Local plants grow the medicines we need: arnica and comfrey (Photo: Creative Commons)
I lay on the ground after a trip-and-fall last month asking myself in that prolonged moment, what is the meaning of this in my life right now? As a nurse I knew my ankle was, at a minimum, badly sprained. With the assistance of a neighbor I hobbled the half block to my home. I went straight for my homeopathic bruise remedy, Arnica Montana. Arnica is a plant in the sunflower family whose main potential is to reduce bruising. It can be found at Whole Foods Market in the form of sublingual pearls and topical creams.
I excitedly remembered I could call on another plant-friend for the first time. Comfrey, aka Knitbone, has for many generations been known to speed healing of broken bones and sprains. Modern pharmacology has identified allantoin as a chemical component in it which indeed speeds cell reproduction in bones and muscles when applied topically. You may find this ingredient in your facial moisturizer. When Transition Pasadena envisioned Throop Garden, we created places for a food forest, native plants and medicinals. We had planted comfrey!
After an X-ray the next day (no fracture!), we stopped to harvest comfrey leaves. I placed 10 large leaves and a quarter cup of water in my blender. After it was puréed it was a mucilaginous
I excitedly remembered I could call on another plant-friend for the first time. Comfrey, aka Knitbone, has for many generations been known to speed healing of broken bones and sprains. Modern pharmacology has identified allantoin as a chemical component in it which indeed speeds cell reproduction in bones and muscles when applied topically. You may find this ingredient in your facial moisturizer. When Transition Pasadena envisioned Throop Garden, we created places for a food forest, native plants and medicinals. We had planted comfrey!
After an X-ray the next day (no fracture!), we stopped to harvest comfrey leaves. I placed 10 large leaves and a quarter cup of water in my blender. After it was puréed it was a mucilaginous
jam consistency which spread easily on a cheesecloth which I wrapped around my ankle, covered with plastic wrap and a towel for drips, and kept on for two hours. Next morning, day three, I was 75 percent improved! I was stunned! The bruising and swelling were decreasing, the pain had subsided. By day seven, I was 90 percent healed!
This accident was not my first venture into plant medicine. When my daughter had a flu, and the cough lingered three months, she asked for advice. I cut Yerba Santa from Throop Garden, added it to a kettle with boiling water, and had her breathe the steam with a towel over her head three times a day. In three days' time the cough was gone!
This accident was not my first venture into plant medicine. When my daughter had a flu, and the cough lingered three months, she asked for advice. I cut Yerba Santa from Throop Garden, added it to a kettle with boiling water, and had her breathe the steam with a towel over her head three times a day. In three days' time the cough was gone!
A respiratory cure: Yerba Santa Yerba Santa grows in large swaths across the San Gabriel Mountains. It was used as a respiratory cure at Barlow Sanatorium in the first half of the 1900s. I first began learning about Yerba Santa and other local plants used for medicine by local native people from James David Adams*, medicine carrier for the local Chumash tribe and professor of pharmacology at USC. James leads walks to teach about local plant medicine. He advocates for growing our own to avoid depleting the natural areas. I am grateful to Throop Garden for nurturing a stand of Yerba Santa, and I now grow Knitbone in my own garden.
Native people consider that we must be in relation with all lifeforms and those who study plant medicine understand that local plants grow the medicines we need for local ailments. Asia Suler**, a wise young woman of One Willow Apothecaries is an Intuitive Plant Medicine Maker. She says that "our human narrative has been distanced from the landscape's", that the plants have always been here seeing us and that we have just forgotten how to see them. Time slows down and I cross into another mindset when I read Asia's beautiful blog laced with introspection, spiritual mullings and joyfully delectable photos.
As for the meaning of my accident in my life right now — even in asking the question there was some kind of acceptance of the crisis. It has reminded me that as a nurse I enjoy learning about and sharing the healing methods available to us all if we can see the gifts the local plants are offering. And it reassured me that I am integrating a key message of the Transition Movement. The message is that we can build resilience for difficult times by networking; I relied on my growing network of medicinal plants.
—Therese Brummel
* To learn about plant walks with James Adams, contact: jadams@usc.edu.
** Asia Suler offers classes in verdant North Carolina on connecting to the medicinal benefits plants offer. Her website is onewillowapothecaries.com.
Native people consider that we must be in relation with all lifeforms and those who study plant medicine understand that local plants grow the medicines we need for local ailments. Asia Suler**, a wise young woman of One Willow Apothecaries is an Intuitive Plant Medicine Maker. She says that "our human narrative has been distanced from the landscape's", that the plants have always been here seeing us and that we have just forgotten how to see them. Time slows down and I cross into another mindset when I read Asia's beautiful blog laced with introspection, spiritual mullings and joyfully delectable photos.
As for the meaning of my accident in my life right now — even in asking the question there was some kind of acceptance of the crisis. It has reminded me that as a nurse I enjoy learning about and sharing the healing methods available to us all if we can see the gifts the local plants are offering. And it reassured me that I am integrating a key message of the Transition Movement. The message is that we can build resilience for difficult times by networking; I relied on my growing network of medicinal plants.
—Therese Brummel
* To learn about plant walks with James Adams, contact: jadams@usc.edu.
** Asia Suler offers classes in verdant North Carolina on connecting to the medicinal benefits plants offer. Her website is onewillowapothecaries.com.
