The Power of Comfrey

Lately it seems like no sooner is one of my patients healed then another shows up, and I've had plenty of opportunities to practice what I've learned about herbs, healing, health and first aid. Nick's horse Phillip recently got a leg caught in the fence. When I found him he had several deep gashes with blood everywhere. I stopped the bleeding with potato starch and treated the wounds with herbal salve, but by the next day the leg was twice its usual size. I iced the leg throughout the day, but it didn't seem to help at all. I remembered reading that comfrey tea or tincture could heal internal injuries - sprains, breaks, bruises and such, but I was out of comfrey. I ordered some so I would be ready for the next time. Three weeks later, when the comfrey arrived, Phillip's leg was still very swollen. I made a strong tea out of the leaf and root , wrapping the leg in a cloth soaked in it. The next day the swelling had gone down so I repeated the process. After two or three treatments the swelling was almost gone. I missed a day of soaking and the swelling returned. It took a few more days of soaking before the leg looked normal. Phillip went back in with the herd and I started some comfrey root tincture so it would be ready when I needed it. Last week Snickers hurt a leg out in the pasture and could hardly put weight on it. There was some heat and swelling. After three treatments with the comfrey tincture, he was all better and back with the herd. Today I rode him and he pulled Nick around on a toboggan with no problem. Many of you have already seen comfrey at work as a main ingredient in my healing salve. This powerful plant is definitely going on my list of favorite herbs!

Why?

 

 

Often I am asked “why?” Why did I just buy a 120-year-old wood cook stove? Why did I grow 1,100 pounds of squash? Why am I teaching my horses to pull? Why grow my own food and save my own seeds? Why act as my own doctor when I could pay a professional? After all, none of that could exactly be classified as “normal”.

When I finished school, my plan was to build the fish business I had going at the time, perfect my homemaking skills, and learn new skills that would prepare me to be a better wife and mama someday. My studies quickly grew into an interest in current events and prophecy. The more I studied, the more things I discovered that I didn’t know. Sure, I knew how to cook on an electric stove, but what if I didn’t have electricity?

Unfulfilled prophecies, 56 trillion dollars of debt, one in five dependent on food stamps, antibiotic resistant diseases, war, EMPs, the list goes on. Worst of all is the spiritual and moral decline, the “tolerance” which is really intolerance, and the persecution of believers around the world. We live in an interesting, and exciting time. If Christ does not return soon, things will be rough, especially for believers. We may see the worst times yet in the history of the world. Most of you are not prepared. You are not afraid, which is good, but neither do you have any clue about how to survive. You say that God will provide. Will he cause bread to fall from heaven when you knew ahead of time what would happen and were unprepared? He might, I don’t know, but why would he do the supernatural to save you when you knew what was coming and could have been ready? Proverbs 3:25-26 says “Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.” Fear is not the same as using wisdom and common sense to be reasonably prepared for what will happen. When times get rough, will God send someone to give you food, or will you be the one to give food and share the gospel with others?

I don’t know what is going to happen, but we know from Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 that there will be wars, famines, earthquakes, signs in heaven and persecution. We know from what is happening in this country that we will likely have to do without, maybe without electricity, perhaps without cars, without a store to buy things at, without the internet, or without a doctor, maybe all of the above. Don’t be afraid, but be ready. Consider the possibilities and have a plan. At the very least, learn the basics of gardening, keep some heirloom seeds on hand and have the tools you will need. Don’t shop day to day, keep enough food and medicine on hand to see you through a temporary crisis and have a plan to renew your supply if needed. A bag of beans is cheap and can easily be sprouted in jars. Dandelions grow everywhere; the entire plant is edible and nutritious. Garlic is easy to grow, and tests have shown it to be more effective than an antibiotic.

