Medicinal and
Culinary HERBS
Medicinal & Culinary Herbs
for Self Healing & Nourishing
in every day cooking
“For some time now, against the old, proven and safe way of herbalism, there has been a wave of over caution and scare in many parts of the world. The same authorities and medical publications that not so long ago decried herbal medicines as ineffective and anecdotal have now taken up a different kind of position. They now say that herbs are dangerous and should not be taken for a long list of reasons and should only be prescribed by doctors, who have zero training in them.
Absurd to the point of ridiculous, but fear has been proven to be effective when used to manipulate and control others.” – Richard Whelan.
I realise that you, the reader who comes to my website is less likely to be confused by this kind of misinformation, but , still I want to remind you that the Herbs are the people’s medicine. They belong to us all and it is my great hope that you will learn how to use them safely for yourself and your close ones. Be safe but do not be intimidated. Trust the Nature and yourself!
Plants were our very first medicines. For an unimaginably long time, over countless generations many tens of thousands of years our ancestors have learned, refined and passed on the knowledge about Herbal benefits, uses, dosage, warnings…
The extraordinary diversity of herbal plants, their complexity, could inspire anyone to start learning the ways they could be used for food and medicine, as well as the ways they support their habitat and the gifts, the beauty they bring to our existence!
The blind men approach, the fragmented thinking is everything that is wrong with our the conventional medicine. There is a little wonder why medical errors are the third-leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer.
The Blind Men and the Elephant is a famous Indian fable that tells the story of six blind sojourners that come across different parts of an elephant in their life journeys. In turn, each blind man creates his own version of reality from that limited experience and perspective.
"The Blind Men and the Elephant" by John G. Saxe (read by Tom O'Bedlam)
Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.
In my opinion when choosing herbs to add to your diet, we should prioritise local ones over the others.
See what plants grow around you, Identify them (especially invasive ones!)
The invasive plants that we want to eradicate are usually the herbs that we need in order to heal! The plants are just trying to get our attention!
Snap a picture and post it on one of the Plant Identification FB groups.
Plant identification and discussion
Plant Identification and Education
I found this way so many medicinal Herbs!! I believe we have what we need in the climate we live, and there is really no need to look elsewhere.
HERBS
Why DRY Herbs better than FRESH to make tea with?
Of course, you can use fresh medicinal and culinary herbs! They are most potent when fresh! In salads, smoothies, soups, stir-fries, and other medicinal cooking and baking!
But to make an Herbal tea or Infusion – you want your herbs to be dry since the minerals and other phytochemicals in nourishing herbs are made more accessible by drying.
The drying process breaks down the cellulose, the cell walls and what’s within that cell is revealed! It’s open for water-soluble extractions. If you do this with fresh herbs – you’ll end up with clear water and herbs floating in it, which is really no use to your body.
There of course exceptions to this. A good example would be the Bidens herb, most important constituents of which are destroyed by drying or heating, and it is best to use it fresh.
Soft herbs: dry leaves, petals, flowers, calyx, buds, soft stems, grass.
Hard herbs: roots, bark, dried berries, hard woody stems, seeds, dry peelings.
Herbal Preparations:
Tea, Infusion and Decoction are all water based extraction of herbal medicinal and nutritive principals.
Making Herbal teas, infusions and decoctions are the easiest ways to use herbs.
The process of making each of them varies slightly, but the end goal is to extract the chemical constituents from plant material and transfer it into the water.
Water is an excellent solvent for minerals, mucilage, volatile oils, and most medicinal constituents, although it doesn’t easily extract resins or some alkaloids. For that reason, alcohol is the preferred solvent for resinous herbs (like poplar buds and pine resin).
Teas & infusions are made using lightweight plant material (soft herbs) by steeping them in water heated to a full rolling boil to coax vitamins, minerals, and other constituents out of the herbs into the water. Which is what people most of the time do when they put a tea bag or tea ball in a cup of hot water and allow it to steep a couple minutes before drinking. I do not think that is enough time to extract all the benefits that the herbs have to offer, so you end up throwing most of their goodness away!
An infusion is a large amount of herb brewed for a long time. The difference between a Tea and an Infusion is the steeping time and herb to water ratio. An Infusion is made the same as tea except you steep it for 4 hours to overnight and use more herbs.
An herbal water extraction can be prepared in a French press, stainless steel pot, ceramic or glass teapot, or a stainless steel or bamboo infuser.
But if you simply make a tea with “hard” herbs, such as roots and barks in hot water, as you do soft herbs, you will not extract their medicinal constituents in full. Therefore hard herbs best to be made into a decoction.
An herbal decoction is employed when extracting constituents from hard or woody plant parts such as roots, bark, seeds, berries, and mushrooms.
