Cultiver sa pharmacie naturelle - Les Mauvaises Herbes

Posted by Les Mauvaises Herbes

Grow your natural pharmacy

Spring is full of promise, and your head is brimming with dreams and projects for the beautiful season ahead. This chronicle will help you develop your own natural pharmacy, as you explore natural remedies with four plants from the traditional pharmacopoeia:

American arnica (Arnica chamissonis)
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum)
Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

Cultivating Your Natural Pharmacy

These four plants produce splendid flowers in vibrant colours. They're sure to brighten up your garden, flowerbeds, or even balcony planters! These flowers are not only beautiful, but they also possess therapeutic properties for preventing and relieving minor everyday ailments.

Working the soil allows you to slow down, connect with nature, and reconnect with yourself. It has even been scientifically proven that gardening has an antidepressant effect! You'll never look at plants the same way again after growing them yourself and witnessing their growth from seed to flower! Then, you're free to explore a thousand and one ways to transform them to make your own medicinal preparations: tinctures, syrups, infused oils, and salves, to name just a few.

A significant bonus: the four varieties offered in our kit are melliferous plants that attract pollinators such as bees, bumblebees, and even hummingbirds! We know that pollinators play a crucial role in maintaining the balance of our ecosystem, so sowing plants that feed them is a way to contribute to biodiversity.

Without further ado, here are our four favourite plants for developing a natural pharmacy at home!

Important: Unless otherwise indicated, please note that the internal use of these plants is intended for healthy adults. We recommend consulting a qualified herbalist or naturopath if you have any health problems, are taking medication, or are pregnant.

American arnica

Arnica is well known among athletes! It's an essential part of the natural pharmacy. It helps reduce inflammation and pain in the joints and muscles, and is useful for injuries such as bruises, sprains, dislocations, and repetitive strain injuries: tendinitis, bursitis, and capsulitis. It can be used before and after exercise. It helps tone the blood vessels and relieve heavy legs and oedema.

Arnica produces small plants that are easy to grow and produce abundant beautiful yellow flowers. The plant can reach 50 cm in height. Arnica chamissonis (American arnica) has the same properties as Arnica montana (mountain arnica), which is better known but unfortunately overexploited. What's more, American arnica is better suited to our North American climate than its cousin.

Growing it

It is recommended to start arnica seeds indoors 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost, in late March or early April in Quebec. However, keep in mind that arnica germination can take a long time; it varies from 10 to 60 days. Arnica loves light, and the seeds must be planted on the surface.

Arnica is a perennial plant that will return every year if grown in the ground. It can be propagated by replanting part of its rhizome. It loves the sun but appreciates partial shade during heatwaves, and it needs moist soil free from standing water. It can be grown in a pot or planter if you don't have access to a small plot of land.

Flowering and harvesting

Arnica flowers in August and September. Harvest the flowers shortly after they bloom and dry them in a warm, dry place.

Uses

Arnica flowers can be prepared in several ways before being applied to the skin: as an infusion in hot water, or macerated in alcohol, vinegar, or oil. The infused oil is very versatile; it can be used on its own or combined with essential oils as a massage oil or rubbed locally on a painful area of the body. It can also be used as a base to make a therapeutic and relaxing body salve or butter, such as our magic salve for sore bodies.

Tip: steep arnica flowers in hot water for about ten minutes and apply a cooled infusion compress to your joints after intense exercise.

Precautions

For external use only.

Photo: Jacinthe Morin

Purple coneflower

Coneflower is another essential part of the natural pharmacy thanks to its cold-relief properties! It is traditionally used in herbalism for its ability to reduce the severity and duration of colds and other respiratory infections. It should be taken at the very first signs of symptoms—no time to waste!

Coneflower is an ornamental plant well known for its large purple flowers with a centre that resembles a little hedgehog. In fact, its name comes from the Ancient Greek ekhinos, meaning sea urchin or hedgehog. The stems easily reach over a metre in height.

Growing it

The seeds must undergo cold stratification for 30 days, as it is the low temperatures that "wake up" the seed! Once cold stratification is complete, start indoor sowing in late March, or plant directly in the ground in April. Coneflower germinates quickly: only one to two weeks are needed before shoots appear. The seeds can also be planted outdoors in the fall to avoid cold stratification; winter will activate germination.

Coneflower can be grown in a pot but prefers the ground. It loves the sun. Young plants should be watered regularly, but mature flowers do not need much water.

Unlike other coneflower species, purple coneflower can flower from the first year, from August to September.

Flowering and harvesting

Harvest the roots from the second year of growth (it is best to wait until the third or fourth year for a more productive harvest!), in late fall after the first frost, when the aerial parts have died. Some of the roots can be replanted so that the plant returns the following spring. The roots must be washed and thoroughly dried before processing.

