archive/external-uses-of-infusions

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Linden Infusion

Linden Infusion

Linden is the world’s leading anti-cold and anti-flu herb.
It prevents and heals all respiratory distresses (but is not an anti-infective). It is a cooling and strengthening herb. Linden is considered safe for children and elders.

Linden is primarily used as a tea, though I prefer the curative powers of a strong infusion.

* One-half ounce of linden blossoms
* One quart of water

Steep for four hours. I strain off the first brew and refrigerate it, then rebrew the wet linden flowers by adding two cups of cold water to them in a saucepan. I bring this rebrew to a boil, cover, and let sit for four hours to extract the healing mucilage that is triggered by the cold water.

www.wisewomanmentor.com/recipe-archive

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Cinnamon, Cardamom, and Nutmeg

Cinnamon, Cardamom, and Nutmeg

 

The aroma of winter is wood smoke and evergreen. But winter holidays smell spicy. Herbs that grow only in the tropics — such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, allspice, and vanilla — are called spices. Their aromatic oils and volatile esters entice us with delicious smells and mouth-watering tastes. And spices warm us from the inside, as if we had ingested the tropical sun on a cold day. Spices help preserve food and counter a variety of illnesses, too. Come, sit and warm your feet by the fire. Close your eyes and imagine the dense green forests where aromatic spices grow. ..

* A cup of Cinnamon tea .. eases menstrual cramps, soothes sore joints, relieves gas pain, and allays that feeling of fullness after a big meal. A sip or two of cinnamon tea before meals improves digestion and prevents acid reflux. Those who drink cinnamon tea regularly will have less cavities, stronger gums, and fewer insect bites.
* Chewing cardamom seeds freshens the breath and improves digestion. Herbalists consider cardamom effective for helping the liver, the appetite, the stomach, and the intestines.
* Modern medicine validates Nutmeg’s ability to inhibit diarrhea and slow down the action of the gastrointestinal tract. Folk medicine agrees, using nutmeg against diarrhea, dysentery, inflammation of the mucus membranes, flatulence, and vomiting. Nutmeg has also been shown to effect prostaglandin synthesis and to be a particularly potent antimicrobial. It may also be anti-rheumatic.

Green blessing are everywhere, especially in your spice chest.
🌟
Happy Holidays!
🌟

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Winter edible weed: Cronewort

Winter edible weed:  Cronewort (Artemisia vulgaris)

The little leaves of my friend cronewort (AKA mugwort), minced, will add a savory, slightly bitter bite to our salad. Just a few will do the trick. Yes, you can still make a cronewort vinegar, with leaves or roots and leaves, if you can find young growth, which is generally easy.

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Elder Remedies

Elder Remedies

Cold and flu season is approaching. Here's some Elder remedies to help keep you healthy.

* Dried Elder Berry Tincture
Fill any size jar no more than half full of dried elder berries. Fill jar to the top with 100 proof vodka. Cap, label, wait for six weeks, and use.

* Dried Elder Berry Infusion
Put 1-2 ounces of dried berries in a quart jar and fill to the top with boiling water. Steep overnight. Drink it, a half cup at a time, or turn it into a decoction.

* Dried Elder Berry Decoction
Pour a quart of infusion, berries and all, into a saucepan and gently simmer until the liquid is reduced by one-half or more. In other words, you want to wind up with 1-2 cups of decoction. The decoction may be taken by the teaspoonful. It keeps best if refrigerated. Or make a syrup with your decoction.

* Dried Elder Berry Syrup
When you have reduced it as much as you wish, add sweetener. A classic syrup contains as much sweetener as herbal liquid. So you could add a cup of honey or maple syrup or white sugar to one cup of elder berry decoction. Syrups need to be refrigerated.

* Dried Elder Berry Glycerite
Buy glycerin at the drugstore or health food store. Dilute it by at least half with sterile water. Dilutions as low as one part glycerin to four parts water will work. Fill a jar no more than half full of dried elder berries. Fill the jar to the top with the diluted glycerin. The resulting glycerite is ready to use, by the dropperful, in 6 weeks.

