If you are not already familiar with Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) this could be one of the best plant allies you make this winter! Boneset is one of the best-known herbs for flu - especially the kinds of flu we get here in Ireland where the cold and damp get ‘into the bones’ as we love to say!
It has been several weeks since a post as our lives have been captivated by our beautiful new Baby Ivara born this Autumnal Equinox! So, I decided what better herb to write about than the wonderful birthing and afterbirth plant ally Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa/ Actaea racemosa).
This is a wonderful time of year for making incense and smudge sticks for burning from your harvested herbs. I would gather these herbs separately from other harvesting as setting intentions when collecting any plants is important. These herbs will have a different use to the plants we grow for medicines.
One of the last aerial oils we are making of the season before moving into root oils is Spilanthes (Acmella oleracea). The oil we make is a wonderful anti-fungal that can be used in external lotions, ointments, or oil mixes for fungal skin infections or fungal nail infections of the hands and feet.
This very alluring native plant is recognisable by most each summer as it makes itself known along roadsides in the ditches, by streams and in wetlands across Ireland. It’s our native Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). Here at Ivywood it’s found in abundance especially growing around our little lake.
