Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Mulberry

[00:00:01] Hey y'all welcome to today's show. We're going to continue our series in medicinal uses of many common trees and

[00:00:08] this is one that is particular favorite of mine and

[00:00:11] One that if you don't have one growing your yard right now, you really need to plant one. Okay? It's mulberry. I

[00:00:18] actually heard someone say one time they had a big mulberry tree and it

[00:00:24] Dropped fruit all over their patio and they cut it down because they got tired of cleaning up the fruit

[00:00:28] That is like I don't that's maybe one of the stupidest things I've ever heard in my life

[00:00:33] Okay, when you have a tree that produces food

[00:00:37] You have a useful tree. I mean if you're too lazy just to collect fruit

[00:00:43] Then

[00:00:44] Well, you're not gonna make much of a prepper. I can tell you that much but mulberry is delicious some varieties more than others

[00:00:53] Makes a wonderful wine

[00:00:54] Jams and jellies

[00:00:56] I

[00:00:57] Think it's good some varieties are very good eaten as a fresh fruit

[00:01:03] Some are better made into preserves or wine

[00:01:07] Medically speaking 11 varieties of mulberry have been documented in herbal medicine. That's a Morris Alba or white mulberry

[00:01:17] Another one called another variety of white mulberry Morris Alba

[00:01:23] Multicolus or something. I don't know Korean mulberry

[00:01:26] A couple Asian ones I can't pronounce them

[00:01:30] I'm gonna try the Himalayan mulberry mulberry Morris microfiber this Texas mulberry

[00:01:37] Mongolian mulberry black mulberry very common

[00:01:41] Red mulberry another one very common probably white black and red are the most common around where I live

[00:01:47] Red mulberry is the only native to my region, but the white has been been naturalized

[00:01:55] Basically grows wild now

[00:01:58] Whereas the black and the others you know, they're usually more planted in landscaping

[00:02:04] It's sort of an understory tree doesn't get super tall or anything. The leaves are really shiny

[00:02:10] It's easy to spot once you've been able to identify it once you've seen one or two

[00:02:15] You can start spotting them all over the only thing is you got to get to those berries before the birds and

[00:02:22] The raccoons and the low ones the deer will stand up on their hind legs and go after because the fruit is

[00:02:30] Very much appreciated by wildlife. Of course, it makes it a good tree to scout for hunting and such

[00:02:34] But really under appreciated in America. It's because those berries are too soft

[00:02:39] You know, they don't go to market easily as we never see mulberries in the grocery store

[00:02:43] Rarely ripe figs these days

[00:02:47] Pawpaws, I mean there are so many fruits that are soft and they don't store well on the shelves

[00:02:52] So we don't have them in the markets anymore 100 years ago. It was completely different

[00:02:57] We had far more varieties of fruits and vegetables in the grocery store than we do now

[00:03:02] And it really is because most of what we eat what did we buy from a store or get from a restaurant

[00:03:09] Probably isn't even grown in this country and even if it is it's you know, I'm in North Carolina. Let's say

[00:03:16] So many things are growing in California, right California is a big ag state

[00:03:20] That's still thousands of miles to get it to my door

[00:03:24] Amazingly enough, I mean North Carolina is a big ag state

[00:03:27] But if I go into most grocery stores, I don't see much fruit or vegetables at all from North Carolina

[00:03:32] I mean, it's just that's where our system set up now. I mean now like my local grocery stores like

[00:03:39] Food Lion and Lowe's is a popular one here in North Carolina. There's a both North Carolina based change

[00:03:45] They'll have a little display of local produce

[00:03:48] North Carolina is one of the biggest cucumber producers in the entire country. We got Mount Olive Pickles here

[00:03:54] Very famous brand right?

