During the summer season we all have access to such amazing plant medicine. It is growing right outside our doors, in the woods & fields, at the beach or on our favorite walking trail!
If we get stung we can chew up some plantain (Plantago major) & apply it to the sting to take away the pain. Plantain will also help pull out a splinter or ease the itching of bug bites.
If we want to jazz up our salads we can add red clover flowers, daisies, lamb’s quarter, violet flowers and leaves, raspberry leaves, chickweed, rose petals, and the list goes on. All of these wild plants will add an extra boost of vitamins & minerals to our meals!
There are many other plant medicine preparations to be made with all the summer plants including tinctures, oils, syrups, salves, vinegars, and others that will preserve the medicine for later use. You can learn more about these methods by attending workshops, taking courses online, finding your local herbalist or by purchasing some good herb books such as:
The Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine-Making Guide byThomas Easley & Stephen Horne
The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook: A Home Manual by James Green
Herbal Pharmacy – The Art Of Herbal Medicine Making by Gail Faith Edwards
The Boreal Herbal by Beverley Grey
Please make sure you can properly identify a plant before consuming it or using it to create plant medicine.