Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Beech

[00:00:00] Welcome to this week's show!

[00:00:02] I hope everybody is surviving this

[00:00:04] rather violent spring weather we're having

[00:00:07] It's been a very warm winter

[00:00:10] and what do you expect?

[00:00:13] We're probably going to have a heavy hurricane season too

[00:00:16] so get ready for that

[00:00:18] The water temperatures are warmer than usual

[00:00:21] Just natural weather patterns

[00:00:23] But anyway, as part of being a prepper

[00:00:25] it's prepping for storms and such

[00:00:27] Let's take it back into our regular series here

[00:00:31] that we've been doing on the medicinal uses of various trees

[00:00:35] One that is really very useful

[00:00:40] and fairly widespread in most places is beach

[00:00:44] The beach tree, that's the faggest species, F-A-G-U-S

[00:00:48] Actually eight varieties have been documented for use in herbal medicine

[00:00:54] But another nine members of the beach family

[00:00:57] are also used similarly

[00:00:59] They kind of have interchangeable names

[00:01:02] but now the taxonomists, as we call them

[00:01:04] have separated them out into more plants

[00:01:07] There are always changes in the names of stuff

[00:01:10] That's why I try to give you the Latin and the common name

[00:01:13] and tell you a little bit about the plant

[00:01:15] There are only two beaches that are native to my region

[00:01:19] and that is Faggist Grandifolia

[00:01:22] Variety Caroliana

[00:01:27] That's also known as American Beach

[00:01:30] Here's a good example

[00:01:32] The other one is Faggist Grandifolia Variety Grandifolia

[00:01:35] Also known as American Beach

[00:01:38] Probably just a few years ago

[00:01:41] they were both known as just Faggist Grandifolia American Beach

[00:01:45] So the fact that we only have two native beaches in my area

[00:01:49] certainly doesn't mean that we don't have beach trees

[00:01:51] We've got a ton

[00:01:52] In fact, just down the road from where I live

[00:01:55] is Beach Mountain named after Beach

[00:01:58] The trees

[00:02:00] These were really important back in the area

[00:02:03] It was almost entirely dependent on logging

[00:02:06] And then, I guess, in the 50s, 60s

[00:02:11] they built the Land of Oz up there

[00:02:14] which was a recreation of the Wizard of Oz

[00:02:17] It was a wonderful theme park

[00:02:19] Absolutely my favorite theme park I ever went to as a kid

[00:02:21] It closed down in the 80s

[00:02:23] Still have ski slopes up there

[00:02:25] and it's more resort homes now

[00:02:29] It's a high elevation

[00:02:31] Very steep

[00:02:33] And the storms were just really

[00:02:36] The winter storms just really took their toll

[00:02:39] on the Land of Oz and it became unprofitable

[00:02:41] But just across the mountain from there

[00:02:45] the backside of Beach Mountain is they call it

[00:02:47] Beach Creek

[00:02:49] And that's where the Hicks family lived that taught me

[00:02:51] herbal medicine

[00:02:53] You want to talk about a contrast?

