June 11, 2024 • 49 mins
Can herbs truly transform your life and boost your homesteading journey? Join us on this enlightening episode of Keeping it Real, the Gorham Homestead podcast, as we unravel the mysteries behind our latest beekeeping endeavors and share valuable lessons from our meat chicken processing experience. From the health of our new colony to the challenges faced with an older hive, we provide a comprehensive update on the buzzing world of bees. Plus, gain practical tips on timely ordering and choosing the right feed types to enhance your homestead's productivity.
Ever wondered how lemon balm can soothe hyperactive children or St John's wort can ease anxiety and depression? We delve deep into the powerful healing properties of these herbs, revealing their cultivation secrets, preparation methods, and various forms of use. Discover how lemon balm's antiviral benefits can be amplified with licorice, and learn about St John's wort's potential side effects and the importance of consulting healthcare providers. This episode is packed with actionable insights that can help you harness the natural remedies around you for better health and well-being.
As we venture further into the world of herbs, we explore the benefits and precautions of using Queen Anne's Lace and wild lettuce, highlighting their significant roles in managing blood sugar levels and relieving pain. Plus, the heart-health benefits of motherwort and the immune-boosting powers of echinacea are uncovered, offering you a holistic approach to herbalism. Reflecting on the importance of utilizing natural resources, we provide inspiration for you to embrace the art of herbalism in your own life. Don't miss out on our upcoming episode about essential oils, and be sure to connect with us on social media and our website to stay engaged with our homesteading journey.
***Thank you to our sponsor "A Bee's Closet". Be sure to go see Joe Ellis for the best service and help on all your beekeeping needs!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hey y'all, and welcome to Keeping it Real, the
Gorham Homestead podcast, wherewe talk about real food, real
natural living, the real art ofnatural healing and real life
out here on Tennesseeennesseehomestead.
I'm your host, don gorham, andtoday is tuesday, june the 11th
2024, and you are listening toepisode number 15.
Our topic today is part two ofherbs that we can't live without
(00:40):
or use a lot here on ourhomestead, and so we're just
going to go through the rest ofthose.
But first let me do mydisclaimer.
Nothing that I say today is tobe construed as medical advice.
I am not a medical professionalor a medical provider.
Please be sure to speak to yourmedical provider before taking
(01:02):
any herbs to determine if theyare safe for you or if there are
any contraindications oranything of that nature.
So with that out of the way, Ifirst want to say a big shout
out to our first sponsor, andour first sponsor is a locally
owned business, a bees closet,and so if you are in the market
(01:25):
for getting any bee supplies,getting bees, getting a bee suit
, just anything that has to dowith beekeeping, joe Ellis is
owner of a bee's closet righthere in Bon Aqua, tennessee, and
he is just a wonderful humanbeing and he's so knowledgeable
and so helpful.
So if you are in the area andwant to go somewhere where you
(01:49):
can just literally walk andtouch the bee stuff and talk to
someone to find out what youreally need and what you don't
really need, I recommend thatyou go talk to Joe at a bees
closet.
You will not be sorry that youdid Joe at a bees closet, you
will not be sorry that you did.
(02:09):
And so talking about bees leadsme right into what's going on
around here.
I want to try to incorporatewhat's going on because I'm not
really having time right now todo a separate what's going on
around here.
You know all the things with meand T, so I'm just going to
kind of give you a little briefoverview of what is happening
currently on our homestead.
So today a friend, a lady fromthe local bee club, came and we
(02:34):
opened up my two hives.
I finally got a second beepackage that's the word I'm
looking for A package of beeswhich was a full 10 frame colony
of bees.
And I got those from Joe at abees closet and they look really
, really good.
Even she was commenting on justhow great that particular hive
(02:56):
looked.
There was lots of brood, lotsof freshly laid little eggs in
there and what she called juicybrood, so the bigger ones, and
they were really drawing outcomb.
Really well, everything lookedreally really good in that hive
and we also inspected the onethat I previously got from a
commercial beekeeper and we werenot positive at first that it
(03:22):
was queen right, because weweren't able to find the queen
number one, number two she was.
What she was laying was likespotty.
The comb was like looking weird.
It was weird, um, drawing out.
It wasn't like nice and uniformlike it's supposed to be.
(03:43):
So still not a hundred percentthat that hive had a queen when
I got it, even though I was toldthat it was.
We did see a queen today, butwe suspect that she was a new
queen, that she had emerged.
Maybe it was a swarm, becausethere are less bees by far than
(04:05):
what my brand new hive has thatI just got.
So and there were a lot ofqueen cells in that hive when we
first got it.
So possibly queen swarmed withhalf the hive or whatever, and
now we have a new queen, butanyway she.
So we tried to set that up soit looked like, um, everything
(04:25):
is looking better.
She is, she's laying, she'sgetting started, so hopefully
everything will be okay withthat hive.
Um, we finished processingchickens.
That has been such a relief.
I'm so glad to be done withchickens.
They have been meat chickens.
This year At least we didn'thave a big loss like we did last
(04:48):
year.
We got them ordered on time,got them in on time.
So just my personal preferenceand advice for you is, if you
are going to order meat chickensfor the upcoming year, order
them in December or January,because by the time February,
march, rolls around, it's toolate and they're sold out and
(05:09):
then you can't get them untillater in the summer and then
they get too hot and all of thatstuff.
But we did.
We got them ordered on time.
Process and date had been onthe calendar since December.
So we knew what three weekendswe were going to be processing
and we finally finished them upthis past weekend.
It was, I think, another 50that we did and our average.
(05:31):
I will say, though the averageweight did not pick up from last
weekend to this past weekendlike we thought it was going to.
We continued to feed them.
Excuse me, thought it was goingto, we continued to feed them.
Excuse me, but I was not ableto go to my regular place where
I get feed for my meat chickensand so I had to use um and I'm
(05:55):
not knocking it.
I love my tractor supply feed,I love stuff from tractor supply
, but I don't really feel likeit did as well on the meat
chickens as my MPS feed does,and I know because they
specifically make it for me andmake it for people who raise
meat chickens, and it's freshand it comes right off the meal
(06:17):
and I do think that that makes adifference specifically with
meat birds.
So they didn't pick up, theydidn't gain any weight over the
week.
So an extra week cost us anextra $60 because we went
through another two bags of feedfor 50 birds and with no weight
(06:38):
gain.
So that was a lesson learned.
Probably we'll try to processnext time Now that I'm at home,
I can do them over days ratherthan over three weeks and try to
get all of them done at thesame time so they don't cost so
much to continue to feed themout and the freeze dryer.
(07:01):
So when we were done with thosechickens, we had tons of liver
and heart left over.
Obviously, that's one of thethings that we save out of the
entrails, and instead of puttingthose in the freezer this time
I decided to freeze dry them.
God, I love that freeze dryer,and so I freeze dried them
(07:22):
separately.
I put all the hearts on onetray, because they all fit on
that, and then all of the liversI put on all the other trays,
and what I did with it was makedog treats.
Normally I would freeze them,but I had left them in the
refrigerator a little too longand they kind of started looking
a little dry.
You know how they can turn darkand a little bit dry.
So I figured dog treats was thenext best thing, so that I
(07:45):
didn't waste them.
And so, yeah, so I got a prettygood amount of liver and hearts
and we will only give them alittle bit of it as a treat.
They don't need a whole, wholelot of extra liver and hearts
just by itself, but it does makefor a good little treat every
now and then.
We've taken our son to campwrestling camp in another state
(08:11):
for a whole month, and he'sgoing to turn 17 while he's gone
Like I'm not even going to seehim on his birthday.
I've never been away from himon his birthday and I know
that's probably not a big dealto most, but he is the youngest
and he is my baby and it'sreally, really like.
I'm really really having a hardtime with this.
(08:32):
And, um, I didn't get superlike I kept going back in and I
I knew in the back of my headthat I was making up excuses to
go back in, like I needed towrite his name on in, like I
needed to write his name on hisextension cord, I needed to
write his name on his littlemulti-plug that was going into
the wall.
And then we saw t-shirts andshorts.
(08:55):
So we bought him those and wehad to take those back in.
And then I had to remember thatI had to write his name on
those.
I just was making up reasonsnot to leave.
So finally we got out of thereand I was okay.
I was actually okay until wehit the Tennessee line coming
back and I never said anythingto T, I never brought it up.
But once I realized I was inTennessee, that's when I kind of
(09:19):
got a little emotional.
And then, of course, he hates it.
We've gotten text messagesalready saying that you know
this is not for him.
Everybody's wild.
He doesn't like the vibe theboys are.
They're being boys and he'sjust not used to that.
He's more of a reserved, quiettype.
(09:40):
He's not like rambunctious,getting into trouble, being loud
, being obnoxious is just nothim.
So but anyway, I suspect thatby the end of the camp he will
be fine and he will have madebuddies and memories and all
that stuff.
So I know I hated camp thefirst week, anytime that I ever
(10:00):
went, and I was homesick and Iwanted to come home, but by the
end of it I was normally youknow, normally doing fine.
So hopefully he will too.
And Self Reliance Festivalthat's the last thing that's
going on with me has amped up.
We are in the planning andpreparing phase and of course,
(10:22):
tickets are on sale.
