Three Quick and Easy Medicinal Plants that Grow By Themselves

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We’ve tried the DIY herbal medicine thing in the past, but with limited success. Medicinal herbs always seem to come second on our list after food crops.

And adding yet more items to our already-long list of plants to grow, plus then remembering to harvest, preserve, and use them at the proper time . . . Can you see why we haven’t done it?

But the goal has always been to learn about a few medicinal herbs every year

This year, we’re actually meeting that goal, thanks largely to this book, and the realization that a number of the remedies recommended in it are actually growing as weeds on our property.

I mean, getting our favorite foods to grow in our garden has often been a bit . . . hit or miss.

But WEEDS! We’ve never had trouble growing those!

If you can start your home herbal remedy with something that has already grown by itself, you are jumping in with the battle already half-over.

Add to that, the processes to take these plants from growing-in-the-field to medicine-in-the-cabinet turn out not to be the rocket science you might expect. It’s actually very simple.

So here are three healing plants we’ve learned about this year, found growing on our property, and actually added to our medicine cabinet!

We’ll preface these details with the obligatory disclaimer that we, of course, are not doctors, and you should do your own research before trying any of this yourself.

Yarrow

You probably already know what it looks like. Small white flowers and ferny leaves, we found yarrow growing near our creak. Picking flowers happens to be one of our children’s very favorite past-times. After being properly (and probably unnecessarily) instructed on to identify yarrow, they returned with a small harvest. We stripped the flowers and leaves from the stems and put them in our dehydrator at a low temperature. When they were fully dried out we ground them into a powder.

According to our book, yarrow powder is amazing for stopping bleeding. It can be sprinkled on a cut and should stem the flow of blood quickly.

It’s also useful for nosebleeds. If the thought of shoving yarrow powder up your bleeding nose is as hard for you to wrap your brain around as for us, it’s ok! You can also mix a little powder into water and drink it.

If we get around to it, we may take the extra step of making it into a tincture for more convenient use, but for now, we are counting a tin of dried yarrow powder as a herbal remedy win.

We are (sort of) eagerly anticipating our first opportunity to try this out for ourselves.

Burdock

They say that calendula is one of the best herbs for all kinds of skin issues. It’s also (supposedly) super easy to grow.

Well, we can only say that we have lost count of our failed attempts to grow calendula. It probably doesn’t help that we always try to get it started as sort of an afterthought after planting all of our food crops.

So imagine our delight at finding that the seed pods and leaves of Burdock are also a great remedy for rashes, burns, and general skin problems.

Burdock! We have it all over the place!

See Exhibit A, a burdock plant that sprung up right under our deck.

It may be inconveniently positioned as far as having a neat and tidy appearance to our home. But from the perspective of making herbal medicine, it turns out to be in a very handy location.

It was probably a five minute process to wander out with a quart mason jar and pack it with burdock leaves and seeds. Pour olive oil over everything to fill the jar, and then leave it in a sunny place.

We know, we know, you would think that leaving oil sitting in the sun would turn it rancid.

Our book assures us that this is not the case. As long as the herbs are still in the oil, the sun will help to extract the healing properties from the leaves and transfer them to the oil. After the oil infuses for two weeks, you strain out the leaves and use the oil (which you now store in a dark place) for skin complaints.

You should also let the leaves wilt for a few hours before putting them in the oil to avoid excess moisture making it into the final remedy and leading to mold issues.

The classic method is to make a salve is to combine the infused oil with beeswax. Our plan is to combine it with beeswax and tallow.

You can also dig up Burdock root and make a detoxifying tea with it…

But note that this list is supposed to be quick and easy herbal remedies.

Digging up a burdock root is neither quick nor easy, especially if it happens to be under your deck.

Mullein

Mullein was discovered in the pasture by our children. They were drawn to its big, fuzzy leaves.

Because the leaves are so big, it took our two year old just a few minutes to pick a large supply. Then it was a simple process to spread them in our dehydrator, and store in a mason jar when finished.

You can make a tea with mullein for coughs and colds. You can even put it in your pipe and smoke it for respiratory benefits.

You know that annoying dry cough that keeps you up at night when you’re at the tail end of getting over a cold? Mullein stops it.

We can say that we have actually tried this, and with stunning success.

A hacking cough was stopped in its tracks with a cup of mullein tea and the patient did not cough again all night long.

It’s so good at stopping coughs that some herbalists actually caution against using it in the earlier stages of your cough as it may prevent a productive cough from doing its job.

Your Turn

We hope this story will encourage some of our readers to try their own hands at herbal medicine. Or maybe you’ve already discovered some of these herbal remedies for yourself. Let us know in the comments!