[00:02:55] On one side of Beach Mountain you've got

[00:02:57] multi-million dollar homes

[00:02:59] Bertie Madoff used to have a place up there

[00:03:01] New Gingrich had a place up there

[00:03:03] I remember I was working at a drug store as a kid

[00:03:05] In walks the speaker of the house

[00:03:07] He was going to play golf and it rained

[00:03:09] He's like, I've got nothing to do

[00:03:11] I'll stop in the drug store and just hang out

[00:03:13] and chat with me for a while

[00:03:15] And then you go to the other side

[00:03:17] and there were Ray and Rosie Hicks

[00:03:19] in a 250 year old cabin

[00:03:23] with only one electric light

[00:03:25] No indoor plumbing

[00:03:27] Wood stove for heat

[00:03:29] Just a completely different world

[00:03:31] that Rome, Angkor, Beach Creek community

[00:03:33] At that time

[00:03:35] was one of the most peaceful

[00:03:37] quiet purely natural places

[00:03:39] I can't imagine

[00:03:41] But now they're building the big houses

[00:03:43] up there and pushing the locals out

[00:03:45] with high property taxes and zoning

[00:03:47] So that's the way it goes

[00:03:49] And if you ever wonder

[00:03:51] why sometimes mountain peoples don't like outsiders

[00:03:53] or say why native Hawaiians

[00:03:55] don't like the people that have moved there

[00:03:57] It's because that's what happens

[00:03:59] You come in to build the big homes

[00:04:01] the big developments

[00:04:03] and put in zoning

[00:04:05] and regulations

[00:04:07] and suddenly people are pushed out of their homes

[00:04:09] They can't afford to live there anymore

[00:04:11] They pay the taxes

[00:04:13] and they can't meet code

[00:04:15] It's just really

[00:04:17] very unfair

[00:04:19] very

[00:04:21] unfortunate

[00:04:23] But you know, the people who have the money

[00:04:25] put the money in the politicians pockets

[00:04:27] and get done what they want done

[00:04:29] and

[00:04:31] until they legalize

[00:04:33] shooting tourists

[00:04:35] we don't really have much to say about it

[00:04:37] So

[00:04:39] for summer people I guess you'd say

[00:04:41] Yeah

[00:04:43] it really can be pretty bad sometimes

[00:04:45] So

[00:04:47] let's talk about the beach trees

[00:04:49] and Diaz Kordes mentioned it

[00:04:51] in ancient Greek medicine

[00:04:53] He said the root

[00:04:55] the bark of the root

[00:04:57] boiled in water until it becomes tender

[00:04:59] and applied

[00:05:01] for a whole night dies the hair black

[00:05:03] It was

[00:05:05] It is first made clean

[00:05:07] with Somalian earth

[00:05:09] I'm thinking that's some kind of clay

[00:05:11] But yeah, that's one of the

[00:05:13] ancient hair dies

[00:05:15] People were just as vain back in

[00:05:17] Ancient Greeks as they are

[00:05:19] No

[00:05:21] The leaves of all the beaches he's saying

[00:05:23] pounded into small pieces

[00:05:25] help it deem and strengthen the feeble parts

[00:05:27] And

[00:05:29] He's saying used externally

[00:05:31] basically as a poultice

[00:05:33] St. Hildegard von Bingen

[00:05:35] wrote a lengthy entry

[00:05:37] on beach in her book

[00:05:39] Physica

[00:05:41] which was written around 1100

[00:05:43] She said

[00:05:45] the beach tree has correct balance

[00:05:47] with equal heat and cold

[00:05:49] both of which are good

[00:05:51] It demotes discipline

[00:05:53] Now she actually had a spiritual side

[00:05:55] to her ermal medicine

[00:05:57] and she thought that

[00:05:59] beach

[00:06:01] either indicated or would help

[00:06:03] a person be more disciplined

[00:06:05] and actually

[00:06:07] several

[00:06:09] of these trees she recommended

[00:06:11] from walking sticks

[00:06:13] to make a person stronger

[00:06:15] and increase endurance

[00:06:17] She's actually a doctor

[00:06:19] of the church and one of the

[00:06:21] greatest Christian mystics

[00:06:23] of all time and prolific writers

[00:06:25] and knew more about

[00:06:27] theology than I'll ever understand

[00:06:29] but her ermal medicine was

[00:06:31] very interesting

[00:06:33] She said

