Good And Bad

Day 117: Despite the fact that it has been banned by the FDA, sassafras bark (root and tree) can be bought on the internet (you can buy anything on the internet if you search long enough), but forty years ago when the announcement was made that it would be removed from the market, I stocked up. Y'see, the bark contains a chemical called safrole, reputed to cause cancer in rats (and that is disputed by other reliable authorities). However, taken in small quantities...as a spring tonic, for example...its benefits outweigh its possible side effects. I generally make about a quart of it every spring (from my forty year-old stash, mind you) and drink it sweetened and with a splash of milk to moderate the pungent but not unpleasant taste. It is highly aromatic. Medicinally, it is a natural mild diuretic and anti-diarrhetic, and is also good for rheumatism. My mother made it every spring when I was a child, and I came to view it as something of a treat. As you can see, I'm still here to talk about it, having a cup to flush the winter lazy-toxins out of my system.

Woolly Mullein, Verbascum Thapsus

Day 333: I tend to think of Mullein (Woolly, Common or Great all being synonyms for Verbascum thapsus) as a plant of the southwest Washington prairies where it is commonly seen along roadsides. I also tend to think of it as being my height or taller, so when I spotted this foot-tall, compact specimen adjacent to the Bud Blancher Trail in Eatonville, I had reason to look more closely. Yeah, it was a Mullein. Seriously, not much else resembles Mullein, so I really didn't doubt my identification, but it was in an odd spot and it was certainly runty compared to its relatives down in Flatland. Although I have never made tea from the leaves or flowers, Mullein is a time-honoured medicinal for ailments of the respiratory tract. Nevertheless, it should be used with caution since it can affect the kidneys. Seeds should never be used. Of more pertinent interest to weavers and spinners, the flowers can be used to produce yellow, brown or green dyes, depending on which mordanting agent is used. Now that's something I might just have to try!

Goldenseal Garden

Day 258: Growing Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) provides both a refreshing and beneficial tonic and a lesson in conservation. The tea made from the leaves takes a bit of getting used to, as it is somewhat acrid and earthy, but when chilled, a single swallow quenches thirst better than lemonade. I never sweeten my goldenseal tea, having become accustomed to and even enjoying the taste. The roots may also be used to make tea, but this is where the conservation lesson enters in. Each plant produces only two leaves. Admittedly, they're the size of a Big-Leaf Maple leaf, but you only get two per root. Obviously, harvesting the roots would be counter-productive in the strictest sense of the term. Likewise, if you were to pick all the leaves, the plants would be unable to photosynthesize and would die off. I began with two commercially-grown plants thirty years ago. This is my Goldenseal Garden today. As you can tell, they've multiplied over the years, and that's due to my harvesting practices. When they reach this stage, I cut my first batch of tea by scissoring off no more than one lobe from any given leaf, only taking what I require for brewing. I made two quarts yesterday, using about a dozen lobes.As the season progresses, I will trim the leaves which weren't used in the first round, cycling through all of them. As the end of the growing period approaches and the leaves begin to show faint signs of yellowing, I will take a second lobe if there are no uncut leaves available. This process allows the plant to complete its cycle and remain healthy. I never harvest the berries in the hopes that fallen seeds will generate more plants, although Hydrastis generally propagates clonally from the root rather than from seed. That said, I'm apparently doing it right. This year's Goldenseal crop is the best it's ever been.

Tonic

Day 314: It took seven or eight years to establish a colony of Hydrastis canadensis sufficient to supply me with a couple of quarts of my favourite summer tonic, Goldenseal tea. Each plant bears only two leaves, so I only harvest the tips (and that, sparingly). The infusion must not be boiled, but rather should kept just off simmer for about twenty minutes. The resultant tea is rather bitter and takes some getting used to, but it is an excellent thirst-quencher and quite refreshing. I have never used the berries for tea, preferring to let them drop to the ground where hopefully, they may produce another Goldenseal plant, although its primary reproduction comes from underground runners. The roots are saffron yellow, and the origin of the plant's other common name, "Yellow Puccoon." However, several other unrelated plants are also known as "puccoon," nearly all of which have been used over the ages to produce red and yellow dyes.