[00:03:57] Pickling cucumbers are almost impossible to find in the grocery store

[00:04:01] All those cucumbers unless they're already pickled in their jars

[00:04:04] But so many people grow cucumbers and you can you know, you have to go out to somebody's farm and ask to buy some

[00:04:11] You can't just get them in the grocery store. It's just absolutely ridiculous. And that's just you know one example

[00:04:16] I mean even you know when I was a kid there was just far more variety

[00:04:21] You know and a lot changed with COVID we had definitely have fewer products on the shelves now

[00:04:26] But anyway for food and medicine if you don't have a mulberry tree you need to plant a mulberry tree prioritize it

[00:04:34] In fact now let's talk about these medicinal uses

[00:04:38] Far back as ancient Greece probably much longer than that. It was well known

[00:04:44] Medicinally and deus cordy said that the fruit makes the intestines soluble

[00:04:49] You know what he means is it's good against constipation

[00:04:51] But it is easily spoiled and can be bad for the stomach and the juice the same so yeah if it starts to turn

[00:04:58] You can upset your stomach. You'll food poisoning off of it, but it makes it like I said an excellent wine

[00:05:05] He said if you boiled the juice fresh juice and let it or left in the sun

[00:05:11] It would kind of concentrate it and make it more astringent and that helps stop diarrhea

[00:05:15] A little honey mixed with it makes it good for the discharge of fluids and

[00:05:21] For gangrenous ulcerations and inflamed tonsils the strength of it is increased

[00:05:27] if

[00:05:29] What is that alum I guess?

[00:05:31] Yeah, that would be a stringent

[00:05:33] So I'm thinking he means Alan there or small bits of oak gall

[00:05:37] So you know oaks are very very tannic

[00:05:39] Mur or crocus are mixed with it as well as the fruit of Miracca which we talked about last week

[00:05:46] and

[00:05:47] frankincense yeah, so that would been

[00:05:50] Used for anything from diarrhea to sore throats to ulcerous sores in the mouth

[00:05:56] Anyway, I'm right mulberries dried and pounded or mixed with sauces or rues and they help with

[00:06:02] Colloc or intestinal complaints

[00:06:04] The bark from the root boiled in water and taken as a drink loosens the bowels expels broadworms from the intestines

[00:06:10] It's actually has some verminfuge properties can help you get rid of

[00:06:14] There's another word we'll probably get to it anthal mintek. I think anyway

[00:06:17] It helps get rid of worms and

[00:06:20] Anadote for those who have taken akinitim to drink now

[00:06:24] I'm not going to recommend it for that don't take akinitim that's monk's hood or wolf's bane

[00:06:30] That's one of the most poisonous plants there is

[00:06:32] Very useful externally as it's excellent for muscle nerve and joint pain

[00:06:38] in

[00:06:39] Internally a

[00:06:41] Tiny amount will kill you it will stop your heart and you would die. So we're not going to

[00:06:46] Rely on mulberry as an anecdote

[00:06:48] Okay, but in his time

[00:06:51] Akinite was commonly used in poisons and along with hemlock were the two main herbs that they used to execute people

[00:06:59] So you might accidentally get some and anyway just take that with a grain of salt

[00:07:04] The leaves powdered into small pieces and applied with oil hill burns boiled with rainwater and wine

[00:07:11] And black fig leaves they dye the hair

[00:07:14] A wine cup full of the juice from the leaves helps those bitten by harvest spiders

[00:07:21] A decoction of the bark and leaves is good rents for a toothache

[00:07:26] It is milked at harvest time the roots dug

[00:07:30] Around let's see the roots dug around

[00:07:33] and

[00:07:33] cut in

[00:07:35] So they got a sap out of it essentially the next day where there would be found some coalesced gum

[00:07:40] Which is good for toothaches just all swellings and purges the bowels

[00:07:44] There seems to be some wild mulberry similar to the one he was midging

[00:07:49] But the fruit was actually more just drenching and he said

[00:07:53] Um is less easily spoiled as well than the cultivator one

[00:07:57] It was good for inflammation healing ulcerated jaws and to fill up wounds with flesh

