April 13, 2025 • 32 mins
In this episode I discuss two wild edible plants and a medicinal plant. The first, Trailing Arbutus, is somewhat rare, but you might consider growing it. The second, Twisted Stalk is very abundant where I live. And the medicinal, Hawthorn is super abundant and one of the most important of all medicinal herbs.
Tune of the week: Hesitation Blues
I play my version of "Hesitation Blues" and give a bit of a lesson on the history of the tune and how to play it. If you would like more instructional content in my videos, like I did on this one, please let me know. Or, if you'd rather just hear me pick, sing and tell stories, let me know that. Either way, ENJOY! https://youtu.be/mufY_YwP0CE
New today in my Woodcraft shop:
Toasted Holly Cooking Spoon - Judson Carroll Woodcraft
https://judsoncarrollwoodcraft.substack.com/p/toasted-holly-cooking-spoon
Email: judson@judsoncarroll.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/southern-appalachian-herbs--4697544/support
Read about The Spring Foraging Cookbook: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-spring-foraging-cookbook.html
Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRP63R54
Medicinal Weeds and Grasses of the American Southeast, an Herbalist's Guide
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/medicinal-weeds-and-grasses-of-american.html
Available in paperback on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47LHTTH
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/confirmation-autobiography-of-faith.html
Available in paperback on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
Visit my Substack and sign up for my free newsletter:
https://judsoncarroll.substack.com/
Read about my new other books:
Medicinal Ferns and Fern Allies, an Herbalist's Guide https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/11/medicinal-ferns-and-fern-allies.html
Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMSZSJPS
The Omnivore’s Guide to Home Cooking for Preppers, Homesteaders, Permaculture People and Everyone Else: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-omnivores-guide-to-home-cooking-for.html
Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGKX37Q2
Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast an Herbalist's Guide
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/medicinal-shrubs-and-woody-vines-of.html
Available for purchase on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2T4Y5L6
and
Growing Your Survival Herb Garden for Preppers, Homesteaders and Everyone Else
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2
Tune of the week: Hesitation Blues
I play my version of "Hesitation Blues" and give a bit of a lesson on the history of the tune and how to play it. If you would like more instructional content in my videos, like I did on this one, please let me know. Or, if you'd rather just hear me pick, sing and tell stories, let me know that. Either way, ENJOY! https://youtu.be/mufY_YwP0CE
New today in my Woodcraft shop:
Toasted Holly Cooking Spoon - Judson Carroll Woodcraft
https://judsoncarrollwoodcraft.substack.com/p/toasted-holly-cooking-spoon
Email: judson@judsoncarroll.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/southern-appalachian-herbs--4697544/support
Read about The Spring Foraging Cookbook: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-spring-foraging-cookbook.html
Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRP63R54
Medicinal Weeds and Grasses of the American Southeast, an Herbalist's Guide
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/medicinal-weeds-and-grasses-of-american.html
Available in paperback on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47LHTTH
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/confirmation-autobiography-of-faith.html
Available in paperback on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
Visit my Substack and sign up for my free newsletter:
https://judsoncarroll.substack.com/
Read about my new other books:
Medicinal Ferns and Fern Allies, an Herbalist's Guide https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/11/medicinal-ferns-and-fern-allies.html
Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMSZSJPS
The Omnivore’s Guide to Home Cooking for Preppers, Homesteaders, Permaculture People and Everyone Else: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-omnivores-guide-to-home-cooking-for.html
Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGKX37Q2
Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast an Herbalist's Guide
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/medicinal-shrubs-and-woody-vines-of.html
Available for purchase on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2T4Y5L6
and
Growing Your Survival Herb Garden for Preppers, Homesteaders and Everyone Else
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The name down to the clan, the clan to the.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Hey, y'all, welcome this week's show. I hope you're enjoying
this beautiful spring weather. The pollen is finally starting to
clear a little bit. Oh so happy. I have had
a rough one this year. Really, that pollen's been getting
to me like crazy. It was just so heavy. It
was so much heavier than in previous years because the
weather patterns we've been having. But today I mean to
(01:51):
talk about probably three plants. First two come from the
spring Forgeing Cookbook, and they're short entries. And that's good
because I got a very long entry on the one
from Medicinal Shrubs. It's hawthorn, cretagious and hawthorn is so useful.
It has such an interesting history. It is one you
absolutely must grouw. Okay, this is this one could probably
(02:16):
save your life. I mean, you could keep you from
having a heart attack. You're gonna want hawthorn, Okay. But
as far as the forging plants, they're trailing our bututus
and twisted stalk and trailing our beautis. This is again
for the spring forge and cookbook.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
It's what I would.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Consider a mild I mean a minor, not mild, a
minor wild edible, not really worth trying to collect in
any real amount. Grab a little bit, that's all it's
It's also called mayflower, but of course mayflower is a
different plant. Mayflower or trailing our beauty buttus is one
of the earliest flowers to appear in spring, and it
(02:55):
is as beautiful as it's sent us sweet.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
It's absolutely gorgeous. The flower or it's tube shaped.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
It's called a corolla, and in early spring, the flower
is just a nice little snack on the trail if
you find some. I'm sure it's nutritious, but it would
take a lot to make a meal. And the plant's
just really not common enough in most areas to harvest much.
You know, that flower is necessary for the reproductive activity
of the plant. If you go around eat other flowers,
(03:22):
you're gonna wipe out your trailing oar bututice, which is
one of the prettiest spring wildflowers there is, and that
would be a real shame. In fact, depending on where
you live, it may be protected in some places. It's
just not that common. Now, why did I include it? Well,
you could definitely grow some. You can get it grown
in pots. You can get grown in your yard. You
can have beautiful and wonderful smelling trailing our beautus, and
(03:45):
then you're free to eat as much as you want.
You know, because that's now your plant. You're responsible for
reproducing it and making sure it saves vibrant.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
So there you go.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Now. One you probably don't grow in your garden, but
I do think one of the property when I got there,
it was in the flower bits. It's called twisted stock,
and it's somewhat similar in appearance to Solomon seal and
fault Solomon seal and Indian cucumber, and in fact twisted
stock is often called Indian cucumber, but it's different, and
when the plants are mature you can really tell them apart.
(04:18):
Early in the spring can be kind of hard. It's
okay though, because it's interchangeable with those. The young spring
shoots are good raw and salad, and they taste like cucumber.
Then that's why it's often called Indian cucumber, although milder
and flavor. They can be included with asparagus like wild
edibles such as Solomon seal and Fault Solmon seal. The
(04:39):
main thing about twisted stock is for me is it's abundance.
It's one of the most common wild edibles where I live,
So even though it's not like super flavorable, I can
eat a ton of it every spring. So I love
this one. And you know, given that it doesn't really
have any poisonous look alikes, and I'm come to mind
at least right now, it's just like a no brainer
(05:01):
for me to grab some salmon seal, fault salmon seal
and twisted stock and pickle them all up together, cook
them all up together, or whatever you want.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
So, a really easy and tasty way to use this
plant is in a potato gallet. Now, several desserts are
called goallets. It's a really common dessert in French cooking.