Official definitions:
Herbal tea — less commonly called tisane — is a beverage made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water.
Tisane - an herbal tea. archaic a medicinal drink or infusion, originally one made with barley.
Tea - a hot drink made by infusing in boiling water, the dried, crushed leaves of the Tea plant (Camellia sinensis), the evergreen shrub that produces tea leaves, native to South and eastern Asia. Green tea is made from steamed and dried leaves, black tea is made from completely fermented tea leaves that are then dried and oolong(red) tea is partially fermented and dried.
How to make an Herbal Tea:
Combine 1-2 tsp. of dried herb per cup of boiling water. Once you’ve added the herbs to the water, remove from heat. Cover and steep for 5-10 minutes . Strain the herbs and drink.
How to make an Herbal Infusion:
Hot Infusion Method:
add about a cup of dried herbs to a quart jar. Pour boiling water over the herbs to the top of the jar. Cover with a lid and cozy the jar under a thick warm towel or blanket and let the herbs steep 4-10 hours and then strain. I make my infusions at night before I go to bed and they are ready in the morning and you have a healthy drink to start your day! You can drink 1-4 cups of a nourishing infusion a day. Keep any leftover infusion refrigerated, and use within 3 days.
Cold Infusion Method:
is ideal to extract slimy, mucous herbs, bitter herbs and herbs with delicate essential oils (read my full article about Cold Infusions HERE)
Add 1 oz. (about a cup) of herb and 32 ounces of water. Place herbs in a quart jar, fill with cold water, and cap.
Allow to infuse overnight. Strain the herbs and drink.
A Complete Guide to making an Herbal COLD INFUSION (FREE printable)
Out of all the methods to extract herbs, water-based preparations are the simplest and safest, because you only need simple tools that most kitchens have already and water. So if you are a beginner – this is a good starting point. 4 ways to make it – and two of them are magical!
How to make an Herbal Decoction:
“the object of preparing decoctions is to secure, in aqueous solution, the soluble active principles of herbs that are hard and woody and have a close, dense texture”
Decoctions are made by simmering thicker plant parts (hard herbs) for 15-30 minutes and then are allowed to steep, covered, for a number of hours (4 hours to overnight).
- Use one teaspoon to one tablespoon of herbs per cup of cold water.
- Add the herbs and cold water to a pot.
- Place that pot on the stove and bring up to a gentle simmer.
- Put a lid on and simmer for 15 to 30 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, cover the pot with a thick towel and let your decoction to infuse for 4 hours to overnight.
- Strain the herbs.
- You can often use these same herbs to brew up a new batch of decoction a couple more times as long as the decoction is still strong after brewing.
- Store in a refrigerator for up to 3 days.
If you have both – soft and hard herbs in your formulation follow the recipe instructions below on how to make and herbal tea/decoction.
Herbal Tea/Decoction for Flu, Cough and Congestion (recipe)
This herbal tea formula is focused on the whole Respiratory system recovery and on supporting the body’s natural detox pathways and vitality with necessary nutrients. Will work great for flu, cold, sore throat, dry persistent cough and other respiratory issues.
Tips when making a decoction:
- I like to coarsely grind my herbs before simmering them to increase the surface area of the herb.
- I double the amount of herbs if I use fresh herbs, because fresh have a higher water content than dried herbs. This extra water content can dilute your decoction.
- I always start my decoctions with cold water. “Placing the hard herbs directly into boiling water may cause the albumen within the plant cells to bind making it difficult for the other plant constituents to be liberated into the water” – J.Green.
- Some hard herbs that are high in beneficial volatile oils are better be brewed as an infusion, otherwise the volatile oils will be lost during simmering. These herbs include valerian, peppermint, goldenseal, wild cherry, and fennel.
- And the opposite is true – some soft herbs such as Uva Ursi, Incienso, Brittlebush, Eyebright, Chaparral, Sourwood, Senna and Red Clover best prepared as a decoction. Michael Moore – “Herbs best used as a STRONG DECOCTION”
- Plants high in mucilage (demulcents), such as marshmallow and slippery elm may be best prepared as a cold infusion as opposed to a decoction.
Infants & Children Dosage for Herbal Tea:
- 6-12 months old – 1/10th of an adult dose
- 1-6 years old – 1/3 adult dose
- 7-12 years old – 1/2 adult dose.
Herb related articles and Recipes
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** Information on the traditional uses and properties of herbs that are provided on this site is for educational use only, and is not intended as medical advice. Every attempt has been made for accuracy, but none is guaranteed. Many traditional uses and properties of herbs have not been validated by the FDA. If you have any serious health concerns, you should always check with your health care practitioner before self-administering herbs. **