October – digging roots
Roots are quite amazing medicine on every level and there is something quite satisfying about unearthing this hidden medicine.
Today at our Herb Group Meeting we dug Soapwort root, Valerian and Burdock.
The Burdock root is sweet to taste and is a very usable vegetable.
I chopped the root and covered it with Apple Cider Vinegar, I will leave it for 3-4 weeks before filtering and will use it throughout the winter as a tonic.
Burdock or Arctium lappa is a very powerful Medicine.
You do not need large doses and do use with care as too much can provoke a healing crisis.
Burdock is known as a ‘blood cleanser’ purifier or alterative with an affinity for the liver.
Cool in nature, Burdock can assist with inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and also skin conditions such as acne, eczema and psoriasis.
As Maria and John dug the roots of Valerian, the whole area was filled with the aroma! It is not to everyone’s taste but personally I love it!
We are drying the Valerian root and will tincture it at our next herb group meet.
Valerian is such a wonderful herb for fear and anxiety, she can be used in situations such as for fear of flying, or for a non specific anxious feeling that is chronic or acute.
A well known sleep remedy, Valerian is a tranquilser in the true sense of the word that it will only induce sleep if that is what the body requires.
Take Valerian as a tincture or a decoction, either in combination with other herbs or as a simple.
Valerian also acts as a smooth muscle relaxant making it a very useful herb in cases of IBS where there is muscle spasm and anxiety.
Soapwort – saponaira officinalis
Wow! Angela and Mandy really did find a lot of root to dig and spent a lot of time chopping and preparing for drying.
We are going to use this root to make our own shampoo.. watch this space!
Our next herb group meeting will be November 26th 2pm, see you there!