But this one's a savory goallet, and it's a real
winter It's really good.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Actually.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
If you like potatoes or grotten and you like pot pies,
and you like a lot of those kind of kind
of creamy, rich buttery flavors, give this.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
One a shot, all right.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
So, washing and chop up about a pound or so
of twisted stock along with some ramps or ions and
shall it's a few mushrooms of celery optional green pepper.
I like green pepper. It's a summer plant for me, though,
you know, green peppers. It's hard to grow green peppers
on a northwest facing slope at about five thousand feet
(06:02):
elevation in the mountains of North Carolina, where it rains
or snows two hundred and seventy days a year, and
every other day it's got fog except for the dead
of winter. And then we do those those really clear,
Chris bright blue sunny days. I mean, it looks like
the freaking Arctic Circle up there. In fact, I've always
reminded of an old Jefferson Airplane song called an Eskimo
(06:25):
Blue Day. And you know, I know most people only
know the Jefferson Airplane from their their hits in the sixties,
you know, psychedelic rock, White Rabbit. One Pill makes You
larger and one Pill makes you small, and all that,
and the antics of their two front men front people,
Grace Slick and Paul Cantnor. Grace Slick was a good singer,
(06:47):
and so was Paul.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Really he was.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Pretty guitarist too, but you know, she was really sort
of a model turned singer, and he was really more
of the showman that the heart of the band was
really your mcalcon and Jack Cassidy Yorma phenomenal guitar player.
The dude could play anything, A very good blues player.
Later he went on did a hot Tuna and such,
(07:09):
and I got to hang out with him, you know,
a little bit in the nineties around Doc Watson and
learned from him. Cool guy, intelligent.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Super talented.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I mean, he could tell you all the stories about
all the old blues musicians that he had gotten to
know and learned from, you know, when he was younger
and he was glad to pass his on. Jack Cassidy
was just he rocked. I mean, he was awesome the
bass player. If you like the Red Hot Chili Peppers,
you remember their bass player Fleet. I don't know if
he like imitated everything Jack Casside did from his appearance
(07:42):
to the way he played music, or if it was
a coincidence, But I mean the two could have been
like father and son, even though they were not related.
Well as far as I know, they weren't. I think
who knows as far as that's concerned. But Jack and Yorma,
I mean, man, they played everything from like blues rock
and psychedelic rock. They could play classical, they could play
(08:02):
acoustic blues, Piedmont blues. They were actually did a couple
of punk rock albums in the late seventies early eighties.
I mean it's totally forgotten, but yeah, I mean they
were like hardcore punks. I mean, from hippie to hardcore
punk in the course of twenty years and then back
to playing acoustic blues. I mean, these guys were phenomenally talented.
(08:23):
And just today I recorded a tune for my new
channel on YouTube where I'm discussing old old blues, Piedmont blues,
mostly some Delta and I did hesitation blues and old
Reverend Gary Davis ten and Jack. Actually, I mean Yorma
actually studied with Reverend Gary Davis. And so when I
was a kid, you know, like sixteen seventeen years old,
(08:46):
and I was hanging around Doc Watson, I got.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
To meet Yorman.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I'm like, wow, you're Dorma Calcolm and the Jefferson Airplane.
And he's like, yeah, I don't really play that kind
of stuff anymore, you know, except on special occasions. He
just picks up his acoustic guitar and he starts playing
hesitation blues in my jaw was on the floor, you know,
so I learned a couple of licks on that song
from him, and it's pretty cool. You know, It's just
always awesome the way things kind of go full circle.
(09:11):
But anyway, I know I've wandered forest Ray again, as.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
As I often do.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
But yeah, peppers are hard to grow where I live.
I think that was roasting with that so hitty play. Uh,
salt saltat your veggies and in olive oil, salt and pepper,
and slice thinley a few of your favorite potatoes. I
like Yukon gold. Yukon gold has a naturally buttery flavor,
but you have Russets will totally work for this. Soo
(09:37):
red potatoes, anything, little fingerling potatoes, those lovely little purple
Peruvian potatoes. Those are delicious, by the way, But yeah,
you kind of goal is probably gonna be my first pick.
Slice some thin like you're gonna make a potatoes grattan
potato or grotta, but add some dairy and some grated
cheese graye cheese of your choice. Of course, Palm swiss
(10:00):
would be more traditional. Heavy cream would be more traditional,
but you can go from half and half to whole milk.
Don't go with skim milk. Don't ever buy skim milk.
Skim milk is evil. It's a work of the devil.
So lightly salt and pepper each layer, and add any
herbs and spices you like, either some partially in nutmeg,
maybe some creole seasoning. Always from my creole season in there,
(10:23):
whatever your preference is. Partially a nutmeg is more classic
to me. Nut mak can be a little a little sweet.
Sometimes it just makes things. But what it does is
it brings the flavors of the vegetables and other herbs
into the back of your sinuses. Same with celery. Celery
(10:45):
has a similar effect, especially if you use the tops.
They have essential oils and they carry the food up
the back of your sinus and enhance the.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Taste of the food.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
These it's almost like they use MSG, like in Chinese restaurants.
MSG before MSG was invented was celery, salt and nutmeg.
You can't get wrong with that. But you got to remember,
like in creole seasoning, you got a little kumen in there,
and you got a little paprika, and let's go do
the same thing. Those are also going to carry those flavors,
So go with whatever you like I like more savory,
(11:17):
you might like more sweet, so totally up to you.
I like to put a second layer of veggies on top,
but that's not really traditional. Usually it's just a basic
one layer dish. It just basically looked like a potato pie,
baked for about a half hour or so at three
fifty to four hundred top, crumbled with bacon, bacon and
a lot more cheese, and put it back in and
(11:39):
let the cheese get run in bubbly. Now, one thing
I left out while I called this a goallett. A
golette does usually have a pieshell base, and this is
almost like a savory tart if you want to think
of it that way. You can absolutely do this with
a pieshell, bass store, boughter, homemade. I like to make
(11:59):
my homemade pie shell nice and thin. Don't make the
crust too big, don't overwhelm it. Oftentimes, though, when I
make this, I'll skip the crust and just put more
cheese on top, maybe even some cracker crumbs, Like if
I've got some ritz crackers or something I want to
get rid of, or some you know, soured oaver bread,
I want to crumble up on top, so.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
You can do it either way.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
It's the course far easier to do it as a
casserole dish in the up and without worrying about browning
a crust or you know, than it is without then
it is with, I should say. But if you have
the time, if you want to get some all purpose
flour and a little bit of salt and sugar and
a little bit of nice ice cold butter and make
(12:41):
a good pie crust, you can turn this from like
a side dish to a main dish. And really it's
very impressive and it's absolutely delicious. And yeah, my preference
is with the pie crust. But nine times out of
ten I skip the crust. Yeah, yeah, I hate to
(13:02):
admit that, but I do.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
I do.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
I skipped a crust anyway. Puff pastry could certainly be used.
Anything like that, Philo do Philod dough would be perfect.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
But yeah, that says totally it. Do what you like there.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Now let's get into hawthorn, and hawthorn is a giant family.
