MEDICAL MONDAY: Herbal Medicine for Preppers: 12 Essential Herbs for Preppers

Hey, y'all, welcome to this week's show. I actually remembered today was Wednesday. This time, I think we're going to wrap up this series on Growing your Survival Herb Garden today. In well, as I was nearing the end of writing this book, people kept asking me. I got several questions, what are your top ten or twelve herbs that I would consider essential to have on hand? So I resisted for a while because, honestly, that's not the way I do things. I recommend people make a list of their common health concerns and then tailor, you know, the herbs to their own needs. But I thought about it and and I and honestly, you know, I saw so many herbs in the wild. I don't try to grow everything in the garden. Now. The book is written with the person in mind that has to figure out how to grow something, maybe in a you know, an hoa, a poa, or even a window box. You know that that's the point of this book. Someone who's really not doesn't have my lifestyle. My lifestyles. I get a lot from the wild in terms of food and medicinal herbs and everything, but not everyone lives out in the middle of a National Forest. I mean, a lot of people live in town. So I decided, yeah, you know, I will do this. What are the essentials? Well, for me, mullanym plantain would certainly be on that list. But those are herbs I've never tried to grow. I mean, they're just so commonly abundant. But so anyway, okay, let me get to the point. I reached out to my friends of the Grow Network. Now, if you haven't checked out the Grow Network, you probably want to do. So. It's Marjorie Wildcraft site. If you're a prepper, you have probably heard of Marjorie. The Grown Network is not a prepper network per se, but just about everybody on there has a prepper lifestyle. And I'm one of the admins of the site, so I answer a lot of questions. I talk with a lot of people. There are several professional herbalists that are on there. Any kind of advice you need about growing stuff, I mean, the gardening. The Grow Network's really a fantastic resource, and you know, go to the forums and like I said, I'm one of the admins of the forums, so it's a really easy way to get in touch with me. If you have a question. Well, I asked several of the herbalists, and Tory is a professional clinical herbalist in Canada, and her herbs are going to be specific to Canada. She said, you know, obviously this is really area specific as to what I have to grow in my garden. I don't usually grow things that are abundant enough that our harvest in the wild. So and like me, I mean we have Actually our environments are kind of similar. The mountains of North Carolina as in western Canada are not that different. Ditto the catskills up in New York. I mean they just get more snow, you know. But for her, this is her list of essentral herbs. Colindula Kalindia absolutely great, I mean, anti inflammatory, good for the skin. Comfrey also knows knit bone. I mean it's great for healing wounds well, I mean great arthritis and such bone set. It's Upatorium, great for lowing fevers, el Campaign good for the lungs. Gentian good for digestion and the liver. Valerian and excellent sedative herb. And she likes California poppy, which is is really good for pain. All these you know, we've discussed in previous shows. So I'm not going into a lot of detail here. Detail here, horse radish really good for congestion, Garlic of course, good for immune support, heart health, just about everything, cholesterol, etc. Marshmallow excellent as a poultice for wounds, for rashes, but we're also really good for the digestive system, soothing an upset stomach. And lemon balm I'd say the same thing about that. Lemon balm's also slightly sedative. And motherwort, which is an excellent women's herb. It is just very supportive, not to be used by pregnant women. But anyway, those were her essentials. She said, well, that's twelve and there are many other culinary herbs that one should not be without. I would highly recommend Parsley time, Rosemary, oregano, sage immense. I agree completely. She also said Arnica and Saint John's Wart or two and be without, but they grow fairly prolifically where I live, absolutely great. Uh well, for so many reasons. I mean, Arcas is like the go to herb for bruising and blunt force trauma. Saint John's Wart has good, it has it's anti viral, it's good for mood support, it helps with serotonin, you know, and also an excellent wound herb or skin irritation herb. And then she says, I have some others too, but they're not considered safe and shouldn't be used by anyone but a very experienced herbalists. I have some in that category as well, and we have a discussed them, and I have given you strong warnings against using say, monkshood or wolf spain, you