Herbal Extracts

Recently I found a fascinating book called Herbal Extracts: Build Better Health with Liquid Herbs (Supplement to the Copyrighted Work) by Dr. A. B. Howard. I want to share a few excerpts with you.

The first is from the introduction:

The work addresses a host of physical problems from the standpoint of what to use and how to fix them. This is a practitioner's book about how to use herbs to get the body healthy and strong and keep it that way. The word herb is used here with a meaning of: a plant food substance that helps you more than it hurts you when you eat it. You may not find many familiar plants that you regularly eat for food in this work, but then some problems you have require some very special herb foods that you can make part of your regular diet. After all, what gets you well, usually keeps you well. It might not normally occur to you to eat a purple sea vegetable called Dulse for breakfast. But if you do, your hands and feet and the tip of the nose may warm up. The choice of herb or herbs that are given here to correct problems, focuses on the real cause of a problem. In the case just mentioned, this is a gland in the neck, known as the thyroid, that needs some decent nourishment to "set your thermostat on warm and comfortable" by increasing the rate at which your body burns food. 

Herbal Extracts has a list of human ailments and then a list of herbs for the treatment of those ailments. I've been reading in it, and learning a lot of very useful information. Whoever Dr. A. B. Howard is, he or she certainly knows her stuff! The doctor writes with an eye for cure, not just treatment.

Here's another bit from the introduction:

Stop eating "junk food." We cut too many corners in this country in food production, even when we know it is wrong in terms of how it affects health. Is your cheese not yellow enough? No problem, inject it with Yellow #5 dye. Want volumes of rich-looking, long-lasting and unnatural foam on your beverage? No problem, here is a chemical compound that will make it foam like a fire extinguisher and make the foam last for 2 days in the glass after the beverage is gone. And, while we are at it, here are literally 56 other chemicals to alter your beverage in other ways to save money or time or both. Don't want to grow or pick lemons or squeeze the juice? What something that tastes like a lemon, smells like a lemon, has a lemon color and is real sweet and has never seen a lemon? No problem. We have a chemistry set and we will give you some delicious, convenient to use chemicals instead, and who your child's favorite cartoon characters laughing and drinking it and telling your child to drink it too. It tastes just like real lemonade, boys and girls! Never mind what happens to your children's blood stream with the stuff in it, or if they get sick on it. You get the idea?

And the good doctor is exactly right, in my opinion. Eating and drinking chemicals is simply NOT GOOD for human beings or animals. Chemicals make us fat, sick and worn out before middle-age. It takes work to avoid the chemicals so deeply embedded in food production in America. It's a wonder when you find a can of a simple vegetable that simply lists "pumpkin" in the ingredient list. Just pumpkin, that's it.

In my view, this is why most everyone in this country is so sick. We eat pills instead of food, drink Lord-knows-what in our beverages (as in flame retardant chemicals in soft drinks) and then wonder why cancer, obesity and high blood pressure are epidemics. And of course, the "treatment" for these ills consists of more pills and chemicals, thanks to the FDA and most allopathic medicine.

To regain and hold on to health, eating real God-made nutritious food is essential. Drink water or herb teas instead of flame-retardant soft drinks. I'll be sure to share some of the doctor's prescriptions from this book with the blog. Ok, I'll share one more now. This is for one of the Doc's combination of herbs, plants and other foodstuffs that provides a complete vitamin combination in a whole food form that the body recognizes right away as useful nutrition.