If you are interested in goingto Self Reliance Festival and
finding people who are on sale,if you are interested in going
to self-reliance festival andfinding people who are like you,
finding people who can be yourtribe, self-reliance festival is
a really great way to go andconnect with those folks.
And it's october, the fourthand fifth this year, and it is
in camden t Tennessee, and youcan buy tickets on the website
(10:45):
at selfreliancefestivalcom.
I'm not sure what the pricesare right now, because we did
have some discussion about wehad some new sponsors coming in
and whether or not we could do afamily price, and so we'll just
have to.
I'm not real sure if all ofthat has worked its way out yet,
but if you want to come to SelfReliance Festival and also if
(11:08):
you would like to volunteer andget your ticket reimbursed, I
will be more than happy to putyou on my volunteer list.
We have so many jobs thatpeople can do and it takes a
village to make this festivalhappen, so our volunteers is
really what keeps that tickingreally well.
So if you would love like tovolunteer, I would love to have
(11:30):
you.
All you have to do is reach out.
You can sign up on the website.
There's a little volunteer formthat you can fill out and that
automatically gets sent to me.
All right, first up on our listof herbs for today is lemon balm
.
Now, lemon balm is also knownas Melissa officinalis and it is
(11:50):
part of the mint family, whichmeans plant it where you can
contain it, because if you don't, it will spread like wildfire,
like it will take overeverything, as mint does.
But it is such a cool plant andI love the taste of it and the
smell of it.
The smell is almostintoxicating and the bees love
(12:12):
it, so that makes me reallyhappy that we have lots of lemon
balm here to keep the beeshappy.
But some of the cool uses forlemon balm, we use it in a tea
because for us it's more of asedative.
We use it as a way to just kindof relax and wind down at the
(12:33):
end of the day.
But it's also a featured remedyfor heart disease and heartache
from insomnia or justoverwhelming sadness that keeps
you awake at night.
Lemon balm is a really good herbto help with that.
(12:53):
It helps depression, anxiety,nervous disorders and then plus,
it's really really good foryour body to help ward off and
fight off and defeat a host ofviral illnesses, but
specifically anything herpeticor in the herpes family shingles
, chicken pox, cold sores,anything like that.
(13:18):
Lemon balm is a really goodtreatment for that and that is
what we use for our son if hegets any sort of cold sore.
Is that we?
That's when we resort to addinglemon balm tincture.
You can rub it on oil, you canrub it on, but tincture
(13:38):
tinctures burn a little bit butthey are super effective.
So you can add some oil to thatif you want to and rub it on
the affected area.
But it really does help withthat and there is actual
scientific evidence that provesthat lemon balm is an effective
(13:58):
treatment for that.
So that that's kind of coolwhen herbalism and science
actually agree on something,because it just doesn't happen
very often.
Lemon balm has been called theelixir of life, which kind of
tells you, you know, that it canlike, sweeten the spirit, it
(14:19):
can bring you up when you'redown, and the part that you want
to use is the aerial part ofthe plant, because the leaf is
what is rich in those oils,those essential oils.
Of course it's not technicallyan essential oil because it's
not distilled down, but it'sstill really really good to use
in teas and tinctures and thingslike that.
(14:41):
It has a rich concentration ofthose volatile oils, but
specifically it has citral andcitronellol, which calms the
nervous and digestive systems,and it has antispasmodic actions
(15:03):
and again, that is kind of whatwe use it for.
We like, we use it for, like Isaid, anything that has to do
with cold sores or calming downin a tea, and of course.
I think it's really good to usejust on a daily basis.
I love the way it tastes.
It freeze dries really reallywell.
The smell is just amazing whenit comes out of the freeze dryer
(15:24):
, so it's really really well.
The smell is just amazing whenit comes out of the freeze dryer
, so it's really really good.
It's also good for kids.
Any kid with ADHD or, you know,just hyperactivity, it's a good
one to soothe those kids Ifthey have recurring nightmares,
anything like that.
A dose of tea before bedtimewill help to alleviate kids
(15:48):
having like over and over andover nightmares.
It's also rich in polyphenolswhich have a strong antiviral
action, which is what I was justdiscussing.
So you can also combine thatwith licorice, which makes it
even more effective againstanything in the herpes family.
That's the first one lemon balm.
(16:12):
The second one we're going totalk about is St John's wort,
and it is also a Good fordepression, anxiety, pain,
anything of that nature, and wefound it growing wild here and
cultivated it, you know, babiedit and replanted it from that in
(16:34):
other places.
So now we have it growing inmore than just one place.
But I love St John's worttinctures, and a tincture is
just where you let the herbs sitin alcohol that is at least 95%
for six weeks and shake in thebottle every so, and you can do
(16:55):
it less than that.
I do it six weeks.
That's my rule of thumb.
I believe you can actually doit three weeks, but the longer
it sits, the more potent it'sgoing to be.
So I kind of like to let it goa little bit longer, just
because I want every little bitthat I can get out of it.
But it's really really good forthings of that nature.
I use it in my shark week Imentioned that the other day
(17:19):
because I feel like it helpstake that edge off.
Because I feel like it helpstake that edge off, like if
you're really stressed out orthings are really not going
right and there's nothing youcan do about it.
A lot of times St John's Wortwill just kind of help bring you
back to your center, kind ofhelp refocus your energy,
because if you get all of yourenergy going in a negative
(17:40):
direction, it's just going tokeep spinning that way.
And if you let people pull youin a negative direction, it's
just going to keep spinning thatway, and if you let people pull
you in a negative direction.
You're going to continue topull that way and you're going
to continue to attract morenegative.
So the best thing that you cando is just cut off any negative,
focus on positive and then, ifyou need a little help, st
John's Wort is always a goodlittle thing to go to Now.
(18:04):
St John's Wort is always a goodlittle thing to go to Now.
St John's Wort has been prettypopular over the years and it's
pretty well known for itsability to help with chronic
depression and anxiety andthings of that nature.
But I think where themisconception or the I guess the
bad information or lack ofinformation was that people
(18:27):
thought that St John's Wort wasgoing to work like a
pharmaceutical and that if theytried it that they would get
that instant relief or instantbeing able to tell, like you can
sometimes with pharmaceuticals,and that's just not how herbs
work.
For St John's Wort to beeffective in treating any kind
(18:48):
of depression, anxiety, anything, you have to take it for
several, several weeksconsistently, but you know at
least a two to three week periodand most of the time it's
actually cycled over severalmonths to treat chronic
depression and stress, and Ithink that hasn't been made
clear in years past and I thinka lot of people who have tried
(19:09):
St John's wort ended updisappointed just because the
results were not what theythought, because they gave up
too early.
But I'm going to read reallyquick St John's wort is a very
effective and this is from myRosemary Gladstar book.
St John's wort is a veryeffective and this is from my
Rosemary Gladstar book.
St John's wort is a veryeffective antidepressant and
over the past 30 years itsefficacy has been proved by
(19:30):
extensive clinical andscientific studies.
Hypersin, one of the herb'sactive constituents, increases
the metabolism of serotonin andmelatonin.
You know a lot of people liketo take melatonin, which aids
the body's ability to receiveand store light.
Hyperforin, another importantconstituent, contributes to
(19:50):
emotional stability by slowingthe uptake of those feel-good
neurotransmitters such asdopamine, serotonin and
noradrenaline, which allows themto circulate longer in the body
.
So that kind of explains how StJohn's works within the body to
(20:11):
sort of lift the spirits, tohelp ward off some of the bad
stuff that's going on, justbecause it helps all of those
things to act within your bodykind of a little more like
they're supposed to.
But again, things like thattake time.
Some of the preparations thatyou can use them in are teas.
(20:35):
You can make it in a tea tohelp lighten your mood.
You can use it in a tincture tohelp with seasonal affective
disorder, with, you know, sadwhen people get depressed in the
winter.
You can use it as a salve.
It's a really good all-purposesalve for rashes, including
diaper rash.
It makes a really natural andeffective way to cure a diaper
(21:00):
rash.
It works really really well forthat.
You can make a liniment, andthe liniment is really good for
sore muscles, spastic muscles,cramps, painful joints, um,
especially those that are likearthritis and bursitis.
St John's wort is a prettyeffective pain reliever in that
way, and then you can also makeit in an oil and then rub it on
(21:21):
whatever effective affected areathat you have.
One of the things to note,though, about St John's wort is
that it can causephotosensitivity.
So if you're going to use it,you don't want to rub it on your
body and then immediately goout into the sun, because it can
kind of cause you to getsunburned.
It can kind of cause you to getsunburned.
(21:42):
Also, if you're already on anysort of antidepressant
medications, probably want tocheck with your health care
provider just to make sure thatSt John's Wort is okay for you
to take with whatever medicationthat you're already on that,
because my understanding is thatit can be it can, you know work
(22:07):
synergistically with whatevermedication that you're already
on.
Next up on my list is a QueenAnne's Lace, a woman's help.
It is also known as wild carrotbecause it kind of looks like
the leaves sort of look likecarrots, but it's a really
pretty plant and it grows aboutthree feet high.
(22:28):
We have it everywhere here.
I make tinctures out of it, Imake teas out of it, and the
problem the only really problemis there's lots and lots of bugs
in the little Queen Anne's lace.
So you kind of either have towait for the bugs to leave,
shake them out, or just be happyto tincture the flowers with
(22:49):
the little black bugs that liketo crawl all over it.
