Botanical Name :  Avena sativa Energetics :  Neutral to warming, moistening Major Properties :  Relaxing nervine, nutritive Examples of Uses:  “Type A burnout”, breaking addiction, nervous system tonic Parts Used : Unripe seed pods when going from flower to seed. Preparations: Tincture, dropping freshly picked, unripe seed pods directly into menstruum Personal Observations : Milky Oats is a great nervous system tonic, not a sedative or stimulating, but it stabilizes, rebuilds, and/or enhances the nervous system. Great for physical and mental exhaustion from too much work for too long. Specific indications include nervous systems that are “fried” due to ongoing excess work or play.  “Type A burnout” - emotionally brittle due to stress. Milky Oats has adaptogen-like qualities - good to take along with adaptogens such as Tulsi and Ashwagandha. Great remedy for having to deal with sudden loss, such as a death or a situation that feels “as if something important has died”. Very useful for breaking addictions, reducing cravings for tobacco and drugs.  Using it along with American Skullcap is very effective, especially where the addict is seeking the nervous strength to break the addiction. This brief overview merely highlights my observations.  There is, of course, a great deal of information that you can find on the Internet or in books.  Or better yet - get together with other herbalists and share your experiences! Please add your own experiences so that together we can create a more comprehensive overview. As always, if you have a chronic ailment that is not resolving itself or an acute issue, seek the attention of your physician.

Botanical Name :   Cnicus benedictus Click Here to See Photo Energetics :  Neutral, drying Major Properties :  Stomachic, tonic, emmenagogue, galactagogue Examples of Uses:   Increase lactation, treat painful menstruation, stimulate and tonify digestion, increase appetite, digest fat more effectively Parts Used : Flowering tops, leaves, and upper stem Preparations: Tincture - my preference as I feel a tincture preserves the properties of its milky sap best Tea - dried leaves, especially in regard to increase milk supply for nursing mothers Edible - young leaves Personal Observations : - I think of Blessed Thistle when the liver needs some support, due to its bitter compounds.  I often consider it when mixing up a bitters blend as it seems a gentle, yet powerful tonic for the liver and digestive system.  It allows the body to digest fat more effectively, possibly in turn reducing cholesterol and helping to prevent gallstones. Historically, blessed thistle was considered a "cure-all", even credited with healing during the Bubonic Plague. Seems to make sense to add it to bitters blend, in my opinion anyway. - A common use today is to promote milk production in lactating women.  Studies have shown that taking blessed thistle and fenugreek together were the most effective. This brief overview merely highlights my observations.  There is, of course, a great deal of information that you can find on the Internet or in books.  Or better yet - get together with other herbalists and share your experiences! Please add your own experiences so that together we can create a more comprehensive overview. As always, if you have a chronic ailment that is not resolving itself or an acute issue, seek the attention of your physician.

Botanical Name : Agastache foeniculum Energetics : Slightly warming, very drying Major Properties :  Antiemetic, antiviral, antifungal Examples of Uses: Summer colds, nausea, vomiting, edema Parts Used : Leaves and flowers Preparations: Fresh - eat a leaf for relief from those damp, boggy summer colds that seem to linger forever! Tea - another very tasty way for relief or prevention of summer colds. I've wondered how it might even help with the watery eyes of allergies? Tincture - of leaves and flowers Honey - add flowers for a lovely flavored and scented herbal honey. Add fresh or dried flowers to ice cream or sorbet recipes, iced tea, sprinkled on salads Dry for winter use Personal Observations : Anise Hyssop (AH) is one of my favorite garden plants. It has a lovely scent - consider planting along a walking path where one can brush against its foliage and be delighted by its fragrance. And it makes the most delicious tea, too. I'll often make a summer tea with AH, lemon balm, and fresh stevia leaf (I don't like the taste and especially aftertaste of powdered stevia). It is also lovely as an iced tea and works equally well in a cold decoction or sun tea. As far as medicinal uses, it is my go-to for summer colds - those colds that linger with full, drippy nasal passages and heaviness and you just feel yucky. AH is a very drying plant, one of the most drying plants in our herbal apothecary, so if very efficient at relieving those congested, drippy, heavy kinds of colds. If you often get summer colds, you could also try drinking AH tea regularly as a preventative measure. I, personally, don't use AH tincture or tea much in the winter when the air can be quite dry, as AH is then too drying for me. However, in the humidity of summer, it is particularly useful for most persons.