[00:08:01] So it has some wound healing or vulnerable properties as well

[00:08:05] And then that those were found in shadier colder places

[00:08:10] Um let's get up to let's see 1500s England

[00:08:14] Gerard wrote of mulberry

[00:08:16] He said mulberries gathered before they are ripe are cold and dry and do mightily bind

[00:08:22] Being dried they are good for the last and bloody flux so bloody diarrhea and other such issues

[00:08:28] The powder is used in meat and is drunk with wine and water

[00:08:32] They stay bleedings and also the reds or excessive menstrual discharge

[00:08:37] They are good against inflammation or hot swellings of the mouth and jaws and other

[00:08:41] Inflammations newly beginning

[00:08:43] The ripe and new gathered mulberries are likewise cold and full of juice with half the taste of wine

[00:08:49] And is somewhat drying and not without a binding quality and therefore is also mixed with medicines for the mouth

[00:08:56] And such help the hot swellings of the mouth the almonds or swollen glands in the throat for which infirmity it is singularly good

[00:09:05] Of the juice of the ripe berries is made a confection or a candy with sugar

[00:09:10] And that is after the manner or a syrup and it was exceedingly good for ulcers hot swellings of the tongue and throat

[00:09:18] The swollen glands the uvula of the throat any malady arising in those parts

[00:09:23] These mulberries taken in meat and also before meat do very speedily pass through the belly

[00:09:28] By reason of the moisture and slipperiness of the substance and make it a passage for other meats

[00:09:34] In other words, he thought they aided digestion. Let's just say that and

[00:09:37] You know there's a long tradition of eating berries and such, uh, you know with your your meal you've probably had

[00:09:45] Well cranberries cranberry sauce with your roast turkey, you know, you may have had

[00:09:50] lingonberries before

[00:09:51] You know they do heal digestion and also

[00:09:57] Well when you eat fatty meats, you know, um, they just kind of settle the stomach and make you feel a little better and refresh the palate

[00:10:03] And uh, yeah, it's a really good thing to do. Uh juniper cones or berries

[00:10:08] But they're actually cones we call them juniper berries. Excellent wild game

[00:10:12] Really really good or with uh chicken even

[00:10:16] Yeah, I mean a lot of these um

[00:10:18] You know, they're fun to use in cooking and they're actually quite good for you

[00:10:22] Uh, he said they are good to quench the thirst and they stir up an appetite to meat

[00:10:27] So they actually stimulate digestion. They're not harmful to the stomach

[00:10:30] Um, let's see if he has anything

[00:10:33] Uh, it's good to say, uh, the bark of the root is bitter and hath a scouring faculty the decoction of thereof

[00:10:40] Duth open the stoppings of the liver and the spleen and purge the belly and

[00:10:45] Driveeth worms from it. Good to know

[00:10:48] uh, the same bark being steeped in vinegar help with the toothache and um

[00:10:54] A decoction of the leaves of the bark can be used the same

[00:10:58] and um

[00:11:00] Galen said there is in the leaves and first buds of this tree a certain

[00:11:05] Middle faculty both to bind and scour. I don't even really know what that means

[00:11:10] Uh, bind would mean stop diary and scour would mean

[00:11:13] To help clean you out. So I'm not sure exactly how that's working. But anyway, uh about 100 years later, uh, cold pepper

[00:11:21] Okay, the berries, uh, the berries good for opening the body when they're

[00:11:26] Uh, ripe and unripe for binding. Okay, we've talked about that

[00:11:30] Especially good when they're dry good to stable, uh, lask and flaxes and the abundance of women's courses menstrual issues again

[00:11:38] The bark of the root kills broadworms in the body the juice or syrup made from the

[00:11:41] berries helps all

[00:11:43] Inflammations and sores in the mouth and throat and the palate of the mouth

[00:11:47] um

[00:11:48] Juice of the leaves is a remedy against the biting of serpents. Wow

[00:11:52] And for those who have taken akinite. Yeah, okay

[00:11:56] I'm not gonna recommend it for either use but good to know, you know

[00:11:58] The leaves beaten with vinegar are good to lay on any

[00:12:02] Any place that is burnt with fire

[00:12:04] So a fire uh sews the burn

[00:12:07] A decoction made from the bark and leaves is good to wash the mouth of the teeth when they ache

[00:12:11] The root may be uh slit or cut or a small hole

[00:12:16] And in the harvest time it'll give us certain juice

[00:12:19] Which being hard in the next day is good to help with the toothache

[00:12:22] Deserve and dissolve knots and purge the belly the leaves of mulberries are

[00:12:28] Said to stay the bleeding of the mouth or nose or bleeding piles or hemorrhoids or of a wound

[00:12:34] Being bound to the place a branch of the tree taken when the moon is full

[00:12:39] And bound to the wrist of a woman's arm whose courses come down too much doth stay them in a short space

[00:12:45] um

[00:12:46] I seriously doubt that uh, that's uh

[00:12:50] You know hey give it a try but um

[00:12:53] Anyway, uh cold pepper was given into uh, well he was a rather superstitious fellow. Let's just put it that way

[00:13:02] Interesting character to say the least uh now 1930s we get a little more modern here everything else would be a little more modern

[00:13:10] I believe

[00:13:11] Miss grief says the sole use of mulberries in modern medicine is for the preparation of a syrup employed

[00:13:18] To flavor and color other medicines

[00:13:21] Um, and she describes how that was made and it's just basically cooked down with sugar. Uh, but also um

[00:13:29] slightly laxative and good as a for sore throats as a gargle

[00:13:33] Now she gives a couple of good recipes for mulberry wines and jam

[00:13:37] So i'm i'm gonna give you these because you're gonna like these okay?

[00:13:41] And so for each gallon of raw more mulberries

[00:13:45] I pour one gallon of boiling water and let them stand for two days

[00:13:48] Another nice thing about mulberries because they're so soft you don't really have to crush them and squeeze the juice out

[00:13:54] Like you do with a lot of berries, right? So pour

[00:13:56] Uh boiling water over them. Let them stand for two days then squeeze it all through um

[00:14:02] Well, she says a sieve or a bag a pillowcase works great make sure it's clean of course

[00:14:07] Uh wash out the tub or jar and return the liquid to it

[00:14:10] Put sugar in at the rate of three pounds to each gallon at the liquor

[00:14:14] stir up until quite dissolved then put the liquor in the cask and um

[00:14:20] Let it ferment and she said it uh once it was clear bottle it and would take about four months time to be good to drink

[00:14:28] You know

[00:14:30] She's using wild yeast from the skins of the mulberries. You're probably perfectly safe with that

[00:14:34] But let's say you're boiling water somehow killed all the yeast

[00:14:37] Well, they might spoil you might end up actually with a mulberry vinegar

[00:14:40] I think if you get a little um yeast and add to it

[00:14:44] You know any kind of cider maker or wine makers yeast would work perfectly you can even use bread yeast

[00:14:51] Plain-owned instant yeast from the grocery store and this is really mulberry wine is particularly good

[00:14:58] She said mulberries were used to color cider and debon shire. They were the mix apple cider and mulberry wine essentially

[00:15:06] And uh it was very popular in Greece

[00:15:09] And uh barely had been made for a long time. She's talks about ancient anglo-saxon

[00:15:16] traditions of wine and cider making that they were using mulberries and blackberries

[00:15:22] They called it morat

[00:15:23] Um for the jam no, you know, you don't have to have the wine if you would have an opposition to alcohol

[00:15:30] Mulberry jam is delicious

[00:15:32] Delicious

[00:15:33] Uh, she says unless very ripe mulberries are used the jam will have an acidic taste

[00:15:38] But a pound of mulberries in a jar let it stand in a pound of water on the fire till the juice is extracted

[00:15:44] Strain them put the juice in a preserving pan with three pounds of sugar boil it and remove the scum and put in three

