Yarrow, Woundwort, A Multitude of Uses

To see Yarrow listed as a common weed is an insult to this plant. For a plant to be known as woundwort makes one wonder just how many lives it saved over the years. Today when we think of illness we figure there must be a physical cause and even if a cure is not yet known, with enough research we'll find a physical cure.

Years and years ago illness was thought to be more mystical and linked to the stars, the humors and even the Devil himself. To discover a plant that could heal was much more than simply a medicine, it had mystical powers.
Dioscorides,(c 40 - 90 AD), the Greek physician who wrote the De Materia Medica, a 5 volume encyclopedia about herbal medicine, claimed that the name "achillea" originated from the fact that Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan War, used it to heal his wounded soldiers on the battlefield. Throughout the millennia and much of the world until after the American Civil War, yarrow was part of the battle gear right along with the weapons.

The power of healing was not only physical. The name "yarrow" comes from the Anglo-Saxon (Dutch) gearwe, which is believed to come from gierwan, meaning "to be ready". Considered a defense against other ills, yarrow was burned to protect against evil.



Achillea millefolium, common yarrow, is a member of the aster or composite family (Asteraceae). Achillea is the genus name and millefolium is the species which means "a thousand leaves". Yarrow has flat-topped clusters of small white flowers that are in bloom from June through October. A hardy perennial, this fern-like, feathery plant with it's clusters of tiny daisy-like florets making up each flower head, is an important pollinator plant for butterflies, bees and many other insects.

If you want a plant the deer will leave alone, yarrow fits the bill. It spreads quickly and being it is so bitter, (the leaves contain tannin),animals won't touch it, domestic or wild.

All parts of yarrow are useful, whether its fresh, dried, in tea form, poultices, steamed vapors, alcohol tinctures, herbal oils and vinegars.
It's reputation as woundwort comes from it being a styptic, or stops bleeding. On the battlefield, most wounds were a result of the types of weapons used back then, resulting in deep gashes and puncture wounds. These types of wounds were very high risk for infection if the soldier didn't bleed to death first. Yarrow leaves and flowers were crushed and chewed to add saliva which formed a poultice and then  packed into the wounds. This method was used to stop the bleeding, act as an antiseptic for infection, and as an analgesic to help lessen pain.

Yarrow has so many uses the list could go on and on. It's best known for wound care, but it is also used to sweat and break a fever. Drinking hot yarrow tea does this by relaxing the circulation, allowing the body to sweat and get rid of infection.In fact, the original formula for cold tea is a combination of peppermint, elderflowers and yarrow.
By the way, this blend should not be used by pregnant women.

Since yarrow is so good for the circulatory system, it tones the blood vessels, dilates capillaries and gets the blood moving. People with spider veins, varicose veins and hemorrhoids find yarrow balm massages very soothing and effective.

The effects on the circulatory system along with it being one of the "bitters", yarrow is very useful for stimulating the digestive juices, excellent for the liver and pancreas.

Maria Treben considers yarrow an "herb for women". An aid for reproductive troubles, yarrow can help everything from heavy bleeding, clotted blood during menstruation and painful periods, as well as spotting between cycles.
Women with recurrent bladder infections could benefit from the anti-septic properties of yarrow tea.

Cosmetically, yarrow's astringent properties make it an excellent herb to use for a facial steam or astringent for oily skin and blackheads.

As a bug repellent, yarrow works. Infused in 100 proof vodka is creates the base for a very effective insect deterrent.

Below are some very good ways this amazing plant has been put to use. For therapeutic purposes, the white flowers from the wild yarrow plants are used rather than the yellow and pink hues from the nursery.
Click on the link below each picture for more detailed information on each of these items.

Spider Vein Massage Oil

Biting Insect Deterrent

Healing Yarrow Balm/Salve

Men's Aftershave

Facial Astringent/Toner

Pet Flea Powder

Information for this post came from sources: Whispering Earth, 100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names and a post by Ryan Drum.

Exfoliate Without Doing Harm, Ban the Microbeads

On December 28, 2015, President Obama signed into effect the "Microbead Free Waters Act", which prohibits the sale of products that include microbeads in their formula and will ban microbeads in the U.S. as of July 2017.