But it's really really good forthings that like if you're
having like lots of holding alot of water.
It's a diuretic and it willhelp flush a lot of that extra
water out of your body,especially if that's, you know,
if you're holding weight,because you're holding a lot of
(23:11):
water weight.
Queen Anne's laces are reallyreally good herb for that.
You could do that as a tea.
You could use the root, you canuse the leaves and flowers, and
it's good for things that haveto do with the bladder, again,
because it's a diuretic, so itwill help flush out If you have
(23:31):
cystitis, anything to do withbladder urinary tract infections
.
Queen Anne's Lace is a reallygood herb to work um to add to
whatever else that you're using.
Um, it's also next to umhuckleberry bark, which contains
berberine.
(23:51):
My husband takes berberine andberberine has helped bring down
his sugar to normal.
Um, but Queen Anne's Lace isthe next best thing if you do
not have something containingberberine.
It will actually help heal thebody and help you get back to a
(24:13):
normal sugar level.
Despite the fact that doctorsswear that type 2 diabetes can't
be cured, yes, it can.
It's a lifestyle disease thathas been caused by what you're
eating and how you're living,and if you clean up your diet
and then you take herbs thathelp to help your liver to detox
and then help stimulate yourkidneys and help flush all that
(24:35):
out, it will absolutely help tomaintain a healthy sugar level.
So just know that that's onething that you can try for that.
Of course, herbs don't work foreverybody, so just keep that in
mind.
What herb might work for memight not work for you, but I do
keep Queen Anne's Lace here.
It is one of the staples in myapothecary and I love it for
(25:00):
that.
I take it again.
It's in my shark week tincturebecause of bloating and things
that happen with PMS and withpremenopause sort of things.
I feel like Queen Anne's lace asa mild abortifacient and in
(25:31):
some instances I do believe itcan cause miscarriages.
And it can, if taken like whatthey did in the old days is they
would like I'm talking medievaltimes they would, after having
sex, drink the tea for days orwhatever, and it supposedly
would cause the egg to notimplant.
(25:51):
So just be real careful.
If you're pregnant, queenAnne's lace is definitely not
something that needs to be inyour repertoire, but it will
help.
You know.
It'll help flush out stuff ifyou're trying to.
I think it will help yourweight loss goals as well,
especially again, if the reasonpart of the problem is that
(26:14):
you're holding water weight.
The other thing about QueenAnne's Lace is if you're
foraging for it, you have to bereally, really careful to make
sure that what you are gettingis queen anne's lace and not
poison hemlock, because poisonhemlock will kill you like quick
and um.
Queen anne's lace is, you know,very safe.
(26:36):
But you can tell a difference,like the, once you've seen queen
anne's lace and you know whatyou're looking for.
You can definitely tell adifference because it's in one
little cluster with a little dotlike right in the middle of it
and hemlock is white.
But it's a bunch of differentlittle clusters and also the
leaves look a lot differentbetween the two.
(26:57):
And Queen Anne's Lace is likehairy on the stem, Excuse me and
hemlock is smooth.
So just kind of keep in mind.
You got to make sure you knowwhat you're picking when you're
picking.
For years wild lettuce hadeluded me.
I looked everywhere for it,could not find it Finally found
(27:18):
it.
Last year I was just drivingaround in New Johnsonville.
I had gone to my aunt's forsome reason or another and drove
to the end of the road.
Last year I was just drivingaround in New Johnsonville.
I had gone to my aunt's forsome reason or another and drove
to the end of the road andthere was this huge wild lettuce
plant and I was.
I saw it and I was just likemesmerized, so I hopped out and
(27:38):
I got it, of course, put it inthe back of my car and brought
it home and it was.
It was massive.
So I dried it and it was enoughto really give me a lot of wild
lettuce for a while.
But wild lettuce is fascinatingplant and now it's growing here
.
I don't know where it came from.
I don't know how it's growinghere.
(27:58):
What I had was not, you know,hanging around anywhere out
there on the property.
It went straight into thehanging up and drying.
So I have no idea.
But now we have it growing, soI'm thankful for that.
But it's also known as opiumlettuce.
That's kind of a nickname forit.
And what's interesting aboutwild lettuce is people kind of
(28:23):
in the old days treated it alittle bit like marijuana.
They called it like the devil'slettuce.
I know there's the new name forthe devil's lettuce, which is
the actual marijuana, but thisis kind of what started that,
because it had such strong painrelieving effects that when
lettuce was actually cultivatedand when it finally you know it
(28:44):
appeared on the market as asalad green, the people, the
society, people like thehighfalutin people lost their
minds.
They thought that introducinglettuce into the world was just
going to cause all kinds ofproblems.
The same way, if someone cameup with a lettuce or a salad
(29:07):
green variety of marijuana,people would freak out and lose
their minds over it.
But that's the reason whyLettuce had been previously
known in its wild form as sortof an opiate kind of lettuce.
Even though it's not that kindof pain reliever it's not
(29:30):
addictive, it doesn't make youloopy or high or anything like
that but it's a really effectivepain reliever.
And so, for some reason oranother, the people back in the
old days I guess they thoughteverybody was doing witchcraft,
I don't know.
Anyway, they didn't want evenregular lettuce out on the
(29:51):
market.
You can use the actual.
Once it gets big enough toflower, you can use those
flowers.
You can use the latex from theleaves.
They're really really good.
It's a sedative.
It's a mild sedative andnervine.
It also treats coughs, like ifyou have one of those coughs
that keeps you up at night andyou're just hacking, hacking,
(30:13):
hacking.
Wild lettuce is a really goodtreatment for that.
Kids can use it.
It does not have to be justadults.
It's used for insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, hyperactivity,
tight muscles.
It can ease coughs.
It's good for muscle spasms,colic, painful periods.
(30:35):
So now that I have it, I thinkI'm going to add it to my Shark
Week tincture and see how that.
See that helps so, cause I haveseveral women now that that get
the tincture from me.
So kind of going to see howthat helps.
And it's also really good fornervousness.
Um, one of the thoughts about itis also that it could be um
(30:57):
helpful for people with Lymedisease, cause you know how your
muscles get really stiff andall your muscles ache and hurt
and all that kind of stuff.
Wild lettuce could potentiallybe a really good remedy for that
, and of course that made mythought.
Next go to people with SPS, thestiff person syndrome.
(31:19):
My mind wonders if wild lettucewould be a helpful you know,
not cure, but helpful with thesymptoms for things like that,
to help people who suffer fromthat to sleep at night and to be
more comfortable.
It will help with anythingthat's like if you slam your
(31:40):
hand in the car door or you burnyourself or you know something
like that that you wouldnormally take an analgesic for.
Wild lettuce can be a reallygood replacement for that.
It's not my go-to for headaches, but anything that's like a
body ache, lower back pain,anything like that.
Wild lettuce is really reallygood for that.
(32:02):
And just while we're on the wildlettuce topic, it's something
that if I were making a skinsalve any sort of skin healing
salve wild lettuce should alwaysbe in that salve as well, just
because it has such healingproperties that it's a good one
(32:23):
to always add to that whenyou're cooking that down,
because it can also help to getrid of moles.
That takes a really long timebecause the way the moles are
just super thick, knock thosedown.
I know that it has been used inbass's salve, which is used for
(32:47):
a lot of things, including skinC-word.
I can't claim I'm not makingany claims that it cures the
skin C-word, but I know it hasbeen used in a salve for that
purpose.
So I don't know.
So just kind of kind of knowthat, but it's, it's a sedative,
but it can also work for skinconditions as well.
(33:13):
The next one on my list isjewelweed and it grows all up
and down my road because itlikes more the stream, sort of
mountainy, and because I'm in aholler and there's a creek at
the bottom of my road and itkind of gets cool down in there
and it almost has a mountainyfeel.
(33:34):
So jewelweed grows really wellalong the banks of my road and
it's just a really good.
It's best known for its skinhealing properties.
It's good if you get poison ivy, poison oak anything that you
know makes you itchy.
It's good for treating hivesand anything of that nature.
(33:58):
You know it's the fresh, freshplant is 75% more effective than
any oil or tincture that youcan make from it.
So just know that.
And that's fortunate because itnormally grows close to poison
ivy and poison oak.
So if you get it, at least youknow most of the time you also
(34:21):
have the fresh plant growingsomewhere close to it.
So it's funny how that works.
But it's a good one to try Ifyou you know, if anything
happens like that and you getblisters, any sort of rashes,
bites, anything that makes youitch on your skin, jewelweed is
(34:42):
an amazing little plant to tryfor that and I do keep some oils
and some tinctures, but again,it's just not as effective.
It's great to put in soaps andstuff like that too for that
reason, because even just alittle bit you know it does
really well for skin stuff.
It's good for your skin.
(35:04):
But if you have an acute issuelike a big breakout of poison
ivy, then using the fresh plantis going to work much better for
you than trying to use atincture or an oil.
The next one is one thatunfortunately has popped up on
my list just because of my age.
No woman in my family that Iknow of has actually gone
(35:24):
through menopause.
No woman in my family that Iknow of has actually gone
through menopause.
Every woman in my family haseither had a hysterectomy in
their 30s or 40s.
So I am the oldest intact woman.
Between my grandmothers, myaunts, my mother, my sister or
not my sister my cousins I'mlike the only one.