The flowers are harvested shortly after they bloom.

Uses

The most commonly used part is the root, which is often made into a mother tincture (hydro-alcoholic extract) or a glycerite for children. Coneflower tincture should cause a tingling sensation on the tongue due to its isobutylamine content, which are alcohol-soluble compounds. Coneflower can be combined with other cold-relief or demulcent plants such as plantain, marshmallow root, or elderberries. The dried roots can also be used to make vinegars, decoctions, or syrups. The flowers also have several properties, which we highlight in our coneflower glycerite recipe.

Tip: add a few coneflower roots to your homemade vegetable broth (use vegetable scraps and kitchen leftovers for a zero-waste broth!).

Precautions

Do not use if you have an autoimmune disease. Do not combine with immunosuppressant medications.

Wild bergamot

St. John's wort owes its name ("thousand holes") to its leaves, which are dotted with secretory vesicles that give the illusion of many tiny holes letting light through. It has cute little yellow flowers with five petals. St. John's wort is sometimes nicknamed "nerve arnica". While arnica has remarkable properties for soothing muscle and joint aches, St. John's wort used externally stands out for its ability to relieve nerve pain and nerve-related trauma, such as sciatica and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Its anti-inflammatory properties make it an essential ally for relieving minor injuries, minor burns, and sunburn.

A versatile ally in the natural pharmacy!

Growing it

St. John's wort seeds require a 3-day cold treatment before starting indoor sowing in late March or early April in Quebec. They can also be sown directly in the ground in the fall. Germination takes 10 to 14 days. St. John's wort is a plant that loves the sun; its seeds must be planted on the surface, as they need light to germinate. And for the same reason, they are sown in full sun so that the plants can reach their full potential! St. John's wort flowers from June to August, starting from its second year of growth.

Harvesting

Harvest the flowering tops (stem, leaves, flowers, and flower buds) while the plants still have a good number of unopened flower buds. Pick all the tops: both the buds and the open flowers. Dry them in a dark, dry place. Be careful! The closed buds will take longer to dry than the leaves and open flowers.

Uses

Did you know that St. John's wort loves the sun? It is perfectly suited for solar maceration: an infused oil made in full sun for about forty days. A carrier oil that is resistant to rancidity must be used, and you must ensure that the tops, especially the buds, no longer contain any moisture to prevent mould from developing. The hypericin in freshly picked St. John's wort gives the carrier oil a bright red colour.

St. John's wort infused oil is highly appreciated for massage, either on its own or combined with arnica, and for soothing irritated skin, skin prone to redness, or minor burns. To complete the cycle of the close relationship between St. John's wort and the sun, note that St. John's wort is particularly suitable for soothing sunburn and overheated skin after spending too much time outdoors. It is also used in our moisturizing after-sun butter!

For internal use, it is traditionally used to stabilise mood, soothe the respiratory tract in case of infection, and as digestive support.

Tip: combine arnica and St. John's wort flowers to make a doubly effective pain-relief salve!

Precautions

St. John's wort used externally is photosensitizing (it can cause irritation or a mild burn upon exposure to the sun) in some people. Therefore, avoid applying it to the skin just before exposing yourself to the sun.

The internal use of St. John's wort requires several precautions; we strongly recommend consulting a healthcare professional before starting.

Wild bergamot

Do not confuse it with monarda didyma, which is used in cooking to make lemon balm! The different varieties of bergamot are increasingly present in gardens and flowerbeds, and rightly so. The flowers are spectacular and resemble little fireworks. Their nectar attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Wild bergamot flowers (or fistulose monarda) have also long been used by the Ojibwe, Iroquois, Cherokee, Dakota, and Menominee peoples as an infusion, steam bath, or poultice for their antiseptic and carminative properties. An essential plant in the natural pharmacy. Wild bergamot is sometimes nicknamed "Quebec oregano" because its essential oil profile is similar; it contains a high concentration of carvacrol, one of the molecules responsible for the strong antiseptic power of the different oregano essential oils.

Growing it

Sowing is done directly in the ground after the risk of frost has passed, or indoors from late February to mid-March. The seed germinates after 10 to 30 days. Plant it in the sun or partial shade.

Harvesting

Dried flowers do not keep very well because they are very delicate and fade quickly, so harvest them as they reach maturity and according to your needs, throughout the flowering period.

Uses

Bergamot flowers are perfectly suited for herbal teas, but they are also suitable for tinctures, vinegars, and glycerites. Bergamot flowers can also be used in cooking to flavour meats and desserts; their flavour is rather floral with a hint of mint and pepper.

Tip: place a few bergamot petals on a salad to enhance the flavour and add a touch of colour.