[00:06:35] when the leaves of the beach begin to come out

[00:06:37] but do you not yet fully

[00:06:39] show, go to this tree

[00:06:41] and take a branch of it in your hand

[00:06:43] Anyway she said to cut the branch

[00:06:45] off with a steel knife

[00:06:47] and save that branch for a year

[00:06:49] and collect more every year

[00:06:51] and if anyone in that year has jaundice

[00:06:53] cut a small piece from that branch

[00:06:55] place in a metallic jar

[00:06:57] and pour over it a moderate amount of wine

[00:06:59] whenever you pour the wine

[00:07:01] over these bits

[00:07:03] say these words

[00:07:05] by the holy spark of the holy incarnation

[00:07:07] by which God became human

[00:07:09] draw from this person

[00:07:11] the sickness of jaundice

[00:07:13] That's interesting

[00:07:15] She said then he didn't eat wine

[00:07:17] with bits of wood which you had cut off

[00:07:19] in a small crucible

[00:07:21] for three days give it as a warm drink

[00:07:23] to one with jaundice

[00:07:25] She always said that

[00:07:27] you'd only be healed if it was God's will

[00:07:29] if that was what was best for you

[00:07:31] but getting back to the more medicinal use

[00:07:33] she said if someone has Agu

[00:07:35] that's a fever

[00:07:37] take some of the fruit of the beach tree

[00:07:39] when it first comes out

[00:07:41] and mix it with pure spring water

[00:07:43] and she recommends another prayer

[00:07:45] that God would take away the person's fever

[00:07:47] and give this to him in water

[00:07:49] to drink

[00:07:51] offer it for five days

[00:07:53] and it's healed from corchian fevers

[00:07:55] unless God does not wish to free him

[00:07:57] and corchian fevers were fevers that appeared

[00:07:59] every four days usually from malaria

[00:08:01] well let's see moving on

[00:08:03] she says anyone who prepares

[00:08:05] and eats a puree of the leaves of the beach

[00:08:07] when they are new and fresh will not be harmed by it

[00:08:09] if someone eats its fruit

[00:08:11] he will not be harmed

[00:08:13] but will become fat

[00:08:15] so interestingly I guess in ancient Germany

[00:08:17] they were using a beach

[00:08:19] for some

[00:08:21] good purposes as well

[00:08:23] and like I said

[00:08:25] it's really interesting

[00:08:27] very hard to understand

[00:08:29] she said she received her knowledge

[00:08:31] from the voice of the living light

[00:08:33] which may have been an angel

[00:08:35] maybe she was talking to God

[00:08:37] we don't know but she was known as the symbol of the Rhine

[00:08:39] of the time

[00:08:41] and the Pope

[00:08:43] had her going around preaching

[00:08:45] in all the regional churches

[00:08:47] and kings and princes

[00:08:49] for her information

[00:08:51] very interesting

[00:08:53] if you want to know more about her

[00:08:55] and her odd interesting

[00:08:57] system of herbal medicine

[00:08:59] that's all in my book the Christian history

[00:09:01] of herbal medicine

[00:09:03] but getting back to things that are a little more understandable

[00:09:05] to us

[00:09:07] the English herbalist Gerard in the 1500s said

[00:09:09] the leaves of the beach

[00:09:11] do cool

[00:09:13] and the nut, the kernel of the nut is somewhat moist

[00:09:15] the leaves of the beach

[00:09:17] are often applied to hot swellings

[00:09:19] blisters

[00:09:21] and excoriations

[00:09:23] and being chewed they are good for chapped lips

[00:09:25] and pain of the gums

[00:09:27] the kernels or mast within

[00:09:29] are reported to ease the pain of the kidney

[00:09:31] these are the beach nuts

[00:09:33] proceeding of the stone if they be eaten

[00:09:35] and cause the gravel and sand

[00:09:37] to easier come forth

[00:09:39] with these

[00:09:41] mice and squirrels love beach nuts

[00:09:43] so hard to get them before they do

[00:09:45] and they

[00:09:47] interesting said

[00:09:49] fed to swine would make them fat

[00:09:51] remember saint Hildegard just said

[00:09:53] eating the nuts would make a person fat too

[00:09:55] but they said

[00:09:57] swine also be fattened here with

