To Smudge or Not to Smudge

What is Smudging? Smudging is a ritual that is used by many cultures and many traditions. The Catholic Church uses incense burners during high mass suspended from long chains which the priest then swings over the congregation…the Priest waves the therafur in which they burn any combination of aromatic herbs…in the old days it was frankincense and myrrh. The story of its beginning dates back to the Black Plague. The Priests used the incense to cleanse the people, and cover the smell of death.

In the Native American Culture smudging is used for cleansing spiritually and physically. The four main herbs used are sage, sweet grass, cedar, and tobacco. Although others have been utilized also. There is an old story of where it came from on the East Coast….after the smallpox was introduced to the people, a young man of mixed ancestry (Cherokee and black slave) found he was immune to the disease. Everyone around him was dying…..He went out into the swamp and prayed to Creator for the healing of his people. He had a vision where he was shown holding a large clam shell with smoke spiraling from it. In the vision he fanned the smoke over the sick, and slowly, one by one, they got better. He returned home joyous that Creator had given him a vision that showed how to heal his people. He proceeded to collect the cedar, the sweet grass, the sage, and the tobacco and smudge his people. Lo and behold, they slowly arose from their sick beds healed.

But in all I have found one constant……smudging smoke carries the prayers of the petitioner to Creator God.

Smudging may be done several ways: with loose herb in a fire-proof container, or using smudge sticks.

To make a smudge stick is not difficult. You need to select the herbs you want, being sure you know for certain the plant is the one you believe it is (you Do Not want to smudge with a toxic plant). You may cut and hang to dry, or as some people do, make the smudge stick then let it dry. I personally prefer to use dried herbs (since the herbs shrink when drying, the wraps could get too loose if tied before drying). Also drying before hand ensures that the herb actually dries and does not mold…you Do Not want to burn moldy herbs, you could get very ill.

Next take the ends of the herbs (stem ends together) and tie snugly with a thin twine or thread. I personally like embroidery floss, 3 strands thick. The colors can represent the herbs used in the bundle. Then wrap around the bundle, spiraling down to the other end. At the other end, again tie the bundle off. Do not cut the threads, instead spiral back up the bundle to the beginning, it will end up looking criss-crossed. Once you reach the beginning end, tie off again.

The final stage is just tiding, cut the ends straight across, for better lighting capability. Trim the side the length of the bundle, if anything is straying to the outside, unless you like the look.
You can use Sage straight (not Garden Sage, some people have bad reactions to it burning, it has been known to set off asthma attacks in those sensitive) or combine it with cedar. Straight Lavender is nice too.

Good Luck and have fun with your smudging!

Sagebrush (Artemisia)

Common Names: Big Sagebrush, Blue sagebrush, Chamiso hendiondo (Spanish for ‘waist high gray bushes that stink’), Common sagebrush

Latin Name: Artemisia tridentate Nutt. (art-em ‘miz ee uh trye den ‘tay ta)

Artemisia – said to be named for Artemisia (Diana to the Greeks), the Roman goddess of
chastity, hunting, and the moon; also a botanist and a medical researcher who discovered
several herbs.

Tridentate – three-toothed, referring to the leaves

Navajo name: Ts’ah, the sagebrush

If not the most common, big sagebrush is certainly more conspicuous than the several other species of sagebrush growing in the Four Corners region. Vast stands of pale gray-turquoise announce the presence of this shrub. Because big sagebrush usually grows in deep, non-saline soils suitable for farming, today in many places these stands are being sectioned into agricultural land.
Even from a distance big sagebrush can be recognized by its smoky color and uniform spacing of plants. Up close its strong turpentine fragrance, especially after a rainstorm, is a dead giveaway.