There are seventy eight varieties of hawthorn with documented use
in herbal medicine. I am not going to even try
at all, and native to my region, they're about forty
(13:37):
thirty at least. I mean seriously, we got a ton
of hawthorn, the only one, gosh, but the only one
in shrub form. Now, normally this is a tree, and
this is from my book Medicinal Shrubs is but that
nearest it down.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
It makes it easier.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Cretagious uniflora or one flowered hawthorn. I've never noticed that
to actually have one flower. But it's also known as
dwarf hawthorn. Dwarf meaning of course a small hawthorn tree
which is more like a bush, and that one is
easy to identify. And yeah, so although these days hawthorn
(14:13):
is mainly relegated to being a landscape plant useful in
keeping out intruders, it's got thorns on it.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
You can you know, you can use that.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You can incorporate that in your landscape as a hedge plant,
or used to make a rustic jam. Unfortunately too few
people still do that. And hawthorn berries are delicious. You
should absolutely be growing this and making your own jam
and wine from them. It's one of the most storied
and useful plants in herbal medicine. It's said to be
(14:43):
the wood that was the staff of Saint Joseph. Saint
Joseph was said to carrie the Father, you know, foster
Father Jesus a staff of hawthorn and the thorns. The
crown of thorns was said to be woven from hawthorn,
and that's very likely because it was native to the area,
and especially the one native there has really big thorns,
(15:06):
I mean almost like honey locusts size thorns, and for
that reason it became an early symbol of the Catholic Church.
You might see a cross, you might see a fish,
you might see a hawthorn bush to signify that someone
was Catholic and welcomed other Catholics to their door. That
was very common in the early Church. You would put
(15:27):
up one of those symbols, and anyone in the area
that needed help would come to your door, and you
were expected it was your Christian duty to give them
a place to sleep and food to eat, and take
care of them if they were sick, and so hawthorns
planted in It's really one of our first landscaping plants.
Because every church, every monastery, and every Christian home had
(15:52):
probably a hawthorn tree. And actually early Christians used the
hawthorn tree as a Christmas tree. The tradition of using
firs and spruces and evergreens didn't really start until Christendom
spread into Western Europe, really into more than northern Germanic countries,
(16:15):
getting into like Sweden and Norway and the Norse Country,
where they had this tradition of using evergreen bowels as
a symbol of like eternal life. And the early Christians
got there and said, hey, they already have this tradition,
they are already decorating with evergreen. We have a tradition
(16:35):
of making a Christmas tree out of hawthorn. Why don't
we just put the two together and from now on
the Christmas tree will be something they can identify with
and it will help convert them to Christianity. And they did,
and our beloved Christmas tree comes from that tradition, which
some people say, oh, it's a pagan tradition. No, it's
a synthesis of two cultures. And the original Christmas tree
(16:57):
was a hawthorn tree from which had been made the
crown of thorns, which is of course very appropriate to Easter,
been used for medicine for thousands of years, and Discordes
Greek verbalis some two thousand years ago said that drinking
the seed would cause a woman to give birth to
(17:19):
a male child. I don't think that has any relevance
or legitimacy to it whatsoever. But they believe that if
hawthorne was usual, were more likely to have a son
than a daughter. But it was also used for the
cleansing of the menstrual flow before the time of intercourse.
(17:40):
Just it's a stringent, it would dry things up.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Let's just go with that.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Getting into more practical use. In call Pepper's time, this
is England. It was so commonly planted that he stated,
and remember this is just after England became a Protestant nation.
England had been one of the leading Catholic nations for
hundreds of years before this point, and people planted hawthorne
(18:06):
in every Christian yard to signify that they were Christians.
He said, It's not my intention to trouble you with
the description of this tree, which is so well known
that it needs none. It is ordinarily but a hedge bush,
although being pruned and dressed, it grows into a tree
of reasonable height. This is early sixteen hundreds, he said.
(18:28):
As for the hawthorn tree at Glastonbury, which is said
to flower yearly on Christmas Day. It rather shoes the shows,
or he said, shoes the superstition of those that observe
it for the time of its flowering, than any great wonder.
And yes, Hawthorne has a reputation, especially those in England,
especially that at Glastonbury, of growing, of blooming on Christmas Day.
(18:51):
And he said that it just basically bloomed in that
general time frame, maybe a few days before, a few
days after, or that was more folklore. But as far
as medicinal, he said, the seasoned berries beaten to a powder,
being drink. Drink and wine are held singularly good against
the stone, good for kidney and Bladderstones are good for
(19:12):
the dropsy that's retaining a fluid. The distilled water the
flower stays the last. That's usually what can be a
discharge a diarrhea, you know, the seeds cleared from the down,
bruised and boiled, and wine and drank is good for
the inward tormenting pains cramping in other words, intestinal cramps.
If cloths or sponges be wet and distilled water and
(19:33):
applied to any place where thorns are splinters of the like,
do abide in the flesh, it would notably draw him forth. Yes,
it's a stringent, and basically a tea made of it
used as a compress can help draw out splinters and thorns.
It tightens that tissue and kind of pushes him back out.
It's really nice, he says. And thus you see the
thorn gives the medicine for its own pricking, and so
(19:56):
doth almost everything else. He was a very big believer
and like cures. Like, yeah, interesting character if nothing else. Now, Galen,
going back to we're back to ancient Rome now, says
the halls and berries of the hawthorn tree doth stay
the last, the senses and all no way. But that's
(20:19):
like Galen. That's Gerard. I made the same mistake last week.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Gerard says, the halls that we're back in England were
about fifteen hundreds now, though the halls and berries of
the hawthorn tree, as discordities, riteth to stay the last,
and the men seas and other fluxes of blood. Some
authors write that the stones beaten to powder and given
to drunk are good against the stone. Where's the seeds
(20:44):
of the hawthorn? We help with kiddy stones and such.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Oh my word.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Anyway, getting up to nineteen thirties England misgrieve. But now
the pharmacists and doctors are using it for its cardiac effect.
And they said, she said, cardiac diuretic as stringent and tonic,
mainly used as a cardiac tonic in organic and functional
heart troubles. Both flowers and berries are stringent and useful,
(21:10):
and decoctions is cure sore throats useful in as a
diuretic in dropsy and kidney troubles. In Ireland, John Keyho
says the fruit is drying a stringent and stops successive menstruation.
Flowers are good for breaking up stone and kidneys and blatters.
Now again, as I said, we have many American versions
(21:31):
of hawthorn, and the Native Americans certainly made use of
the lumbees, for instance, used in an infusion of hawthorn leaves.
And the lumbes are from southeastern North Carolina, so I
grew up with them and know a lot, actually a
lot more about their herbal traditions than I do about
(21:53):
ancient Greek, you know. But anyway, kind of sort of
my go to, whether it's the lumbee tradition or the
mountain apple latch and tradition the cherokeee and catab But anyway,
the Lumbies using an infusion of hawthorn leaves, flowers and haws.
It's a dried fruit as a cardiac and circulatory tonic.