know, uh detura, you know, those are very dangerous herbs, incredibly poisonous herbs. Laurie also in Canada, she's in Zone threes. It's much colder. Actually, she says, I'm a big fan of forged medicinal plants, and for me, plantain is top and chick weed is next in line. I've told you how to grow both of those, and yeah, those are yeah, well plantains, when I would say essential chick weed is nice to have comfrey. We discussed mints, stinging nettle, lemon, balm, hawthorn, elderberry, juniper berry. I mean that's a medicine cabinet right there. I mean, stinging nettle is just fantastic for allergies. It's very nutritious. Al I mentioned lemon, brom hawthorn Israeli helps with heart issues, elderberry for immune system, juniper berry for immune and long issues and all you know, those are just those are great. She says, I also think if my hair it's chickens and herbs, that would be beneficial to them. So in addition to the above, and chickweed obviously is great for chickens, she would include time, holy basil, sage a regano, chili's and garlic. Yeah, I mean absolutely, And she says, of course they're more, but I'd better stop because you've already got a Baker's zozen from me. Now, totally different environment. My friend Jody in Australia, she says, I'm going to list a few that are easy to grow in my area and produce a lot of plant material. I think she's in Western Australia if I remember correctly. Comfrey, colindula, ginger and garlic, turmic dandelion, rosemary and lemon, balm, chili's, parsley, sage mint, and thyme. And she says Saint John's wort doesn't grow in my area, but I always have it in my herbal supplies. Absolutely. Marge in Washington, Son eight b said, what I grows colendula, Well, it grows itself. Actually, she says, I have time basil, regano, and a sunny window seal in the garden. Besides collenjula, I have rosemary, comfrey, mother wart growing for several years. Of the garden ones. I use rose mare and collensula the most. Oh and of course garlic. It always seems more of a basic food than an herb. Most everything else I gather from the wild or get from the grocery store fresh mary, Linda Biddle and Missouri five B. That's the same as my zone. Actually five B A hawthorn tree, a wild rose hedge would be excellent. But here are my twelve based on what I like to have on hand. Elderberry, comfrey, collendula, Saint John's wart, elkin, payne, motherwort, lavender, parsley, lemon, balm, peppermint, marshmallow, and camerme mill. You see, you see in a lot of crossover, we use a lot of the same herbs. So I mean, you're going to probably end up with about two dozen essentials from this list. But I mean, like everybody's saying, these essential herbs are the essentially essential for all of us. Now. The only thing I don't use mother wort because I'm a guy. But you know these so far have all been women. In fact, yeah, every one of them so far, she said, because culinary herbs considering them as a second tier, because you can get them at the grocery store. If you can't if you need them fast or you don't have them growing. I grow parshally for blood pressure issues and don't really use it otherwise. And you know me, I put partially in everything. It's like my go to culinary herb. She also uses rosemary, thyme, bazin sage and grows them in her garden, and she says dandelion and plantain grow all over the place here, so again a plug for dandelion and plantain. Nick Samanda said, I like these twelve lemon balm catnip. No. See, that's one people I haven't mentioned before, but it's yes, very good, excellent sedative herb. Sheep sorrel one of my favorite wild edibles. I mean, I'd never grown sheep sorrel, but I use it a ton and it's quite a stringent, and it helps with diarrhea, and it's a lot of items see in it. It's it's good yarrow. No I had mentioned yarro before, and absolutely now yar grows wild all over my yard, so I don't have to propagate it. But that is like the go to for stopping bleeding. Also good for diarrhea and such comphy in oragano time. Horsetail that's another one nobody had mentioned. Horsetail is acquisiteum and I've done a program on that. You can back up and listen to it. Excellent for the joints, the bones, the skin, really good. Good plant be bomp is in the mint family. That's Minarda. That's one nobody had mentioned before. It grows again. For me, it grows wild. But as I think, I did a whole episode on it, it is one of the prettiest flowers you will ever see and has many medicinal uses. Really great for fevers, burns, on so many things, rosemary, lavender and lamb's quarters. She mentions that one we just is showing that. A couple of weeks ago, Tina Rock in New Jersey said, my top herbs that I grow to have on hand when needed our nettle's comfrete, plantain collinslin yara Echinasia echinasia is well, yeah, I've