[00:09:59] and certain other beasts

[00:10:01] also

[00:10:03] and deer to feed upon them very greedily

[00:10:05] yep yep yep

[00:10:07] they likewise are pleasant to thrushes

[00:10:09] and pigeons so another reason we like beach trees

[00:10:11] are great for scouting game

[00:10:13] the ashes and wood

[00:10:15] were used in making glass

[00:10:17] such as a side note

[00:10:19] and the water that is found

[00:10:21] in the hollowness of a beach

[00:10:23] so a hollow in the tree

[00:10:25] the water that collected there

[00:10:27] he believed was good for

[00:10:29] tatters, scabs,

[00:10:31] scurfs which would be like exomer psoriasis

[00:10:33] good for both men, horses

[00:10:35] sheep

[00:10:37] if they be washed there with

[00:10:39] getting another 100 years ahead

[00:10:41] up to the 1600s

[00:10:43] coal pepper said

[00:10:45] the leaves of the beach tree are cooling and binding

[00:10:47] and therefore good applied to hot swellings

[00:10:49] every author so far has said that

[00:10:51] the nuts do much to nourish

[00:10:53] such

[00:10:55] beasts that feed there on

[00:10:57] the water that is found in hollow places

[00:10:59] of decaying beaches will cure both

[00:11:01] man and beast of any scurfs,

[00:11:03] scab or running tetters

[00:11:05] if they be washed there with

[00:11:07] you may boil the leaves into a poultice

[00:11:09] of them at the right time

[00:11:11] of the year

[00:11:13] getting into much more modern use

[00:11:15] we are going to look at Ms. Grieve

[00:11:17] in 1930 she said the tar of the beach

[00:11:19] is stimulating and antiseptic

[00:11:21] used internally as

[00:11:23] stimulating an expectorant in chronic bronchitis

[00:11:25] or externally

[00:11:27] as an application in various skin diseases

[00:11:29] I think she just

[00:11:31] basically means a sap, I don't know

[00:11:33] I don't think she actually meant cook it out like you do

[00:11:35] pine tar

[00:11:37] I think she just basically means a sap

[00:11:39] looking to the German tradition

[00:11:41] Father Johann Kunzel

[00:11:43] wrote there are many people

[00:11:45] who without being bedridden

[00:11:47] are almost always

[00:11:49] unwell they have no appetite

[00:11:51] and

[00:11:53] even he was a funny guy

[00:11:55] he said they even like dislike the best

[00:11:57] sausages and are clogged up

[00:11:59] like the gates of hell

[00:12:01] they have no appetite

[00:12:03] and it basically constipated

[00:12:05] they feel pressure on their chest

[00:12:07] and their stomachs and there is heat

[00:12:09] and pain in the head

[00:12:11] they cannot sleep well and when they do sleep

[00:12:13] then it is restless and they have bad dreams

[00:12:15] they run after all doctors

[00:12:17] and are a nuisance to them

[00:12:19] right to all quacks as far as London and New York

[00:12:21] swing like party leaders

[00:12:23] after an election victory

[00:12:25] and are like complaining organs with

[00:12:27] 365 stops often with

[00:12:29] an accompaniment orchestra

[00:12:31] Father Kunzel was a real

[00:12:33] he had a very

[00:12:35] sharp wit about him

[00:12:37] but he said

[00:12:39] if such people have the seriousness to get well

[00:12:41] they should take one of the so called

[00:12:43] spring cures

[00:12:45] for 8-14 days and he included

[00:12:47] in this unripe blackberries

[00:12:51] shoots from

[00:12:53] thorny bushes such as dog rows

[00:12:55] or blackberries

[00:12:57] even Hawthorne

[00:12:59] raspberry

[00:13:01] and shoots from fur trees

[00:13:03] beech, hazel trees

[00:13:05] cherry trees, oak trees

[00:13:07] ash trees poplar etc

[00:13:09] he made a

[00:13:11] took a handful of this

[00:13:13] he actually just says a handful of the mixture

[00:13:15] is thrown into a pan and one or two liters

[00:13:17] of water poured on

[00:13:19] heated until it simmers

[00:13:21] and makes a tea and the person

[00:13:23] should drink the tea until they feel better

[00:13:25] very interesting

[00:13:27] I have not tried it

[00:13:29] they said the lost appetite returns