Some Lumbee healers recommended hawthorn to treat heart at the
(22:16):
heart disease. To treat heart disease maybe a third time
I get right. They deduced have been caused by kidney problems,
arterial spasms, irregular heartbeat, or thickening of the heart walls,
and hawthorns like kind of the go to for a
rhythmia and a regular heartbeat. It's like the primary herb.
The Lumbee thought that hawthorn controlled both high and low
(22:37):
blood pressure by dilating the blood vessels and improving the
pumping action of the heart. Some Lumbee used the leaves
as a substuit for tobacco and tea. The roasted seeds
were grounded to a type of coffee. Local healers used
a bark tea to promote good circulation and prevent current spasms. Reportedly,
the berries were eaten by some to increase the appetite.
(22:59):
They have a bitterness to them, and it's a good
stomach tonic, as they call it now. Jethro Closs, writing
what about nineteen twenties, he wrote the English hawthorn or
may bush or thorn apple. It's another old dame for it,
thorn apple. He said it was anti spasmonic, sedative and tonic.
It's also very much used well. It's somewhat related to viburnum,
(23:25):
and so it's very good for mental cramping and such.
He said. The herb is very good when treating either
high or low blood pressure. By strengthening the action of
the heart. It helps many blood pressure problems. The tea
is good for nervous tension and sleeplessness. Take one or
two capsules daily. Make an infusion by steeping one teaspoon
full of the flowers and one half cupful of water,
(23:45):
and take one to two cups a day, taking only
a swallow at a time, maybe sweetened with honey if desired.
Getting up to modern use plants for future says. The
fruit and flower of hawthorns are well known in herbal
folk medicine as a heart tonic, and modern research has
borne out this use. The fruits and flowers have a
hypotensive effect as well as acting as a diuretic and
(24:06):
mild heart tonic. They are especially indicating the treatment of
weak heart combined with high blood pressure. Pro long use
is necessary for it to be efficacious. It is normally
used either as a tear or a tincture. The fruit
is anodyne, anti cholesteroemic, antidiuretic, dihretic, anti dysenteric, astringent, blood tonic, cardiotonic, hemistatic,
(24:28):
and stomatic. It is used in the treatment of dyspepsia,
stagnation of fatty food, abdominal fullness, retention of lochia, aminarrhea,
postpartum abdominal pain, hypertension, and coronary heart disease. All varieties
of hawthorn can be used, and.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
That's not a lot of plants.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
It may be harvested twice in the season, fresh flowering tips,
then ripe berries. Hawthorn is recognized as being good for
irregularities of the heart. It dilates, strengthens, and improves coronary arteries.
It is good for over exertion, when we surpass the
limitations of our age or fitness. Hawthorn is good for
arrhythmia and good for anginin. Hawthorn is especially good for
(25:07):
the middle age. Many herbalist believe that hawthorn may be
used as an alternative digitalis, even when used together, so
one can use less digitalist. Big disclaimer there, talk with
your doctor about that, okay, And I will definitely say
though that when it comes to herbal use of digitalists,
go with hawthorn digitalist. The foxcub plant can vary impotency wildly. Really,
(25:33):
Lily the valley is much safer than the digitalist or
fox club plant. Definitely start with hawthorn unless you're doctor
shows otherwise, But don't try to make your own digitalist
from foxglove. It's probably not going to end well. Really,
I'm serious on that, So rodeo or books. As Aside
from ornamental uses, hawthorn has been valued as a heart tonic,
(25:54):
and this value has been increasingly studied in recent years.
Promising results have been reported in connection with a variety
of heart elements, including angina pictorus, a normal heart action
CELSO said to be effective in stemming arturious corrosis. That's
the anti cholys ceramic property commonly knows hardening of the
arteries and they give well, the give instructions on how
(26:17):
to make a tincture of it, which you should know
by now.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
And if you don't any of.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
My books and past shows, you know, you just go back,
pull up a video and rumble. I gave instructions on
how to make tinctures, and we don't even get into that.
But now, Physicians Death Reference for herbal medicine, this is
the book your doctor looks at if he knows anything
at all about herbal medicine and he wants to know
how it might interact with your medications or whatever. Cretageous
(26:44):
or hawthorne is a well stayed or for use in
cardiovascuar disease. Historically, it has been used for congestive heart failure,
and I really do think it's one of the very
best for congestive heart failure, commonly in combination with cardiac glycosides,
as it may potentiate their effects. In other words, it
makes heart metation more effective in some cases. In some
cases talk with your doctor thereby reducing the dose of
(27:05):
cardiac glycoside drugs like a cytal drugs. I should say
the use of critagous in hypertension are arterial sclerosis and
hyperlipidemia is well documented. The active principles are oh, we
can't pronounce that, pro procyanitims I guess, or in flavonoids
which cause an increase in coronary blood flow due to
(27:26):
the dilatory effects resulting in an improvement of myocardial blood flow.
The drug is positively intro entropic gosh, that's hard to say,
and positively chronotropic. The cardiac effect of Critagious is said
(27:47):
to be caused by increased membrane permeability for calcium, as
well as the inhibition of phosphase phosphodiesterase with an increase
in intracellular cyclo amp concentrations. The only reason I can
pronounce this stuff at all is my mother was once
head of a cardiac and pulmonary program, so I actually
(28:09):
grew up hearing these words and reading them a lot.
But it's still a tongue twister word anyway. Increased coronary
and myocardial circulation profusion and reduction in peripheral vascular resistance
were observed. High dose may cause sedation, Yes, it has
a mildly sedative effect. The effect has been attributed to
(28:30):
the all eglomeric procyanidins. Yes, procyonidints, just like we find
in a cherry bark and such can have a slightly sedative,
slightly narcotic effect. It depends on the dosage. Critagious extract
has been found to prolong the refractory period and increase
the action potential duration in guinea pig papillary muscles. One
(28:55):
stay demonstrated that cretagious extract block the reprollarization and potassium
currents and ventricle myocytes of guinea pigs. I mean, just
going aside here. I have never approved of animal research
in pharmacy, animal tests and pharmaceutical research. Thank god we
now have RFK Junior, who is almost entirely banning them.
(29:18):
We're going to use the computers and AI, which you know,
I'm not a big fan of AI either, But the
stuff that Fauci promoted and approved of done to dogs
and other animals is horrific, and it's really hard for
me not to wish that some similar was done to him.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Yeah, I'm not advocating that, but.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
You know, if he goes to Hell, maybe that'll be
his torture. Hopefully he'll convert and come to repentance before then.
I wish him only the best, but I could easily
make correlations between him and his ilk with the Nazi scientists,
and yeah, very much in the same vein. In fact,
you know, after World War Two, a lot of those
(30:02):
Nazi scientists didn't go to jail, the ones that were
doing horrible medical experiments on children and well in adults too.
I mean they used Jews as guinea pigs, and Gypsies
and Catholics and a lot of people, and they did
horrific things. Most of them did not actually go to jail.
A lot of them came to work for the United
States government as medical researchers. That's one of those little
(30:23):
known facts of history. But yeah, the most horrific things
you can imagine they've been doing all along.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
And RFK Junior is finally stopping that.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
So thank you Donald Trump, and thank God for Donald Trump.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
My opinion, my opinion, like it or not, all right?
