![]() ![]() Unlike many herbs, trees and shrubs can often be easily identified in the winter months. Poplar bud oil has a shelf life of one year or more. Keep oils in the refrigerator to extend their shelf life. Herbal oils are best stored in dark glass bottles. Strain or squeeze out by hand through cheesecloth to avoid squeezing too much moisture from the plant into oil.Īdd a teaspoon of Vitamin E oil to give your oil a longer shelf life and help prevent it from going rancid. Infuse for 2 weeks to 1 month in a cool, dark place. This won’t be hard with poplar, but if some herb is sticking out of the oil, it will likely mold.Ĭover jar with a paper towel or cheesecloth to allow moisture from herb to evaporate. Make sure the herb is completely covered in oil. Blend well and let sit for ½ hour.Īdd the vegetable oil and grind again until the mixture is “soupy” and slightly warm. The alcohol will start extracting the medicinal properties of the poplar buds. Put the frozen buds in a blender and sprinkle them with ethyl alcohol (such as Everclear). Putting the buds in a freezer for a day before processing makes them much easier to work with. I recommend using a cold-pressed fixed vegetable oil such as virgin olive oil when making herbal oils. Use 1 part of the fresh leaf buds by weight to 3 parts vegetable oil by volume. The oil or salve can be used as a chest rub for congestion, cough, and respiratory infections. It is helpful for dermatitis, eczema, wounds, and cuts. Poplar bud oil is useful for body aches and injuries such as sprains, strains, sore muscles, bruises, and headaches. Its antimicrobial properties make poplar useful for preventing or treating infections of the skin, lungs, and urinary tract. It is a rubefacient, meaning when applied topically it will draw blood to an area, thereby speeding healing and tissue repair. Poplar is high in salicin, making it anti-inflammatory and analgesic (pain-relieving). I open the jar of oil and feel like I am down by the river in the middle of spring, fingers sticky with dark red resin from the leaf buds. Poplar bud oil, also called Balm of Gilead, is one of my favorite herbal remedies to make in the spring. virginiana)Ĭedar (Can refer to Cedrus spp., Pinus spp., Juniperus spp., or Thuja spp.)Īn Example of Tree Medicine-Poplar Bud Oil: Sumac (Rhus spp.) (avoid the unrelated species of poison sumac Toxicodendron vernix) Slippery or Elm (Ulmus rubra) or due to scarcity, it is better to use Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila) Some Medicinal Trees and Shrubs of North America: ![]() (See resources at the end of this article.)īark and twigs: all year, although late winter to early spring is best Very importantly, make sure you identify your tree correctly before harvest. Always leave enough sap on the tree to cover injuries and insect holes. It is essential for the health of a tree. Sap is kind of like tree blood it carries water, hormones, and nutrients including sugars and minerals. Do this over several years and that tree will have a harder time surviving through rough patches like drought or early freezes. If you take too many buds from a young tree (they are easier to reach, right?), you are compromising that tree’s ability to photosynthesize and hurting it’s potential to make nutrients and thus survive. This is a great way to harvest roots, bark, twigs, and buds. With the spring thaw often comes downed branches and trees. This cuts off the tree’s ability to move nutrients up the trunk and it will die. Never cut the bark off live tree trunks, or girdle the tree by removing the bark all the way around a trunk. A Few Simple Wildcrafting Rules to Remember: If we are going to harvest tree medicine, let us first think of the trees. These range from seeds (including nuts, berries, and fruits), sap, pollen, bark, twigs, leaves, flowers, and buds. ![]() Trees and shrubs offer all sorts of amazing medicines from every part of the plant, depending on the species. They are the cornerstone of many ecosystems. They produce oxygen, food, and habitat for other living beings, as well as medicine. ![]() Trees help prevent erosion and play a huge role in climate support by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Every year I have the immense pleasure of getting to know the trees, and their wisdom, a bit better. My eyes go up as I walk through the winter woods, scrutinizing bark and bud. Even as the leaves yellow in the fall, the trees are preparing for the spring, storing nutrients for the cold months ahead and growing small new leaf buds that wait for the sun to return and the sap to rise. As winter turns to spring, I have been noticing the trees. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |