Rachel Jepson Wolf - Herbal Adventures: Backyard Excursions and Kitchen Creations for Kids and Their Families

1. 1
   Getting Started
2. 2
   Chickweed
3. 3
   Nettle
4. 4
   Elderberry
5. 5
   Dandelion
6. 6
   Catnip
7. 7
   Yarrow
8. 8
   Bee Balm
9. 9
   Plantain
10. 10
    Mullein
11. 11
    White Pine
12. 12
    Basic Recipes

Backyard Excursions and Kitchen Creations for Kids and Their Families

RACHEL JEPSON WOLF

Foreword by Amanda Blake Soule

A Note to Parents from Amanda Blake Soule

S o many precious childhood memories take place in naturewhether deep in a forest or in an urban city park. Growing up, my own neighborhood was suburban, but it had a little patch of wild. A potential house lot, never developed, became a place where the neighborhood children would run and play. We had an elaborate fort system in those brambles where we passed long summer days with one another. We all learned (by necessity) to identify and stay away from the poison ivy. Over time, we built our knowledge; we discovered things such as where and when the milkweed could be foundand that the butterflies would visit it. I now know that plot was just one acre, but it felt enormous, and oh so important, as a child.

Today, my own children have a forty-acre plot in which they explore, scattered with forts and treehouses amidst the brambles and the poison ivy (which they can all identify). It has become one of the places where our family connects. Though we spend a good deal of time working in the woodsclearing trail and cutting down firewoodtheres more that happens on each and every walk. In these woods, we find many of the earths precious plants, gently harvest them, and bring them back inside with us for health, wellness, medicinal, and nutritional use. Each year, we learn a little bit more about what plants thrive in our neck of the woods and what they can offer us.

Just as important, foraging is an activity during which our family spends time together free from the distractions of busy modern lives. Our focus turns to our surroundings. We must pay careful attention, slowing down to notice each seasonal change, and in the end we find not just plants but peace.

Beyond locating your own patch of wilderness, where do you start? It can be daunting to find what youre looking for, and tough to know what to do with the herbs once you have them in hand. Fortunately, in these pages, Rachel provides everything youll need for a lovely family walk into the woods. Youll find photos and information to help you confidently identify plants, as well as easy-to-craft projects. The recipes are accessible and useful to all members of the family.

By following her lead, we are empowered to heal our bodies and connect with the earth and one another. What a lifelong gift we can give our children in these simple acts.

Cheers to the herbal adventures ahead!

Amanda Blake Soule author of The Creative Family and editor of Taproot magazine

When our great-great-grandmothers were tending to their families needs, they looked no further than their own backyards for remedies to bring comfort and healing. Here they found the herbs they needed to treat a cough, soothe a sore throat, calm a diaper rash, or quiet a fussy baby.

T hey knew which plants were appropriate for which conditions, and this knowledge was fine-tuned to suit their region and to their families needs. Like favorite family recipes, this wisdom was passed down generation after generation. Each kitchen herbalist who inherited it made refinements and additions based on their own experiences, intuition, and preferences.

But somewhere along the way, as we moved into a more industrialized culture, this knowledge was misplaced. Backyard weeds-as-medicine fell out of favor and were replaced by over-the-counter syrups, pills, and creams.

Eventually, as a culture, we forgot that homemade remedies are effective, affordable, and easy to make. We forgot how well they work with our bodies, triggering our immune and nervous systems to heal themselves. We forgot how it feels to deeply nourish and heal the body, often from the inside out.

But today were beginning to remember.

Foraging bee balm

One child and one adult at a time, were picking up what was forgotten. Were learning the old ways once more and reclaiming our green legacy. We are turning back to the plants again and asking them to share their secrets.

Had we grown up in a different time, our childhood days may have been spent in the garden and the forest alongside a parent or grandparent, helping forage herbs for both food and remedies. We would know the plants like we know old friends and readily harvest one for a cough, another for a cut, and another for sore muscles. Yet today, many of us are unsure where to begin.

By writing this book, I hope that everyoneparents and children alikewill have a chance to regain a bit of that misplaced wisdom. Wisdom that was yours all along. These plants and these pages mark the starting point of an herbal adventure that will take you as far as you wish to go!

What is an herbal remedy?

Throughout this book well explore herbal remedies and herbal medicines. But what exactly do those terms mean? An herbal remedy or medicine is simply a treatment for an injury or illness made from the leaves, berries, roots, flowers, or bark of a plant. These remedies come in many different forms, from teas and syrups to oils and salves.

For any adult who has felt a bit lost in learning the names (much less the uses!) of common wild plants, for any child who has lain on the cool earth watching for fairies and listening to the wind, for any of us who has felt the calm comfort that nature can bring, may this book be a key that opens doors of knowledge and wonder and brings you the satisfaction of self-sufficiency.