From time to time I head out to the countryside to go to a women's group called Titus 2. This group of ladies are a wealth of knowledge. They would rather find medicinal herbs in their yard than go to the store & buy it. I thought it was weird to use weeds as medicine, but I started to think about it, this is how my great grandparents healed themselves. After all, most over the counter medicine are derived from plants.
The first easily identifiable plant is Mullein. This plant has soft furry leaves. When mature mullein will have a long spear like stem with small yellow flowers.
It is widely used for herbal remedies with emollient and astringent properties. It is known to possess anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antiviral, anti-fungal, antibacterial, expectorant, and analgesic properties. It is especially recommended for coughs and related problems, but also used in topical applications against a variety of skin problems. Because of its astringent properties it can be use on hemorrhoids & athlete's foot.
The primary use for Mullein is to fight coughs. Herbal teas are made for an expectorant, dry cough, bronchitis, & sore throat. The combination of expectorant and emollient mucilage makes the plant particularly effective for cough. All preparations meant to be drunk have to be finely filtered to eliminate the irritating hairs.
About a week or so ago I found this little guy in my garden right in the middle of my spinach & carrots. My OCD tendencies wanted to pull it, I didn't. The leaves grew so nice & big in just a few days. I cut the bigger ones & cut them into smaller pieces & dehydrated it. It took only a few hours to dehydrate. Friends have encouraged me to try it, they really says it works. So I have a small jelly jar full of mullein ready to use when the cold season starts. I will let you know how well it works. I will have to add some sugar or homemade vanilla extract in the tea.
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