Vita-Lixir

Is an all vegetable source, liquid multi-vitamin supplement. Vita-Lixir contains no artificial flavorings or synthetic vitamins. Vita-Lixir is produced from foods in liquid form without heat. In this form, it is available to the cells of the body for immediate and easy absorption. This provides a distinct advantage over a tablet or capsule. Vita-Lixir does not need to work its way through 25 feet of digestive tract in large quantities, and maybe get digested so it can be absorbed. Vita-Lixir can even be applied externally for absorption, as on the soles of the feet or under the ribs for babies or those who can't or won't swallow. The rationale of Vita-Lixir is to take our vitamins from foods, as we should, if we were able to eat a proper diet and digest it properly. Therefore, we use those selected foods most appropriate as a source to provide a rich, natural supply of specific vitamins. Organically grown Carrot Roots and Dandelion Leaves give us a non-harmful, rich supply of Vitamin A for healthy skin and eyes. Dandelion Leaves also provide a gentle and highly effective vegetable iron for energy and healthy blood. We use Rice Bran (the exterior covering of rice grains before they are turned into "lifeless" white rice) for the properly balanced ratio and entire complex of B vitamins for steady nerves and normal, healthy cell division. Vita-Lixir is especially helpful for babies and people who do not chew each bite 32 times and do not have whole grains in their diet. The Wild Rose Hip (a rounded structure or "protective cradle" under the petals of a wild rose which contains the baby roses known as "seeds") supplies a complete source of Vitamin C complex and all its naturally associated substances. This type of Vitamin C, just as it works to protect the seeds or "babies" for the next generation, can and does raise our immunity levels, promotes longevity, acts as a poison antidote, antibiotic and strengthens all connective tissues in the body. Raw Sunflower Seeds provide a non-harmful Vitamin D for strong, healthy bones and joints. The Vitamin E spectrum of vitamins is derived from fresh, raw Wheat Germ (the part of the wheat which sprouts and is alive). The Vitamin E complex of vitamins makes sure the oxygen which circulates through the body is more efficient, and provides for proper oxygenation of cells and tissues. This Vitamin E complex of vitamins also devours poisons known as free radicals. Dandelion leaves contribute Vitamin K for proper blood clotting properties and hemorrage prevention. Liquid Bee Pollen, which contains all the elements of new life, is included for quality protein lift. The herb Gentian supports the organs of digestion as a digestaid. For those of us who have always wanted an all vegetable, full spectrum source Multi-Vitamin liquid, Vita-Lixir answers this desire. Please note, when dealing with natural vitamins (those produced by Nature and not in a chemistry laboratory), what is desired is their dependable activity and effectiveness, not how many grams or milligrams of vitamins they contain. The activity level of vitamins from Nature whould not be confused with the manmade or coal tar source "high potency" type vitamins which are needed in large quantity to get any type of affect.

Combination: Dandelion Leaves, Organic Carrot Roots, Rice Bran, Wild Rose Hips, Raw Sunflower seeds, Raw Wheat Germ, Gentian, Bee Pollen

End excerpt. Hmmmmmm. That sounds great to me. I'll have to try my hand at combining these items and see what kind of extract I get. Most of the herbal extracts described in this book are the basic alcohol extracts. It should be relatively easy to either combine all of the above, add enough vodka to cover, then let the extracting process work for a few weeks. I'll give it a shot and let you'all know how it turns out...

By the way, by "carrot roots" I think the doctor means simple carrots, as carrots are roots.

Onwards!
HM

Spring Greens and God's Green Tonic: Medicine for Body and Soul

A day or so ago I wandered around our hillside below our balcony and gathered many new and flourishing spring greens. There were three or four great growths of wintercress (barbaria vulgaris), also known in the south as creasy greens. I found numerous dandelions, not yet flowered (and thus not as bitter as they get later in the season), mats and mats of chickweed, wild chives and wild onions. There's also a whole slew of plants I haven't yet identified, so I don't know if they are edible or not. I gathered up about 3 of my plastic grocery bags worth and started grinning. I remember a post just like this one about a year ago. . . yup. Here it is. This hillside of ours is very fertile for foraging. I have to remember to ask that it NOT get weed-wacked. My neighbor is an industrious type and half the time I'm about to go harvest a ton of red clover flowers and BAM, he's out there weed-wacking them. Ah well. Have to do better this year.

Our elderly neighbor Fred broke his leg back in January and has been in and out of hospitals and nursing homes since. We brought him home last Saturday, where he gets around in his wheelchair, waiting for his leg to heal enough for him to walk again. He's one of those tough, wiry guys who is basically healthy as a horse but for his fragile bones and the rheumatoid arthritis. He's never taken pharmaceuticals, or rarely. It's funny when docs or other medics first talk to him. They always ask him what medications he's on and he always says "none." He does take nutritional supplements, but no drugs. Compare this to many elderly folks who take umpteen meds every day from killer statin drugs to blood pressure meds to this and that and then this one to combat the side effects of the others.... Anyway, Fred.

I put all the dandelion greens, some of the creasy greens, a bunch of the chickweed and a lot of wild onions and chives into a big pot of cold water with a couple of onions, some heads of garlic that were going soft and time to toss 'em, some cayenne pepper, a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar and set it to boil. Once it got a hard boil going, I turned it to simmer for an hour or so. The cider vinegar will help extract all the rich vitamins and minerals from the veggies into the broth. To finish it before straining, I added a tablespoon of some powdered garlic and onion and herbs that I'd made a while back from veggies and herbs I dried. Not bad, if I say so myself. This is a powerful spring tonic, this broth.