[00:13:31] the headache and pressure and the abdomen

[00:13:33] are gone, the pale color vanishes

[00:13:35] the grave digger can put his shovel back

[00:13:37] in its shed

[00:13:39] this poor creature

[00:13:41] previously so pale and shaky can once again

[00:13:43] rule the kitchen with power

[00:13:45] and dignity

[00:13:47] if she takes 5 or 7

[00:13:49] fir tree twig bass

[00:13:51] she's fresh and sunny again like a bride

[00:13:53] hey worth trying right

[00:13:55] anyway he was a really interesting guy

[00:13:57] Jalanta Wittib

[00:13:59] and I wrote a book on his herbal medicine

[00:14:01] in he wrote it in the 1920s

[00:14:03] it's called The Herbs and Weeds

[00:14:05] by the Johann Kunzl if you're interested

[00:14:07] in that a lot of very practical advice

[00:14:09] and like I said really

[00:14:11] he was a Swiss priest with just a really

[00:14:13] biting wit

[00:14:15] he really did not care for politicians

[00:14:17] and doctors

[00:14:19] and it's really it's pretty cool

[00:14:21] book I think

[00:14:23] and Jalanta speaking of him

[00:14:25] she gave her commentaries

[00:14:27] on his old remedies

[00:14:29] and her entry on that was

[00:14:31] I admire these mighty trees

[00:14:33] they're so majestic

[00:14:35] have you ever seen the young shoots of beach

[00:14:37] no well look out for these

[00:14:39] you would definitely enjoy the look of them

[00:14:41] and have you ever eaten the nuts of the beach

[00:14:43] my grandson introduced me to these

[00:14:45] she lives in Alps by the way

[00:14:47] she says we do not have beaches in the Alps

[00:14:49] but he lives next to a huge beach forest

[00:14:51] and in the autumn the past are strewn with the burrs

[00:14:53] those tiny boxes with beach fruit

[00:14:55] my grandson showed me how to open them with scissors

[00:14:57] just

[00:14:59] cutting the pointed upper part

[00:15:01] and peeling the seed absolutely delicious

[00:15:03] a beach not only gives

[00:15:05] nuts but one beach tree releases

[00:15:07] per hour enough oxygen for

[00:15:09] 50 people to breathe during that hour

[00:15:11] shame we cut so many

[00:15:13] I'm here in the mountains

[00:15:15] going to the American tradition

[00:15:17] we'll start with Native American

[00:15:19] we'll go with the Lumbee Indian

[00:15:21] the Lumbee made a beach tea

[00:15:23] taken from the bark of the trunk

[00:15:25] the tea was drunk to treat

[00:15:27] wheat back and back aches

[00:15:29] the same liquid was mixed with hog lard

[00:15:31] to form a salve rubbed on the affected area

[00:15:33] to treat bone rheumatism

[00:15:35] arthritis essentially

[00:15:37] the salve was also used to

[00:15:39] nurse pain from a sprain or broken bone

[00:15:41] the Rappahannock

[00:15:43] soaked beach bark and salt water

[00:15:45] to produce a substance to be rubbed on the skin

[00:15:47] to treat poison ivy

[00:15:49] the Iroquois used beach nut oil

[00:15:51] mixed with bear grease as a hair treatment

[00:15:53] and a mosquito repellent

[00:15:55] this was a tree with many

[00:15:57] herbal uses known to Native Americans

[00:15:59] by the 1860s

[00:16:01] resources of the southern

[00:16:03] fields and forests says

[00:16:05] the bark is astringent and has been used

[00:16:07] according to Dr. Farnham in intermittent fever

[00:16:09] remember just like St. Hildegard said

[00:16:11] about the ag use

[00:16:13] but it is not possessed of any decided powers

[00:16:15] the fruit produces vertigo

[00:16:17] and headache in human species

[00:16:19] I have not noticed that

[00:16:21] I've eaten beach nuts

[00:16:23] and I've never gotten vertigo or headache

[00:16:25] so I don't know what he's talking about there

[00:16:27] he says that

[00:16:29] it was a popular

[00:16:31] master you know

[00:16:33] wild feed for hogs of course

[00:16:35] and the seed

[00:16:37] yields an oil that is little inferior

[00:16:39] to olive oil

[00:16:41] and also fit for burning

[00:16:43] the pulp remaining after expressed

[00:16:45] maybe convert into a flower

[00:16:47] similar in taste and color to wheat

[00:16:49] but sweeter