Description and distribution: Big sagebrush, an evergreen, rounded, fairly compact shrub with gray-green foliage and very small yellow flower heads in long clusters, grows to a height of 2 to 5 or more feet and is aromatic. It is a dry looking shrub with long, soft bark that hangs in shreds. The leaves are about an inch long and wedge shaped, with three teeth at the end. Flowers are tiny and non-descript, flowering in late August to early October. The flowers are a silvery yellow in color, with most plants blooming only in wet years.
Extensive stands of big sagebrush and fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) occupy many areas between 6,500 to 7000 feet within the range of the big sagebrush from about 4900 feet up to about 7500 feet. Black greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) and fourwing saltbush; Colorado pinyon (Pinus edulis) and Utah juniper Juniperus osteosperma); ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Colorado pinyon (Pinus edulis) and Gambrel oak (Quercus gambelii) are other communities in which big sagebrush is a prominent member, especially on medium textured soils.

History: Before the present Ute, Navajo, Apache, and Hopi tribes occupied these lands, the Fremont people who lived north of Four Corners had developed an industry where much of everything that was woven or crafted from plant material was of big sagebrush. Ancestral Puebloans also used bark and other parts of the plant. On the Colorado Plateau and southward, sagebrush was one of the principal shrub fuels during Archaic, Ancestral Puebloan, and early historical times.
Sagebrush flowers, seeds, and leaves have been detected incoprolites from many Ancestral Puebloan sites, including Mesa Verde, and in enough quantity to suggest all were minor components of prehistoric diets and not just taken for medicinal purposes. Indeed sagebrush leaves are a good source or iron and vitamin C and in later years were eaten by the Southern Paiute during times of shortage.

Uses: In recent times plant parts have been collected for medicinal and ceremonial purposes. Humans have used the plant primarily as firewood—the volatile oils responsible for its pungent aroma are so flammable that they can cause even green plants to burn

Hopi Uses:
The leaves are used to combat digestive problems, headaches, and colds and as a general stimulant by the Hopi, who regard big sagebrush as being more potent than related species of Artemisia that grow on their reservation.

Navajo uses:
Medicinal: Artemisia tridentata is one of the life medicines and is highly revered by them. . Mixed with another species of sagebrush, it is said to cure headaches by odor alone. When the plant is boiled, it is said to be good for childbirth ( for the pain of child delivery), indigestion, and constipation; a tea of the stems and leaves is said to sure colds and fevers. The tea is drunk before long hikes or athletic contests to “rid the body of undesirable things.” A poultice made from pounded leaves is said to be good for colds, swellings, and tuberculosis or as a liniment for corns. The same medicine is used on animal sores.
Ceremonial: In Navajo legend, Coyote gave this tobacco to the Water Monster to calm her after he had stolen her baby. It is used in the Eagle Way, Water Way, Mountaintop Way, and Night Way. Medicine Men use sagebrush as the hearth of the ceremonial firedrill. It is also a sweat bath medicine.
Other uses: Navajo weavers boil the leaves and twigs to produce various shades of yellow and gold wool dyes.

Ute uses:
Ethnographer Anne Smith recorded the Ute’s many uses of these plants. She wrote of sacks of woven sagebrush bark lined with dry grass filled with food and placed in storage caches.
Wicks, or ‘slow matches,’ made of twisted sagebrush bark one to three inches in diameter and about a yard long, were carried when traveling.
“Women wore skirts of twined sagebrush bark, and both men and women in winter wore a poncho type of shirt of the same material….Leggings were also made of twined sagebrush bark or the legs were wrapped with sagebrush bark to protect them from the cold. Sagebrush bark was used for sandals in lieu of anything better…or placed inside sandals made from muskrat or beaver hides.” (Smith, 1974)

Collecting: Gather the leafing branches in late summer or early fall, preferably in wet years and from larger, healthier plants. Although Sagebrush survives in the most difficult circumstances, essential oils are much higher and the herb much stronger in favored places and times.

Cultivating: Spring-transplanted young seedlings dug in the wild are the easiest way to bring Sagebrush into the garden. Make sure you bring a substantial ball of dirt packed around the roots, so you can inoculate the planting hole with the proper microbes from the original soil. Sagebrush might seem tough and indomitable, but it is dependent upon its soil flora for root health. The seeds stay viable for years, but it is often hard to germinate intentionally.