done a whole show on it. I don't need to tell you a lot about it. I guess you're getting the idea now. But echinasia is like the go to for immune support and it propagates hyaluronic acid. So it's wonderful to have on hand for snake bites and venomous spiders that have a necrotizing a tissue destroying. The brown recluse and the black widow are both pretty common in North Carolina, so I think echinasia is really good to have on hand. Yeah, and we do have poisonous snakes too. You know, we have copperheads mainly, but we get rattlesnakes. Yeah. I mean I just live a little too high for rattlesnakes. It's too cold for them. Yeah. I've told you the story before about how the state brought in like thousands of rattlesnakes and released them saying they were an endangered species. And they put them out on public trails where they were biting people, horses, and then they all froze to death that winter. Yeah, that's that's government for you. Seriously. I don't know, yeah, I don't know if that was the state of the FEDS. That could have been the FEDS. But I mean that's a perfect example of you know why we need to shrink the sky size and scope of government. They're stupid people that spend our money on stupid things for the most part. For the most part, I mean, I think you could probably cut ninety percent of government programs and agencies and employees and nobody even noticed the difference. Yeah. Whatever. So she also says peppermint, violet violet. We did a program on that, good for good for wounds, good for a lot of things, has an aspirin sealacen equality, good for lowing fevers. Yeah, it's a good one to have one hand. Again, just it's wild for me. So I don't worry about that. Garlic oni is in hobby Niro peppers, Well, she says, she makes firesider from garlic, coynes and habanero peppers. Now, wonderful. We've talked about firesider probably a year ago. So go back to Herbal Medicine for Preppers and find that episode. Yeah, that's a good one. Elderberry red clover a stragglus. Now that's one I don't know that I mentioned in this book. It is a good adaptogen, very good herb to have on hand, and very easy to grow. Oatstraw burdock parsley. No, no, I think I mentioned astragles under adaptogens. Maybe I did. Yeah, I think it was a show on that one too. Oatstraw, burdock parsley, catnip, motherwort. Again, I'm starting to see these patterns, right. Artemisia annua, that is sweet Annie. That is an excellent anti viral member of the wormwood family marigolds, which she says she loves to eat the flowers to support her eyesight. Saint John's wart and Prunello vulgaris Let's see, oh Julanta in Austria. So let's go to a completely different part of the world. Right. I grow many more than twelve, but I try to prioritize raspberry and BlackBerry for fruit and mainly for leaves. I collect a lot is their basis of most of my herbal mixtures. The leaves are used as house tea for all ages. Also rosemary, sage, savory of regino, thyme, colindula, horse radish, catnip, lemon balm, deal, carowaine, fennel. Such great herbs for digestion, they will settle and upsits dom it. They help with diarrhea, they help with flatch once a whole bit, and all kinds of mints, and there are many more. I cannot imagine not having lime blossoms. That's what they call linden or basswood in Europe. Good sedative relaxing tea made from those flowers helps with sleep, Saint John's wort, dandelions, stinging nettles, ground elder, and elder flower. Now, ground elder is one I don't think we have discussed in great detail. It's one you have to be a little careful with. And that's more because the common name ground elder is applied to many different plants. So but she's her elder, I believe, is one that bears elderberry berries. So that's actually different than what we call ground elder in the United States. It's just a small, shrubby version of elderberry. Anyway, elderberries are just great, and she also uses elder flower. So definitely see some patterns emerging that on each person's list. But I mean it's also very individual. And let me tell you what would be my top twelve. Well, I have allergic asthma, so mine's gonna be waited a bit in that direction. I'll start with a couple of long herbs, assuming I can harvest wild mullein and cherry bark, I would grow Ella campaign and tyme, and maybe liquorice angelica. Angelica grows wild all over the mountains, so that's another one I foraged for. I've never actually had to try to grow it, but yeah, licorice el campaign time great long, arms mathlong, though not mouthlong. Let me think, ooh, Codonopsis dang shin, that one really should be on the list of anyone who has asthma or copd any kind of breathing issues that I definitely would prioritize and under herbs for long issues. I told you all about dang shin Codonopsis and why I would