Fertility Treatments and More

...all for free in my backyard!

Um, apologies in advance to my male readers...

I was told by a naturopathic doctor that red raspberry leaf would "turn my uterus into the Taj Mahal." Those were his words, I promise you.

I'm not really sure just how, um, inviting the Taj Mahal is, but I get what he meant. So I went out into my garden and picked me a big basket of red raspberry leaves. I piled them all on trays and put them in my oven to dry in the warmth of the pilot light.




I've been harvesting a lot of herbs lately. I seem to always have a tray or two of leaves or roots in the oven. I also have a nice little spot to hang herbs for drying--



I adore that coat rack, and it's so much more lovely with herbs hanging from it in my kitchen than with coats in the mudroom.

I'm always so amazed by the wonderful weeds that grow right out in my yard. So scorned and maligned, but filled with medicinal properties, right there under our feet! Did you know that dandelions have been cultivated for centuries for their potent nutritive and medicinal properties?

I was very thrilled to recently learn about this amazing weed:



It's Motherwort, and it's in the mint family, so it spreads like crazy. I've seen it everywhere, but I only just learned what it is. I enjoyed identifying it by looking at this amazing site with macro photo shots of this plant. Even if you couldn't care less about Motherwort, you should check out the site just for the gorgeous photos.

My only concern was that it's not the ideal time for harvesting Motherwort. I called a Dear Friend Who Knows Stuff About Herbs and she said, "Phah, do it anyway!" So I did. It seems to be good for everything that ails me, so how could I not?




I chopped it up, filled a jar, and covered it with some good ol' cheap vodka.

I love cheap vodka.

For medicinal purposes, you know.



Motherwort is very bitter, so I decided that I will include it in a digestive tonic I am working on. I was on a roll, so I went out to gather some other wild herbs for the tonic tincture such as burdock (another despised "weed" that is extremely nutritious), yellow dock, dandelion, and lemon balm.

The burdock and yellow dock roots made for some seriously backbreaking digging.



And digging, and digging, and digging... Oy. Now I know why these herbs are expensive to buy, even though they're so common.





And then chopping, and chopping, and chopping...




But I'd say it will be worth it for the jars of tinctures I ended up with. Now the hard part-- waiting! It takes time for these things.




I have quite a pharmacy going in my pantry, now.

Hey, it's Practically Free Healthcare.