Common sense wellness

From Judy at My Freezer is Full.

With all the media hype and hysteria about the flu it’s important to recognize what we can do to keep ourselves and those we love as healthy as possible.  We can’t shield ourselves, or our loved ones, from every illness that comes along and face it, vaccine or not, sometimes people get sick.  But what are some common sense things that we can do, and reinforce with our families, to keep us well.

First and foremost is keeping our hands clean.  Today is Global Hand Washing Day.  Really, it is, seriously.  I couldn’t make something like that up.  It is an international effort to teach everyone, especially children, how simply washing your hands with soap and water can help prevent illness.  Their focus is often on developing countries but hand washing is something that I know my children could definitely improve.  And in these days, when 25% of students at my daughter’s high school were absent due to ‘flu-like illness’, including my daughter, hand washing is important in every home, school and business.  If soap and water isn’t available, there are a number of alcohol based hand gels that can also do the trick- but I much prefer good old soap and water.

Next come some of the other common sense things: covering your cough (and teaching your children to do the same), cleaning doorknobs, sink handles, phones and other commonly touched surfaces on a regular basis.  And of course, avoiding sick people if at all possible. This also means staying home if you’re sick. It’s amazing how many people I have heard complaining about parents who bring their child to gymnastics, volleyball practice or other events when the child is obviously not well enough to be there and is coughing all over everyone else who is there.  Use some good judgement.

Another thing to remember is to take good physical care of yourself and your loved ones.  This means good nutrition, plenty of sleep and moderate exercise.  Now, I know that good nutrition is a priority already for many people who read here.  But, if you’re like me- working full time and still trying to do everything else, sleep is often seen as a privelege  rather than a right.  I don’t get enough sleep on a regular basis and I know it.  It’s something I have been working on. But I have also learned to listen to my body and sleep if I need to.  My daughter, oldest son and I have all had the malady that has been going around here.  Whether it is H1N1 or not doesn’t really matter but we discovered that it responds well if you give yourself permission to sleep for 12-16 hours.

So in short, keeping your hands clean, taking good physical care of yourself and using common sense when out and about are your best defense at keeping everyone in your home well.  There are many treatments or preventatives from both herbal and conventional medicine but I much prefer common sense wellness.  It’s good for a lifetime, not just the flu season.

The perfect cup of tea

Congratulations to One Acre Homestead.  You are the winner of the Tea Time contest and will be receiving your Tea Care Package from me shortly!

Now, for a mini-class in “tea” making.

Supplies you will need:

¨     Teapot or other means of heating water (glass or stainless steel are preferable as other metals can react with the herbs)

¨     Strainer, mesh tea bag, tea ball, cheesecloth or other means of straining out the herbs

¨     Tea cup (you can also use a mason jar which can be easily closed during the steeping process)

¨     Mason jars or other storage containers

¨     Honey or other sweetener (if desired)

Tea:

A tea is made by steeping a small amount of herbs (1-2 tsp.) in hot water for a few minutes.  This is commonly how commercial teas are made, and most commonly what we make at home.  If you want a little more bang from your herbal teas, leave it in the water for 10 minutes instead of 2, and cover it up while it’s steeping to keep the good stuff from evaporating off.

For medicinal benefits from our water preparations, we generally look to Infusions and Decoctions.  These are both basically teas that are left to steep longer, extracting more of the medicinal properties of the herbs.

Infusion:

Infusions are generally made from the aerial parts of plants (leaves, flowers, fruits) and those parts with volatile oils (fennel seed and valerian root are examples). An infusion can be made hot or cold (called a maceration).

A hot infusion:

• Bring water to a boil.
• Measure out 1 Tablespoon of dried herb, or 2 Tbsp. fresh herbs.
• Pour one cup of boiling water over your herbs and steep, covered.
• For aromatic plants steep for 10-15 minutes’ for non-aromatic leaves and flowers steep for 30-60 minutes; for woody plants and soft roots steep 1-4 hours.
• Strain and squeeze out the plant parts, sweeten if you like, and enjoy your herbal infusion!

A cold infusion or Maceration:

• Measure out 1 Tablespoon of dried herb, or 2 Tbsp. fresh herbs.
• Pour one cup of cold water over your herbs and steep, covered for 1-4 hours, or even over night.
• Strain and squeeze out the plant parts, sweeten if you like, and enjoy your herbal infusion!

Decoction:

Decoctions are made from roots, barks and non-aromatic seeds.

• Place one ounce of herb in a pot and cover with 1 quart of cold water.
• Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil.
• Lower the heat and simmer the herbs for 20-30 minutes (longer if you are working with a lot of hard, woody herbs).
• Take off the heat and allow the decoction to cool a temperature tolerable to touch.
• Strain and squeeze out the plant parts, sweeten if you like, and enjoy your herbal decoction!

Teas, Infusions and Decoctions are for immediate use and should be kept for no longer than 24 hours (in the refrigerator) before discarding.

Mixing up your own perfect blend of herbal teas takes time and experience.  It’s not that it’s hard to do, it’s just that you need to get to know your herbs, their flavors, smells, and how they affect you.  If you are new to herbs, there are lots of herbalists out there who are creating fun herbal tea blends that you can start experimenting with.  Blessed Botanicals and  Summit and Spice Tea Company are a nice place to start looking for your perfect tea (no, I don’t get any kick backs from them.  I just like their stuff)

Have fun!

Rolling with the stones

by Stephanie of Going Green In So. IL

Having a back up when the homemaker is down is not something I had considered until yesterday.  Thursday morning at about 2 am I was in the throes of passing some kidney stones that I didn’t know I had.   William was at work  as he is back on third shift. However, I was lucky  and was not alone this night.  My new roommate was in the process of getting some stuff brought over and had crashed here. I do have a few friends in the neighboring town (7-10 miles away) but there is no way to be sure if anyone would hear their phone (if it was even on) or be able to come get me.  My closest family is 3 hours away.  William has no family outside of his kids. 

I am also lucky in that there were no children at home that would need taken care of.  I was eventually released 4 hours later from the ER after successfully passing 2 stones but the last time I had stones 2 1/2 years ago I had to be admitted to the hospital because they got stuck.  William can take care of himself and my kitties and the dog. But what if it was something more long term?  Then there was getting me home and taking care of me.  The first part is no problem, the second part…well he tried at least but if it was something where I needed to be watched while he was at work we would have to scramble again. 

So I am seriously looking at an emergency list for the future.  If something should happen it would list who we can call for help. If it were a long term thing or a long distance (they ship out to St. Louis a lot)  who could help with the animals.  Thankfully the only thing affected was the laundry but I have the next two days off and can catch up on that easily.