Plymouth's Harvest Thanksgiving Market
November 21st (Sunday) 11-4 pm

Green Feather Herbs will be selling teas, syrups, balms and more!

What to expect:

PRODUCT LIST

Nourishing Face, Hand, and Body Cream
A lightly scented and rich moisturizer for dry skin.
Ingredients: apricot kernel oil, beeswax, cocoa butter, aloe vera gel, distilled water, vitamin E oil, lavender essential oil


Lavender Salt Scrub
Exfoliating and moisturizing for face and body.
Ingredients: sea salt, olive oil, lavender essential oil

Honey Lip Balm
Moisturizing and soothing with a hint of honey.
Ingredients: beeswax, apricot kernel oil, honey

Healing Salve
This salve is used externally on dry, chapped skin, eczema, burns, scrapes, bug bites, poison ivy, or any general skin irritations or inflammation.
Ingredients: beeswax, coconut oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E oil, calendula flower oil, plantain oil, St. John’s Wort oil, yarrow oil, tea tree essential oil, lavender essential oil

St. John’s Wort & Arnica Massage oil
A great external muscle oil suitable for use on cramps, bruises, strains, general aches, and after strenuous exercise.
Ingredients: arnica oil and St. John’s Wort oil

Sore Throat Pastilles
Soothing herbal pastilles for sore, scratchy throats. Let pastille dissolve on tongue and repeat every two hours. Pastilles are strong and should be taken in half doses by children.
Ingredients: Licorice root powder, marshmallow root powder, elecampane root powder, acacia powder, licorice root tincture, water

Elderberry Tonic
Yummy tonic for colds, flu, sore throats, and fever. Take by the spoonful or add to hot tea. When sick take 1 tbs every hour. As a preventative take 1 tbs daily. Refrigerate after opening. Keeps for 2-4 months.
Ingredients: elderberries, honey, ginger, cinnamon, water


Herbal Cough Syrup
Helps soothe throat and get rid of stubborn coughs and phlegm. Refrigerate after opening. Keeps for 2-4 months.
Ingredients: fennel, ginger root, marshmallow root, Echinacea, wild cherry bark, mullein, elecampane root, honey, water


HERBAL TEA BLENDS LIST

Goodbye Stress Tea
Unwind after a stressful day with this blend that promotes relaxation
Lemon Balm, Chamomile, Rose, Oatstraw, Lavender


Bedtime Tea
A blend that promotes and encourages sleep
Chamomile, Passionflower, Lemon Balm, Skullcap, Hops

Vitamin C Tea
This blend is packed with vitamin C to help support your body and keep it healthy
Rosehips, Hibiscus, Orange Peel, Cinnamon, Lemongrass, White Pine Needles


Women's Tonic Tea
A general tonic for women
Oatstraw, Lemon Balm, Nettle, Peppermint, Raspberry Leaf, Stevia


Belly Ease Tea
Promotes proper digestion and soothes gastric upset, such as nausea, bloating and cramping
Fennel, Chamomile, Peppermint


Cold and Flu Care Tea
This blend provides relief and healing during colds and flu with its antiviral, immune enhancing, and diaphoretic properties
Elderberry, Boneset, Peppermint, Yarrow


Warming Winter Spice
A spicy, robust decoction of roots perfect to warm those cold winter nights
Dandelion root, wild cherry bark, burdock root, licorice root, cinnamon, astragalus root, eleuthero root, marshmallow root, cloves, orange slices, flax seeds







For more information:

http://www.usathanksgiving.com/2010/concert/harvestmarket/harvest-market.shtml

Winter Teas from the Herbwife's Kitchen

"For people who get dry and cold in the winter: flaxseeds (Linum usitatissimum), cassia / cinnamon (Cinnamomum aromaticum), ginger (Zingiber officinale), cloves (Syzygium aromaticum), cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) and nutmeg (Myristica fragrans).

For people who get a lot of sore throats and swollen lymph nodes in the winter: echinacea root (Echinacea angustifolia or Echinacea purpurea), red root (Ceanothus americanus), marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis).

For people who feel drained in the winter: wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) (use only organic ginseng, “woods-grown” if possible).

For people who get cold hands and feet in the winter: valerian (Valeriana officinalis), cramp bark (Viburnum opulus), wild ginger (Asarum canadense) (harvest wild ginger only if it’s locally abundant; “regular” ginger can be used instead)."

http://crabappleherbs.com/blog/2007/11/30/simmering-winter-fun-with-stockpot-and-teapot/

Marshmallow

I've been so busy lately teaching & going back to school for my masters. I've been drinking lots of tea now that it's cooler here and using a lot of tinctures to prevent from getting sick. Today I had some down time (finally!) and read this article and was reminded how great Marshmallow is. I usually include Marshmallow in decoctions when I have a sore throat or am getting sick. This article includes a whole ranges of uses for this wonderful herb.

Soothing Marshmallow & Marshmallow Infusion
by Rosalee de la Foret

I love single herbs that seemingly do everything.

Their complexity could inspire a lifetime of devotion to learning the intricate ways they could be used for food and medicine, as well as the ways they support their habitat and the gifts they bring the earth. Single herbs that can be used in a variety of ways are called "polycrest herbs."
At first glance marshmallow seems like a specific plant. Its claim to fame is being the #1 go-to demulcent herb for many herbalists.

Demulcent herbs are slimy and thick and are typically used to soothe mucous membranes. Like many demulcent herbs, marshmallow is cooling and moistening, bringing relief to hot and dry conditions.

Despite having the specificity of being a demulcent herb, marshmallow (Althea officinalis) is a polycrest herb. It’s been used for centuries in a broad range of ways. The genus name for marshmallow is derived from the Greek word altho, which means to cure. This gives us a powerful indication of how highly regarded this plant was in ancient times.

I’ve really enjoyed getting to know this wonderful plant on a deeper level by making a variety of preparations with it. Most often though, I use it as a tea.

The majority of the time we make teas and long infusions we use hot water to extract the plant material. But marshmallow roots are typically prepared using cold water.
Marshmallow roots are high in polysaccharides and starches. By using a cold infusion you extract mainly the mucilaginous polysaccharides. If you simmer the root you also extract the starches in the plant (which is okay; the cold infusion is considered to be a purer extract of the mucilage.)
In today’s HerbMentor News we are going to learn how to make a cold infusion out of marshmallow roots and then explore the myriad of ways this single preparation can be used.

To make a cold infusion you will need:
• a jar and lid
• marshmallow root (You can buy marshmallow root here)
• lukewarm water
• time

To make this preparation, simply fill a jar 1/4 of the way with marshmallow root.

Then fill the jar with lukewarm water and cover with a lid.

Let sit for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight. The water should change color to a soft yellow.

Strain off the roots. The resulting liquid should be thick and viscous.

Now that we see how easy it is to prepare this root let’s look at the many ways we can use it!



Mouth WashMarshmallow makes a wonderful mouth wash for painful mouth conditions. Mouth ulcers, canker sores, cuts on the inside of the cheeks, inflamed gums and even sore throats are soothed with a marshmallow rinse. Simply swish the cold infused tea around in your mouth to coat the affected tissues.

Heartburn and Ulcers
Try adding a little peppermint to the cold infusion to find relief from heartburn, peptic ulcers, and inflamed intestines. Besides being able to soothe inflammation, marshmallow root is also a vulnerary, healing wounds within the digestive tract. Herbalist Paul Bergner calls this a bandaid for the stomach. Of course, addressing the root cause of these issues is recommended for long term care.

Skin WashMarshmallow is an amazing topical treatment for wounds and burns. In the past it was called mortification root because of its ability to prevent gangrene.
Externally, marshmallow root is very useful in the form of poultice, to discuss painful, inflammatory tumors, and swellings of every kind, whether the consequence of wounds, bruises, burns, scalds, or poisons; and has, when thus applied, had a happy effect in preventing the occurrence of gangrene. The infusion or decoction may be freely administered.
–King's American Dispensary, 1898
Marshmallow works in complex ways. It is used as a lubricating demulcent for the lungs and for the urinary tract, even though it never comes in direct contact with these surfaces.

Herbalist Jim McDonald explains:

Though it makes sense that demulcents coat tissues, the physical mucilage is actually very poorly absorbed by the body, and certainly isn't traveling through the blood to the kidneys. Rather, the ingestion of mucilage seems to promote a systemic moistening of tissues throughout the body, with some demulcents being more specific to particular organ systems.–Jim McDonald, Herbalist

Colds and FluMarshmallow is a wonderful plant for the cold and flu season. It can soothe an inflamed sore throat. It stimulates phagocytosis, an important part of the immune system and it's even used to moisten the lungs in cases of dry hot conditions, such as hot coughs with little to no expectoration. Recent scientific research has shown it to be a powerful anti-tussive herb as well. I commonly recommend it for post infection coughs - these are the ones keeping you awake at night long after the illness has passed.

Urinary infections
Herbalists frequently use marshmallow for urinary problems such as cystitis, kidney stones, and bladder infections. Besides soothing the urinary tract it is also a diuretic, which can be of further aide in many urinary problems.

Marshmallow is considered safe for everyone to use although it is recommended to be taken several hours after taking prescription medications as it may inhibit the absorption.
Marshmallow plant is specific for many common ailments, yet has a complexity that renders it useful for a myriad of problems. We hope you enjoy learning about marshmallow and are able to create a variety of herbal remedies from this versatile plant for the well-being of your family.

-Rosalee

www.learningherbs.com