Speaker 2 (30:40):
This effect is similar to that class of three anti
arrhythmic drugs and may explain the anti arrhythmic effect of
Hawthorne Curtagious. Is that Curtagious is due to its high
flavor owned content may also be used to decrease inflammation,
decrease capitillary fragility.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
And prevent college and destruction of the joints.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Hawthorn incredibly useful plant, incredibly well grow some hawthorn, And
like I said, there are tons of them out there
in the wild, so learned to identify them and use them.
And like I said to me, this is one of
the essential herbs. I mean, really, if you've got an
herb that can help prevent a heart attack, you need
(31:21):
to have that herb growing in your property, right, or
at least know how to find it, or at least
have a tincture or you know, some put away somewhere. Anyway,
y'all have a great week, and I will talk to
you next time.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
The information in this podcast is non intended to diagnose
or treat any disease or condition. Nothing I say or
right has been evaluated or approved by the FDA.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
I'm not a doctor.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
The US government does not recognize the practice of verbal medicine,
and there is no governing body regulating herbs. Therefore, I'm
really just a guy who says herbs. I'm not offering
any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write
or say is accurate or true. I can tell you
what Earth's been traditionally used for. I can tell you
my own experience, and if I believe in herb has
helped me, I cannot nor what I tell you to
(32:10):
to say. If you use an herb anyone recommends you
are treating yourself, you take full responsibility for your health.
Humans are individuals, and no two are identical. What works
for me may not work for you. You may have an
allergy of sensitivity and underlying condition that no one else
even shares and you don't even know about. Be careful
with your health. By continuing to listen to my podcast
(32:33):
or read my blog, you agree to be responsible for yourself,
to your own research, make your own choices, and not
to blame me for anything ever
The name down to the clan, the clan to the.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Hey, y'all, welcome this week's show. I hope you're enjoying
this beautiful spring weather. The pollen is finally starting to
clear a little bit. Oh so happy. I have had
a rough one this year. Really, that pollen's been getting
to me like crazy. It was just so heavy. It
was so much heavier than in previous years because the
weather patterns we've been having. But today I mean to
(01:51):
talk about probably three plants. First two come from the
spring Forgeing Cookbook, and they're short entries. And that's good
because I got a very long entry on the one
from Medicinal Shrubs. It's hawthorn, cretagious and hawthorn is so useful.
It has such an interesting history. It is one you
absolutely must grouw. Okay, this is this one could probably
(02:16):
save your life. I mean, you could keep you from
having a heart attack. You're gonna want hawthorn, Okay. But
as far as the forging plants, they're trailing our bututus
and twisted stalk and trailing our beautis. This is again
for the spring forge and cookbook.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
It's what I would.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Consider a mild I mean a minor, not mild, a
minor wild edible, not really worth trying to collect in
any real amount. Grab a little bit, that's all it's
It's also called mayflower, but of course mayflower is a
different plant. Mayflower or trailing our beauty buttus is one
of the earliest flowers to appear in spring, and it
(02:55):
is as beautiful as it's sent us sweet.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
It's absolutely gorgeous. The flower or it's tube shaped.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
It's called a corolla, and in early spring, the flower
is just a nice little snack on the trail if
you find some. I'm sure it's nutritious, but it would
take a lot to make a meal. And the plant's
just really not common enough in most areas to harvest much.
You know, that flower is necessary for the reproductive activity
of the plant. If you go around eat other flowers,
(03:22):
you're gonna wipe out your trailing oar bututice, which is
one of the prettiest spring wildflowers there is, and that
would be a real shame. In fact, depending on where
you live, it may be protected in some places. It's
just not that common. Now, why did I include it? Well,
you could definitely grow some. You can get it grown
in pots. You can get grown in your yard. You
can have beautiful and wonderful smelling trailing our beautus, and
(03:45):
then you're free to eat as much as you want.
You know, because that's now your plant. You're responsible for
reproducing it and making sure it saves vibrant.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
So there you go.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Now. One you probably don't grow in your garden, but
I do think one of the property when I got there,
it was in the flower bits. It's called twisted stock,
and it's somewhat similar in appearance to Solomon seal and
fault Solomon seal and Indian cucumber, and in fact twisted
stock is often called Indian cucumber, but it's different, and
when the plants are mature you can really tell them apart.
(04:18):
Early in the spring can be kind of hard. It's
okay though, because it's interchangeable with those. The young spring
shoots are good raw and salad, and they taste like cucumber.
Then that's why it's often called Indian cucumber, although milder
and flavor. They can be included with asparagus like wild
edibles such as Solomon seal and Fault Solmon seal. The
(04:39):
main thing about twisted stock is for me is it's abundance.
It's one of the most common wild edibles where I live,
So even though it's not like super flavorable, I can
eat a ton of it every spring. So I love
this one. And you know, given that it doesn't really
have any poisonous look alikes, and I'm come to mind
at least right now, it's just like a no brainer
(05:01):
for me to grab some salmon seal, fault salmon seal
and twisted stock and pickle them all up together, cook
them all up together, or whatever you want.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
So, a really easy and tasty way to use this
plant is in a potato gallet. Now, several desserts are
called goallets. It's a really common dessert in French cooking.
But this one's a savory goallet, and it's a real
winter It's really good.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Actually.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
If you like potatoes or grotten and you like pot pies,
and you like a lot of those kind of kind
of creamy, rich buttery flavors, give this.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
One a shot, all right.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
So, washing and chop up about a pound or so
of twisted stock along with some ramps or ions and
shall it's a few mushrooms of celery optional green pepper.
I like green pepper. It's a summer plant for me, though,
you know, green peppers. It's hard to grow green peppers
on a northwest facing slope at about five thousand feet
(06:02):
elevation in the mountains of North Carolina, where it rains
or snows two hundred and seventy days a year, and
every other day it's got fog except for the dead
of winter. And then we do those those really clear,
Chris bright blue sunny days. I mean, it looks like
the freaking Arctic Circle up there. In fact, I've always
reminded of an old Jefferson Airplane song called an Eskimo
(06:25):
Blue Day. And you know, I know most people only
know the Jefferson Airplane from their their hits in the sixties,
you know, psychedelic rock, White Rabbit. One Pill makes You
larger and one Pill makes you small, and all that,
and the antics of their two front men front people,
Grace Slick and Paul Cantnor. Grace Slick was a good singer,
(06:47):
and so was Paul.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Really he was.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Pretty guitarist too, but you know, she was really sort
of a model turned singer, and he was really more
of the showman that the heart of the band was
really your mcalcon and Jack Cassidy Yorma phenomenal guitar player.
The dude could play anything, A very good blues player.
Later he went on did a hot Tuna and such,
(07:09):
and I got to hang out with him, you know,
a little bit in the nineties around Doc Watson and
learned from him. Cool guy, intelligent.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Super talented.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I mean, he could tell you all the stories about
all the old blues musicians that he had gotten to
know and learned from, you know, when he was younger
and he was glad to pass his on. Jack Cassidy
was just he rocked. I mean, he was awesome the
bass player. If you like the Red Hot Chili Peppers,
you remember their bass player Fleet. I don't know if
he like imitated everything Jack Casside did from his appearance
(07:42):
to the way he played music, or if it was
a coincidence, But I mean the two could have been
like father and son, even though they were not related.