Vitamins and minerals in dandelions: beta carotene (more than is in carrots), calcium, iron, vitamins B1, B2, B5, B6, B12, C, E, P, D and biotin, inositol, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc. And lots of all of those. Plus, in this broth, it's tasty and easily absorbed in the body. It'll do wonders for Fred. Wintercress is also highly nutritious and at this early stage in spring, quite tasty. Later it gets bitter as hell, and to some, it'll be too bitter even now, but not for me or Fred. We know that bitter is medicine for soul and body. You can see a good picture of wintercress here. Once you find this plant and ID it, you'll notice it every spring from now on. My eyes simply know now to look for it in early spring. The bright green lobes of the leaves will catch your peripheral vision easily.

I got three quarts of the broth--good for a start! Tonight I'll cook up the mess of creasy greens with some onion and bacon, and the chickweed, bless its soul, is going to be salad with some red onion and hard boiled eggs. This is fine eating, and free!

Do make some vitamin rich broth for your family. This is easy, simple to do, and your body will much appreciate its cleansing and healing properties.

Onwards,

HM

Garlic Mustard

Last week, coming home from the Amish farm, the car was moving along the quiet, not-often-used roadway when it suddenly came to a screeching halt.

"What?" said Fred, startled.

"I think that plant back there is garlic mustard," said the Handmaiden.

The car backed up slowly, as HM carefully watched the ditch that was bordering the road. "There it is!" sez HM.

HM apologized to Fred, "See, I've been looking for garlic mustard for a while, and I think that's some right there," she said pointing to a luxurious green growth on the side of the woody, viney ditch. And sure enough, when HM got some leaves to sample, it tasted garlicy and spicy. Beware of traveling with a forager; you'll be subject to stops and starts and other strange behavior when the forager think she sees a particular plant.

Garlic mustard is considered an awful invasive plant by those folks who think in such terms. It is on the Plant Conservation Alliance's Least Wanted list. It even has a poster, just like a murderer has a poster in Post Offices and such. However, for a wildcrafter or forager, it's a good find for both food and medicine options. And I'm not so sure that getting all het up about a plant being "invasive" is a great idea. The wonderful Rose at Prodigal Gardens has a very thoughtful and thought-provoking essay on "invasive" plants. I found her writing on this topic very interesting and I suggest if you are interested in foraging and other like topics that you read that essay. Here's a couple of paragraphs from it:

It may be no accident that these same weeds that are busily working to restore the land are also some of our most powerful healers. “Noxious weeds” like dandelion, burdock and garlic mustard are nutritional powerhouses that offer themselves to us humans in super-abundance to help us to nourish our depleted bodies, leach environmental toxins, and otherwise help us to cope with our industrialized world. Yet instead of receiving the gifts these plants bring with them, alien species are villanized and portrayed as terrorists, competing with crops, threatening to reclaim fields, re-route waterways, starve the herds, the list goes on.

Most of the charges being leveled at invasive plants have to do with their disruption of human activities and land management practices. . In one brochure I picked up it states that invasive plants “reduce agricultural yields, decrease gathering opportunities, and hinder recreational activities. Eurasian watermilfoil chokes waterways and restricts boat access, while the toxic properties of wild parsnip deter hiking and other land-based activities.” It would seem as though these plants were declaring war on us! From a Gaia perspective these might be considered intelligent strategies for protecting the land, but from a human perspective it is a major threat.

The economic impact is calculated at some 138 billions of dollars per year. These figures factor in the cost of research, conservation projects, labor, crop losses, devaluing of land, and the high price of chemical and other eradication programs. Fortunately, herbicide manufacturers are willing to help shoulder the burden of getting rid of invasives. Monsanto, for example, has been instrumental in the formation of the Exotic Pest Plant Councils.

Garlic mustard greens are very nutritional, having goodly amounts of Vitamins A, C, E and some of the B vitamins, potassium, calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and magnese. Check it out here. It's very pungent/spicy and a bit bitter. I steamed a good bunch of the greens and we've been eating them in various dishes. This is how I handle most wild greens, since Michael doesn't particularly like them just plain. I add them to soups, stews, rice dishes, casseroles, omlets and the like. In other dishes, he doesn't notice the slight bitterness as it is balanced by other, usually milder or sweeter flavors.