(35:46):
So I have no idea whenmenopause is coming for me.
But motherwort is something thatI have added into my repertoire
.
I keep it.
I've got a lot of it Justbecause I feel like I'm 49.
I really don't have anyperimenopausal symptoms yet.
(36:06):
I have had one or two hotflashes over the last five years
, I guess, but nothing really tospeak of.
But I feel like it's coming.
So I do add motherwort to myshark weight tincture as well,
because I do have friends andwomen in my circle who are
(36:31):
dealing with perimenopause ormenopausal symptoms and
motherwort is especially,especially, especially good for
women.
It's good for your heart ifyou're a woman or, I guess, a
guy but it's specifically goodfor women's hearts.
It's a heart tonic.
It will actually strengthen theheart and of course, you know
that's one of the main killersof women is heart attacks.
(36:55):
So it's a really good thing tostrengthen the heart muscle and
your blood vessels.
And it's good for neuralgiarapid heartbeat like tachycardia
, anything like that.
It's valued as a remedy formany women's problems, such as
delayed menstruation, uterinecramps associated with scanty
(37:18):
menses, water retention, hotflashes and mood swings during
menopause.
I had to read that part.
Even though I kind of knowthese things, I still kind of
have to read so that I canarticulate them the way that I
want to.
And motherwort is just a reallygood.
(37:38):
It's a good reproductive healthherb, it's good for
strengthening the heart, goodfor hot flashes, and you just
prepare it as an infusion anddrink several cups a day if
you're having issues with that.
Or, like I said, you can alsoadd it to tinctures.
And that's really all of theinformation that I have, because
I think that is the main usefor motherwort.
(38:03):
I do not have it growing here.
I hope to get it growing here,but I do have a friend that has
some and she brought me quite abit of it last year.
So I have a pretty good supplyof it.
But if you are any woman it'sjust good to have in your
medicine cabinet, it's good tohave your tool chest so that you
(38:23):
know if you have anything goingon like that.
Any girls young, you know girlsthat first start, you know they
start having, they're notregular.
Everything's painful.
Motherwort can just be an herbto kind of help alleviate some
of that.
Now I have so, so, so, so manyherbs in my apothecary.
(38:44):
But the last one I think thatI'm going to mention for today
and I mentioned it previously inconjunction with elderberry, so
if you haven't heard thatepisode, go back and listen to
episode number 14, the previousepisode.
But it's echinacea, also knownas purple coneflower.
It is a powerhouse and it isone of the most useful herbs
(39:10):
that we have available in herbalmedicine.
It's a natural antibiotic andthere is extensive research on
Echinacea showing that itexhibits a cortisone-like
activity showing that itexhibits a cortisone-like
activity and that's just reallygreat in protecting your immune
(39:31):
system and stimulating yourT-cells when you need them to If
you feel like you're gettingsick.
Echinacea is a great one to use.
It's very easy to grow.
It does take a little bit tokind of get your echinacea patch
going, but once you get goingbut once you get it going and
once you get it established,it's pretty easy to keep it
going.
(39:52):
So traditionally echinacea hasbeen used for so, so, so, so
many things like from infectionsto sore throats to toothaches,
wounds, skin problems, mumps,measles, smallpox you know all
of those things like.
That's what the NativeAmericans use them for and it's
known as the king of the bloodpurifiers.
(40:13):
It really helps with, likelymphatic, to drain all that out
, filter it all out and to help,you know, to remove toxins from
your system.
It's a great natural antibioticand so it's not going to kill
everything.
And again, you got to keep inmind herbs do not work like
(40:33):
pharmaceuticals.
They take time, they are alittle bit and they work in a
different mode of action thanmost pharmaceuticals.
So just kind of keep that inmind when you're taking and
using.
Herbs is that you have torealize it is not the same thing
(40:54):
as a pharmaceutical.
It works a lot like penicillinin the body, without all of the
side effects from penicillin andwithout killing off all of your
good bacteria.
It also helps expel poisons andtoxins.
It activates your body'sdefense system.
(41:15):
It really gets those T cells toactivating and doing what
they're supposed to do to helpboost your immune system.
That's why I said that we useit and take it when we are
feeling an active illness comingon.
It's not something you want totake every day, though, because
you don't always want yourimmune system response like up
(41:36):
in the clouds.
You don't always want it to befiring super high.
There has to be some regulationand herbs if you take them to,
not always, but typicallyspeaking.
If you overuse an herb, it'snot going to hurt you, but it's
going to lose its efficacy.
So you would need to come offof it for a little while and
(41:58):
then go back on it, unless it'ssomething that needs to build up
in your system, like St John'swort, something of that nature.
It just depends on the type ofherb that it is.
So just know that echinacea isreally good against viruses,
colds, preventing infections.
It's good for women to takeduring pregnancy.
(42:19):
It kind of helps keep theirbody firing like it's supposed
to during pregnancy.
It's good for sores.
It's good for tonsillitis, youcan gargle it, you can do all
kinds of things with echinacea.
So if there's anything thatyou're going to plant and it's a
gorgeous, gorgeous flower andit just looks great you can put
(42:45):
it in your flower bed, you canuse it as landscaping.
It's just absolutely gorgeousand I would highly recommend
that you add echinacea to yourrepertoire.
Now, like I said, there's justso, so many herbs that grow here
and things that can be used asan herb that I just I can't go
(43:07):
over them all.
I will probably come back tothem, you know later when we
come back to some herbs, but Iwill read all over some of them.
So if any of them interest youor you have them growing on your
property, you can like.
If you go oh, I've got a blackwalnut tree, we'll go research
the medicinal uses for the blackwalnut because amazingly, there
(43:31):
are a bunch.
Ringworm is one of them.
Like it's antifungal.
So there's that Iron weedthat's good for women who have
just had a baby because it helpsto regulate the blood flow
afterwards, helps with pain,helps get everything back to
normal.
Dogwood dandelions See, I'mlooking at my list.
(43:55):
Plantain Everybody knowsplantain is really good.
Yellow dock, sweet gum treesthe bark in sweet gum trees is
the same ingredient that theyuse in Tamiflu, so that's kind
of cool.
Red sumac, that's another onethat we use.
Wild hydrangea, also known asseven bark, that's good.
(44:16):
Poke berries we use those.
I have those in the freezer.
Red clover, sage, yellow dock,if I haven't mentioned that
already, and corn silk that's areally good one.
There's just tons of.
I mean, if you have stuffgrowing on your prickly ash,
that's a great one.
(44:37):
That's also known as thetoothache tree, the tulip poplar
, the inner bark of that wildcucumber tree.
Those are all really good forarthritis.
Prickly ash is one of the bestfor arthritis.
So just go out and see whatyou've got.
There's an app called picturethis and you can get a family
(44:57):
subscription so that everybodyin your family has it.
It's so much per year and it'sbeen worth every penny for me
because it has been dead on.
Accurate so far, except forbaby plants, like if it's a
little tiny baby plant and it'sjust sartan or it's dead.
It's not always accurate, butif that plant is in its prime
(45:19):
picture this is for me so farhas been dead on is exactly what
it is.
I've verified from othersources and I really have gotten
to the point where I trust it.
But I have found so many thingsjust by going out and walking
and looking, and something willjust catch my attention in
(45:39):
nature Something with a prettyflower or something with a neat
bark or just anything and I'llgo oh, I wonder what that is.
Well then that sends me down therabbit hole of I have this.
So now let me see how I can usethis, which has led to a full
(46:00):
cabinet in here of about I don'tknow 90 to 100 different jars,
gallon jars and quart jars andhalf gallon jars of just
different things that we havegrowing here that we can use,
because you don't have to usethe same herb, like if there's
(46:21):
an herb that I have that worksfor a particular thing, there's
probably a hundred other herbsthat do that and one of those is
probably growing on yourproperty.
So just kind of figure out whatyou have, because it's an
amazing journey to go down.
There is so much to learn.
I will never know it all.
I will never be a masterherbalist.
(46:44):
I just believe that that'ssomething that takes a lifetime
and even at the end of it youstill don't know everything.
But there's a lot of people whoknow a lot and they love to
share that information.
And herbalism is not somethingthat's exclusive, it's not
something you can patent.
It's not something that you cansay, oh, I make this so so and
so can't make that, or it's justthat's silly, because herbalism
(47:05):
is.
It's a way that you can say, oh, I make this so so-and-so,
can't make that.
It's just that's silly, becauseherbalism is a way that
everybody can make money.
You can consult with people,you can make things for people
you know, because a lot ofpeople don't have time to be
doing that kind of stuff andthere's enough people to go
around for everybody.
So I just encourage you learn alittle bit around for everybody
(47:27):
.
So I just encourage you learn alittle bit.
This is the last I'm going totalk about just wild crafted
herbs for right now.
Probably the next time I'mgoing to talk about some of the
essential oils that we use andhow we use those, and it's
probably not going to be as longof an episode as this one.
So with that, thank you so muchfor tuning in.
I hope you've enjoyed learningwhat herbs that we have and how
(47:49):
we use them.
I hope that it sparks somethingin you to go out and walk
around and see what you have.
You never know what you havegrowing on your property, that
you can just cut it and hang itup to dry and then you know,
cultivate it, make things out ofit, just even if it's just five
or 10 herbs.
So I hope that I have inspiredyou to go out and see what you
(48:12):
have, because truly everybody isan herbalist, whether you know
it or not.