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Nettle Sesame Salt

Nettle Sesame Salt

A delicious low-salt seasoning

1 cup/250ml sesame seeds
1/4 cup/60ml dried nettle

Roast sesame in heavy pan over medium heat. Stir constantly to prevent scorching. When browned to your liking, pour into blender or mortar with a pinch of salt and nettle leaves. Grind fairly fine.

Preparation time: 10 minutes.
This disappears as fast as I can make it. Superb on salads and cooked grains.

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Goldenrod (Solidago species)

Goldenrod (Solidago species)

I like to make a jar or two of goldenrod vinegar as a fall tonic. The taste is earth-y and pollen-y and sunshine-y.

The goldenrod is a late fall favorite of so many insects, I figure it must offer something special to help us all through the winter that’s ahead.

While goldenrod flowers do sometimes find their way into my salads, I find their texture less than friendly.

Oat Tart with Date Filling

Oat Tart with Date Filling
by Juliette de Bairacli Levy

Filling: Two pounds stoned dates, one orange, one lemon (small).
Grate the peels off the orange and lemon, then squeeze out all the juice. Pour the juice over the dates in a pan and heat over low heat for about ten minutes until the dates have softened. Now mix the grated peels into this and set aside to cool.

Oat crust: four ounces butter, one tablespoon maple syrup, one cup milk, two cups flaked oats, half cup flour, half cup sugar.
Melt the butter, then add the syrup and the milk. Mix the dry ingredients separately. Finally, add the two mixtures together, mixing very completely to prevent lumpiness.

Grease a round baking tin, spread the oat crust in the bottom and cook for about twenty minutes at 350°F until a light brown color. When semi-cooked take from oven, press up the sides of the crust with a spoon, to make a low wall for the date filling. Now add filling into the tart and bake for a further ten minutes.
When still warm and soft, cut up into triangular portions of the typical tart shape. Allow the tart to set before removing the portions from the baking tin.

Excerpt from Juliette de Bairacli Levys Nature's Children.

Wise Woman Bookshop Sale on Juliette de Bairacli Levy's books, Ends tomorrow!

Buy Two Get One Free!
Use coupon code: JULIETTE2022

www.wisewomanbookshop.com
Sale Ends 10/8/2022
🌿

Wise Woman Bookshop Sale

Wise Woman Bookshop Sale on Juliette de Bairacli Levy's books.

Juliette de Bairacli Levy, was a world renowned herbalist, author,
and pioneer of holistic veterinary medicine.

If you've been wanting to read Julliette now is a great time to get her books:
Traveler's Joy
Common Herbs for Natural Health
Nature's Children
Summer in Galilee
A Gypsy in New York
Spanish Mountain Life

* Buy Two Get One Free! *

Use coupon code: JULIETTE2022

www.wisewomanbookshop.com

Sale ends 10/1/2022

Skullcap tincture

Skullcap tincture

Susun talks to a caller on blogtalkradio about skullcap. She explains how to make the tincture and talks about the plants properties and it's use as an anti-viral for Lyme.
This audio is just under 4:00 minutes long.

 

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Join Susun Weed on blogtalkradio, Tuesday nights 7:30-9:30 pm EST. Call in with your questions or email ahead of time to wisewoman@herbshealing.com. 

Visit the link for more info:
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Dried Tomato Pate

Dried Tomato Pâté  
{excerpt from: Abundantly Well: Seven Medicines}

Spread on crackers, spoon into soup, add to omelets.

* Pack dried tomatoes into a one-cup measure.
* Add boiling water to just barely cover.

When tomatoes are soft, strain out the soaking liquid; save.
Put half the tomatoes in a blender or Cuisinart mini-prep.

* Add ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil.
* Add 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped.
* Add a little sea salt

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Read the rest of this recipe here:
www.wisewomanmentor.com/recipes-2

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