For every one page on edible or medicinal uses of garlic mustard, you'll find hundreds of the "horrible invasive weed" type. Still, thank goodness there are some, such as Wildman's, on garlic mustard.

I'm about to make some pesto from the other bag of leaves I reseved from the steamed greens. I'll use the recipe from Prodigal Gardens. If you find some, but don't care for the pungent/bitter flavor, do try it in a pesto. A little pesto added to a minestrone or Tuscany bread soup is wonderful, adding a lot of flavor and nutritional richness.
HM

Chickweed Delight

Ahhhhhhhhhh. I'm writing in Southern Indiana, hilly country. It's November, just beginning to get cold. And foraging for wild plants has gotten a bit sparse. Many plants have died down for the winter, and the trees have lost their leaves.




Chickweed, surprisingly, likes this time of year, and thank goodness that it does! When visiting a neighbor the other day I noticed some large dandelion leaves sticking out from a ditch, so I returned to investigate. Sure enough I found enough dandelion leaves to fill a bag for the fridge. And since there was a large, frisky, friendly dog, I went on ramble with the pooch to see what else might be around. I found a large amount of some kind of hardy, viney plant with small black berries, but I don't know what it is. Research is required for that one.



And walking even further down an old lane, I found a large, lush patch of chickweed.




(These pictures are from Prodigal Gardens.)

Chickweed is a nutritious, medicinal plant. It grows low to the ground, usually in a sort of mat of thick green growth. It's a lovely little plant, looking very delicate. But for all that, it is a hardy weed and grows all over the place--lawns, fields, gardens. Once you have identified it, you'll begin to see it everywhere. The patch I found is extensive, but you will also see smaller patches growing in your lawn, your neighbor's lawns, around sidewalks, etc. It is difficult to get a good picture of chickweed, but google images for chickweed and you'll see enough different pictures that you'll be able to ID it clearly. One clue for chickweed--it will have tiny hairs running up on one side of the stalk, and on one side only. When it comes to a pair of leaves (opposite), the line of tiny hairs will be on the other side of the stalk. You'll need a magnifying glass to see the hairs. :) It is worth doing this to be sure you'll looking at chickweed.

This time of year, I doubt you'll find it flowering, but when it does, it will have small, white star- like flowers. Stalks, leaves and flowers are all edible/medicinal.

You can easily pull it up with your hand, or take a pair of scissors or a knife and cut off the top few inches. You can get a lot of it with little effort. It makes a nice mild tea, it is good in salads, and it can be lightly steamed as well. Doesn't take long to cook it, just a few minutes. I like the tea and the salad options best. I'll be heading back to the patch for more, because I've also decided to make a salve with it.

Chickweed is full of vitamin and minerals: Vitamin C, A and B, calcium, magnesium, niacin, riboflavin, potassium, thiamin, and zinc. Botanical.com's entry says chickweed is an old wives' remedy for obesity--and I have read many other herbalists say it is good for losing weight. If it is all you are eating, I'm sure it would be! It can be made into a very healing salve, good for sores and skin problems, chapped hands and the like. The tea is laxative, but also good for coughs and colds. You can also use the tea to apply it to rough areas of skin or sores. It's a good, all around useful herb.

If you get a chance to head out doors, keep your eyes open for chickweed. Nature's salads can cure a lot of ills, including the colds and flus that come this time of year. Best of all, chickweed is around when lots of other plants are gone for the winter.

HM

Mullein for Coughs

This picture, from Wildman Steve Brill's page, is of a mullein basal rosette. Mullein is a biennial, and this is what the first year plant looks like. The second year is when it throws up its great flower stalk. The leaves are greyish-green, large, soft and velvety, sometimes nearly two feet long. A leaf feels almost like flannel, with little hairs.

The best time to harvest is when the plant is blooming--you can use the roots, leaves and flowers so you will want the whole plant if you can get it. I have also harvested leaves in the spring and fall. Mullien is considered an "alien invader" plant, since it is so prolific. It can and will take over areas. Still, a grateful attitude is best when you're collecting herbs. They may be "invasive" weeds, but I'm still happy they're here and available!