But if you like the podcast, Ihope that you can subscribe and
leave a review.
It helps people to find us andyou can find me on all the
socials, at the Gorham Homesteadand on my website at
thegorhamhomesteadcom.
So whatever you are doing today, whatever you have on the
(48:34):
docket, just remember to keep itreal.
See y'all, see y'all.
My daddy was a guitar pickerPlaying all the local clubs and
my mama was a waitress when theyparked M18 wheeler trucks.
(48:58):
We didn't have much money.
Times were kind of hard, livingin a trailer On the edge of
grandpa's farm.
Yeah, I may not come from much,but I've got just enough.
(49:20):
As long as my baby's in my armsand the good Lord knows what's
in my heart, I refuse to beashamed.
It's just a southern thing.
Hey y'all, and welcome to Keeping it Real, the
Gorham Homestead podcast, wherewe talk about real food, real
natural living, the real art ofnatural healing and real life
out here on Tennesseeennesseehomestead.
I'm your host, don gorham, andtoday is tuesday, june the 11th
2024, and you are listening toepisode number 15.
Our topic today is part two ofherbs that we can't live without
(00:40):
or use a lot here on ourhomestead, and so we're just
going to go through the rest ofthose.
But first let me do mydisclaimer.
Nothing that I say today is tobe construed as medical advice.
I am not a medical professionalor a medical provider.
Please be sure to speak to yourmedical provider before taking
(01:02):
any herbs to determine if theyare safe for you or if there are
any contraindications oranything of that nature.
So with that out of the way, Ifirst want to say a big shout
out to our first sponsor, andour first sponsor is a locally
owned business, a bees closet,and so if you are in the market
(01:25):
for getting any bee supplies,getting bees, getting a bee suit
, just anything that has to dowith beekeeping, joe Ellis is
owner of a bee's closet righthere in Bon Aqua, tennessee, and
he is just a wonderful humanbeing and he's so knowledgeable
and so helpful.
So if you are in the area andwant to go somewhere where you
(01:49):
can just literally walk andtouch the bee stuff and talk to
someone to find out what youreally need and what you don't
really need, I recommend thatyou go talk to Joe at a bees
closet.
You will not be sorry that youdid Joe at a bees closet, you
will not be sorry that you did.
(02:09):
And so talking about bees leadsme right into what's going on
around here.
I want to try to incorporatewhat's going on because I'm not
really having time right now todo a separate what's going on
around here.
You know all the things with meand T, so I'm just going to
kind of give you a little briefoverview of what is happening
currently on our homestead.
So today a friend, a lady fromthe local bee club, came and we
(02:34):
opened up my two hives.
I finally got a second beepackage that's the word I'm
looking for A package of beeswhich was a full 10 frame colony
of bees.
And I got those from Joe at abees closet and they look really
, really good.
Even she was commenting on justhow great that particular hive
(02:56):
looked.
There was lots of brood, lotsof freshly laid little eggs in
there and what she called juicybrood, so the bigger ones, and
they were really drawing outcomb.
Really well, everything lookedreally really good in that hive
and we also inspected the onethat I previously got from a
commercial beekeeper and we werenot positive at first that it
(03:22):
was queen right, because weweren't able to find the queen
number one, number two she was.
What she was laying was likespotty.
The comb was like looking weird.
It was weird, um, drawing out.
It wasn't like nice and uniformlike it's supposed to be.
(03:43):
So still not a hundred percentthat that hive had a queen when
I got it, even though I was toldthat it was.
We did see a queen today, butwe suspect that she was a new
queen, that she had emerged.
Maybe it was a swarm, becausethere are less bees by far than
(04:05):
what my brand new hive has thatI just got.
So and there were a lot ofqueen cells in that hive when we
first got it.
So possibly queen swarmed withhalf the hive or whatever, and
now we have a new queen, butanyway she.
So we tried to set that up soit looked like, um, everything
(04:25):
is looking better.
She is, she's laying, she'sgetting started, so hopefully
everything will be okay withthat hive.
Um, we finished processingchickens.
That has been such a relief.
I'm so glad to be done withchickens.
They have been meat chickens.
This year At least we didn'thave a big loss like we did last
(04:48):
year.
We got them ordered on time,got them in on time.
So just my personal preferenceand advice for you is, if you
are going to order meat chickensfor the upcoming year, order
them in December or January,because by the time February,
march, rolls around, it's toolate and they're sold out and
(05:09):
then you can't get them untillater in the summer and then
they get too hot and all of thatstuff.
But we did.
We got them ordered on time.
Process and date had been onthe calendar since December.
So we knew what three weekendswe were going to be processing
and we finally finished them upthis past weekend.
It was, I think, another 50that we did and our average.
(05:31):
I will say, though the averageweight did not pick up from last
weekend to this past weekendlike we thought it was going to.
We continued to feed them.
Excuse me, thought it was goingto, we continued to feed them.
Excuse me, but I was not ableto go to my regular place where
I get feed for my meat chickensand so I had to use um and I'm
(05:55):
not knocking it.
I love my tractor supply feed,I love stuff from tractor supply
, but I don't really feel likeit did as well on the meat
chickens as my MPS feed does,and I know because they
specifically make it for me andmake it for people who raise
meat chickens, and it's freshand it comes right off the meal
(06:17):
and I do think that that makes adifference specifically with
meat birds.
So they didn't pick up, theydidn't gain any weight over the
week.
So an extra week cost us anextra $60 because we went
through another two bags of feedfor 50 birds and with no weight
(06:38):
gain.
So that was a lesson learned.
Probably we'll try to processnext time Now that I'm at home,
I can do them over days ratherthan over three weeks and try to
get all of them done at thesame time so they don't cost so
much to continue to feed themout and the freeze dryer.
(07:01):
So when we were done with thosechickens, we had tons of liver
and heart left over.
Obviously, that's one of thethings that we save out of the
entrails, and instead of puttingthose in the freezer this time
I decided to freeze dry them.
God, I love that freeze dryer,and so I freeze dried them
(07:22):
separately.
I put all the hearts on onetray, because they all fit on
that, and then all of the liversI put on all the other trays,
and what I did with it was makedog treats.
Normally I would freeze them,but I had left them in the
refrigerator a little too longand they kind of started looking
a little dry.
You know how they can turn darkand a little bit dry.
So I figured dog treats was thenext best thing, so that I
(07:45):
didn't waste them.
And so, yeah, so I got a prettygood amount of liver and hearts
and we will only give them alittle bit of it as a treat.
They don't need a whole, wholelot of extra liver and hearts
just by itself, but it does makefor a good little treat every
now and then.
We've taken our son to campwrestling camp in another state
(08:11):
for a whole month, and he'sgoing to turn 17 while he's gone
Like I'm not even going to seehim on his birthday.
I've never been away from himon his birthday and I know
that's probably not a big dealto most, but he is the youngest
and he is my baby and it'sreally, really like.
I'm really really having a hardtime with this.
(08:32):
And, um, I didn't get superlike I kept going back in and I
I knew in the back of my headthat I was making up excuses to
go back in, like I needed towrite his name on in, like I
needed to write his name on hisextension cord, I needed to
write his name on his littlemulti-plug that was going into
the wall.
And then we saw t-shirts andshorts.
(08:55):
So we bought him those and wehad to take those back in.
And then I had to remember thatI had to write his name on
those.
I just was making up reasonsnot to leave.
So finally we got out of thereand I was okay.
I was actually okay until wehit the Tennessee line coming
back and I never said anythingto T, I never brought it up.
But once I realized I was inTennessee, that's when I kind of
(09:19):
got a little emotional.
And then, of course, he hates it.
We've gotten text messagesalready saying that you know
this is not for him.
Everybody's wild.
He doesn't like the vibe theboys are.
They're being boys and he'sjust not used to that.
He's more of a reserved, quiettype.
(09:40):
He's not like rambunctious,getting into trouble, being loud
, being obnoxious is just nothim.
So but anyway, I suspect thatby the end of the camp he will
be fine and he will have madebuddies and memories and all
that stuff.
So I know I hated camp thefirst week, anytime that I ever
(10:00):
went, and I was homesick and Iwanted to come home, but by the
end of it I was normally youknow, normally doing fine.
So hopefully he will too.
And Self Reliance Festivalthat's the last thing that's
going on with me has amped up.
We are in the planning andpreparing phase and of course,
(10:22):
tickets are on sale.
If you are interested in goingto Self Reliance Festival and
finding people who are on sale,if you are interested in going
to self-reliance festival andfinding people who are like you,
finding people who can be yourtribe, self-reliance festival is
a really great way to go andconnect with those folks.
And it's october, the fourthand fifth this year, and it is
in camden t Tennessee, and youcan buy tickets on the website
(10:45):
at selfreliancefestivalcom.
I'm not sure what the pricesare right now, because we did
have some discussion about wehad some new sponsors coming in
and whether or not we could do afamily price, and so we'll just
have to.
I'm not real sure if all ofthat has worked its way out yet,
but if you want to come to SelfReliance Festival and also if
(11:08):
you would like to volunteer andget your ticket reimbursed, I
will be more than happy to putyou on my volunteer list.
We have so many jobs thatpeople can do and it takes a
village to make this festivalhappen, so our volunteers is
really what keeps that tickingreally well.