Above all, be ready for eternity, “And when these things begin to come to pass, look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.” – Luke 21:28

 

 

Some good resources:

 

The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery

Be Your Own Doctor by Rachel Weaver

Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth

The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan

http://www.bulkherbstore.com/articles/smart-packs

http://www.bulkherbstore.com/articles/survival

http://nogreaterjoy.org/articles/how-to-survive-the-coming-apocalypse-part-1-fear-not-them-which-destroy-the-body/?topic_slug=survival-emergencies

http://nogreaterjoy.org/articles/how-to-survive-the-coming-apocalypse-part-2-pre-wrath-rapture-zombies-earthquakes-scorching-heat/?topic_slug=survival-emergencies

http://nogreaterjoy.org/articles/how-to-survive-the-coming-apocalypse-part-3-worst-case-scenarios/?topic_slug=survival-emergencies

http://nogreaterjoy.org/articles/how-to-survive-the-coming-apocalypse-part-4-getting-prepared/?topic_slug=survival-emergencies

www.bulkherbstore.com

http://www.homesteadcommunitypost.com/

 

 

Garden Volunteers and July Harvesting

Our last frost was in early May, a month earlier than last year, which has given the garden a much better start. We are enjoying fresh lettuce, kale, snow and snap peas, baby beets, broccoli, string beans, garlic, new potatoes and a variety of herbs. My strawberry plants have finally started producing and the apple trees are both looking promising. The first of the zucchini are almost ready! We've been drying big baskets and boxes of herbs - peppermint, catnip, oregano, plantain, dandelion root, red clover, yarrow and wormwood.

 

I've discovered that saving my own seeds leads to quite a few volunteers! Parsnips, garlic, potatoes, lettuce, catnip, orach, kale and radishes are some that have gone wild. They grow in the paths and mixed in with the other crops I plant, making for a messy looking but productive garden.

 



The wormwood I planted seems to be keeping the deer out of the garden. This is the third year that they have left it alone as long as the wormwood is green.

 

 



Catnip




Yarrow

How to Make an Herbal Salve

This stuff really works! It is good for cuts, burns, insect bites, rashes and more.

Fill a jar half way with dried plantain, comfrey, yarrow, echinacea, chamomile and rosemary. The plantain is the most important ingredient. Cover the herbs with olive oil. Fasten a rag or paper towel over the mouth of the jar with a rubber band and set in a sunny window sill for two weeks or longer.

Strain out the herbs and discard. Warm the oil in a saucepan with about 2 oz of beeswax for every cup of oil. When the beeswax is melted, remove from heat. At this point, you can add a few drops of vitamin E oil or grapeseed oil, which both act as natural preservatives. Pour the salve into tins or shallow containers and leave the lids off until set.

The salve will keep for years. I carry a small tin in my purse and keep jars all over the house and in the horse trailer. It makes a fantastic gift, and it is so much fun to see the surprise on friend's faces when they discover that my "herbal concoctions" really do work!

My Favorite Herbs

I tell people that, with a few exceptions, herbs work as well as or better than drugs and without the side effects. Herbs can be grown or wild-harvested, dried and made into medicine yourself. These are just a couple of my most commonly used herbs.  I'm not a doctor, this is just how I use them for my family, and it works!

Garlic
Reputed to be much stronger than an ordinary antibiotic, garlic is good for preventing and treating infections, including cold and flu. Cooked garlic loses its medicinal properties, so it has to be used raw. It can be chopped finely and mixed with honey, which also has antibiotic properties, or chopped a bit larger and swallowed like a pill. Always eat it with a little food; it can make you sick eaten on an empty stomach. Raw garlic can also be placed on the feet, where it will quickly be absorbed into the whole body. For an ear infection, I place half a clove of garlic on some gauze and tape it to the ear. Garlic is strong stuff and the gauze prevents skin irritation.

Plantain
Plantain grows across the US, and is my favorite for wounds, burns, insect bites and stings. When someone gets stung by a bee, I quickly find some plantain, chew it a bit and place it on the sting. It not only takes away the pain, but also heals.

Activated Charcoal
You won't find this one growing in the woods, but most herb companies sell it. A capsule or two will absorb the toxins if you get food poisoning or the stomach flu. It can be mixed with water to form a paste and plastered on a poisonous snake or spider bite to draw out the poison. I take this stuff everywhere I go.

White Willow Bark
This is the stuff that aspirin originally came from. Boil it for 15 minutes and sip on small amounts of the strong tea. Don't give to children under 16. White willow bark can also be ground into a powder and fed to horses for pain - I feed one teaspoon a day for up to a few weeks at a time.

Elderberries and Ginger
When a cold is brewing, I simmer a pot of elderberries and ginger for an hour and strain to make a strong tea. I add a little lemon juice and raw honey and everyone sips on it throughout the day. Ginger is also good for treating headaches and an upset stomach.