Forage value: Even more nutritious than alfalfa, this shrub consists of 16 percent proteins, 15 percent fats, and 47 percent carbohydrates.
Grazing: Of the three subspecies of big sagebrush, big sagebrush is the most palatable. Preference ranges from poor to fair for cattle and horses and fair to good for sheep. Overgrazing by domestic livestock allows big sagebrush to increase.
Wildlife: big sagebrush is commonly eaten by elk and mule deer. It also makes up 76% of pronghorn diets in the spring. Sagebrush is a valuable forage plant for wildlife, particularly during the winter. It is browsed by deer, moose, elk, antelope, and bighorn sheep, especially in late winter and spring. Ground squirrel burrows increase the amount of spring recharge of soil moisture, which enhances productivity of big sagebrush.
Small mammals and birds seek this species for cover more than other species growing in association with it. Sage grouse choose big sagebrush for cover 71% of the time when nesting. Offers cover for birds and is a butterfly magnet when flowering.
Sage grouse also feed heavily sagebrush, which also provides nesting sites for a variety of songbirds.

Warnings:
A body of evidence indicates that sagebrush has poisonous properties that can cause birth defects in animals but can be effective as an antihelminthic. The ancients probably knew how much could be ingested for food with no aftereffects and to what degree it could be used to kill intestinal worms without killing the patient.
Do not use internally or for any length of time externally during pregnancy.
Drinking copious amounts of sage tea can induce gagging.

Disclaimer: Nothing herein written is to imply diagnosis or recommendation for treatment.It is presented for historical interest only

References:

Mayes, Vernon and Lacy, Barbara Bayless, Nanise’: a Navajo Herbal, Navajo Community College Press, Tsaile, Arizona 1989….106-107

Dunmire, William w., and Tierney, Gail D., Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the Four Corners, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, 1997……191-193

Moore, Michael, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, 2003……265-267

Yucca

Common Names: Narrow leaf yucca, fine leaf
yucca, bear grass, mesa yucca, Indian
cabbage, pamilla, amole,
Spanish bayonet, Joshua tree,
datil, Spanish dagger








Latin Name:
Yucca angustissima
Yucca – Named after the root of the cassava plant from which tapioca is made (yucca is
a Carib word), perhaps because
of the similarity of the roots
Angustissima – narrow-leafed

Navajo name: Tsa’aszi’ts’ooz - narrow yucca (Talawosh, ‘water suds,’ name for root; Nidoodloho, ‘the green fruit’; Nideeshjiin, ‘stalk black,’ name for young, dark stalk; Nideesgai, ‘stalk white,’ name for taller stalk

Description & Distribution: Fine leaf yucca is a perennial with fleshy, long, stiff, narrow pointed leaves and a tall stalk of large white flowers growing almost directly from the fleshy roots. Leaves may extend to 20 inches above the root crown. The flowering stalk may reach 4 feet. The fruit is a large plump capsule with many medium seeds; the capsule becomes woody and splits open. So much energy goes into producing the flower, stalk and fruits that most yuccas bloom only once every few years. For fertilization of the flower, yuccas in the southwest depend upon a night visit by a tiny, highly specialized female moth that brushes the flower’s stigma with collected pollen as she enters the blossom to lay her single egg in the flower’s ovary.
Conspicuous but scattered, yucca occur in communities of blackbrush, and joint fir, shadescale and black greasewood, big sagebrush, and fourwing saltbrush, blue gamma and galleta, Colorado pinyon, and junipers, and ponderosa pine and
gambrel oak.

Elevations are from about 3,800 feet to about 7,000 feet.
Associates are green Mormon tea, sand dropseed, broom snakeweed and green rabbitbush. The sites are often slopes with coarse to medium soils.
A tall flower stalk rises from a thick clump of leaves. Height: 4' (1.2 m).Flowers 2" (5 cm), greenish white, cup-shaped, leathery, mostly
drooping, abundant; on annual stalk. Leaves 2', linear, stiff, sharp; edges white, fibrous, shreddy.