[00:15:51] Pounds of very ripe mulberries and let them stand in the syrup until thoroughly warm

[00:15:57] Then set the pan back on the fire and boil them gently for a short time

[00:16:00] Stirring all the time and taking care not to break the fruit

[00:16:03] Then take off the pan and let them stand in the syrup all night

[00:16:06] Put the pan on the fire again in the morning and boil until gently stiff

[00:16:10] So, uh, they got their own packed in um, it's big. It's really quite tasty

[00:16:16] Now let's look back to medicinal use. Uh, mulberries were official medicine in America

[00:16:21] at the time of king's american dispensatory in 1898 under actions medicinal uses and such

[00:16:28] It says mulberries produce very slightly nutritive qualities

[00:16:32] They are refrigerant and laxative refrigerant means cooling and their juice forms a pleasant and grateful drink for patient suffering under febrile diseases

[00:16:40] fevers as it checks the thirst

[00:16:42] relieves the febrile heat and when taken freely gently relaxes the bowels

[00:16:47] Juice formed in the syrup and added to water answers the same purpose

[00:16:51] And forms a pleasant adjunct to gargles and quincy. That's again the swallowing glands

[00:16:56] If the berries are eaten to excess they are apt to induce diarrhea. The bark of the tree is

[00:17:01] reputed

[00:17:02] purgative and vermin fuge

[00:17:05] And expels tapeworms because you can see this would be very useful to have a round in a survival situation

[00:17:12] um more, uh

[00:17:14] Let's see, uh modern use here plants for future says

[00:17:18] The root mark is anthal mintic and cathartic. That's exactly what it means gets rid of worms and

[00:17:24] um cathartic is you know laxative. We'll just go with that

[00:17:28] A tea made for the roots has been used in the treatment of weakness difficult urination dysentery

[00:17:34] Tapeworms and as a general panacea. So I mean a cure-all. Okay, I'm not going to go that far obviously but um

[00:17:40] Uh, the sap is used in the treatment of ringworm

[00:17:43] Another report says the milky juice obtained from the axis of the leaf is most useful for ringworm

[00:17:48] And the fruits are used to reduce fever

[00:17:51] Peterson field guide for eastern sensual medicinal plants says of red mulberry

[00:17:56] American indians drank root tea for weakness difficult urination dysentery

[00:18:01] Tapeworms as a panacea again externally the sap used for ringworms nutritious fruit used for lowering fever

[00:18:09] Um large doses can cause vomiting. I did not know that actually. Um

[00:18:14] I guess I haven't eaten enough

[00:18:15] You know, I've always I have just try to get there before the birds do you know

[00:18:20] White mulberry is very popular in china and the leaf tea is used. Well, I mean in chinese herbal medicine

[00:18:27] We got plenty of it growing in america now

[00:18:29] Leaf tea used for headaches

[00:18:32] Hyperemia or congestion of blood thirst coughs as a liver cleanser

[00:18:38] Experimentally

[00:18:39] Leaf extracts are antibacterial

[00:18:42] young twig tea used for

[00:18:46] Adema

[00:18:47] Um excess fluids. So it's got a diuretic property fruits eaten for blood deficiency

[00:18:53] to improve vision circulation

[00:18:56] And for diabetes inner bark tea used for lung ailments as mccough anedema

[00:19:01] And finally botany adasis medicinally the bark

[00:19:05] The a tea of the bark is used as a laxative and to expel tapeworms

[00:19:09] The milky juice and unripe fruit may cause hallucinations

[00:19:15] Nervousness and upset stomach. Wow. I've never eaten the unripe fruit. Um, I've only had them when they're ripe

[00:19:23] I've never heard that mulberries could cause hallucinations. I guess be careful with that but uh

[00:19:28] Um, I think if it was a huge danger it'd be a little well known a little more well known and would have been

