This document provides rules for foraging for healing herbs and information about various herbs including boneset, comfrey, ground ivy, horse tail, milkweed, mullein, nettle, plantain, sarsaparilla, wintergreen, yarrow, and yellow dock. It also provides a recipe for a herbal salve and definitions of herbal influences on the body such as alterative, anodyne, and emetic.

1. NATURE’S HEALING HERBS

3. Never collect from areas treated with herbicides, pesticides, or other chemicals

4. Positively identify all plants

5. Use three photographic references

6. Crush, sniff, and inspect carefully

7. Rub a tiny bit on your gums and wait 20 minutes

8. Look for burning, nausea, itching, or stinging

9. If no untoward reaction, take a tiny bite and chew, spitting the plant out and wait 20 minutes

10. Look for burning, nausea, itching, or stinging

11. Make a weak tea to further test edibility

12. Avoid burning plants; smoke may irritate

14. COMFREY Bodily influence: demulcent and astringent.

15. GROUND IVY Bodily influence: stimulant, tonic, and pectoral.

16. HORSE TAIL Bodily influence: diuretic and astringent.

17. MILKWEED CAUTION: When possible, cook in two changes of water to ensure milk has no toxicity. Bodily influence: expectorant and diaphoretic.

18. MULLEIN WARNING: Use sparingly for medicinal purposes. Bodily influence: demulcent, diuretic, anodyne, antispasmodic, astringent, and pectoral.

19. NETTLE WARNING: Wear gloves when handling this plant because all parts contain tiny hairs that are easily dislodged with contact. Skin contact with the hairs cause stinging, redness, and blisters. Do not eat dried nettles raw. Bodily influence: diuretic, astringent, tonic, and pectoral.

20. PLANTAIN Bodily influence: alterative, astringent, diuretic, and antiseptic.

21. SARSAPARILLA Bodily influence: alterative, diuretic, demulcent, stimulant, and antiscorbutic.

22. WINTERGREEN WARNING: Do not eat more than a few berries because it contains methyl salicylate, which is an aspirin relative. It can cause vomiting. Bodily influence: astringent, stimulant, and anodyne.

23. YARROW WARNING: Use sparingly; too much can result in kidney or bladder irritation. Always crush and sniff for the characteristic astringent smell, which distinguishes from poisonous lookalikes. Bodily influence: astringent, alterative, diuretic, and a tonic.

24. YELLOW DOCK Bodily influence: alterative, astringent, laxative, antiscorbutic, and tonic.

26. 2 oz of raw bees wax

27. 1 cup of dried plantain leaves

28. ½ cup of dried comfrey leaves

29. ½ cup of dried mullein leaves

30. ½ cup of dried mint leaves

31. Pour the oil into a large pot or slow cooker and then add the bees wax; let bees wax melt before adding the dried herbs

32. Simmer on low heat for a minimum of four hours, stirring occasionally

34. SOURCES Janice Longboat

35. Any questions? http://www.slideshare.net/katerigauthier/healing-herbs-final