Category: Herbs

Wild Foragers, Violets, Spring Enchantments

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarGood Witches Homestead

Violet has been on our minds this spring as we see her pretty little flowers blooming here in southeastern Utah. Violets are one of the earliest wild plants to appear in the season, and we are reminded of her beauty as well as her long history of culinary and herbal use that may have us deciding to seize spring for all that it is!

Violet, being rich in vitamin C, indeed has our attention for a supportive immune boost! 

We love to harvest the fresh leaves and flowers to incorporate into springtime salads, juices, and refreshing smoothies. Violet, of course, also makes a really lovely tea, vinegar, or syrup, not only for the vitamin C content but also for soothing respiratory symptoms. 
Violet has a cooling and moistening energy, and its demulcent and expectorant properties are soothing to a sore throat, dry cough, and other respiratory irritation.
The recipe for…

View original post 449 more words

ESSENTIAL OILS FOR HOPE, HEALING, AND HAPPINESS

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

During turbulent times, the ability to adapt to constant change is vital. Coping with transitions and a shift in routines can be inherently stressful, leading to issues such as the zapping of energy, frenzied thoughts, confusion, low mood, restlessness, and sometimes feelings of loneliness or isolation.

Adopting a constructive mindset and healthy coping strategies, although not easy, can be an important factor in sparking hope and beginning a journey towards positive emotional healing. Pure essential oils can provide a powerful complementary tool to help the mind and body adjust to the sensations of overwhelm, fear, boredom, lethargy, sadness, and hopelessness commonly experienced during a crisis. Combined with other therapeutic and self-care techniques such as meditation, exercise, journaling, calling loved ones, and talking to a licensed therapist, these potent plant oils can offer a soothing, relaxing, and uplifting respite from day-to-day worries and anxieties.

Essential oils have been used historically for…

View original post 2,071 more words

Woad as natural antibiotics | Joybilee® Farm | DIY | Herbs | Gardening |

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Isatis tinctoria for a broad-spectrum antibiotic

I have a guest post on the Herbal Academy of New England blog about using one of my favorite herbs, Dyer’s Woad, as a natural antiviral. It works so well as an antiviral because it is also a natural antibiotic and so it prevents secondary infections.  Woad and other Isatis spp have been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years for their unique ability to prevent viruses like influenza and measles from replicating in human cells.  Check out my post to find out more about this unique and generous plant.

A brief history of woad

Isatis tinctoria or dyer’s woad is an easy to grow biennial that originated in the Caucus area, near Turkey. It was valued for its rich blue pigment and archeological evidence traces its use as a natural dye back to the Neolithic period in France, the Bronze age…

View original post 1,114 more words

Bidens Can Help Fight Infections and Viruses: Get to Know It

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Bidens, a common weed of pastures and vacant lots, has antiviral and antibacterial superpowers.  Get to know it better.  You never know when you might need to call on it as your herbal ally.

Bidens, an overlooked weed that will help you in the fight against MRSA infections

If you spend any time walking through pastures or vacant lots in July and August, you may have met Bidens. And if you haven’t met it, your dog probably has. Bidens sticks like a needle into your clothing. If your dog walks through a patch of Bidens, you’ll be picking the needle-like seeds out of his coat for hours. Also called, “beggarticks”, “Spanish needles,” “demon spike grass,” and “needle grass,” 1000 Biden seeds weigh less than a gram. If you walk through a patch of Bidens in the fall, and you’ll probably have 1000 seeds in your socks. Hint, wear jeans not…

View original post 1,916 more words

Brew a cup of calming tea and enjoy it!

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Making a good herbal tea blend is a profoundly simple art; it involves a few guidelines and a generous dash of creativity. 

Steps to creating the perfect herb tea blend:
* Start with an idea of what flavor and/or feeling your wish to create
* Know the flavor and properties of each of the individual herbs you are using in the blend.
* Blend for beauty, aroma, and harmonized flavors.  Mix the herbs according to taste, color, and texture.  Use primary flavors as the foundation of the blend, then add and harmonize with the secondary flavors, aromas and textures.
* When your blend looks just right and smells delicious,  give it the all-important taste test.   Have a pot of water boiling.  Make a sample cup of tea and test for flavor, color, texture, and aroma.  Adjust flavors.

