Our home sits on 4 acres of woods and meadows. We moved here in the dead of winter so we had no idea what plants would spring up once the snow melted. It’s been a favorite pastime to take the girls on nature walks and identify the wildflowers and shrubs. Much to my delight we have many medicinal plants growing on the property. Among them is yarrow (Achillea millefolium). A nickname for this plant is “cure all” and it is easy to understand why. Traditionally yarrow has been used to lower fever, stop bleeding, treat bruises and sprains, and aid in menstrual pains and childbirth. Although I have dabbled in herbalism before this is the first time I have been able to forage plants straight from my back yard*. One of the easiest ways to extract healing constitutes from herbs is by making a solar infused oil. I used the method outlined in Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide. The basic idea is you place dried herbs in a wide mouth jar, cover them with an inch or two of oil, screw on the lid and let them sit out in a sunny place for a couple of weeks. I used a mix of grapeseed and jojoba oils, but olive oil works great as well. Once your herbs are done infusing you can strain the solids out with cheese cloth and use the resulting oil in a variety of ways. I plan to mix the oil with beeswax to make a balm. Keep following along for more on that in a future blog post!

*Always have a positive ID of a plant before ingesting or using it medicinally. Before harvesting any plants make sure that it is allowed on the land you are on or get the landowner’s permission. Finally, follow the rule of passing at least 10 plants before you pick one. Luckily, many medicinal plants are also considered weeds and grow in abundance.