This is wonderful since microbeads have become an environmental disaster. The polymer technology to manufacture polymer beads was invented by the late Norwegian Professor John Ugelstad and these perfect little monosized spheres went into production in 2002 with the Norwegian company, Microbeads AS. They were used in a wide range of industries, not just with cosmetics and personal care. Uses included paints, plastics, ceramics and adhesives. Being cheap to manufacture, they seemed like a dream until it was realized how destructive they were to marine life.

Microbeads are made of non-biodegradable plastic. When they get washed down the drain they end up in local rivers and lakes. Being so tiny, they slip right through most water treatment systems. 

About the same size as fish eggs, to any organism that lives in the water, they look like food. Once in the food web, such toxins are passed right along to humans and other wildlife.

Microbeads are in so many personal care products, body scrubs, facial cleanses, toothpastes, all things most everyone uses on a daily basis. So many beads are believed to be polluting the Great Lakes that our world's largest source of fresh water is being poisoned.

Until the ban is completely in effect, what you can do is read labels. If polyethylene or polypropylene are listed as an ingredient, there is most likely microbeads in that product.

Another option is to use other sources for exfoliation. 

The definition of exfoliation is the cosmetic practice of removing dead skin cells from the top layer of the skin, called the epidermis. Amazing fact is that our skin can naturally shed 30,000 to 40,000 dead cells per minute.

If you feel your face or body has a dull appearance it could mean an accumulation of those dead surface cells. Remove them by means of dry brushing, a loofah sponge, a hemp scrubby pad or by using a salt or sugar scrub. 

Complaints people often have with moisturizers is that they seem to leave an oily residue. Of course a reason could be the lotion itself, but it could also be because the person is applying a moisturizer to old, dead skin cells and it is not penetrating the upper layer of the skin.

Sugar scrubs are a great way to slough off that old layer, unclog blocked pores, and reveal radiant freshness to perk up that tired look.

Cane sugar contains a naturally occurring acid known as glycolic acid which belongs to the family of alpha hydroxy acids (AHA). These acids stimulate and loosen the dry, flaky layer created by accumulating dead skin cells. 

White sugar is the result of sulfur dioxide being introduced to the cane sugar before evaporation which bleaches the sugar to be white as are most familiar. 

These scrubs below use raw, unprocessed sugars such as demerara and cane juice sugar.

Though exfoliation is important for an effective skin care routine, you can't overdo it and you must be very gentle. The skin of your face is fragile and can be easily damaged. It should be treated with care, no scrubbing, or you may irritate or even create tiny tears which leave the skin vulnerable to bacteria.

Salt scrubs are great too, but if used on the face you must remember that salt can be more abrasive than sugar. Using salt for a body scrub is a great way to cleanse and detoxify by drawing out impurities. Sea salt is a much better choice than table salt. Table salt is bleached and refined, therefore it lacks many of the minerals of the ocean.

The salt scrubs below are called salt polishes because they not only contain a moisturizing oil but also a touch of castile soap. Therefore, you get the effect of a good clean as well as the expected exfoliation.  

Coconut Oil Face and Body Sugar Scrub

Vegetable Glycerin Face and Body Sugar Scrub

Glowing Skin Salt Body Polish

Lemon Zest Glowing Skin Salt Body Polish

Old Tires, Concrete blocks, Pallets...Reuse, Reinvent for the Garden

With a little imagination and the wonderful ideas found on Pinterest, one can discover all kinds of ways to garden with limited funds and available space. Being able to reuse something for a purpose other than what it originally intended is very gratifying. No one feels great about adding to landfills so every little bit that can be reused for something else is a good thing.

Old pallets can have a new life in the garden as a tidy place to grow lettuces, greens and even strawberries.



Carefully add soil between the slats and let it settle down as it may. In this photo one pallet has leaf lettuces and the other is a blend of various greens. Just sprinkle the seeds lightly and lightly pat down. Such small seeds don't need to actually be buried in the soil, they need light to germinate. Once the lettuce fills in, take a scissors to thin it out. Snip to create about four inches between the plants. Don't pull them out or you may disturb the roots of the lettuces you want to keep. Use the cuttings for your salads. Pallets keep the plants nicely off the ground, therefore the need to rinse off dirt is greatly reduced.




Concrete blocks can be used to grow strawberries The plants are kept off the ground so dealing with weeds is just about eliminated. Since each plant has limited soil around it, you will have to water frequently. This is the first time I'm trying this idea so I'l find out soon enough how well the strawberries produce. Come autumn, lay straw up and around the blocks to proved insulation from cold temperatures. Remove in the spring. Strawberry plants should be replaced every three to five years.