Mullein has many uses in cough and cold season. Here's a quote from Wildman's pages on Mullein:

Mullein tea provides vitamins B-2, B-5, B-12, and D, choline, hesperidin, PABA, sulfur, magnesium, mucilage, saponins, and other active substances.
People use the tea as a beverage, but it’s best known as one of the safest, most effective herbal cough remedies. Mullein is an expectorant, and a tonic for the lungs, mucus membranes, and glands. An infusion is good for colds, emphysema, asthma, hay fever, and whooping cough. Strain the infusion through a cloth, or the hairs may get stuck in your throat and make you cough even more. Laboratory tests have shown that it’s anti-inflammatory, with antibiotic activity, and that it inhibits the tuberculosis bacillus. The Indians smoked dried mullein and coltsfoot cigarettes for asthma and bronchitis, and indications are that it’s effective: I’ve observed it working for bronchitis.

The tea is also an astringent and demulcent. It’s good for diarrhea, and it’s been used in compresses for hemorrhoids since it was recommended by Dioscorides centuries ago. It’s also supposed to help other herbs get absorbed through the skin. Pliny of ancient Rome, Gerard in sixteenth century England, the Delaware Indians, and country folk in the South used the heated leaves in poultices for arthritis.

A tincture of the flowers is used for migraine headaches. An oil extract of the flowers, which contains a bactericide, is used for ear infections, although you should consult with a competent practitioner first, to avoid the possibility of permanent hearing loss if the herb doesn’t work.

Roman ladies used them to die their hair blonde. Roman soldiers dipped the flowerstalks in tallow to make torches.

People also just drink the tea because they like it. Mullein is common--it grows all over the place here, but it likes disturbed soil, roadsides, and fields. It likes dry and sandy soils. I see it most often by road sides--but be careful harvesting those. Don't want car exhaust on your mullein leaves.

We're coming in to cough/cold/flu season here. I expect the mullein I was lucky enough to find will come in handy.
HM

The Other Wonder Herb: Cayenne Pepper

You know, I've never been a real hot pepper fan--they've always been too hot for my tastebuds. I grew hot peppers, Scotch Bonnets, habeneros, jalapenos, tabascos, pimentos, you name 'em, I've grown them. And picked them, pickled them and made powerful hot sauces. But I've never quite developed the taste for the truly fiery peppers.

But now I'm determined to. Whether I like them or not, I'm going to be eating them and using them. The health benefits are just too good to pass up. I grew a bunch of cayennes this year, and the fruit is hanging in pretty ristas around the house.

I've been reading that cayenne pepper can stop a heart attack, or help a person fully recover from it. I've been reading that cayenne pepper can stop bleeding, even gushing blood. And it can regulate high blood pressure so that you never have high blood pressure again.

Yes, it sounds too good to be true to me too. Although I may not seem like it in my writings here, I'm pretty skeptical. "Prove all things," is what I've learned. What that means to me is that I will slice some garlic and put it over a weird looking mole on my skin to see if the garlic will make the damn thing disappear. Actually, my husband said he's got a weird mole, a "cancer spot" as he called it, and so we'll try the slice of garlic on him. If I get even remotely sickly with a cold or flu, I will chop up garlic and put it on the bottom of my feet and see what happens. Will Michael's "cancer spot" go away? Will I feel much better after the garlic on the feet attempt?

That's what I mean by prove all things. I hope you will proceed the same way. I've had great luck with trying what my family and friends have considered "oddball" remedies. What I've tried doesn't always work, of course. Pharmaceuticals don't either--but I've had better luck with natural than chemical. I've found that overall, this is a good way for me to deal with my own health concerns.

So, on to cayenne pepper and why it is so good for you.

First of all, it is high in vitamin C, vitamin A, the complex of vitamin Bs, vitamin E, calcium, and potassium. It's a potent nutrititional powerhouse. If you eat a lot of it, as they do in southern climes, it will make you sweat, which will cool you off. Sweating is your body's way of releasing heat.

Recently I've been reading Dr. Christopher's Herbal Legacy, and what they have to say about cayenne made me very curious. If you've the time and interest, read the entire section about cayenne here.

I've read the "cayenne can stop bleeding" info here and other places as well. I have not yet had the occasion to see if this is so for myself, but I will try it next time I accidently cut myself.

I've been too timid to try cayenne tea (one teaspoon ground cayenne to a cup of hot water), but I did make a cayenne tincture. The tincture is almost too hot to take a direct eyedropper full, but I can get it down in a small glass of water. I expect my taste buds will adapt to the heat so that I'll be able to take it directly soon. Perhaps as I get better at this, I'll be taking 3 teaspoons a day, as Dr. Christopher did!