History: With an enormous variety of uses, yuccas constitute the single most important non cultivated group of plants for prehistoric and contemporary Indians living in the southwest. One of the basic requirements for a people progressing toward a more advanced society would have been the ability to tie one object to another; to do this, you usually need some kind of cordage. The long, tough fibers that could be extracted from yucca leaves played a fundamental role in early weaving, manufacturing, and construction, especially before cotton was imported from the south. Yucca fibers were twisted or braided into twine and rope that e=were used for lashing house beams, fixing ladder rungs, fashioning blankets or belts, making bowstrings, and nets for fishing or trapping small game, sewing animal-skin robes, and binding together all manner of items.

Mush more recently, in an experiment during WWII, fibers from narrow leaf yucca growing in the wild were commercially extracted and made into paper for use by the U.S. Navy.

During excavation of Aztec Ruins, aboriginal hairbrushes made from the pointed enda of yucca leaves were discovered. Strips of banana yucca leaves or whole narrow leaf varieties were employed to make paintbrushes, and to weave baskets, bags, mats, and tapestry at many Ancestral Puebloan villages. Perhaps the single most universal use was in the manufacturing sandals. The 406 sandals recovered during the 1970’s excavation of Antelope House at Canyon de Chelley showed surprising diversity in heel and toe shape, heel and toe strap design, weaving rhythm, weaving technique, and of course size. The mix included course plaited sandals made from banana yucca strips, fine plaited sandals made from narrowleaf yucca, as well as twined and wicker sandals made from yucca cordage. Some of these woven sandals employed both types of yucca, one in the warp and the other in the woof.

Although the preponderance of evidence for prehistoric use relates to manufacturing, there is plenty to indicate that yucca fruits were an item in the Ancestral Puebloan diet. This is particularly true of the thick, sweet fruit of the banana yucca, which could be eaten green. Although it was more likely dried and stored for use in winter.

Uses:
Hopi uses:
Food: The fruit of the banana yucca was dried and stored for winter use. Today they bake the fruit in earthen ovens.
Medicinal: The Hopi have used the crushed roots for a strong laxative and to cure baldness.

Navajo uses:
Ceremonial: Fiber from the narrowleaf yucca is used to tie ceremonial equipment- hoops, prayersticks, unravelers, and chant arrows. The juice is used to make paint for ceremonial pipes. Leaves of the yucca that a deer has jumped over are heated in coals. When they are soft, juice is wrung from the leaves onto small, flat stones that hold paint pigments.
Probably the most important ceremonial use of yucca is bathing in suds made from the yucca root. For example, boys and girls have their hair washed with yucca suds on the next to last night of the Nightway. Most ceremonies include a ceremonial bath of yucca suds for the patients as well as the singer, along with other cleansing rituals. Purification, clean thinking, and a serious attitude are important in Navajo ceremonies.
Navajo creation stories tell how the Navajos learned weaving from Spider Woman, a Navajo holy person. Before the 1500’s Navajos wove mats and sandals with fiber from the narrow-leaf yucca, the inner bark of the juniper and later with locally grown cotton. All this changed when the Navajo acquired sheep from the Spaniards.
Medicinal: Yucca is used in childbirth. The roots are soaked in water, the liquid is strained and given to a woman having a long labor. A cupful of yucca suds and sugar is given to the mother to help deliver the afterbirth.
Other: Yucca is used to wash wool and as an ingredient in several dyes. Soap made from the crushed root is used to wash hair. Sometimes sagebrush is added to make the hair smell good, grow long and soft, and to prevent it from falling out.
The 102 counters of the Moccasin game are often made of Yucca. An arrow poison is made with yucca juice mixed with charcoal from a
lightening struck pinyon or juniper tree and rubbed on 6 inches
of the tip of the arrow.

This yucca is often called the banana plant by Navajos
although the fruit tastes more like a date and is not considered
as good to eat as the fruit of the wide leaf yucca. However,
the fruit may be roasted in ashes, eaten raw or sliced and dried
for winter.
The crushed fruit is used to make a cheese from goat’s milk.
Other parts of the plant are edible. Flower buds are roasted in
ashes for 15 minutes, leaves are boiled with salt.
Jicarilla Apache: Use yucca suds to wash plant materials woven into baskets

Shampoo recipe: boil one-half to one cup of the chopped fresh or dried root in one and a half cups of water until suds form.

