the ever growing infusion

my gathering basket

 I keep telling myself that it would be totally okay to start posting again, my posts don't necessarily have to be all herbal.  At any rate here I am.  I hope you forgive me.  

stellaria media - chickweed

Our week began with conjunctivitis.  It was painful and gross.  My middle one R had it the week before.  That's when the infusion began.  It started with chickweed and violet leaf.  I read a lovely article written by Susun Weed all about chickweed.  She writes, "Chickweed's ability to break cells open helps it get rid of bacterial infections when applied as a poultice."  Stellaria media is really the best thing I could ever come up with for pinkeye.  Violet, well she just wanted in that infusion, so she came along too.  I used several different applications for us all.  A hot compress, eye cup and eye dropper, depending on who it was I was applying it to.

chickweed, violet leaf and plantain

 A few nights later, in bed that I found that middle son R, four, has a nasty looking scratch on his foot.  The night of the scratch I sent him down to my mother to have his wound cleaned and bandaged.  She washed it and applied Sovereign Silver gel, my new favorite.  The next day I began soaking his foot three times a day. I added yarrow, red clover and plantain to our infusion.

Achillea millefolium - yarrow

 My first son I who is seven, yesterday about 4:30 began to complain of pain in his ear.  Well, we were planning to head to Chipotle at 4:30.  We were waiting for their father to come and pick us up, he didn't get there until 5:30.  By the time we were sitting down with our dinner it must have been 6:30 and Isaac was in too much pain to eat.  We ate outside because I knew being inside would be too overwhelming.  The rest of us crammed down our food while I sat in the car doing some bunny mazes.  When we got home immediately I boiled some water for a hot compress.  I had him lay down on a sleeping bag.  Into his ear I put several drops of olive oil infused with garlic and mullien.  I folded up a hot wet wash cloth into a dish cloth and put it over his ear while he watched a little TV.  It wasn't until we laid down in bed that I found the pain was mostly in his lymphs under and behind his ears.  

Galium verum - Lady’s Bedstraw 

So this morning I went out with my basket to gather the herbs for our ever growing infusion.  That's when she appeared to me.  Our Lady's Bedstraw.  I was gathering chickweed from the same spot I have been all week and there she was. Our Lady's Bedstraw is best know as a lymph mover, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to find her.  

violet leaf, lesser and greater plantain, dandelion

 I didn't put our lady's bedstraw in R's infusion.  His has chickweed, plantain, dandelion, violet leaf, yarrow and red clover.  Red clover is he only herb I didn't wildcraft from my own yard.  In I's I put chickweed, plantain, dandelion, violet leaf and our lady's bedstraw.  

one for you and one for me

                 This is how our infusion grew from two herbs to many.  They just kept jumping in the basket! 

foot bath to be