Well as far as I know, they weren't. I think
who knows as far as that's concerned. But Jack and Yorma,
I mean, man, they played everything from like blues rock
and psychedelic rock. They could play classical, they could play
(08:02):
acoustic blues, Piedmont blues. They were actually did a couple
of punk rock albums in the late seventies early eighties.
I mean it's totally forgotten, but yeah, I mean they
were like hardcore punks. I mean, from hippie to hardcore
punk in the course of twenty years and then back
to playing acoustic blues. I mean, these guys were phenomenally talented.
(08:23):
And just today I recorded a tune for my new
channel on YouTube where I'm discussing old old blues, Piedmont blues,
mostly some Delta and I did hesitation blues and old
Reverend Gary Davis ten and Jack. Actually, I mean Yorma
actually studied with Reverend Gary Davis. And so when I
was a kid, you know, like sixteen seventeen years old,
(08:46):
and I was hanging around Doc Watson, I got.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
To meet Yorman.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I'm like, wow, you're Dorma Calcolm and the Jefferson Airplane.
And he's like, yeah, I don't really play that kind
of stuff anymore, you know, except on special occasions. He
just picks up his acoustic guitar and he starts playing
hesitation blues in my jaw was on the floor, you know,
so I learned a couple of licks on that song
from him, and it's pretty cool. You know, It's just
always awesome the way things kind of go full circle.
(09:11):
But anyway, I know I've wandered forest Ray again, as.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
As I often do.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
But yeah, peppers are hard to grow where I live.
I think that was roasting with that so hitty play. Uh,
salt saltat your veggies and in olive oil, salt and pepper,
and slice thinley a few of your favorite potatoes. I
like Yukon gold. Yukon gold has a naturally buttery flavor,
but you have Russets will totally work for this. Soo
(09:37):
red potatoes, anything, little fingerling potatoes, those lovely little purple
Peruvian potatoes. Those are delicious, by the way, But yeah,
you kind of goal is probably gonna be my first pick.
Slice some thin like you're gonna make a potatoes grattan
potato or grotta, but add some dairy and some grated
cheese graye cheese of your choice. Of course, Palm swiss
(10:00):
would be more traditional. Heavy cream would be more traditional,
but you can go from half and half to whole milk.
Don't go with skim milk. Don't ever buy skim milk.
Skim milk is evil. It's a work of the devil.
So lightly salt and pepper each layer, and add any
herbs and spices you like, either some partially in nutmeg,
maybe some creole seasoning. Always from my creole season in there,
(10:23):
whatever your preference is. Partially a nutmeg is more classic
to me. Nut mak can be a little a little sweet.
Sometimes it just makes things. But what it does is
it brings the flavors of the vegetables and other herbs
into the back of your sinuses. Same with celery. Celery
(10:45):
has a similar effect, especially if you use the tops.
They have essential oils and they carry the food up
the back of your sinus and enhance the.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Taste of the food.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
These it's almost like they use MSG, like in Chinese restaurants.
MSG before MSG was invented was celery, salt and nutmeg.
You can't get wrong with that. But you got to remember,
like in creole seasoning, you got a little kumen in there,
and you got a little paprika, and let's go do
the same thing. Those are also going to carry those flavors,
So go with whatever you like I like more savory,
(11:17):
you might like more sweet, so totally up to you.
I like to put a second layer of veggies on top,
but that's not really traditional. Usually it's just a basic
one layer dish. It just basically looked like a potato pie,
baked for about a half hour or so at three
fifty to four hundred top, crumbled with bacon, bacon and
a lot more cheese, and put it back in and
(11:39):
let the cheese get run in bubbly. Now, one thing
I left out while I called this a goallett. A
golette does usually have a pieshell base, and this is
almost like a savory tart if you want to think
of it that way. You can absolutely do this with
a pieshell, bass store, boughter, homemade. I like to make
(11:59):
my homemade pie shell nice and thin. Don't make the
crust too big, don't overwhelm it. Oftentimes, though, when I
make this, I'll skip the crust and just put more
cheese on top, maybe even some cracker crumbs, Like if
I've got some ritz crackers or something I want to
get rid of, or some you know, soured oaver bread,
I want to crumble up on top, so.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
You can do it either way.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
It's the course far easier to do it as a
casserole dish in the up and without worrying about browning
a crust or you know, than it is without then
it is with, I should say. But if you have
the time, if you want to get some all purpose
flour and a little bit of salt and sugar and
a little bit of nice ice cold butter and make
(12:41):
a good pie crust, you can turn this from like
a side dish to a main dish. And really it's
very impressive and it's absolutely delicious. And yeah, my preference
is with the pie crust. But nine times out of
ten I skip the crust. Yeah, yeah, I hate to
(13:02):
admit that, but I do.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
I do.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
I skipped a crust anyway. Puff pastry could certainly be used.
Anything like that, Philo do Philod dough would be perfect.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
But yeah, that says totally it. Do what you like there.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Now let's get into hawthorn, and hawthorn is a giant family.
There are seventy eight varieties of hawthorn with documented use
in herbal medicine. I am not going to even try
at all, and native to my region, they're about forty
(13:37):
thirty at least. I mean seriously, we got a ton
of hawthorn, the only one, gosh, but the only one
in shrub form. Now, normally this is a tree, and
this is from my book Medicinal Shrubs is but that
nearest it down.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
It makes it easier.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Cretagious uniflora or one flowered hawthorn. I've never noticed that
to actually have one flower. But it's also known as
dwarf hawthorn. Dwarf meaning of course a small hawthorn tree
which is more like a bush, and that one is
easy to identify. And yeah, so although these days hawthorn
(14:13):
is mainly relegated to being a landscape plant useful in
keeping out intruders, it's got thorns on it.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
You can you know, you can use that.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You can incorporate that in your landscape as a hedge plant,
or used to make a rustic jam. Unfortunately too few
people still do that. And hawthorn berries are delicious. You
should absolutely be growing this and making your own jam
and wine from them. It's one of the most storied
and useful plants in herbal medicine. It's said to be
(14:43):
the wood that was the staff of Saint Joseph. Saint
Joseph was said to carrie the Father, you know, foster
Father Jesus a staff of hawthorn and the thorns. The
crown of thorns was said to be woven from hawthorn,
and that's very likely because it was native to the area,
and especially the one native there has really big thorns,
(15:06):
I mean almost like honey locusts size thorns, and for
that reason it became an early symbol of the Catholic Church.
You might see a cross, you might see a fish,
you might see a hawthorn bush to signify that someone
was Catholic and welcomed other Catholics to their door. That
was very common in the early Church. You would put
(15:27):
up one of those symbols, and anyone in the area
that needed help would come to your door, and you
were expected it was your Christian duty to give them
a place to sleep and food to eat, and take
care of them if they were sick, and so hawthorns
planted in It's really one of our first landscaping plants.