consider it essential. It's also known as poor Man's gensing. It has some it has some adaptogenic properties. I think of all the adapters and so Gaina stema is probably my favorite. And while that I don't consider that at all essential, be really good to grow that one too, because it's like a straggalus. It's it's just really easy to grow and much more potent than gensing in terms of as an adaptogen, and gensing is really expensive, kind of stemaitee is cheap and like more effective. So anyway, so for allergies, I wild harvests ragweed and mimosa blossoms, so I actually do grow steaining nettles. Yes, I can wild harvest them too, but I consider them to be absolutely essential and I never seem to find enough in the wild to have as both food and medicine, because I mean I use them for both, and I mean really good. I've told you how to make nettle soups and all that. And actually Gilanta from Austria she uses the seeds like in everything, muffins, breads, She's just anything she can use. Where she might use poppy seeds or chia seeds, she throws in stinging nettle seeds because they are absolutely probably the most nutritious plant of all. Had a friend, young girl developed really severe anemia after having a couple of kids. And she was really young, so I mean it was like a major lifestyle change. It wasn't like she gradually got weaker or whatever. No, she just she got sick. And the of course the doctor prescribed iron, and she said, are there any herbs or anything I can do, And I said, yeah, let me show you how to harvest nettles. Nettles are so high in iron plantains really good. Yeah, there are several several herbs that can really help with anemia and that's what. So definitely for colds, a good strong mint would be a you know, a good one, peppermint or spearmint. You gotta be careful with water milt and penny royal, so yeah, I'd probably stick with peppermint and spearmint and a member of the wormwood family as an anti viral. So yeah, sweet Annie would be perfect. But yeah, I use probably more just well, well, I have done a whole show on the artemishes, and I'm not sure at mugwort. Okay, Mugwort's probably my favorite. Okay, Yes, I use a lot of wormwood. I like to grow it. I like to use it in Bitter's formulas. Mugwort is a really weirder and I have an affinity for it. People are either gonna love it or hate it. I happen to like mug wart. Like I said, done a whole show on that. It has some odd effects anyway, but you know, for me, it's not only anti viral, but it helps with sleep, which is always nice, and clears congestion from the lungs and it's good for digestion and yeah, anyway, uh so, yeah, a member of the wormwood family. I'm just gonna put it as that, because you can do whatever you want. And from the wild, I get bone set, Joe pigweed, dandelion. If I couldn't, I would definitely prioritize growing bone set and Joe pyeweed. And like I said, there are some really good cultivated dandulions you can grow in the garden that aren't as bitter and you're gonna enjoy eating them more. So yeah, I would do that too. In fact, I have a whole I grow French dandulions. Yeah. I got a pack of seeds from a company years ago and they just keep propagating, and so I have a mix of what's well, what grows naturally in my area. It's not really native, it was brought here by our ancestors. And these wonderful French dandulions with big leaves and they're delicious. And then for sleep and pain, I would definitely have Valerian absolutely. I grow valarian even though I can find it wild in the woods, because when I need it, I need it. Skull cap did a skull cap bros all over the place. But when it's needed, it's needed, you know. I mean, there's so many different types of pain, and I gotta tell you, I mean I cut myself on a regular basis as a wood carver. That doesn't really hurt. I mean, I know that's weird to me. Cut is like nowhere near like the worst kind of pain. I would rate burns as has more painful doing cuts. Broken bones, you know, and when they first when it first happens, it's like throbbing, but then it's just like a doll ache, you know. Really, probably the most extreme pains that I get are like when I get a you know, my back goes out real extreme neck or back pain where the muscle spas. I mean, you got a pinch nerve. I mean that's just like intense, really intense pain. And so you know, I'm going to go for an anti spasmodic, and skull cap is an anti spasmodic. It also helps with menstrual cramping. But if I was recommending twelve cent orbs for a woman, would I would put cramp bark in there. That they're both very effective, but I do think that I do think that cramp bark, well, they're both very effective, actually, but I think cramp bark may be a little I'd give it one point higher than the skull cap for menstral cramping. And but if you