So if you would love like tovolunteer, I would love to have
(11:30):
you.
All you have to do is reach out.
You can sign up on the website.
There's a little volunteer formthat you can fill out and that
automatically gets sent to me.
All right, first up on our listof herbs for today is lemon balm
.
Now, lemon balm is also knownas Melissa officinalis and it is
(11:50):
part of the mint family, whichmeans plant it where you can
contain it, because if you don't, it will spread like wildfire,
like it will take overeverything, as mint does.
But it is such a cool plant andI love the taste of it and the
smell of it.
The smell is almostintoxicating and the bees love
(12:12):
it, so that makes me reallyhappy that we have lots of lemon
balm here to keep the beeshappy.
But some of the cool uses forlemon balm, we use it in a tea
because for us it's more of asedative.
We use it as a way to just kindof relax and wind down at the
(12:33):
end of the day.
But it's also a featured remedyfor heart disease and heartache
from insomnia or justoverwhelming sadness that keeps
you awake at night.
Lemon balm is a really good herbto help with that.
(12:53):
It helps depression, anxiety,nervous disorders and then plus,
it's really really good foryour body to help ward off and
fight off and defeat a host ofviral illnesses, but
specifically anything herpeticor in the herpes family shingles
, chicken pox, cold sores,anything like that.
(13:18):
Lemon balm is a really goodtreatment for that and that is
what we use for our son if hegets any sort of cold sore.
Is that we?
That's when we resort to addinglemon balm tincture.
You can rub it on oil, you canrub it on, but tincture
(13:38):
tinctures burn a little bit butthey are super effective.
So you can add some oil to thatif you want to and rub it on
the affected area.
But it really does help withthat and there is actual
scientific evidence that provesthat lemon balm is an effective
(13:58):
treatment for that.
So that that's kind of coolwhen herbalism and science
actually agree on something,because it just doesn't happen
very often.
Lemon balm has been called theelixir of life, which kind of
tells you, you know, that it canlike, sweeten the spirit, it
(14:19):
can bring you up when you'redown, and the part that you want
to use is the aerial part ofthe plant, because the leaf is
what is rich in those oils,those essential oils.
Of course it's not technicallyan essential oil because it's
not distilled down, but it'sstill really really good to use
in teas and tinctures and thingslike that.
(14:41):
It has a rich concentration ofthose volatile oils, but
specifically it has citral andcitronellol, which calms the
nervous and digestive systems,and it has antispasmodic actions
(15:03):
and again, that is kind of whatwe use it for.
We like, we use it for, like Isaid, anything that has to do
with cold sores or calming downin a tea, and of course.
I think it's really good to usejust on a daily basis.
I love the way it tastes.
It freeze dries really reallywell.
The smell is just amazing whenit comes out of the freeze dryer
(15:24):
, so it's really really well.
The smell is just amazing whenit comes out of the freeze dryer
, so it's really really good.
It's also good for kids.
Any kid with ADHD or, you know,just hyperactivity, it's a good
one to soothe those kids Ifthey have recurring nightmares,
anything like that.
A dose of tea before bedtimewill help to alleviate kids
(15:48):
having like over and over andover nightmares.
It's also rich in polyphenolswhich have a strong antiviral
action, which is what I was justdiscussing.
So you can also combine thatwith licorice, which makes it
even more effective againstanything in the herpes family.
That's the first one lemon balm.
(16:12):
The second one we're going totalk about is St John's wort,
and it is also a Good fordepression, anxiety, pain,
anything of that nature, and wefound it growing wild here and
cultivated it, you know, babiedit and replanted it from that in
(16:34):
other places.
So now we have it growing inmore than just one place.
But I love St John's worttinctures, and a tincture is
just where you let the herbs sitin alcohol that is at least 95%
for six weeks and shake in thebottle every so, and you can do
(16:55):
it less than that.
I do it six weeks.
That's my rule of thumb.
I believe you can actually doit three weeks, but the longer
it sits, the more potent it'sgoing to be.
So I kind of like to let it goa little bit longer, just
because I want every little bitthat I can get out of it.
But it's really really good forthings of that nature.
I use it in my shark week Imentioned that the other day
(17:19):
because I feel like it helpstake that edge off.
Because I feel like it helpstake that edge off, like if
you're really stressed out orthings are really not going
right and there's nothing youcan do about it.
A lot of times St John's Wortwill just kind of help bring you
back to your center, kind ofhelp refocus your energy,
because if you get all of yourenergy going in a negative
(17:40):
direction, it's just going tokeep spinning that way.
And if you let people pull youin a negative direction, it's
just going to keep spinning thatway, and if you let people pull
you in a negative direction.
You're going to continue topull that way and you're going
to continue to attract morenegative.
So the best thing that you cando is just cut off any negative,
focus on positive and then, ifyou need a little help, st
John's Wort is always a goodlittle thing to go to Now.
(18:04):
St John's Wort is always a goodlittle thing to go to Now.
St John's Wort has been prettypopular over the years and it's
pretty well known for itsability to help with chronic
depression and anxiety andthings of that nature.
But I think where themisconception or the I guess the
bad information or lack ofinformation was that people
(18:27):
thought that St John's Wort wasgoing to work like a
pharmaceutical and that if theytried it that they would get
that instant relief or instantbeing able to tell, like you can
sometimes with pharmaceuticals,and that's just not how herbs
work.
For St John's Wort to beeffective in treating any kind
(18:48):
of depression, anxiety, anything, you have to take it for
several, several weeksconsistently, but you know at
least a two to three week periodand most of the time it's
actually cycled over severalmonths to treat chronic
depression and stress, and Ithink that hasn't been made
clear in years past and I thinka lot of people who have tried
(19:09):
St John's wort ended updisappointed just because the
results were not what theythought, because they gave up
too early.
But I'm going to read reallyquick St John's wort is a very
effective and this is from myRosemary Gladstar book.
St John's wort is a veryeffective and this is from my
Rosemary Gladstar book.
St John's wort is a veryeffective antidepressant and
over the past 30 years itsefficacy has been proved by
(19:30):
extensive clinical andscientific studies.
Hypersin, one of the herb'sactive constituents, increases
the metabolism of serotonin andmelatonin.
You know a lot of people liketo take melatonin, which aids
the body's ability to receiveand store light.
Hyperforin, another importantconstituent, contributes to
(19:50):
emotional stability by slowingthe uptake of those feel-good
neurotransmitters such asdopamine, serotonin and
noradrenaline, which allows themto circulate longer in the body
.
So that kind of explains how StJohn's works within the body to
(20:11):
sort of lift the spirits, tohelp ward off some of the bad
stuff that's going on, justbecause it helps all of those
things to act within your bodykind of a little more like
they're supposed to.
But again, things like thattake time.
Some of the preparations thatyou can use them in are teas.
(20:35):
You can make it in a tea tohelp lighten your mood.
You can use it in a tincture tohelp with seasonal affective
disorder, with, you know, sadwhen people get depressed in the
winter.
You can use it as a salve.
It's a really good all-purposesalve for rashes, including
diaper rash.
It makes a really natural andeffective way to cure a diaper
(21:00):
rash.
It works really really well forthat.
You can make a liniment, andthe liniment is really good for
sore muscles, spastic muscles,cramps, painful joints, um,
especially those that are likearthritis and bursitis.
St John's wort is a prettyeffective pain reliever in that
way, and then you can also makeit in an oil and then rub it on
(21:21):
whatever effective affected areathat you have.
One of the things to note,though, about St John's wort is
that it can causephotosensitivity.
So if you're going to use it,you don't want to rub it on your
body and then immediately goout into the sun, because it can
kind of cause you to getsunburned.
It can kind of cause you to getsunburned.
(21:42):
Also, if you're already on anysort of antidepressant
medications, probably want tocheck with your health care
provider just to make sure thatSt John's Wort is okay for you
to take with whatever medicationthat you're already on that,
because my understanding is thatit can be it can, you know work
(22:07):
synergistically with whatevermedication that you're already
on.
Next up on my list is a QueenAnne's Lace, a woman's help.
It is also known as wild carrotbecause it kind of looks like
the leaves sort of look likecarrots, but it's a really
pretty plant and it grows aboutthree feet high.
(22:28):
We have it everywhere here.
I make tinctures out of it, Imake teas out of it, and the
problem the only really problemis there's lots and lots of bugs
in the little Queen Anne's lace.
So you kind of either have towait for the bugs to leave,
shake them out, or just be happyto tincture the flowers with
(22:49):
the little black bugs that liketo crawl all over it.
But it's really really good forthings that like if you're
having like lots of holding alot of water.
It's a diuretic and it willhelp flush a lot of that extra
water out of your body,especially if that's, you know,
if you're holding weight,because you're holding a lot of
(23:11):
water weight.
Queen Anne's laces are reallyreally good herb for that.
You could do that as a tea.
You could use the root, you canuse the leaves and flowers, and
it's good for things that haveto do with the bladder, again,
because it's a diuretic, so itwill help flush out If you have
(23:31):
cystitis, anything to do withbladder urinary tract infections
.
Queen Anne's Lace is a reallygood herb to work um to add to
whatever else that you're using.
Um, it's also next to umhuckleberry bark, which contains
berberine.
(23:51):
My husband takes berberine andberberine has helped bring down
his sugar to normal.