Growing Goldenseal

Day 307: Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) is native to the northeastern portions of the US and Canada, and has long been believed to afford health benefits to those who drink a tea made from its roots or leaves. While I can't speak to its efficacity as an herbal remedy, I can say that the bitter tea is a very effective thirst-quencher. It takes a while to accustom your taste buds to the flavour, but I now find it quite pleasant even without being sweetened. That said, Goldenseal was so hard to find in spice shops thirty years ago that when I found live plants for sale at Seattle's Pike Place Market, I bought two for my garden. After researching Hydrastis' habitat preferences, I uprooted an annoying patch of buttercups (also a member of the Ranunculaceae) on the north side of my garage and erected a short "lath house" over it to protect the plants from morning sun. A few years later, I removed the lath house and the plants have continued to flourish. I still have to pull buttercups from their bed every spring nevertheless.

You might think that by now, I should have a pretty good Goldenseal bed, and as far as personal use goes, that's true. However, each plant only bears two leaves...that's right, two is all you get. The roots are too precious to harvest for tea, so several times during the growing season, I go out with scissors in hand and trim an inch or so from the tips of the leaves until I have enough to steep in a quart of water. I take only one tip per leaf, returning later in the season to do another trimming. I keep the tea in the fridge for when I get really thirsty. One mouthful is all it takes to slake even a burning thirst. I leave the berries to develop, hoping that they will drop and make more little Goldenseal plants. My original two have multiplied to roughly a dozen and a half, thirty-six leaves which must be judiciously harvested with a mind to the future.

The Medicinal Garden

Day 215: You might think that I would be the type of person who touted natural remedies as first-line curatives for anything from appendicitis to ingrown toenails. Not so, although I will admit that I often wish we didn't have to rely on chemical intervention to prevent disease. The fact of the matter is that nature can only do so much. Examples: strawberries contain a natural antibiotic which combats streptococcal bacteria, but eating them by the gallon will not cure a strep throat. Eating them in advance of being exposed to the bacteria will bolster natural resistance, but it is not a guarantee for stopping it from taking hold. Likewise, garlic will help lower blood pressure and high cholesterol, but the patient will also need to adjust their consumption of fats and salt, and in addition, may need to take an antihypertensive or statin to have any true measure of success. To paraphrase, "Nature helps those who help themselves." That said, I have a handful of plants I use as "spring tonics." Nettle tea is high in vitamin C and can give you just the boost you need to fight off that spring cold. Nettles are abundant in the Pacific Northwest; not so Goldenseal, my go-to immunity booster pictured above.

Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) is native to northern Canada where it is also known as "yellow puccoon." It prefers the same habitat as buttercups, so when thirty years ago I found plants for sale at Pike Place Market, I bought two or three. I had a perfect spot for them between my house and garage, and for the first few years until they were well-established, I protected them with a two-foot tall "lath house" to maintain coolness and moisture. By the time the lath house deteriorated, my "medicinal garden" was firmly entrenched.

While Goldenseal root is offered by on-line sellers, buyers should understand that a tea made from the leaves is equally effective and not fatal to the plant. The yellow-orange roots are knotty and can be divided for propagation. Each root produces exactly TWO leaves, so if you want to cultivate a patch of it, harvesting roots is not the way to go! Bear in mind that a plant needs its leaves in order to photosynthesize as well. I judiciously harvest only leaf tips, cutting off an inch or so with scissors and leaving the main portion of the leaf intact. Enjoyment of the tea is an aquired taste. It is rather bitter and distinctly "herbal," but I have found it to be a very refreshing summertime drink. I keep a jar of it in the fridge, and just a few sips will quench my thirst.

Pipsissewa Profile

Day 251: Two species of Pipsissewa may be found in Mount Rainier National Park. By far the most common is Chimaphila umbellata, also known as Prince's Pine. The second, Chimaphila menziesii, may be found growing interspersed among specimens of its cousin, and a few points of identification will help you separate them. The leaves of C. umbellata grow in distinct whorls and have fewer "teeth" along their edges. C. menziesii's leaves are toothed from tip to base and are alternate. C. umbellata bears more flowers per stalk, as opposed to C. menziesii's two or three. Shorter on both blossoms and foliage, it is understandable how C. menziesii became known as "Little Prince's Pine," although the "pine" part of the name continues to baffle me. The suggested etymologies do not seem to be supported in any authoritative work.

Pipsissewa was important as a "medicine plant" among the local indigenous cultures, cited as a remedy for kidney ailments and as a poultice for sore muscles. In fact, these specimens were photographed in the designated Tribal Use Area in the Longmire Stewardship Campground, a space set aside by the National Park Service for the people of the Nisqually Nation where they may gather the plants for use in ceremonies and in traditional medicine.