natural herbs | Natural Alternative Specialist

All herbs start as living plants, trees, flowers, (roots of plants), mushrooms, lichens, and more. Many persons have a garden full of herbs that they just can go and pick any time they may need to use one, but then there is a time that you need to take a walk in the woods to find the one herbal plant you don’t have in your garden.

As I said before, it is always best to take a book, preferably one that shows all the growing cycles of the plant you are looking for, so you can identify it properly.

When looking for the herb that you are planning to use, find out if the flower is in bloom. You don’t want to pick it too early, only when it has matured, but if you want the seed then you have to wait a little longer if that is the part you need. It may save you a trip if you have to go far.

If you just need the leaves, it is always best to harvest them by cutting off small branches to make it easy to dry. Pick them just after the dew of the morning has evaporated but before the sun is too hot and the essential oils have not evaporated.

You must always be careful not to damage the plant. Handle them with tender loving care. We must always make sure that we take what we need but not stress the plant and leave it so that it may make a healthy recovery and continue doing what it does best, growing to supply us with the goodness within it.

If you are taking part of the root, always leave some of the leaves on top of the plant so that it doesn’t die, but keeps growing.

I remember my mother always digging plants out of the ground and also she would be planting them. One day, I asked her what she was doing with the plants she was planting, and if I could help? She said, “Yes,” and started to explain how to plant them and what she used them for. Some were used as spices to give the food you eat flavor and others were used to make you feel better, like when you have a tummy ache.

So, I did learn something as a child, but I wish I had taken the time to really learn even more. The is much knowledge that is lost now that my mother has passed.

If you have a loved one who uses the herbal plants for healing, start a conversation with them, take notes, and watch how they open up to you! They would love to share their knowledge, like the name of the plant, how to identify it, what it heals, what part of the plant to use, and how to prepare it. How to use it if it is external, or internal, what symptoms it helps to heal, etc.

So don’t be like me and regret the loss forever.

I have been talking a lot about nature, now I should start to talk about the natural herbs that we have in our back yard, plants that a lot of us call weeds are herbs that heal the body.

When God made the earth, He made all plant life for the good of man. Plants have been used for centuries to stop sicknesses like headaches, bleeding, broken bones, pain, and so much more.

Sadly, with time we have let the knowledge die with our ancestors. Some have been passed down to the next generation but others have died with their knowledge and wisdom gone forever. So, we are left to learn this knowledge of the plants today, but we have one disadvantage that might help us, and it is our modern technology.

Check out what vitamins or minerals the plant has. Once we find out what it has, we can use it. Write down what your illness is, and then check if it can help you with your symptoms.

There are so many good herbs out there to use that we already know about, those that do some great good for the body, like chamomile. Chamomile helps you to relax and help you sleep, and it’s also good for colic and is good for indigestion. Make it into a tea and add a little honey to sweeten.

Cinnamon is also good it has its sweetness and tastes deliciously made in tea. Cassia Cinnamon is known to help with blood sugar control.

Dandelion which many consider a weed and grows everywhere is very good for the body. Dandelion helps in many ways but you need to be careful where you get it from because many people spray chemicals to kill these very plants. They don’t know the qualities that this herb has, because it’s been known as nothing but an undesirable weed. This plant helps with digestion problems and also makes great wine. I had it once when I was a young lady and it was very good. Wish I had the recipe. Maybe, one of these days I will look up the recipe but I do remember her saying you needed a lot of the herb to make it.

These are just a few of the herbs I mentioned that you can get in the grocery store but the best is still fresh but if you can’t find them then the next best place to go is to an herbal store.

If you take a picture of a plant out in your yard and then go to the Internet, look up southernexposure.com and look for that plant and just try to match it to the plant in the picture that it shows. You just might have a good herb growing in your front or backyard.

Knowing what it can do to keep you feeling great would be the next thing to look up you might be amazed at what people think is a useless weed and in reality, it is a gold mine find.

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