Um, but Queen Anne's Lace isthe next best thing if you do
not have something containingberberine.
It will actually help heal thebody and help you get back to a
(24:13):
normal sugar level.
Despite the fact that doctorsswear that type 2 diabetes can't
be cured, yes, it can.
It's a lifestyle disease thathas been caused by what you're
eating and how you're living,and if you clean up your diet
and then you take herbs thathelp to help your liver to detox
and then help stimulate yourkidneys and help flush all that
(24:35):
out, it will absolutely help tomaintain a healthy sugar level.
So just know that that's onething that you can try for that.
Of course, herbs don't work foreverybody, so just keep that in
mind.
What herb might work for memight not work for you, but I do
keep Queen Anne's Lace here.
It is one of the staples in myapothecary and I love it for
(25:00):
that.
I take it again.
It's in my shark week tincturebecause of bloating and things
that happen with PMS and withpremenopause sort of things.
I feel like Queen Anne's lace asa mild abortifacient and in
(25:31):
some instances I do believe itcan cause miscarriages.
And it can, if taken like whatthey did in the old days is they
would like I'm talking medievaltimes they would, after having
sex, drink the tea for days orwhatever, and it supposedly
would cause the egg to notimplant.
(25:51):
So just be real careful.
If you're pregnant, queenAnne's lace is definitely not
something that needs to be inyour repertoire, but it will
help.
You know.
It'll help flush out stuff ifyou're trying to.
I think it will help yourweight loss goals as well,
especially again, if the reasonpart of the problem is that
(26:14):
you're holding water weight.
The other thing about QueenAnne's Lace is if you're
foraging for it, you have to bereally, really careful to make
sure that what you are gettingis queen anne's lace and not
poison hemlock, because poisonhemlock will kill you like quick
and um.
Queen anne's lace is, you know,very safe.
(26:36):
But you can tell a difference,like the, once you've seen queen
anne's lace and you know whatyou're looking for.
You can definitely tell adifference because it's in one
little cluster with a little dotlike right in the middle of it
and hemlock is white.
But it's a bunch of differentlittle clusters and also the
leaves look a lot differentbetween the two.
(26:57):
And Queen Anne's Lace is likehairy on the stem, Excuse me and
hemlock is smooth.
So just kind of keep in mind.
You got to make sure you knowwhat you're picking when you're
picking.
For years wild lettuce hadeluded me.
I looked everywhere for it,could not find it Finally found
(27:18):
it.
Last year I was just drivingaround in New Johnsonville.
I had gone to my aunt's forsome reason or another and drove
to the end of the road.
Last year I was just drivingaround in New Johnsonville.
I had gone to my aunt's forsome reason or another and drove
to the end of the road andthere was this huge wild lettuce
plant and I was.
I saw it and I was just likemesmerized, so I hopped out and
(27:38):
I got it, of course, put it inthe back of my car and brought
it home and it was.
It was massive.
So I dried it and it was enoughto really give me a lot of wild
lettuce for a while.
But wild lettuce is fascinatingplant and now it's growing here
.
I don't know where it came from.
I don't know how it's growinghere.
(27:58):
What I had was not, you know,hanging around anywhere out
there on the property.
It went straight into thehanging up and drying.
So I have no idea.
But now we have it growing, soI'm thankful for that.
But it's also known as opiumlettuce.
That's kind of a nickname forit.
And what's interesting aboutwild lettuce is people kind of
(28:23):
in the old days treated it alittle bit like marijuana.
They called it like the devil'slettuce.
I know there's the new name forthe devil's lettuce, which is
the actual marijuana, but thisis kind of what started that,
because it had such strong painrelieving effects that when
lettuce was actually cultivatedand when it finally you know it
(28:44):
appeared on the market as asalad green, the people, the
society, people like thehighfalutin people lost their
minds.
They thought that introducinglettuce into the world was just
going to cause all kinds ofproblems.
The same way, if someone cameup with a lettuce or a salad
(29:07):
green variety of marijuana,people would freak out and lose
their minds over it.
But that's the reason whyLettuce had been previously
known in its wild form as sortof an opiate kind of lettuce.
Even though it's not that kindof pain reliever it's not
(29:30):
addictive, it doesn't make youloopy or high or anything like
that but it's a really effectivepain reliever.
And so, for some reason oranother, the people back in the
old days I guess they thoughteverybody was doing witchcraft,
I don't know.
Anyway, they didn't want evenregular lettuce out on the
(29:51):
market.
You can use the actual.
Once it gets big enough toflower, you can use those
flowers.
You can use the latex from theleaves.
They're really really good.
It's a sedative.
It's a mild sedative andnervine.
It also treats coughs, like ifyou have one of those coughs
that keeps you up at night andyou're just hacking, hacking,
(30:13):
hacking.
Wild lettuce is a really goodtreatment for that.
Kids can use it.
It does not have to be justadults.
It's used for insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, hyperactivity,
tight muscles.
It can ease coughs.
It's good for muscle spasms,colic, painful periods.
(30:35):
So now that I have it, I thinkI'm going to add it to my Shark
Week tincture and see how that.
See that helps so, cause I haveseveral women now that that get
the tincture from me.
So kind of going to see howthat helps.
And it's also really good fornervousness.
Um, one of the thoughts about itis also that it could be um
(30:57):
helpful for people with Lymedisease, cause you know how your
muscles get really stiff andall your muscles ache and hurt
and all that kind of stuff.
Wild lettuce could potentiallybe a really good remedy for that
, and of course that made mythought.
Next go to people with SPS, thestiff person syndrome.
(31:19):
My mind wonders if wild lettucewould be a helpful you know,
not cure, but helpful with thesymptoms for things like that,
to help people who suffer fromthat to sleep at night and to be
more comfortable.
It will help with anythingthat's like if you slam your
(31:40):
hand in the car door or you burnyourself or you know something
like that that you wouldnormally take an analgesic for.
Wild lettuce can be a reallygood replacement for that.
It's not my go-to for headaches, but anything that's like a
body ache, lower back pain,anything like that.
Wild lettuce is really reallygood for that.
(32:02):
And just while we're on the wildlettuce topic, it's something
that if I were making a skinsalve any sort of skin healing
salve wild lettuce should alwaysbe in that salve as well, just
because it has such healingproperties that it's a good one
(32:23):
to always add to that whenyou're cooking that down,
because it can also help to getrid of moles.
That takes a really long timebecause the way the moles are
just super thick, knock thosedown.
I know that it has been used inbass's salve, which is used for
(32:47):
a lot of things, including skinC-word.
I can't claim I'm not makingany claims that it cures the
skin C-word, but I know it hasbeen used in a salve for that
purpose.
So I don't know.
So just kind of kind of knowthat, but it's, it's a sedative,
but it can also work for skinconditions as well.
(33:13):
The next one on my list isjewelweed and it grows all up
and down my road because itlikes more the stream, sort of
mountainy, and because I'm in aholler and there's a creek at
the bottom of my road and itkind of gets cool down in there
and it almost has a mountainyfeel.
(33:34):
So jewelweed grows really wellalong the banks of my road and
it's just a really good.
It's best known for its skinhealing properties.
It's good if you get poison ivy, poison oak anything that you
know makes you itchy.
It's good for treating hivesand anything of that nature.
(33:58):
You know it's the fresh, freshplant is 75% more effective than
any oil or tincture that youcan make from it.
So just know that.
And that's fortunate because itnormally grows close to poison
ivy and poison oak.
So if you get it, at least youknow most of the time you also
(34:21):
have the fresh plant growingsomewhere close to it.
So it's funny how that works.
But it's a good one to try Ifyou you know, if anything
happens like that and you getblisters, any sort of rashes,
bites, anything that makes youitch on your skin, jewelweed is
(34:42):
an amazing little plant to tryfor that and I do keep some oils
and some tinctures, but again,it's just not as effective.
It's great to put in soaps andstuff like that too for that
reason, because even just alittle bit you know it does
really well for skin stuff.
It's good for your skin.
(35:04):
But if you have an acute issuelike a big breakout of poison
ivy, then using the fresh plantis going to work much better for
you than trying to use atincture or an oil.
The next one is one thatunfortunately has popped up on
my list just because of my age.
No woman in my family that Iknow of has actually gone
(35:24):
through menopause.
No woman in my family that Iknow of has actually gone
through menopause.
Every woman in my family haseither had a hysterectomy in
their 30s or 40s.
So I am the oldest intact woman.
Between my grandmothers, myaunts, my mother, my sister or
not my sister my cousins I'mlike the only one.
(35:46):
So I have no idea whenmenopause is coming for me.
But motherwort is something thatI have added into my repertoire
.
I keep it.
I've got a lot of it Justbecause I feel like I'm 49.
I really don't have anyperimenopausal symptoms yet.
(36:06):
I have had one or two hotflashes over the last five years
, I guess, but nothing really tospeak of.
But I feel like it's coming.
So I do add motherwort to myshark weight tincture as well,
because I do have friends andwomen in my circle who are
(36:31):
dealing with perimenopause ormenopausal symptoms and
motherwort is especially,especially, especially good for
women.
It's good for your heart ifyou're a woman or, I guess, a
guy but it's specifically goodfor women's hearts.
It's a heart tonic.
It will actually strengthen theheart and of course, you know
that's one of the main killersof women is heart attacks.