Collecting: The root at any time of the year. Should be split lengthwise, before drying. If for medicinal use, the bark may be removed; if for washing or rinsing the hair, the bark should be left on. Use only after drying.

Cultivation: From roots dug in the late fall and replanted in well-drained, sandy soil. A cinch.

Forage Value: Sheep eat yucca, especially the flower buds.

Warnings: None specifically, although strong tea, drunk in large quantities, has been used traditionally to stimulate birthing; therefore if you are pregnant, don’t drink five days worth in one sitting.

Disclaimer: Nothing herein written is to imply diagnosis or recommendation for treatment.It is presented for historical interest only

References:

Dunmire, William w., and Tierney, Gail D., Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the Four Corners, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, 1997……pg 145-148

Mayes, Vernon and Lacy, Barbara Bayless, Nanise’: a Navajo Herbal, Navajo Community College Press, Tsaile, Arizona 1989….116-118

Moore, Michael, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, 2003……pg 280-282

Prickly Pear Cactus

Common Names: Plains prickly pear, Many-spined cactus,

Latin Name: Opuntia phaeacantha (desert), polycantha (plains) and similar species

Phaeacantha – From the Greek phaea, “dark,” and akantha, “thorn”

Navajo name: Hosh niteeli, “broad cactus”

Description and distribution: Plains prickly pear is a short cactus forming small, waxy, greenish clumps of flattened, jointed, roundish stems under 1 foot tall. The pads (terminal stem sections) bear several principal spines and many glochids (short, stiff, sharp hairs) on most of the tubercles (orderly bumps) on the faces and margins ( spines on bumpsalong the margins may be as long as 1 ¾ inches). Marginal bumps bear the yellow flowers and fruits.

Sandy or gravelly soils of hillsides, flats, canyon rims, and mesas in grasslands, deserts, oak woodlands, chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and montane forests.

Clumps of prickly pear are scattered in woodlands of pinyon (Pinus sp.) and juniper (Juniperus sp.) and in overlapping woodland and forest between elevations of 6,000 and 7,200 feet (the higher elevations on south slopes). Broadleaf yucca (Yucca baccata) seems to be a common associate.

The Desert Prickly-pear is an erect or sprawling shrub with fleshy fruit and brown to black spines. This species has a very wide range, and up to ten or more varieties have been described, making exact identification confusing. Usually the varieties are distinguished by pad size, spine distribution on the pad, spine color and size, and fruit length. The Desert Prickly-pear has adapted to both the deserts of Texas and the cool moist forests of the Rocky Mountains. It blooms from April to June.

History: The fruits were regular dietary items for most Ancestral Puebloans, although at Chaco, where the fleshy-fruited species is absent today, they seem to have played a minot role. Much farther south, the Aztecs of Mexico recognized thirteen varieties of prickly pear fruits, some sour, some sweet; some eaten raw, others werecooked. The ancient Maya Indians also ate them. Prickly pear fruits would have provided a good source of protein, vitamin C, potassium, and calcium.
In more recent times prickly pear has been recorded as a food item for Hopi, Rio Grand Pueblo, Navajo, and Southern Paiute Indians.

Uses:

Hopi Uses: Food source.

Navajo Uses:
Medicinal: The fleshy leaf is peeled and bound over a cut to stop the bleeding.
Ceremonial: Cactus people are part of the Navajo origin myth, and thus, cactus is used in several ceremonies.
Other: The sweet juicy fruit was eaten by the Navajos, fresh, dried, or cooked in a stew with dried peaches. The spines of the fruit were removed by rolling the fruit in sand or by singeing it is hot ashes.
The sticky juice from cactus stems was used as glue in making the buckskin war shield.
The cactus was used to make an arrow poison. A mixture of rattlesnake blood, yucca juice and charcoal from the pith of the cactus was painted on at least 6 inches of an arrow.
A variety of rose and pink dyes can be made from the ripe cactus fruit. The riper or darker the fruit, the darker the dye. A rose dye is made by steeping ripe prickly pear fruit and bark or roots of Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) in water.
Ripe prickly pear fruits are still one of the most important wild plant dye sources for traditional Navajo rug weavers.

