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Yarrow: The Wound Healer of Ancient Battlefields

Achillea millefolium takes its genus name from Achilles, who, according to the myth, was taught by the centaur Chiron to use yarrow on the wounds of soldiers in battle. Whether or not the myth is historically accurate, yarrow pollen has been found in Neanderthal...

Making Herbal Syrups: A Complete Guide

Herbal syrups combine a concentrated herbal preparation (a decoction or infusion) with a sweetener (sugar, honey, or glycerine) to produce a stable, pleasant-tasting medicine that is one of the most practically useful preparations in the home apothecary. They are easy...

Late Summer Harvesting: Roots, Seeds, and Berries to Gather Now

August is when the character of the harvest changes. The flowers of high summer are giving way to seeds and berries, and beneath the ground the roots are beginning to pull their energy back down after the flowering season, concentrating their constituents in...

Schisandra: The Five-Flavor Berry

Schisandra chinensis (wu wei zi in Chinese, meaning “five-flavor berry”) occupies a unique position in the materia medica because it is almost impossible to describe its taste in conventional terms. It is simultaneously sour, sweet, bitter, salty, and...

The Autumn Apothecary: Stocking Up for the Season

September has a particular urgency to it in the herbalist’s calendar. The elderberries are ripe. The roots are beginning to concentrate. The last of the summer herbs need to be preserved. And the cold season, with all its demand for immune support, warming...

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