(36:55):
So it's a really good thing tostrengthen the heart muscle and
your blood vessels.
And it's good for neuralgiarapid heartbeat like tachycardia
, anything like that.
It's valued as a remedy formany women's problems, such as
delayed menstruation, uterinecramps associated with scanty
(37:18):
menses, water retention, hotflashes and mood swings during
menopause.
I had to read that part.
Even though I kind of knowthese things, I still kind of
have to read so that I canarticulate them the way that I
want to.
And motherwort is just a reallygood.
(37:38):
It's a good reproductive healthherb, it's good for
strengthening the heart, goodfor hot flashes, and you just
prepare it as an infusion anddrink several cups a day if
you're having issues with that.
Or, like I said, you can alsoadd it to tinctures.
And that's really all of theinformation that I have, because
I think that is the main usefor motherwort.
(38:03):
I do not have it growing here.
I hope to get it growing here,but I do have a friend that has
some and she brought me quite abit of it last year.
So I have a pretty good supplyof it.
But if you are any woman it'sjust good to have in your
medicine cabinet, it's good tohave your tool chest so that you
(38:23):
know if you have anything goingon like that.
Any girls young, you know girlsthat first start, you know they
start having, they're notregular.
Everything's painful.
Motherwort can just be an herbto kind of help alleviate some
of that.
Now I have so, so, so, so manyherbs in my apothecary.
(38:44):
But the last one I think thatI'm going to mention for today
and I mentioned it previously inconjunction with elderberry, so
if you haven't heard thatepisode, go back and listen to
episode number 14, the previousepisode.
But it's echinacea, also knownas purple coneflower.
It is a powerhouse and it isone of the most useful herbs
(39:10):
that we have available in herbalmedicine.
It's a natural antibiotic andthere is extensive research on
Echinacea showing that itexhibits a cortisone-like
activity showing that itexhibits a cortisone-like
activity and that's just reallygreat in protecting your immune
(39:31):
system and stimulating yourT-cells when you need them to If
you feel like you're gettingsick.
Echinacea is a great one to use.
It's very easy to grow.
It does take a little bit tokind of get your echinacea patch
going, but once you get goingbut once you get it going and
once you get it established,it's pretty easy to keep it
going.
(39:52):
So traditionally echinacea hasbeen used for so, so, so, so
many things like from infectionsto sore throats to toothaches,
wounds, skin problems, mumps,measles, smallpox you know all
of those things like.
That's what the NativeAmericans use them for and it's
known as the king of the bloodpurifiers.
(40:13):
It really helps with, likelymphatic, to drain all that out
, filter it all out and to help,you know, to remove toxins from
your system.
It's a great natural antibioticand so it's not going to kill
everything.
And again, you got to keep inmind herbs do not work like
(40:33):
pharmaceuticals.
They take time, they are alittle bit and they work in a
different mode of action thanmost pharmaceuticals.
So just kind of keep that inmind when you're taking and
using.
Herbs is that you have torealize it is not the same thing
(40:54):
as a pharmaceutical.
It works a lot like penicillinin the body, without all of the
side effects from penicillin andwithout killing off all of your
good bacteria.
It also helps expel poisons andtoxins.
It activates your body'sdefense system.
(41:15):
It really gets those T cells toactivating and doing what
they're supposed to do to helpboost your immune system.
That's why I said that we useit and take it when we are
feeling an active illness comingon.
It's not something you want totake every day, though, because
you don't always want yourimmune system response like up
(41:36):
in the clouds.
You don't always want it to befiring super high.
There has to be some regulationand herbs if you take them to,
not always, but typicallyspeaking.
If you overuse an herb, it'snot going to hurt you, but it's
going to lose its efficacy.
So you would need to come offof it for a little while and
(41:58):
then go back on it, unless it'ssomething that needs to build up
in your system, like St John'swort, something of that nature.
It just depends on the type ofherb that it is.
So just know that echinacea isreally good against viruses,
colds, preventing infections.
It's good for women to takeduring pregnancy.
(42:19):
It kind of helps keep theirbody firing like it's supposed
to during pregnancy.
It's good for sores.
It's good for tonsillitis, youcan gargle it, you can do all
kinds of things with echinacea.
So if there's anything thatyou're going to plant and it's a
gorgeous, gorgeous flower andit just looks great you can put
(42:45):
it in your flower bed, you canuse it as landscaping.
It's just absolutely gorgeousand I would highly recommend
that you add echinacea to yourrepertoire.
Now, like I said, there's justso, so many herbs that grow here
and things that can be used asan herb that I just I can't go
(43:07):
over them all.
I will probably come back tothem, you know later when we
come back to some herbs, but Iwill read all over some of them.
So if any of them interest youor you have them growing on your
property, you can like.
If you go oh, I've got a blackwalnut tree, we'll go research
the medicinal uses for the blackwalnut because amazingly, there
(43:31):
are a bunch.
Ringworm is one of them.
Like it's antifungal.
So there's that Iron weedthat's good for women who have
just had a baby because it helpsto regulate the blood flow
afterwards, helps with pain,helps get everything back to
normal.
Dogwood dandelions See, I'mlooking at my list.
(43:55):
Plantain Everybody knowsplantain is really good.
Yellow dock, sweet gum treesthe bark in sweet gum trees is
the same ingredient that theyuse in Tamiflu, so that's kind
of cool.
Red sumac, that's another onethat we use.
Wild hydrangea, also known asseven bark, that's good.
(44:16):
Poke berries we use those.
I have those in the freezer.
Red clover, sage, yellow dock,if I haven't mentioned that
already, and corn silk that's areally good one.
There's just tons of.
I mean, if you have stuffgrowing on your prickly ash,
that's a great one.
(44:37):
That's also known as thetoothache tree, the tulip poplar
, the inner bark of that wildcucumber tree.
Those are all really good forarthritis.
Prickly ash is one of the bestfor arthritis.
So just go out and see whatyou've got.
There's an app called picturethis and you can get a family
(44:57):
subscription so that everybodyin your family has it.
It's so much per year and it'sbeen worth every penny for me
because it has been dead on.
Accurate so far, except forbaby plants, like if it's a
little tiny baby plant and it'sjust sartan or it's dead.
It's not always accurate, butif that plant is in its prime
(45:19):
picture this is for me so farhas been dead on is exactly what
it is.
I've verified from othersources and I really have gotten
to the point where I trust it.
But I have found so many thingsjust by going out and walking
and looking, and something willjust catch my attention in
(45:39):
nature Something with a prettyflower or something with a neat
bark or just anything and I'llgo oh, I wonder what that is.
Well then that sends me down therabbit hole of I have this.
So now let me see how I can usethis, which has led to a full
(46:00):
cabinet in here of about I don'tknow 90 to 100 different jars,
gallon jars and quart jars andhalf gallon jars of just
different things that we havegrowing here that we can use,
because you don't have to usethe same herb, like if there's
(46:21):
an herb that I have that worksfor a particular thing, there's
probably a hundred other herbsthat do that and one of those is
probably growing on yourproperty.
So just kind of figure out whatyou have, because it's an
amazing journey to go down.
There is so much to learn.
I will never know it all.
I will never be a masterherbalist.
(46:44):
I just believe that that'ssomething that takes a lifetime
and even at the end of it youstill don't know everything.
But there's a lot of people whoknow a lot and they love to
share that information.
And herbalism is not somethingthat's exclusive, it's not
something you can patent.
It's not something that you cansay, oh, I make this so so and
so can't make that, or it's justthat's silly, because herbalism
(47:05):
is.
It's a way that you can say, oh, I make this so so-and-so,
can't make that.
It's just that's silly, becauseherbalism is a way that
everybody can make money.
You can consult with people,you can make things for people
you know, because a lot ofpeople don't have time to be
doing that kind of stuff andthere's enough people to go
around for everybody.
So I just encourage you learn alittle bit around for everybody
(47:27):
.
So I just encourage you learn alittle bit.
This is the last I'm going totalk about just wild crafted
herbs for right now.
Probably the next time I'mgoing to talk about some of the
essential oils that we use andhow we use those, and it's
probably not going to be as longof an episode as this one.
So with that, thank you so muchfor tuning in.
I hope you've enjoyed learningwhat herbs that we have and how
(47:49):
we use them.
I hope that it sparks somethingin you to go out and walk
around and see what you have.
You never know what you havegrowing on your property, that
you can just cut it and hang itup to dry and then you know,
cultivate it, make things out ofit, just even if it's just five
or 10 herbs.
So I hope that I have inspiredyou to go out and see what you
(48:12):
have, because truly everybody isan herbalist, whether you know
it or not.
But if you like the podcast, Ihope that you can subscribe and
leave a review.
It helps people to find us andyou can find me on all the
socials, at the Gorham Homesteadand on my website at
thegorhamhomesteadcom.
So whatever you are doing today, whatever you have on the
(48:34):
docket, just remember to keep itreal.
See y'all, see y'all.
My daddy was a guitar pickerPlaying all the local clubs and
my mama was a waitress when theyparked M18 wheeler trucks.
(48:58):
We didn't have much money.
Times were kind of hard, livingin a trailer On the edge of
grandpa's farm.
Yeah, I may not come from much,but I've got just enough.
(49:20):
As long as my baby's in my armsand the good Lord knows what's
in my heart, I refuse to beashamed.
It's just a southern thing.
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