The way you arrange your blocks is up to you. You can surround an existing bedding box or as here, the blocks were set around a pallet.

The terms concrete blocks, cement blocks, and cinder blocks are often used to mean the same thing. Cinder blocks are the term used in the manufacture of blocks using smelters. Back in the 1930's there were makers of cinder blocks in the eastern U.S. who used fly ash, from coal burning, also called clinker, to produce blocks. Agregate was sometimes slag or other industrial waste. These blocks are softer and not like today's concrete blocks. Dust from those blocks burns the eyes and lungs so is very toxic. Here in PA the terms cinder blocks and cement blocks are used for the same idea but they're not the same thing. Blocks used for construction as we know today are concrete and not at all toxic.

Unless you use a garage to take care of tire removal for your car when you replace your tires, you may have to pay to get rid of them. Here is a creative way to put those eyesores in your garage to use.

Optional is to first spray paint the tires different colors to get away from the ordinary black. To save space and add further eye appeal these are stacked, but they can be arranged however you want. The tires that are off the ground needed a piece of tarp or plastic to line their bottoms so the soil doesn't just fall through. Poke holes in the tarp for drainage. Add enough soil to fill the holes and plant what you wish. Here we used herbs but last season I had planted impatiens. These herbs were just planted in the month of May so how they do as they grow has yet to be seen. The picture below was taken in August so the plants had nicely filled in by then.
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Paintbrush of the Fairies...Periwinkle

"In the language of flowers, the periwinkle is the symbol of pleasures of memory and early friendship."
Sharon Lovejoy

Periwinkle or Creeping Vinca or Myrtle (Vinca minor) is a dense forming ground cover excellent for erosion control and can often be seen growing around foundations or down embankments. It was introduced into North America in the 1700's as an ornamental. It grows best in partial shady areas which is why if it escapes cultivated areas can be a problem when it covers the forest floor. It is very hardy and drought resistant so if it likes where it is established, can compete with native species.

Personally, I love this plant, as it brings back a lot of memories of my childhood home. My mother originally got her starts from her own mother and over the years it wound its way around the house and the little summerhouse that was at one time used for the summer canning season.

When I had my own children and discovered Sharon Lovejoy's books on gardening with children, I loved the flower stories and little games that could be played.

This is the story of the periwinkle as is told in the book "Sunflower Houses" by Sharon Lovejoy:

PERRY WINKLE'S PAINT BRUSH

The first Spring descended upon the earth, and all of the new, young animals and shimmering green plants and trees were healthy and happy. The view from a hilltop across mile after mile of wildflowers with all different blossom and leaf shapes revealed one startling, glaringly obvious thing. Somehow, the finishing touch had been overlooked! All the flowers were one color-WHITE!

The very last flower to have been created was the humble periwinkle. thus, he was the one called upon to solve the problem of coloring all of the flowers.
"Goodness gracious," said Perry in a small, blue voice. "I am depressed. There is just no way a little flower like me could color all the flowers in the world."

"Perry," a deep, soft voice resounded, "what you need is a little faith! In this world everyone has a job and is expected to work. The job for you and your family will be to paint all the flowers every color to be found on our earth and in our sky."

"But how can I do such a thing? There are not enough brushes or paint in the world to color the millions of flowers you have strewn on this planet," Perry said in a defeated tone.

"The rainbow will be your never-ending supply of colors. And listen closely: Slip your petals off, and you will see that I have given every periwinkle in my kingdom its very own paintbrush."


This is the magical part while telling your child this story. When you slip off the last pale blue petal you will discover the tiniest, most fairy-like paintbrush imaginable!

After gently removing the petals, carefully take off the outer wrapping of the pistil/stamen and you'll find the little paintbrush. Children love this story and will never see this simple flower the same way again.

To Purchase

Flowers and Folklore....Bleeding Hearts

If there is a flower that brings out the child in us, it has to be the bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis). It is inevitable that anyone who has never seen these before will bend to get a closer look at the dancing little hearts that line up along the slender branches. The bleeding heart actually does look like a dripping heart, and if you turn it upside down and pull it open a bit, it looks like a lady in a bath. In fact, lady in a bath is another name for it.

