The Homesteader's Herbal Companion: The Ultimate Guide to Growing, Preserving, and Using Herbs

321 Pages·2018·11.25 MB·English

by  Amy K. Fewell

The Homesteader’s
HERBAL COMPANION
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GROWING,
PRESERVING, AND USING HERBS
AMY K. FEWELL
Foreword by Joel Salatin
GUILFORD, CONNECTICUT
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An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Blvd., Ste. 200
Lanham, MD 20706
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Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK
Copyright © 2018 by Amy K. Fewell
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information
storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
ISBN 978-1-4930-3415-4 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-4930-3416-1 (e-book)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
The identification, selection, and processing of any plant for use as food requires reasonable care and attention to details since, as indicated in
the text, certain parts are wholly unsuitable for use and, in some instances, are even toxic. Because attempts to use any plants for food depend
on various factors controllable only by the reader, the author and Globe Pequot Press assume no liability for personal accident, illness, or death
related to these activities.
This book is a work of reference. Readers should always consult an expert before using any item. The author, editors, and publisher of this work
have checked with sources believed to be reliable in their efforts to confirm the accuracy and completeness of the information presented
herein and that the information is in accordance with the standard practices accepted at the time of publication. However, neither the author,
editors, and publisher, nor any other party involved in the creation and publication of this work warrant that the information is in every respect
accurate and complete, and they are not responsible for errors or omissions or for any consequences from the application of the information in
this book. In light of ongoing research and changes in clinical experience and in governmental regulations, readers are encouraged to confirm
the information contained herein with additional sources. This book does not purport to be a complete presentation of all plants, and the genera,
species, and cultivars discussed or pictured herein are but a small fraction of the plants found in the wild, in an urban or suburban landscape,
or in a home. Given the global movement of plants, we would expect continual introduction of species having toxic properties to the regions
discussed in this book. We have made every attempt to be botanically accurate, but regional variations in plant names, growing conditions,
and availability may affect the accuracy of the information provided. A positive identification of an individual plant is most likely when a freshly
collected part of the plant containing leaves and flowers or fruits is presented to a knowledgeable botanist or horticulturist. Poison Control
Centers generally have relationships with the botanical community should the need for plant identification arise. We have attempted to provide
accurate descriptions of plants, but there is no substitute for direct interaction with a trained botanist or horticulturist for plant identification. In
cases of exposure or ingestion, contact a Poison Control Center (1.800.222.1222), a medical toxicologist, another appropriate
heathcare provider, or an appropriate reference resource.
Printed in the United States of America
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Dedicated to my beautiful husband, son, family, friends,
and blog readers who inspire me to make a difference
for the good, each and every day, no matter what.
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CONTENTS
Foreword by Joel Salatin vi
Introduction ix
One: The Basics of Herbalism 1
Two: The Homesteader’s Herb List 14
Three: How to Grow Herbs 53
Four: Wild Herbs in Your Backyard 81
Five: Seed Saving; Drying and Storing Herbs 100
Six: Herbal Teas and Tinctures 110
Seven: Medicinal Syrups and Other Herbal Home Remedies 125
Eight: Infused Oils, Salves, and Poultices 145
Nine: Everyday Herbal Care and Beauty Products 162
Ten: Homestead Essential Oils 191
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Eleven: Cooking with Herbs on the Homestead 203
Twelve: Herbs for the Home and Barn 236
Thirteen: Herbs for Our Four-Legged Friends 256
Fourteen: Herbs for Chickens and Other Poultry 280
Fifteen: My Herbal Medicine Cabinet and Pantry 291
Afterword 297
Resources and Further Learning 298
Index 301
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Foreword
When I was an early teenager, my pollen allergies hit me hard enough in the
spring and fall that my parents decided it was time to seek medical relief. Living on
a farm and growing chickens, I was exposed to dust and pollen levels—especially
during hay making season—that were off the charts. I can remember mowing hay
with a box of Kleenex perched on the tractor cowling, and when I’d get finished
with the field, the white tissues looked like snowballs scattered around.
We went the typical medical procedure route with cortisone. Side effect? “It may
erode the cartilage in your nose.” Sounds terrific, no? Just what I wanted, to be
twenty-five years old and have no cartilage in my nose. When I went to college, away
from the farm, I had no problem with the allergies and quit filling the prescription.
After college, I returned to the farm but things seemed better, and by that time
our family had drunk more of the naturalist Kool-aid. I just toughed it out spring
and fall for several years. The worst was ragweed. Some days in the really tough
seasons I would walk around bleary-eyed for a couple of days. I have an extremely
high pain and irritation tolerance, so I just powered through the discomfort.
Until we met an herbalist. That changed my life. She introduced us to burdock
root. On the farm, we had plenty of burdock, so I went out and dug up a plant,
brought the root in to my wife, Teresa, and she followed the recipe: 3 ounces of root,
steeped in 4 cups of water for 1 hour. Let sit, and drink 1 cup per meal (4 meals) as
a dosage. It was like a miracle. My sinuses cleared up and I returned to the land of
the living. Most people, of course, with my level of discomfort, would have been
addicted to drugs. I did not feel liberated from the drugs, but I definitely felt liberated
from the stranglehold of the allergy. In either case, being liberated is intoxicating.
