Page 222 - Lost Book Remedies

The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies

Muscle Aches and Arthritic Joints: The wax
of the bayberries contains pain-relieving agents. Com-
bined with the healing benefits of the powdered root, it
makes an excellent salve for aching joints and muscles.
Harvesting: Collect the root bark in the late autumn
or early winter and dry it for future use. Store the
pieces in sections, then chop it or powder it when
needed to keep it fresh. Store the bark in a tightly
sealed container in a cool, dark place. Harvest the bay-
berries when they are at the peak of ripeness and ex-
tract the wax as soon as possible. Retain both the wax
and the water for medicinal use.

Recipes. Bayberry Tea: 1 tablespoon dried bay-
berry leaves or crushed root, 1 cup water. Bring the wa-
ter to a boil and pour it over the leaves or root. Allow qualities so that only a few drops are needed per dose.
leaves to steep for 10 to 15 minutes and root bark to Store the extract for up to 3 days in the refrigerator or
steep for 20 to 30 minutes. Strain the tea. Use hot or divide it into smaller containers and freeze it for future
cold. use. The dosage depends on how concentrated the ex-
tract is made. Try using a few drops of a concentrated
Bayberry Fruit Extract and Wax Extrac- solution in tea. Use the saved wax below to make salve.
tion: Around five pounds of berries are needed to
yield about one pound of wax. Gather bayberries in the Bayberry Salve – for external use only. 1/4
mid-fall when the fruit is fully ripe. Wash the berries in to 1/2 cup extracted bayberry wax (see above recipe), 1
cold water and place them in an old pot, preferably one cup organic olive oil or another carrier oil, more if
reserved for wax making, and cover them with at least needed, 1 tablespoon powdered bayberry root. Add the
2 inches (5 cm) of water. Bring the pot to a simmer, but powdered bayberry root to the organic olive oil and
do not boil. Simmer for at least one hour. place over low heat. Warm the oil and powdered root
together for 30 minutes. Add the bayberry wax, stir-
Turn off the heat and cool overnight. In the morning, ring, until it is melted and the wax and oil are thor-
remove the solid wax from the water and keep it for oughly combined. Cool the mixture and test the con-
other uses. Put the water back over low heat and sim- sistency. Add more wax if the salve is too runny or
mer it again to reduce the volume greatly, leaving a few more oil if it is too hard. The consistency will depend
cups of water only. This concentrates the medicinal on your extracted wax and may vary between batches.

Bilberry,

Vaccinium myrtillus

Bilberry is sometimes called whortleberry, dyeberry,
and European blueberry. It is often confused with true
blueberries. This plant is a powerhouse of nutrition
and medicine. There is no better reason to eat jam and
jelly every morning than the medicinal benefits found
in this little berry. Watch closely for them to ripen, as
the birds also love them. It is in the Ericaceae (Heath)
Family. The bilberry plant is found in meadows and
moist northern coniferous forests, and is a common
arctic and subarctic shrub. It likes acidic soil. It is a Eu-
ropean plant but is commonly found in North America 5 Anneli Salo [CC BY-SA 3.0]

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