When my feet get cold in the winter, I have put ground cayenne in the bottom of my shoes. This works well. You'll get a nice warming heat from it for quite a while. I will also be making a cayenne salve for muscle aches and pains. There's lots of these on the market already, of course, but I've got lots of cayennes around and plenty of lard or coconut oil or olive oil or for that matter, vaseline around. Much less expensive than anything commercial, plus I know there's no other nasty chemicals in it.

If you keep two herbs in your house at all times, and even in your BOBs and BOVs, keep garlic and cayenne. These two are kickass powerful. Garlic is an antibiotic. Cayenne will stop bleeding. I know garlic works, and I'm going to find out more about cayenne. But they are both potential life-savers, which is important in survival situations.

There will be more on cayenne in this blog. Stay tuned.

HM

Liquid Vitamin C: Dandelion Greens and Pine Needle Tea

(Dandelion pix from www.foragingpictures.com, a companion site to Wildman Steve Brill's foraging page.)

Urf. I've been feeling pretty lousy the past couple of days. No energy, an excess of mucus in my system (most of it in my nose), tired, achy feeling, like a bad allergy time or starting a cold.

Yesterday I ate a bunch of garlic--good antibiotic properties and kicks the immune system into line. Since I was peeling garlic cloves anyway, and had a good store of garlic and had just seen a recipe for garlic syrup in a book called Healing Teas: How to Prepare and Use Teas to Maximize Your Health by Marie Nadine Antol, I decided to make garlic syrup. Here's the recipe from the book

****

Garlic Syrup

Garlic does "brew" into a quite marvelous syrup. The effectiveness of this natural medicine is so powerful, that it simply had to be included here in some form. Accordingly, here's a very old recipe for Garlic Syrup.

1 pound peeled and crushed garlic cloves [I used a half pound plus a few other heads]

apple cider vinegar

pure water

1 cup glycerine (available at pharmacies)

1 cup honey

1. Put the peeled and crushed garlic cloves in a wide-mouthed 2 quart jar [I used my 1 qt jar]

Add equal parts apple cider vinegar and pure water until the jar is 3/4 full. Cap the jar loosely and let the mixture stand in a warm place for 4 days. Shake the jar several times a day.

2. Add the glycerine. Shake to blend. Allow the mixture to stand in a warm place for 1 more day, shaking several times.

3. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth or muslin, squeezing to remove all the exhausted bits of garlic. Return the mixture to the jar. Add the honey and stir until thoroughly mixed. Store the garlic syrup in a cool, dry place.

Great-grandmother's directions:

For coughs, colds, sore throats, bronchial congestion, high or low blood pressure, heart weakness or nervous disorders, take 1 tablespoon of the syrup 3 times a day before meals.

****

It'll be ready in a few days. Can't wait to try this!

Since I have a tough time taking pills, I wanted to boost my immune system further by taking echinacea and goldenseal and Vitamin C with rose hips. But I keep gagging on the the Vitamin C tabs. So I went out and gathered dandelion leaves and pine needles. The power guys had been by yesterday cutting off tree limbs to keep the power lines clear, and there were many white pine boughs just lying there for me to use. The dandelion grows all over the place on the lawns by our pond, which are not sprayed with anything. I boiled water, added the dandelion leaves and pine needles, adding a handful of lemon balm for flavor, and let it steep for half and hour.

I expected my tea to be quite bitter, as dandelion leaves are bitter until the first fall frost, or so I had read, but it isn't bitter at all! It tastes good--piney and rich.

Both dandelion leaves and pine needles are rich in Vitamin C. Dandelion greens also have Vitamin A, Potassium, Phosphorus, calcium, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin. Check out their nutritional portrait here. Liquid vitamin C tea!

So if the SHTF, and you can't buy your vitamins, remember where those vitamins came from in the first place: green plants. Gather up a bunch of vitamin C rich plants and brew yourself a quart or two of tea. In my opinion, it is far better to get your vitamins and minerals from a plant source than from a pill anyway--you get the benefit of the synergy of the whole plant thataway.

Making your own medicines doesn't have to be hard or complex. Just go out for a walk and make friends with your common weeds.

Hopefully, this cold/bug/whatever will leave me in a day or so. I can't abide feeling sick.

Onwards, the only direction there is,

Handmaiden