Barefoot Handmaiden

Have you ever wondered what it's like to have an infamous surname? Like, say, Bin Laden? Or Manson? Or maybe Dahmer?  Maybe you're completely innocent and never even knew the famous criminals attached to the names, yet people shudder when they hear your name. If you can imagine and empathize with this, then you might be able to empathize with a wonderful herb that has the same problem. Because Smooth Sumac is a lovely, useful herb that gets a bad rap because of another Sumac whose first name is "Poison." What Poison Sumac does to human skin that touches it is, indeed, criminal; however, I would encourage you to take another look at the sweet and innocent Smooth Sumac because it is useful in so many ways. I have been told that Smooth Sumac makes a wonderful Ade when its sour berries are added to water, strained and then sweetened. It is also used as a lemony-tasting spice in Indian Cuisine called Za'atar. Since we have found a large stand of Smooth Sumac ...

It was such a blessing when I found the Passion Flower Vine pictured above on my very first wildcrafting foray into herbal medicine. Having felt led in my spirit to study herbalism, finding Passion Flower and subsequently learning that it was considered a wonderful treatment for almost everything that ails me was all the confirmation I needed to press on and learn more about Abba Father's herbal gifts! I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia 15+ years ago.  After working with the medical status quo for many years, I finally realized there was really nothing they could do to help me. Thus began my search into the herbal/natural world for some relief, and Passion Flower Tincture is such a blessing as it actually helps relieve my pain. Passion Flower also helps with my anxiety and insomnia. As an anxious person, I don't like that feeling of being "pulled under" when I go to sleep. It almost always causes me to have a panic attack and not a very peaceful sleep. Pass...

Mullein, or Rabbit Baccer as it's called here in the mountains, is another of my very favorite herbs, probably because it is so versatile. Mullein leaves are one of the classic go-to herbs for anything respiratory.  I make both a tincture and a syrup from first year mullein leaves to keep in my herbal medicine cabinet, simply because it is one of the best herbal expectorants I have found.  Expectorants are very important because they keep mucus from sitting in your lungs and setting up infection by keeping the mucus loose and easy to cough up. The root of a mullein plant dug in the fall between its first and second year is a wonderful medicine for my back pain caused by osteoarthritis and degenerative joint disease.  Mullein Root has an affinity for soothing those inflamed discs and making things move and feel much better. The flowers and stalk of the second year mullein plant make a lovely earache oil for children that not only soothes the pain but calms the ch...

Foraging for herbs has a couple of big drawbacks and those are BUG BITES and POISON IVY! Plantain is the classic drawing herb and was once used in what Mamaw called "that ol' black salve," (along with activated charcoal, which made it black.) But plantain is not only great for for bee stings, and mosquito bites. It's also wonderful for poison ivy, and other itchy rashes. A plantain salve I made up a couple of days ago has been my constant companion as of late. I even take it to bed with me. It's been a life saver. I do believe plantain is my favorite herb right now. A few summers ago, my brother came over with a big ugly spider bite.  I mean, this bite looked BAD, and as a home health nurse who's seen a bunch of wounds, that is saying a lot.  Anyway, he had been to the doctor, but this big bad bite just wasn't getting any better even after three days of antibiotics.  So me being me, I mentioned plantain tincture to him.  Everybody kinda smirked be...

Barberry Root after outer bark is removed. A few days ago, both hubby and I woke up with stomach bloating, pain, and burning, along with severe flank (kidney) pain. Both of us were in quite a bit of pain. Nobody else in the family seems to be affected. I am torn between two possible causes of the illness.  We either caught a bug while we were out looking at land last week, or we possibly let a bottle of spring water go bad. I am leaning toward the latter, being as it seems to have affected both our GI tracts and our urinary tracts, where contaminated water would have to pass to be eliminated from the body. We collected spring water a couple of weeks ago and since then it has sat outside on the porch, quite possibly incubating any bacteria that might be present in the water. Yes, spring water can contain bacteria, and the spring where we collected this water is known to contain small amounts of bacteria. Most of the time this isn't a problem. In fact, I believe it helps...