Because every church, every monastery, and every Christian home had
(15:52):
probably a hawthorn tree. And actually early Christians used the
hawthorn tree as a Christmas tree. The tradition of using
firs and spruces and evergreens didn't really start until Christendom
spread into Western Europe, really into more than northern Germanic countries,
(16:15):
getting into like Sweden and Norway and the Norse Country,
where they had this tradition of using evergreen bowels as
a symbol of like eternal life. And the early Christians
got there and said, hey, they already have this tradition,
they are already decorating with evergreen. We have a tradition
(16:35):
of making a Christmas tree out of hawthorn. Why don't
we just put the two together and from now on
the Christmas tree will be something they can identify with
and it will help convert them to Christianity. And they did,
and our beloved Christmas tree comes from that tradition, which
some people say, oh, it's a pagan tradition. No, it's
a synthesis of two cultures. And the original Christmas tree
(16:57):
was a hawthorn tree from which had been made the
crown of thorns, which is of course very appropriate to Easter,
been used for medicine for thousands of years, and Discordes
Greek verbalis some two thousand years ago said that drinking
the seed would cause a woman to give birth to
(17:19):
a male child. I don't think that has any relevance
or legitimacy to it whatsoever. But they believe that if
hawthorne was usual, were more likely to have a son
than a daughter. But it was also used for the
cleansing of the menstrual flow before the time of intercourse.
(17:40):
Just it's a stringent, it would dry things up.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Let's just go with that.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Getting into more practical use. In call Pepper's time, this
is England. It was so commonly planted that he stated,
and remember this is just after England became a Protestant nation.
England had been one of the leading Catholic nations for
hundreds of years before this point, and people planted hawthorne
(18:06):
in every Christian yard to signify that they were Christians.
He said, It's not my intention to trouble you with
the description of this tree, which is so well known
that it needs none. It is ordinarily but a hedge bush,
although being pruned and dressed, it grows into a tree
of reasonable height. This is early sixteen hundreds, he said.
(18:28):
As for the hawthorn tree at Glastonbury, which is said
to flower yearly on Christmas Day. It rather shoes the shows,
or he said, shoes the superstition of those that observe
it for the time of its flowering, than any great wonder.
And yes, Hawthorne has a reputation, especially those in England,
especially that at Glastonbury, of growing, of blooming on Christmas Day.
(18:51):
And he said that it just basically bloomed in that
general time frame, maybe a few days before, a few
days after, or that was more folklore. But as far
as medicinal, he said, the seasoned berries beaten to a powder,
being drink. Drink and wine are held singularly good against
the stone, good for kidney and Bladderstones are good for
(19:12):
the dropsy that's retaining a fluid. The distilled water the
flower stays the last. That's usually what can be a
discharge a diarrhea, you know, the seeds cleared from the down,
bruised and boiled, and wine and drank is good for
the inward tormenting pains cramping in other words, intestinal cramps.
If cloths or sponges be wet and distilled water and
(19:33):
applied to any place where thorns are splinters of the like,
do abide in the flesh, it would notably draw him forth. Yes,
it's a stringent, and basically a tea made of it
used as a compress can help draw out splinters and thorns.
It tightens that tissue and kind of pushes him back out.
It's really nice, he says. And thus you see the
thorn gives the medicine for its own pricking, and so
(19:56):
doth almost everything else. He was a very big believer
and like cures. Like, yeah, interesting character if nothing else. Now, Galen,
going back to we're back to ancient Rome now, says
the halls and berries of the hawthorn tree doth stay
the last, the senses and all no way. But that's
(20:19):
like Galen. That's Gerard. I made the same mistake last week.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Gerard says, the halls that we're back in England were
about fifteen hundreds now, though the halls and berries of
the hawthorn tree, as discordities, riteth to stay the last,
and the men seas and other fluxes of blood. Some
authors write that the stones beaten to powder and given
to drunk are good against the stone. Where's the seeds
(20:44):
of the hawthorn? We help with kiddy stones and such.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Oh my word.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Anyway, getting up to nineteen thirties England misgrieve. But now
the pharmacists and doctors are using it for its cardiac effect.
And they said, she said, cardiac diuretic as stringent and tonic,
mainly used as a cardiac tonic in organic and functional
heart troubles. Both flowers and berries are stringent and useful,
(21:10):
and decoctions is cure sore throats useful in as a
diuretic in dropsy and kidney troubles. In Ireland, John Keyho
says the fruit is drying a stringent and stops successive menstruation.
Flowers are good for breaking up stone and kidneys and blatters.
Now again, as I said, we have many American versions
(21:31):
of hawthorn, and the Native Americans certainly made use of
the lumbees, for instance, used in an infusion of hawthorn leaves.
And the lumbes are from southeastern North Carolina, so I
grew up with them and know a lot, actually a
lot more about their herbal traditions than I do about
(21:53):
ancient Greek, you know. But anyway, kind of sort of
my go to, whether it's the lumbee tradition or the
mountain apple latch and tradition the cherokeee and catab But anyway,
the Lumbies using an infusion of hawthorn leaves, flowers and haws.
It's a dried fruit as a cardiac and circulatory tonic.
Some Lumbee healers recommended hawthorn to treat heart at the
(22:16):
heart disease. To treat heart disease maybe a third time
I get right. They deduced have been caused by kidney problems,
arterial spasms, irregular heartbeat, or thickening of the heart walls,
and hawthorns like kind of the go to for a
rhythmia and a regular heartbeat. It's like the primary herb.
The Lumbee thought that hawthorn controlled both high and low
(22:37):
blood pressure by dilating the blood vessels and improving the
pumping action of the heart. Some Lumbee used the leaves
as a substuit for tobacco and tea. The roasted seeds
were grounded to a type of coffee. Local healers used
a bark tea to promote good circulation and prevent current spasms. Reportedly,
the berries were eaten by some to increase the appetite.
(22:59):
They have a bitterness to them, and it's a good
stomach tonic, as they call it now. Jethro Closs, writing
what about nineteen twenties, he wrote the English hawthorn or
may bush or thorn apple. It's another old dame for it,
thorn apple. He said it was anti spasmonic, sedative and tonic.
It's also very much used well. It's somewhat related to viburnum,
(23:25):
and so it's very good for mental cramping and such.
He said. The herb is very good when treating either
high or low blood pressure. By strengthening the action of
the heart. It helps many blood pressure problems. The tea
is good for nervous tension and sleeplessness. Take one or
two capsules daily. Make an infusion by steeping one teaspoon
full of the flowers and one half cupful of water,
(23:45):
and take one to two cups a day, taking only
a swallow at a time, maybe sweetened with honey if desired.