All that’s needed to make a good pot of herbal tea is water…

View original post 181 more words

Natural Remedies for Anxiety: 8 Tips to Find Relief

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

The funny thing about anxiety is that it can come even when you are generally happy. Anxiety symptoms often show up like pressure in your chest, shallow breathing, a racing heart rate, or scattered thoughts. No matter the cause or how it makes you feel, time-tested tools and techniques can restore your inner sense of calm.

What Home Remedies Work for Anxiety?

While it might motivate you to get things done, most people do not want to feel anxious and stressed. It can take a toll on your health, and anxiety comes with higher levels of cortisol — the stress hormone.

Many natural solutions are practical and easy to fit into your life. We’ve gathered the most helpful ways to deal with the anxiety that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine.

Eat Healthily

The food you eat has a tremendous impact on how you feel mentally and physically. When you…

View original post 1,663 more words

DIY Hand Soap Recipes (And Why to Use Thyme Oil!) — Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Let’s talk about three kinds of Thyme essential oil, and how you can use them to support your health—especially when it comes to keeping your hands clean. Source: DIY Hand Soap Recipes (And Why to Use Thyme Oil!)

via DIY Hand Soap Recipes (And Why to Use Thyme Oil!) — Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Benefits of Laurel Essential Oil

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Laurel Leaf essential oil has a fresh, spicy scent that opens your lungs and your mind.

It’s invigorating and inspiring.

Laurel has a host of therapeutic properties. I like to remember that it’s associated with achievement and victory. So it’s a great helper when it comes to clearing away anything that stands between you and your best—that’s why it’s good for healing so many issues! (That’s how I like to think of it, anyway!)

Stay focused and clear with Laurel.

I especially love using Laurel for decongestion and mental focus. It is the perfect companion when you have a cold or allergies but still have to go to work.

Use 5 drops of this stock blend in your diffuser.

Ingredients:

  • 10 drops Laurel (Laurus nobilis)
  • 10 drops Rosemary ct. camphor (Rosmarinus officinalis ct. camphor)
  • 20 drops White Spruce (Picea glauca)
  • 10 drops Distilled Lime…

View original post 514 more words

Discover the Health Benefits of the ‘Christmas Tree’, Spruce Oil and Pine Oil

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarCrooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

The Pine tree is easily recognized as the “Christmas Tree,” but it is also commonly cultivated for its wood, which is rich in resin and is thus ideal for use as fuel, as well as for making a pitch, tar, and turpentine, substances that are traditionally used in construction and painting.

In folk tales, the height of the Pine tree has led to its symbolic reputation as a tree that loves the sunlight and is always growing taller in order to catch the beams. This is a belief that is shared throughout many cultures, which also refer to it as “The Master of Light” and “The Torch Tree.” Accordingly, in the region of Corsica, it is burned as a spiritual offering so that it can emit a source of light. In some Native American tribes, the tree is called “The Watchman of the Sky.”

In history, the Pine tree’s needles…

View original post 4,206 more words

3 Alcohol-Based Hand Rub Recipes – Herbal Academy

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs's avatarGood Witches Homestead

The most important prevention measures we can take right now are staying home and practicing social distancing if leaving the house for essential work or trips to the grocery store or pharmacy—that is, staying at least 6 feet away from other people (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2020a). Washing hands thoroughly with soap and warm to hot water for at least 20 seconds after being in a public place, after sneezing or blowing your nose, and before eating, drinking, or handling food is also crucial to prevent the spread of the virus; however, if handwashing isn’t possible, the CDC recommends the use of an alcohol-based hand rub with at least 60% ethanol or 70% isopropyl alcohol until you can wash your hands again (CDC, 2020a; CDC, 2020b).

Folks have taken this approach to heart, clearly, because commercially available hand sanitizers are in seriously short supply these days! However, with a…

View original post 990 more words