The Medicinal Gardening Handbook by Dede Cummings

Author:Dede Cummings
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2014-04-16T16:00:00+00:00

Powdered herbs

Powdered herbs come in handy for a few different preparations including capsules, pill balls, and poultices.

You can make your own herbs into powders at home with a good quality herb grinder or a coffee grinder. You can also—of course—order them from an herb company (see Resources).

Once you have the powders you’d like to work with, they can be stored in an airtight container—preferably glass, away from light—for some time, up to 6 months at the most, for potency sake.

Instructions for capsules

You’ll want to buy a hand encapsulater (see Resources). These are great little tools that make it easy to make 24 capsules at one time, instead of packing each empty capsule separately—so tedious!

You will also need to purchase empty capsules (see Resources). There are a couple of different types and sizes. Make sure the encapsulator size matches the capsule size you are using.

Follow directions for use, and start making capsules for you and your friends and family! This is a nice way to take medicine on the go (they store well), and some herbs, well, you just don’t want to have to taste. (See Appendix 4 for dosage recommendations.)

Herbal Capsule Recipes

Stomach Ease

2 parts ginger

1 part slippery elm

1 part chamomile

1/2 part fennel

Beautiful Skin

1 part dandelion root

1 part nettle

1 part yellow dock

1/2 part red clover

Cold Care

2 parts echinacea root

2 parts astragalus

1 part ginger

1/2 part goldenseal

1/2 part myrrh

Another way to incorporate herbal powders into your medicine chest are pill balls—these are fun, can taste great, and can be a nice way to entice children to take herbs. Basically, you are just making dough with the powders and a few other ingredients, such as honey or nut butters mixed in. Getting the desired consistency is an art, not a science, so play around here! You can make them as big or small as you’d like, they can even be a substantial snack for small and large children alike.

Instructions for herbal pill balls

This is pretty free form. Once you have powdered the herbs you’d like to incorporate, just play around with amounts, and other ingredients, until you have the desired consistency and flavors. You really cannot go wrong.

Some ingredients to incorporate into pill balls besides the herbs:

nut butters

honey

ghee (clarified butter)

dates, and other dried fruits

coconut flour, oil, or shredded meat

sesame, poppy, or flax seeds

Recipes for Herbal Pill Balls

Immunity Balls

3 parts astragalus

1 part echinacea

1/2 part dandelion

1/2 part lemon balm

Energy Balls

2 parts gaurana

1 part carob

1 part cacao

1/2 part mint

Spice Balls

1 part turmeric

1 part ginger

1/2 part cinnamon

1/4 part cloves

Poultice

A poultice is one of the simplest and quickest ways to administer herbal medicine topically. In a sense you literally can grab it out of the ground and put it on you! It is most likely the oldest form of herbal medicine.

A poultice is the application of fresh or dried powdered herbs and hot or warm water.

Poultice Uses

heal wounds

soothe rashes

draw out splinters

heal bee stings and bug bites

reduce enlarged glands

bring boils to a head

ease acne

cool inflammation

help joint pain

ease headaches

shrink tumors and cysts

Instructions for Making a Poultice

Measure the desired amount of herbal powder—enough for the area that you will be immediately using it for (i.

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