After reading Amy’s book, I now know that this was a decoction (rather than an
infusion), and that the dosage matters. In other words, I do not take this every day.
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And we don’t mess around with the recipe. Teresa faithfully prepares it whenever
I come into the house with those telltale allergy sniffles, and within hours I’m in
good shape. Once in a while we have to do two rounds to get the final relief, but
that’s fine. We have plenty of burdock growing in the fields and all it takes is a few
minutes in the kitchen.
We had friends who invited us to go camping with them on a lake. They didn’t have
room in their RV for all of us, so Daniel (my son, who was then about twelve years
old) and I elected to sleep in a tent outside. The campground had a common show-
ering facility. About a month after returning home from that excursion, I developed
a sore spot in my foot. It got slowly but progressively worse, and we realized I had a
plantar wart. Those things can get nasty. Do I need to remind you that I have a high
pain threshold? And I’m stubborn as a mule? And I don’t like medications?
That plantar wart grew, and I put off doing anything about it until my foot was
so sore I limped. Guess who crossed our path about that time? Another herbal-
ist. Suggestion: “Try comfrey.” Well goodness, we’d had a bed of comfrey in the
garden for forever. We fed it to chickens as a tonic, and rabbits especially like
the big hairy leaves. I went out, took a nice succulent leaf, folded it up and put it
against the plantar wart, then pulled my sock on over it. It took a little doing to get
the hang of keeping it in position, but when I put my shoe back on and stepped on
it, the plant juices crushed onto the wart. Within minutes my foot stung mightily . . .
and I grinned big time. I knew that if it was stinging, something was happening. I’m
a guy of action.
I put a new leaf in every morning for a couple of days, and within a week it was
obvious things were changing. The skin around the wart became soft and started
pulling away from the wart. I’ll try not to gross you out here, but it’s really cool how
this natural stuff works. It’s not immediate, like a knife. It’s just gentle and gradual.
The built-up layers of skin began peeling off, and within about three weeks, the
final big plug of wart just pulled right out. The whole area was surrounded with
bright, clean, soft skin that gradually filled in the hole.
HERBAL COMPANION vII
The Homesteader’s
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I am not an herbalist, but I guarantee you I’ve become a fan, a disciple, of this
kind of gentle, do-it-yourself healing. And I have a deep appreciation for the
knowledge that herbalists bring to discussions about what ails us. The overriding
word that kept coming to my mind as I read Amy’s manuscript was freedom. The
whole homesteader and DIY movement screams freedom.
Freedom from the pharmaceutical companies. Freedom from the medical insur-
ance malaise. Freedom from emergency rooms and hospitals (not completely, of
course, but for many of the issues all of us face). The sheer magnitude of being
freed up from these costly and debilitating conventions is enormous, and some-
thing that should attract every single person, whether you can have your own
personal herb garden or not.
The Homesteader’s Herbal Companion is both comprehensive and enjoyable.
Amy skates perfectly down the middle between science and art. What a joy to
have a book like this as a resource for both beginners and old hands. If you’ve
never ventured into the world of herbs, you’ll find this book drawing you in and
before you know it, I’m sure you’ll be dipping your toe in this exciting pool of wis-
dom. The historical contexts are an enjoyable read by themselves.
From culinary to medicinal, from seat-of-the-pants to technical, and from home-
stead to urban condominium, this book offers solutions that can free you. Amy
captures a wisdom that predates modern pharmacology by eons. We would do
well to heed history’s successful track record.
Thank you, Amy, for bringing into our lives, our homes, our families such a
wealth of freedom. What else could offer this many positives to life with so few
negatives? Making herbs ubiquitous in our lives and our kitchens can revolution-
ize our health and happiness. I encourage all of us to read, enjoy, and then prac-
tice this ancient art of wellness freedom.
Joel Salatin
Polyface Farm
Editor, The Stockman Grass Farmer
vIII HERBAL COMPANION
The Homesteader’s
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Introduction
I absolutely love herbs. I absolutely love food. I love my family, and they love my
herbs and food. See how that works? And I most certainly love living a natural
lifestyle. How lovely it is to live a life where nature constantly teaches you new and
incredible things each and every day, if you let it. How beautiful it is to watch your
child play in the creek behind your house, or walk into the woods and point at the
plants that he knows are edible. How pleasing it is to pluck delicate flower heads
from chamomile in your garden, or knead rosemary bread on the countertop in
the dead of winter.
Herbs are some of my favorite things to grow in my garden, and they go hand
in hand with cooking food and living a natural lifestyle, too. The fuzzy leaves on a
sage plant, the sweet aroma of thyme infusing the oil in a cast-iron skillet alongside
a juicy grass-fed steak—this is just good living. And whether you’re on a 100-acre
farm, or a backyard homestead in suburbia, incorporating herbs into your food,
health products, and livestock routine is absolutely possible to achieve. Learning
how to use herbs safely, efficiently, and deliciously is completely attainable.
But before we get too far into this, let me tell you a little more about myself. I
grew up in a small Virginia farm town that was literally just a stop sign on a map. In
fact, to this day, it’s not much different, and I still only live about twenty miles away
from where I grew up. My grandparents owned a farm, and still do, and my sister
and I loved spending summers there. You’d find us rolling through the fields on a
four-wheeler, feeding cows handfuls of grass through the fence line, as if the grass
really were greener on the other side. And let’s not even talk about calving season,
because I could’ve kissed all those sloppy wet calf noses a thousand times.
It was screen doors, sun tea, fresh cobbler, and nights on the front porch staring
at the stars. It was country living at its finest. You could say that it was inevitable
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