[00:19:33] mentioned by other authors

[00:19:36] So don't eat a lot of the unripe fruit. Let's just go with that

[00:19:39] So y'all that wraps up mulberry and uh, you know as I said to me

[00:19:45] This is one of the most useful and it has so many medicinal uses

[00:19:49] And in most all cases it's very mild medicinally

[00:19:53] And um just really darn tasty too. So like I said if you don't have a mulberry tree growing

[00:20:00] Give them going uh as soon as possible

[00:20:03] They're you know check your local garden center. Um, they probably order you some

[00:20:09] seedlings or young trees if they don't have any

[00:20:13] Let's see

[00:20:14] Well, I'm sure stark brothers nursery would have them you can order them online. I have ordered from stark brothers

[00:20:21] Absolutely fantastic company great prices fast shipping healthy plants

[00:20:26] I'm sure one green world has plenty a little more expensive, but they're you know

[00:20:31] excellent company and um

[00:20:34] Oh boy, what's that orchard in Tennessee?

[00:20:37] There is a nursery I mean in uh, Tennessee that is the name is not coming to me right now

[00:20:42] They specialize in fruit trees and berry bushes and they have really good prices have been around for a long time

[00:20:49] um

[00:20:50] Maybe allen

[00:20:53] I'm not sure but yeah, I'm sure if you just kind of google that you can find it out

[00:20:57] You know fruit tree orchard in

[00:20:59] Tennessee and I mean family owned and operated good prices

[00:21:03] Always been good to work with

[00:21:05] Anyway, y'all um really good to have some mulberries growing and remember you know

[00:21:12] Don't sacrifice your useful food producing trees for convenience. I know another person who uh,

[00:21:20] relative who inherited the most incredible

[00:21:24] pear tree

[00:21:25] The old-fashioned or the Bartlett seven pears

[00:21:29] um that

[00:21:30] the berry tree my grandfather used to

[00:21:33] harvest and

[00:21:35] He'd take his pocket knife and slice me off a piece of pear and you know great memories

[00:21:39] My grandmother made pear preserves. He made pear ciders and

[00:21:44] Well, this relative just didn't want to

[00:21:47] Bother picking up the fruit and so he cut down that beautiful tree and

[00:21:52] Still not happy about that even though the property has changed hands and I would have no access to it

[00:21:57] It's just you know my grandfather

[00:22:00] planted that tree and um

[00:22:02] Laziness is no excuse. I mean when I was a kid

[00:22:07] I mean, okay the pear was just abundant

[00:22:10] I mean it was just just incredibly abundant producing tree and of course some fall to the ground and they get bad spots and

[00:22:17] butterflies everywhere

[00:22:19] Monarch butterflies swallowtail butterflies. They would all flock to that tree. So, you know these memories of my childhood being there

[00:22:26] and and just

[00:22:28] thousands of butterflies

[00:22:30] Flying all around me and and eating right pears are are pretty special

[00:22:35] I'm trying to say the least pretty special just uh

[00:22:40] Makes me mad just think about it. Anyway, y'all have a great week and I'll talk to you next time

[00:22:48] The information in this podcast is not intended to diagnose retreat any disease or condition

[00:22:54] Nothing I say or write has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I'm not a doctor

[00:22:59] The u.s. Government does not recognize the practice of verbal medicine and there is no governing body regulating herbalists

[00:23:05] Therefore, I'm really just a guy who studies herbs. I'm not offering any advice

[00:23:09] I won't even claim that anything I write or say is accurate or true

[00:23:13] I can tell you what herbs have been traditionally used for I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb has helped me

[00:23:19] I cannot nor would I tell you do the same if you use an herb anyone recommends you are treating yourself

[00:23:25] You take full responsibility for your health humans or individuals and no two are identical

[00:23:30] What works for me may not work for you

[00:23:33] You may have an allergy a sensitivity and underlying condition that no one else even shares and you don't even know about

[00:23:39] Be careful with your health

[00:23:42] By continuing to list my podcast or read my blog you agree to be responsible for yourself

[00:23:47] To your own research make your own choices and not to blame me for anything ever