Bleeding heart was originally from China. In 1842, Robert Fortune set out to explore an unknown world and sent back many of our garden treasures. He had with him carrying cases that were accidentally invented by Nathaniel Ward. Ward used a closed bottle to bury a chrysalis and observe the development of a moth. When he noticed plant growth in the closed environment he figured this would be the perfect way to transport plants and protect them from lack of water, changes in temperature and sea spray during long sea voyages to the home destination. This discovery completely revolutionized the transportation of live plants from far away.

Robert Fortune disguised himself as a Chinese man to get into the forbidden areas around China. He collected and smuggled out many plants that were the result of centuries of China's select breeding and cultivation. He called China the "central flowery land."

These delicate old-fashioned plants emerge in the spring, display their chains of hearts, and too soon the plant dies back till next year.

Children love this plant. The flowers encourage the imagination with creative pretend as they become earrings, heart hair tiaras, dancing ballerinas, lady in the bath play or man in a gondola play.

Many flowers have stories attached to them and bleeding heart is certainly no exception. Here we have two stories from folklore:

 The first is the story of Princess Dicentra. This beautiful princess wandered away from her walled garden home and became lost in the darkness of an ancient forest. An evil crone, angry at being disturbed, took out her vengeance on the vulnerable Dicentra. The crone reduced Dicentra's size to a fraction of her normal self and the princess became entrapped in the satiny pink folds of an oddly shaped flower.

The crone told Dicentra that she'll only escape if by chance she is discovered by an innocent youngling. What the crone didn't realize is how attractive these flowers were to any passing child. It took only three days before travelers stopped for water in the forest. A little boy noticed the dancing wand tipped by a pink and white heart, and as predictable with children, he plucked it. When the child started to play with the flower, the princess was freed when he pulled back the pink skirt.

The second story is called "Ann's Story of the Bleeding Heart" by Elma Lang.
This is exactly as the story goes so the full credit goes to Elma Lang.

Ann thought she was the most unhappy girl in the world. Although she had gone to her new school for a whole week, she hadn't made a single friend.

Things might have been different if she hadn't been so frightened that first day. Some of the girls had spoken to her, but her throat had become so tight that she hadn't been able to answer them. Maybe after that the girls has thought she was stuck up or unfriendly. At any rate, they had left it up to her to make the next move.

Ann stopped to pick a bouquet of lilies of the valley and bleeding hearts for her new teacher. Many were growing in the garden of her new home.

As soon as she was in their classroom after the morning bell rang, Ann took the flowers to her teacher.

"My what lovely bleeding hearts!" exclaimed Miss Johnson, smiling at Ann. "Isn't that a sad name for such pretty flowers? Why do you suppose it was given that name?"

"Don't you know the story?" asked Ann in surprise. "My mother told it to me when I was just a little girl."

"Perhaps you can tell the story to the class," suggested Miss Johnson.

Ann looked at the class and felt horrified. Then she thought, I know the story well, and I love it. Of course I should share it.

Both her hands and her knees were shaking as she broke off one of the flowers, but she bravely stood before the class and told her story.

"Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess. Young men from far and near came to pay her court. But the princess was very vain and would have nothing to do with any of them. A young prince fro the neighboring country fell deeply in love with her. She ignored him like the others, though he tried and tried to win her heart. One day the prince found a pair of pretty pink rabbits at the market. He sent them to the princess thinking 'these will surely melt her heart.'"
 Ann carefully broke off the two outside petals of the flower in her hand. She placed them on the teacher's desk. Sure enough they looked like a pair of pink rabbits.
"But the princess went right right on ignoring him," Ann continued with her story.
"Then the prince sent her a pair of beautiful Oriental slippers." From the front and back of the flower, Ann took off the two long petals. One could easily imagine the dainty heels, the slender insteps, and the widened toes. They looked like a pair of real Oriental slippers.

Ann had to wait until the oh's and ah's of the class had quieted down before she could go on.

"Still the princess would have nothing to do with him. The young prince was so heart broken that he took his dagger and drove it into his heart." The remains of the flower in Ann's hand made the outline of a heart with a line down the center. Ann broke out the stamen, which had made the line. It looked like a dagger. She put it through the center of the heart. Ann held her hand so that the class could see the perfect heart pierced by the dagger.

Ann went on with the story. "As soon as the prince was dead, the princess realized that she had really love him. 'As long as I live, my heart shall bleed for my prince.' she wept".

"That" finished Ann, "is the story of the bleeding heart.

"Show me how to do it," said Donna, who sat in the front seat.

"Me too, me too!" cried the other girls.

"Ann may show you at recess," Miss Johnson stated firmly.