can't grow cramp bark, like it's a little too cold where I live, whereas let me think, no, it's by vernum opulus and I am actually right on the edge of the zone. It actually likes a cooler temperature than I have. It's a little too warm in most of the south to grow it. I can actually grow it. I don't have a need to grow it. I grow skull cap. Uh. You know we're doing this twelve essential herbs for a woman. I would I would put yeah, viburnum in there, and mother wart. It helps with PMS type issues, you know. So what else? Oh for injuries? Uh, certainly Comfrey Arnica, Saint John's wart standard, just just like all the other herbalists said. And probably one more. I'm gonna add one more central herb and for me, it's gonna be bugle weed a juga repents. I like it. It is a great bitter uh fantasmican, you know the older herbals. You say it powerfully shrinks the liver. I mean, it's really good for digestion and liver issues and all that. It also, as I've mentioned, can help as sleep. It slows the heart rate. It's extremely sedative actually, and you know you don't want to overdo it by any means. But I do have a family member that has an arrhythmia, and bugle weed slows and strengthens the heart rate and regulates the heart rate. So I'm going to throw that one in as when I would grow. But that's one that should absolutely be used with caution. And you know one more that I would say, like if you have window boxes and potted plants and such collius. Collius is good. I've done a show about that. There's not, as far as I can find, any research on the effects of collius, so I'm still not recommending its use. But I do use it as a sedative and anti spasmodic. Some people say can cause hallucinations. I have not encountered anything like that. But again I am not recommending collias because there is I can't find it in any herbal book. It's literally something that I seem to have discovered, and I seem to have discovered it because someone wasn't. Oh yeah, someone had well it's in the mint family, and someone said, you know, all mints are edible. Well that's not quite true. But someone said, well, I ate collias one time and it knocked me out. And I was like, what you know, it's that colorful, tied eyed looking plant. It's really odd looking plant. And I thought, well, you know, my neck was out. I was having that bad neck pain, and I thought, you know, I'm just going to give this a try. I mean, it's in the mint family, it's probably safe. You know. I'm kind of stupid that way. I take risk with my own help that I don't recommend you do. And I pulled off polaves and at them and I was like wow, okay. I mean like thirty minutes later, I'm like, wow, my neck pain is reduced by like half. This is this is fantastic. And then I got a little sleepy. Well, unfortunately, herbs that have that effect on you tend you tend to build up a tolerance very fast, and colleagues basically does nothing for me anymore. But so you know, that's when I'm just kind of throwing in there as a wild card. And there's also a reason it's good to grow the valerian and the and the skull cap and have maybe some lemon balm, a fresh lemon bomb, tincturen on hand, camameal even can you know, have a very mild sedative effect, so that you don't build up a tolerance by relying on one. Herb Ashwaganda would be one I would. I mean, it lowers blood pressure, it can help with sleep, it has some anti spasmodic properties, it's an adaptogen. It actually increases testosterone in men. And it's not too hard to grow. But for me, my climate's way too cold. I have to bring it inside, you know. So you know, as you can see, it totally depends on the individual. For instance, for someone who has an inflammatory condition of the bladder or intestines. Canada fleabane a rigeron, that's I mean, you know, yall row dandelion, camamel, mallow, marshmallow, any of the mala families, golden rod, gold rut's really good. But of course you can find that wild everywhere. But yeah, it's uh that would you know again, if I was saying for for women or for you know, definitely throw in something for uti infections. You know, a woman of child child bearing years may wish to grow some specific herbs. I mean, like Jilanta said about raspberry and BlackBerry leaf. One who's menopausal or postmenalpausal would need an entirely different set of herbs. If you have kids, you know you're gonna want to have herbs for kids for the upset stomachs and fevers and beastings. Definitely some plantain for beastings, and you know, tailor it to your taste, but to your needs. I guess I should say garlic garlic for earaches. Kids get earaches and all that. You know, Yeah, garlic or onion, the juice of it just put in the air really really works. So I mean, yeah, write down a list of your specific needs and then go through my book either well either