Dye Recipe: Rose Taupe Dye

1 lb. Mountain Mahogany rootbark
1 lb. Prickly pear fruit
1 lb yarn
1 cup juniper ash water

Boil rootbark for 1 hour in a 5-gallon can of water. Strain and cool until lukewarm. Soak cactus fruit in 1 quart of lukewarm water and strain, pushing the pulp through strainer. Add pulp and water to rootbark solution. Add yarn, which has been in juniper ash water. Allow to ferment in a warm place for 1 week. Rub dye into yarn often. Rinse thoroughly.

Ute uses:
Sometimes used cactus juice to temper their pots before firing.

Forage Value: This cactus is a nuisance on
rangeland, becoming more frequent
as grass is grazed away.

Nutritional Content of Prickly Pear fruit: (100 grams of raw fruit)
Water % - 88 Iron mg - 03
Calories – 42 Sodium mg - 2
Protien g - .5 Potassium mg - 166
Fiber g – 10.9 Vit. A IU - 60
Carbohydrates g – 1.6 Thiamine mg - .01
Ash g – 05 Riboflavin mg - .03
Calcium mg – 20 Niacin mg - .4
Phosphorus mg – 28 Ascorbic Acid mg - 22

Cactus Fruit Jelly Recipe:
Prep Time: 45 min Total Time: 2 hr
Serves: about 8 (1-cup) jars or 128 servings

Ingredients:1 Tbsp. each Ingredients:3-1/2 cups prepared juice (about 3 lb. fully ripe cactus fruit) 1 cup water 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 7-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl (See tip below.) 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine (optional) 2 pouches CERTO Fruit Pectin

Preparation:Bring boiling-water canner, half-full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot, soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling. Remove fine thorns and blossom ends from fruit. Cut into small pieces. Crush cactus fruit, one layer at a time. Place in saucepan; add water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place 3 layers of damp cheesecloth or jelly bag in large bowl. Pour prepared fruit into cheesecloth. Tie cheesecloth closed; hang and let drip into bowl until dripping stops. Press gently. Measure exactly 3-1/2 cups juice into 6- or 8-quart saucepot. Add lemon juice. Stir sugar into juice in saucepot. Add butter to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin quickly. Return to a full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon. Ladle quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches; add boiling water if needed. Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 5 minutes. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

Warnings: These cacti have sharp spines as well as tiny barbed hairs called glochids that can be difficult to remove from the skin. The spiny pads often break off and stick in the noses and throats of livestock.

Disclaimer: Nothing herein written is to imply diagnosis or recommendation for treatment.It is presented for historical interest only

References:

Mayes, Vernon and Lacy, Barbara Bayless, Nanise’: a Navajo Herbal, Navajo Community College Press, Tsaile, Arizona 1989….76-77, 142

Dunmire, William w., and Tierney, Gail D., Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the Four Corners, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, 1997……191-193

Dandelion: Weed, or food, or medicine?

One of the earliest spring flowers, and one of the latest bloomers as winter sets in….Dandelion (Taraxacum officianale) or Hu tsi la ha (in Cherokee) is always present in the prettiest of lawns, it is the bane of the husbands weekend, trying to eradicate it.

BUT….it is also a food source, a medicine of old and a wine maker. This weed is persistent, if you do not get all of it’s tap root, it grows right back, with a vengeance.

To use as a food source you have to gather the leaves when young, so there is no bitterness in the leaves, then after washing it makes a nice addition to a green salad. During World War I, when coffee was at a premium, dandelion root, mixed with chicory root, was dried, chopped, and roasted. It was then brewed like coffee. The flowering tops have been used for a very long time in making a wine...I remember my uncle making it when I was a child.

For use as a medicine boil up a tea made from the flowering heads. This tea was given as a tonic to “make the woman stronger after childbirth.” It has also been used for heart trouble, boiling the whole plant into a tea. The benefit to the heart may lie in the fact that dandelion is a diuretic (removing excess fluid from the body) therefore reducing the risks inherent in fluid build-up around the heart.

Disclaimer: Nothing herein written is to imply diagnosis or recommendation for treatment. It is presented for historical interest only