My story has made everything all right, Ann thought happily as she went back to her desk. I won't have any trouble making friends now.



For those who love to save their flower collections by pressing them, the bleeding heart is perfect. Picked early in the morning after the dew has dried, tuck between the pages of a thick book and after a few weeks the flower is transformed into a perfect flat, papery little heart.



Information for this post came from "100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names" by Diana Wells and "Sunflower Houses" by Sharon Lovejoy

Below are three wonderful books to spark a child's imagination and love of gardening:

To purchase

To purchase

To purchase

How to use Plant Leaves to Dye Easter Eggs

Dying Easter eggs can be a time for fun, creativity and a little kitchen chemistry.
To get started you'll need white eggs, not brown.
Use a size pot to accommodate the number of eggs you want to boil. Too few eggs for the size pot will result in the eggs rattling around and increase the chance of them cracking.
Add enough water to fully cover the eggs.
Bring them to a boil, cover the pot with a lid, turn off the heat and let sit on the burner for 15 minutes.
Put the pot in the sink and run cold water to cool off the eggs. This works better than tipping the pot to strain off the hot water since that may cause the eggs to bump and crack.

Gather your plant material.
This time of year you'll probably have to rely on houseplants or herbs purchased from the grocery store. Parsley and cilantro leaves are pretty.
As far as houseplants use whatever you have. Boston fern, English ivy and Pothos have pretty shapes and work nicely.
Choose and snip off the tinier leaves.




Use an old pair of nylon stockings.
Cut it up into sections of about 5 inch lengths
Spread out the leaf so it lays flat onto the egg and carefully stretch the nylon over the egg to hold it tight.
Twist the nylon ends to close and tie shut with a twisty tie (the kind from loaves of bread)

To dye your eggs you'll need:



Small glass or metal bowls, one for each color you'll be using
Into each bowl add 1 cup boiling water
2 tsp. vinegar
10 - 20 drops food coloring (single colors or various blends and shades)
Using a slotted spoon or tongs lower the eggs into the dye
Let sit for at least 5 - 10 minutes or until satisfied with the strength of the colors
If dying a large number of eggs you may  need to increase and adjust the water, vinegar and dye amounts.

To remove the stocking from the eggs:



Work over your kitchen sink so all drips, stockings and plant material stay in the sink and you won't risk staining your countertop.
Using a scissors, carefully snip off the stocking and peel away the stocking and the plant leaf.
Lay the egg on a cookie sheet to dry.
Repeat for each egg.
Once all the eggs are dry the eggs can be put into an egg carton and stored in the refrigerator.
Hard-boiled eggs are good for about a week.

If you want to take the time and use all natural dyes for your eggs, this is a great tutorial.
Tumeric gives you yellow
Beets give you purple
Onion skins give you a brownish orange
Red cabbage gives you a blue

Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

Forcing Spring Twigs for a bit of Color

In a hurry for spring to arrive? Try cutting branches from flowering shrubs and force them to bloom a little early in the warmth of your home. Enjoy yellows, whites, pinks and purples!

This is a fun project to spark an interest in children to the wonder and beauty of our natural world.

During the months of February and March cut one to two foot long branches from such shrubs as:
pussy willow, dogwood, forsythia, redbud, plum, cherry, wild crab apple, apple, lilac and wisteria.
You can try tree types but shrubs tend to bloom much easier.
If you wait till March and the buds are starting to swell you'll get faster results.
Cut the branches on the diagonal.
Using a hammer, bruise the ends to allow the branches to soak up the water faster.
Put the branches in a vase and add water. Change the water every few days.

Below is a chart from the Farmer's Almanac as to the length of time you can hope to enjoy the blooms.

Buckeye	5 weeks
Cherry	4 weeks
Cornelian dogwood	2 weeks
Crab apple	4 weeks
Deutzia	3 weeks
Flowering almond	3 weeks
Flowering dogwood	5 weeks
Flowering quince	4 weeks
Forsythia	1 week
Honeysuckle	3 weeks
Horse chestnut	5 weeks
Lilac	4 weeks
Magnolia	3 weeks
Pussy willow	2 weeks
Red maple	2 weeks
Redbud	2 weeks
Red-twig dogwood	5 weeks
Spicebush	2 weeks
Spirea	4 weeks
Wisteria	3 weeks

Lilac

Red Bud

Forsythia

Crabapple

Dogwood

Pussy Willow