Back Porch Herbal: Horsetail and White Willow Bark

 

I love wildcrafting herbs. Not all plants that grow in the valley grow on the high desert of Central Oregon. Nettle, chickweed are two that I typically have to purchase, although I found some nettle growing in a pot this year that I plan to cultivate. It probably came in a nursery plant I bought. I may end up with some chickweed that way next year if I’m observant enough. Or I’ll go over to Portland and find some growing. Chickweed grows everywhere over there.

I do have willow and horsetail, among other herbs, growing on my property and it’s wonderful to walk about, gathering what I need for my materia medica without having to order any of it. The horsetail, or shave grass as it’s also called, grows up by the irrigation ditch near the juniper trees. Various willow varieties grow on the property including three weeping willows from which I harvested the bark.

The aerial portion of horsetail, or shave grass, is best harvested in early summer. I dried the horsetail I gathered on some bamboo mats on the floor of a grow tent I have. With its astringent properties, horsetail has a mild diuretic property to it, and also helps ease hot flashes and is helpful with prostate issues. With its high silica content, it acts as a vulnerary, healing wounds and reducing bleeding, and protects bones from osteoporosis, and its anti-inflammatory properties protect the lungs and may also be helpful in rheumatic conditions.

I use horsetail as part of a blend for tea or tincture. It can also be incorporated into salves for skin conditions.

Willow bark contains salicin, a compound similar to aspirin, and as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic, is used for general pain and fever as well as pain associated with rheumatic conditions. I love my willow trees. I know I have weeping willow, and I believe I have black willow growing wild all over my property. At least I think that’s what it is. I also have a more delicate type of willow, the name of which escapes me, that hasn’t done well where I have it planted. But it’s still alive, so that’s something.

I watched a video of an herbalist named 7 Song show how he strips the bark off of willow. He sliced it lengthwise, and then carefully lifted the whole thing off the branch. I tried this. I failed. So, I whittled both the outer and inner bark off the branches. I read that it’s fine to use the outer bark as well and given that I didn’t take anything from the main tree itself, but instead took smaller branches, I couldn’t see any real way to separate the outer from the inner, so I left the shavings as they were.

The process took hours. Horsetail is much easier. Okay, I’ll admit that I can be a little obsessive about things, but I really didn’t know how much I’ll be needing, particularly if I use some of it for tintures, so I wanted to be certain that I had enough. I gathered/whittled enough to fill a half gallon jar. I was surprised that my hands weren’t in any more pain than they were after my marathon whittling session, but I probably absorbed some of its painkilling properties as I worked with it. It’s worth it though to know that I chose those willow trees nearly twenty years ago and brought them home to plant next to the ponds. Three in total, they provide the first food for the bees in the Spring, in fact, we put our new apiary next to them just for that purpose. It’s cool knowing that next year it will be our bees making the willows hum. This is a picture of one of the bees gathering pollen from a pumpkin blossom. Next year, I plan to use a small greenhouse frame with webbing or something over it with pumpkins and gourds growing up over it, maybe some beans as well, creating a living cover for the greenhouse structure. It’s sitting in the apiary, so I think it would be a great source of food for the bees. And it’s cool.

In New Menopausal Years The Wise Woman Way, Susun Weed recommends extracting willow bark with vinegar, with one teaspoonful considered the same as one aspirin. I plan to use apple cider vinegar for the menstruum. Apple cider tinctures are gentle and have the added advantage of being food, so they’re often used in herbal remedies for children.

I’ve chosen these two herbs to help with both rheumatoid arthritis and menopause/postmenopause issues. Both are anti-inflammatory, helpful with both issues. Fluid retention is helped by the diuretic properties of horsetail, something that happens with both RA and menopause. And it’s nice I can walk outside my house and gather them instead of buying them.

I’m really enjoying all that I’m learning. Below are some of the books I’ve used in my research and formularies. I ended up with enough horsetail to fill two 1 gallon jars and enough willow bark for a half gallon jar. I’ll continue sharing my research and everything I’m making in future posts.

~Blessings to all!

 

 

Recommended reading that can be found at Amazon:

Medical Herbalism and Holistic Herbal both by David Hoffman are excellent.

A Modern Herbal Vols 1 & 2 by Mrs. M. Grieve, also found online.

The Way of Herbs by Michael Tierra

Anything by Rosemary Gladstar

Anything by Susun Weed

Anything by Michael Moore