[00:16:51] a narcotic principle called faggine

[00:16:53] has been found in the husks

[00:16:55] now that's probably what he's talking about

[00:16:57] he's not actually talking about the seeds

[00:16:59] but probably the unripe husks

[00:17:01] the young leaves are sometimes used

[00:17:03] by common people as a pot herb

[00:17:05] so they're still using it as an edible

[00:17:07] in the 1860s

[00:17:11] up to modern use now

[00:17:13] Peterson Field Guide for Eastern Central medicinal plants

[00:17:15] says American beach

[00:17:17] faggis grandifolia

[00:17:19] American Indians chewed the nuts

[00:17:21] as a worm

[00:17:23] to get rid of worms

[00:17:25] bark tea used

[00:17:27] bark tea used

[00:17:29] for long ailments

[00:17:31] leaf tea as a wash for burns and frostbite

[00:17:33] poison ivy and rash

[00:17:35] and as

[00:17:37] I guess it was the Uracoy

[00:17:39] put it in salt water

[00:17:41] they said one ounce to one pint

[00:17:43] of salt water for poison ivy

[00:17:45] and botany ade says

[00:17:47] the leaves are edible raw or cooked

[00:17:49] as a pot or herb in early spring

[00:17:53] the seeds are rich in oil

[00:17:55] and high in protein edible raw or cooked

[00:17:57] but should not be eaten in large quantities

[00:17:59] due to an alkaloid in the outer covering

[00:18:01] oh the seeds may also

[00:18:03] be drowned and ground into flour

[00:18:05] the roasted seed is used as a coffee substitute

[00:18:07] the sprouted seeds

[00:18:09] are also edible and reportedly delicious

[00:18:11] and the oil from the seed may be used

[00:18:13] in cooking as salad dressing

[00:18:15] or in lamps

[00:18:17] so a really interesting

[00:18:19] tree

[00:18:21] very many uses, very many cultures

[00:18:23] and a lot of history

[00:18:25] I enjoy the lore

[00:18:27] I know the lore may be a little much for some people

[00:18:29] but I enjoy to see the historical writing

[00:18:31] on the plants

[00:18:33] but I love beach trees

[00:18:35] and I've never eaten enough

[00:18:37] to have any problem

[00:18:39] but I do think that

[00:18:41] vertigo was from the husk

[00:18:43] as he said

[00:18:45] anyway

[00:18:47] very useful tree, very important

[00:18:49] very important to early America

[00:18:51] especially in the Appalachians

[00:18:53] and one of my favorites

[00:18:55] it's a tree I've grown up with

[00:18:57] and I find it to be an excellent wood

[00:18:59] for carving

[00:19:01] for firewood

[00:19:03] for anything

[00:19:05] tasty

[00:19:07] snack on the trail

[00:19:09] but a lot of great

[00:19:11] medicinal properties

[00:19:13] next time I get poison ivy

[00:19:15] I'm definitely going to try that

[00:19:17] I tend to get poison oak real bad

[00:19:19] once every couple of years

[00:19:21] I try this about every home remedy

[00:19:23] to try to soothe that stuff

[00:19:25] it's really uncomfortable

[00:19:27] so anyway

[00:19:29] now would be the time

[00:19:31] to go out and gather those leaves

[00:19:33] if you want to try them as a pot herb

[00:19:35] because it's early spring and this would be the exact time

[00:19:37] and hey, maybe I'll get that a try

[00:19:39] y'all have a going, I'll try D next time

[00:20:03] I can tell you what herbs have been traditionally used for

[00:20:05] I can tell you my own experience

[00:20:07] and if I believe an herb has helped me

[00:20:09] I cannot nor would I tell you to do the same

[00:20:11] if you use an herb anyone

[00:20:13] recommends you are treating yourself

[00:20:15] you take full responsibility for your health

[00:20:17] humans are individuals

[00:20:19] and no two are identical

[00:20:21] what works for me may not work for you

[00:20:23] you may have an allergy

[00:20:25] a sensitivity and underlying condition

[00:20:27] that no one else even shares

[00:20:29] with you

[00:20:31] be careful with your health

[00:20:33] by continuing to list my podcast

[00:20:35] or read my blog

[00:20:37] you agree to be responsible for yourself

[00:20:39] do your own research

[00:20:41] make your own choices

[00:20:43] and not to blame me for anything ever