Page 31 - OffGrid East Coast Special Edition 2016

Echinacea
Conelower (Echinacea) ofers natural cure for colds & cuts
Common Name: Conelower
Lain Name(s): Echinacea purpurea and Echinacea angusifolia
Uses:
Echinacea is a powerful immune simulant that can ward of colds or infecions when used at early onset. Echinacea incture can be taken internally for colds or infecions or used topically for inlammaion, bites, sings, cuts or skin infecions. For internal use, take 2 teaspoon of the incture at the irst sign of illness every hour unil symptoms disappear. For external use, apply incture directly to the skin or add to water and use as
a wash.
Avoid taking Echinacea when you are not sick as your body will habituate the immune response and it will be less efecive when needed. The medicinal properies of the root, leaf, and lower cannot be drawn out by water, therefore the tea infusion is not efecive in treaing illness or ighing infecions. Flower petals can be added to tea mixes for their color, but it will have no medicinal efect.
Growing
Duraion: Perennial
Light: Full sun
Nutrient Requirements: Moderate - apply compost in the spring Soil: Well-drained
Zone: 3 – 9
Height: 1 meter
Color: Purple
Flowering ime: Mid-August
Parts Used: Root, leaf, and lower
Propagaion
Seed: seeds require cold moist straiicaion, needing to go through a period of cold and warm condiions to germinate. Seeds can be straiied in the fridge or simply planted outdoors in the fall. The plant will lower in the second year and every year ater that.
Division: Echinacea can be divided in early spring or late fall by digging the root mass of 2 - 3 year old plants and dividing one or two imes. Place each division in a new locaion.
How to Make Echinacea incture:
Leaf and lower - E. purpurpea only
Fill a clean jar with the fresh leaf and lower in September and cover completely with a soluion of at least 25% alcohol. Leave no air space in jar and cover ightly with a lid. An air space can cause desiccaion when plant material loats to the top, oxidizes and molds.
Root – both E. purpurea and E. angusifolia
Half ill a clean jar in late September with cleaned fresh root and ill with a soluion of at least 25% alcohol. Leave no air space in jar and cover ightly with a lid.
Shake the jars daily and store in a cool dark place. Ater 2 weeks, strain liquid and store in dark jars or in a dark cupboard.
Ecological Uses
Echinacea is an important nectar source for bees, goldinches and buterlies.
About the
Estelle lives on a 400-acre homestead and forest and
is working to restore land, grow food and medicine, reduce energy and fossil fuel use, and create habitat for wildlife. Estelle’s interest in plants, their uses, and how to grow them evolved from connecing to the natural world through hiking, work- ing outdoors, and gardening. Estelle is also the Food and Ecology Specialist at Com- munity Forests Internaional, a not-for-proit based out
of Sackville, NB, focusing on sustainable land use, forestry, and farming.
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