Getting up to modern use plants for future says. The
fruit and flower of hawthorns are well known in herbal
folk medicine as a heart tonic, and modern research has
borne out this use. The fruits and flowers have a
hypotensive effect as well as acting as a diuretic and
(24:06):
mild heart tonic. They are especially indicating the treatment of
weak heart combined with high blood pressure. Pro long use
is necessary for it to be efficacious. It is normally
used either as a tear or a tincture. The fruit
is anodyne, anti cholesteroemic, antidiuretic, dihretic, anti dysenteric, astringent, blood tonic, cardiotonic, hemistatic,
(24:28):
and stomatic. It is used in the treatment of dyspepsia,
stagnation of fatty food, abdominal fullness, retention of lochia, aminarrhea,
postpartum abdominal pain, hypertension, and coronary heart disease. All varieties
of hawthorn can be used, and.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
That's not a lot of plants.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
It may be harvested twice in the season, fresh flowering tips,
then ripe berries. Hawthorn is recognized as being good for
irregularities of the heart. It dilates, strengthens, and improves coronary arteries.
It is good for over exertion, when we surpass the
limitations of our age or fitness. Hawthorn is good for
arrhythmia and good for anginin. Hawthorn is especially good for
(25:07):
the middle age. Many herbalist believe that hawthorn may be
used as an alternative digitalis, even when used together, so
one can use less digitalist. Big disclaimer there, talk with
your doctor about that, okay, And I will definitely say
though that when it comes to herbal use of digitalists,
go with hawthorn digitalist. The foxcub plant can vary impotency wildly. Really,
(25:33):
Lily the valley is much safer than the digitalist or
fox club plant. Definitely start with hawthorn unless you're doctor
shows otherwise, But don't try to make your own digitalist
from foxglove. It's probably not going to end well. Really,
I'm serious on that, So rodeo or books. As Aside
from ornamental uses, hawthorn has been valued as a heart tonic,
(25:54):
and this value has been increasingly studied in recent years.
Promising results have been reported in connection with a variety
of heart elements, including angina pictorus, a normal heart action
CELSO said to be effective in stemming arturious corrosis. That's
the anti cholys ceramic property commonly knows hardening of the
arteries and they give well, the give instructions on how
(26:17):
to make a tincture of it, which you should know
by now.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
And if you don't any of.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
My books and past shows, you know, you just go back,
pull up a video and rumble. I gave instructions on
how to make tinctures, and we don't even get into that.
But now, Physicians Death Reference for herbal medicine, this is
the book your doctor looks at if he knows anything
at all about herbal medicine and he wants to know
how it might interact with your medications or whatever. Cretageous
(26:44):
or hawthorne is a well stayed or for use in
cardiovascuar disease. Historically, it has been used for congestive heart failure,
and I really do think it's one of the very
best for congestive heart failure, commonly in combination with cardiac glycosides,
as it may potentiate their effects. In other words, it
makes heart metation more effective in some cases. In some
cases talk with your doctor thereby reducing the dose of
(27:05):
cardiac glycoside drugs like a cytal drugs. I should say
the use of critagous in hypertension are arterial sclerosis and
hyperlipidemia is well documented. The active principles are oh, we
can't pronounce that, pro procyanitims I guess, or in flavonoids
which cause an increase in coronary blood flow due to
(27:26):
the dilatory effects resulting in an improvement of myocardial blood flow.
The drug is positively intro entropic gosh, that's hard to say,
and positively chronotropic. The cardiac effect of Critagious is said
(27:47):
to be caused by increased membrane permeability for calcium, as
well as the inhibition of phosphase phosphodiesterase with an increase
in intracellular cyclo amp concentrations. The only reason I can
pronounce this stuff at all is my mother was once
head of a cardiac and pulmonary program, so I actually
(28:09):
grew up hearing these words and reading them a lot.
But it's still a tongue twister word anyway. Increased coronary
and myocardial circulation profusion and reduction in peripheral vascular resistance
were observed. High dose may cause sedation, Yes, it has
a mildly sedative effect. The effect has been attributed to
(28:30):
the all eglomeric procyanidins. Yes, procyonidints, just like we find
in a cherry bark and such can have a slightly sedative,
slightly narcotic effect. It depends on the dosage. Critagious extract
has been found to prolong the refractory period and increase
the action potential duration in guinea pig papillary muscles. One
(28:55):
stay demonstrated that cretagious extract block the reprollarization and potassium
currents and ventricle myocytes of guinea pigs. I mean, just
going aside here. I have never approved of animal research
in pharmacy, animal tests and pharmaceutical research. Thank god we
now have RFK Junior, who is almost entirely banning them.
(29:18):
We're going to use the computers and AI, which you know,
I'm not a big fan of AI either, But the
stuff that Fauci promoted and approved of done to dogs
and other animals is horrific, and it's really hard for
me not to wish that some similar was done to him.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Yeah, I'm not advocating that, but.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
You know, if he goes to Hell, maybe that'll be
his torture. Hopefully he'll convert and come to repentance before then.
I wish him only the best, but I could easily
make correlations between him and his ilk with the Nazi scientists,
and yeah, very much in the same vein. In fact,
you know, after World War Two, a lot of those
(30:02):
Nazi scientists didn't go to jail, the ones that were
doing horrible medical experiments on children and well in adults too.
I mean they used Jews as guinea pigs, and Gypsies
and Catholics and a lot of people, and they did
horrific things. Most of them did not actually go to jail.
A lot of them came to work for the United
States government as medical researchers. That's one of those little
(30:23):
known facts of history. But yeah, the most horrific things
you can imagine they've been doing all along.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
And RFK Junior is finally stopping that.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
So thank you Donald Trump, and thank God for Donald Trump.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
My opinion, my opinion, like it or not, all right?
Speaker 2 (30:40):
This effect is similar to that class of three anti
arrhythmic drugs and may explain the anti arrhythmic effect of
Hawthorne Curtagious. Is that Curtagious is due to its high
flavor owned content may also be used to decrease inflammation,
decrease capitillary fragility.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
And prevent college and destruction of the joints.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Hawthorn incredibly useful plant, incredibly well grow some hawthorn, And
like I said, there are tons of them out there
in the wild, so learned to identify them and use them.
And like I said to me, this is one of
the essential herbs. I mean, really, if you've got an
herb that can help prevent a heart attack, you need
(31:21):
to have that herb growing in your property, right, or
at least know how to find it, or at least
have a tincture or you know, some put away somewhere. Anyway,
y'all have a great week, and I will talk to
you next time.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
The information in this podcast is non intended to diagnose
or treat any disease or condition. Nothing I say or
right has been evaluated or approved by the FDA.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
I'm not a doctor.
Speaker 4 (31:48):
The US government does not recognize the practice of verbal medicine,
and there is no governing body regulating herbs. Therefore, I'm
really just a guy who says herbs. I'm not offering
any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write
or say is accurate or true. I can tell you
what Earth's been traditionally used for. I can tell you
my own experience, and if I believe in herb has
helped me, I cannot nor what I tell you to
(32:10):
to say. If you use an herb anyone recommends you
are treating yourself, you take full responsibility for your health.
Humans are individuals, and no two are identical. What works
for me may not work for you. You may have an
allergy of sensitivity and underlying condition that no one else
even shares and you don't even know about. Be careful
with your health. By continuing to listen to my podcast
(32:33):
or read my blog, you agree to be responsible for yourself,
to your own research, make your own choices, and not
to blame me for anything ever
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