medicinal herbs

If I want to put in a medicinal and culinary herb garden in the front yard I should probably look into what the shamanic beliefs are for the native herbs and plants. I still want to add rain barrels and more vegetable beds in the back yard but the marble looks great used as a raised bed frames and it is able to make curves which wood cannot and when I mix the stone together it looks rather cool. However curves open up possibilities to really fill the garden with gardens. Stone in the front yard and wood and just brick paths in the back. To do this properly I had better study native edible, medicinal and homekeeping plants, uses and purposes. Standing People and an ethnobotanical dictionary as sources right now

So let us start with birch
which the unfurling spring leaves can be brewed into a spring tonic tea to clean out accumulated toxins. If you tap the sap it can be used as a cough syrup, I would imagine it should be cooked down the same way you would cook down maple sap. We have a paper birch in the yard already it could probably even take a tap this year.

Usnea species or Old man's beard grows I think out at Twin Lakes and could be collected as windfall out there this is one of the basic and most sacred of the native medicinal plants and thanks should be remembered when collecting only windfall. The description for collection to make sure we get the right one follows First check the outer portion of the plant for colour it should be gray- green with the cord like stems round not flat. For your final diagnostic check, moisten the stem giving it a gentle tug toe separate the out layer without breaking the white cord inside. The thread should expand and contract like an elastic band. If the windfall you have collected has all these features it is Usnea.
Usnea can be collected at any time of the year for use in your medicine bundle. Usnea contains powerful antibiotic compounds such as usnic acid that are able to treat urinary and repiratory tract infections, athlete's foot, ass well as other fungal infections. Recent research has isolated immune-strenthening compounds from several of the species. The lichen may also prove useful as a smooth muscle relaxant for the colon for the colon and bronchi. Any herb that assists the respiratory function to help us breath deeply and easily also nourishes our hearts.

Also out at Twin Lake there is tons of Field Horsetail, these dinosaur plants grow on rhizomes and from spores if I transplant a large section of the patch it should take in the garden. The plants are full of silica but some of the peoples used them internally for urinary, kidney issues and they can be used for skin rashes and wounds. There are 2 cycles to the growth of the plant withonly the first stage being fertile . In the first stage a jointed branchless flesh coloured fertile stalk appears in very early stage appears in very early spring and then quickly withers. The cone like structiure at the tip is the spore bearer wehre millions of spores hide out in tubel like structures awaiting their 48 hours of life. Yes they only exist 48 hours then kaput. The second stage of growth produces the green barren stalk with branches radiating from the leaf axils to give a Christmas tree effect. This sterile stage lasts through the summer and the leaves remain quite vibrant until autumn.

We love camping out there with the canoe and short drive. We can go we can camp canoe and fish and I can collect lots for the medicine bundle sounds like a plan.