this one Growing your survivor Herb Garden or Herbal Medicine for Preppers or both preferably, or dig back through the archives of all the shows that we've done here and make a list of you know, maybe a dozen essential herbs for your specific or your family specific needs. Make sure cross reference with my book, make sure they'll grow in your area, and learn how to grow them. I mean, I tell you how to grow every single one of these herbs, what zone they like, what soil conditions, and all that. If you don't have my books, I'm still running the special. I decided to extend it through January one. Anyone who becomes a paid subscriber to my substack newsletter, which is only eight bucks a month, it's Judson Carrol Master Rbalist. This site, Judsoncarrol dot com is actually the you are el Judsoncarrol dot com and the substec newsletter is called Judson Carrol Master Rbalist. Super easy to find. Obviously, I'm sending everybody two free ebooks. So if you want these two books, you know, Survival Growing Your Survival, Herb Garden and Survival I mean herbal Medicine for Preppers, I'll send you twenty dollars worth of ebooks for an eight dollar subscription. Just something I want to do for Christmas. You know things are tight for people, and you know it's a good last minute gift that's not going to cost you a lot, but you can absolutely have it for yourself. To or any of my books. Actually, I'm sending just two free e books with even just a one month subscription. So if you've got one of these already and you want another one of my books, hey, I'll send it to you, no problem. If you want to give somebody the books and keep the subscription for yourself or vice versa, it doesn't matter to me. This is just a way I'm trying to help people out and let them save some money. And I'm obviously kind of taking a loss on it, but that's fine. It's Christmas and that's something I want to do. So remember, Judsoncarrol dot com is the URL from my newsletter Judson Carrol, Master Herbalist. So totally optional up to you. You know, if you want a hard copy, you got to go to Amazon. Man. Unfortunately that's the only option that I have right now. So anyway, you have a great week. Today is the thirteenth. Remember the Post Office is saying if you want to get something chipped somebody on time for Christmas, you need to put it in the mail by the fifteenth. I think that applies for just about everything but Amazon, so I mean, wow, they get things to you fast. But everybody else seems to have an issue with mailing. So anyway, y'all have a going I'll talk to you next week and we will begin an entirely new series. So look forward to it. I look forward to sharing the information with you. We're gonna we're gonna start getting into medicinal trees. Always say, if you learn the trees and you learn their uses, no matter where you are, I mean just about and maybe not in the middle of a desert or something, or I don't know, the north Pole, you can probably find all the herb herbal medicine you need just right in your backyard. So to me, that's like essential survival medicine. And I've covered some before. We're gonna get really in depth on the medicinal uses of trees. I got another book on the medicinal uses of shrubs and woody vines. Again, it is so much easier to identify a bush than a lot of little green plants on the ground. You know that can look pretty similar. Well, you get your trees, you get your shrubs and woody vines down, and you're gonna find medicine anywhere anywhere, I mean even in a desert. You're going to find some shrubs and woody binds that are going to help you out. So y'all have a going talk to you next time. The information this podcast is non intended to diagnose your tree, any disease or condition. Nothing I say or write has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I'm not a doctor. The US government does not recognize the practice of verbal medicine, and there is no governing body regulating herbles. Therefore, I'm really just a guy who says IRBs. I'm not offering any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write or say is accurate or true. I can tell you what earths have been traditionally used for. I can tell you my own experience, and if I believe in herb has helped me, I cannot nor would I. Tell you to do the same. If you use an herb anyone recommends you are treating yourself, you take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals, and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you. You may have an allergy of sensitivity and underlying condition that no one else even shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health by continuing to listen to my podcast or read my blog. You read it, Be responsible for yourself, your own research, make your own choices, and not to blame me for anything ever