Herbaluna

We familiarize ourselves with our local biological communities, keeping in mind not only their requirements for survival but also for the overall health and happiness of each particular family of plants, the wildlife that often need the plants for food and shelter, and surrounding soil erosion. Sadly, many plants, including our beloved local Wild Ginseng, have been over-harvested to the point of near-extinction. It is also very important to know where you’re harvesting (no trespassing on private property!), and to carefully and correctly label each plant.

Feel free to let us know if you have any questions or need something special, but please remember that we are a small, family operation and our products are handcrafted by one work-at-home mom/herbalist who is also raising fifteen, three, and two month old daughters. I promise to always get back with you ASAP, but evenings and weekends are usually pretty busy around here unless you have an appointment with me. I check my email several times every day! --Leanne

A Few of the Herbs We Grow Naturally/Wildcraft and Use in Our Products

Black Walnut Juglans nigra (Wildcrafted)

Parts Used: Green outer hulls.

Black walnut hulls contain juglone, a chemical that is antibacterial, antiviral, antiparasitic, and a fungicide. As a skin wash, black walnut hulls are used to treat ringworm and yeast infections of the skin. Taken internally, black walnut hulls are used to treat intestinal worms.

Calendula Calendula officinalis (Cultivated)

Parts Used: Flowers.

Calendula Flowers have strong antibiotic action and immunostimulant properties. Painlessly promotes healing of minor wounds by reducing inflammation and pus formation. Calendula is also a strong antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiseptic, and astringent.

Chickweed Stellaria media (Wildcrafted)
Parts Used: All aerial (above-ground) parts.

Chickweed is a "drawing herb," once thought to remove toxins from the skin, now more typically explained as a microcirculatory stimulant for the skin. Chickweed may be employed to treat acne, abscesses of the skin, and eczema, as well as duodenal and peptic ulcers.

Comfrey Symphytum officinale (Cultivated)

Parts Used: Leaves

One of the most common uses of comfrey leaf is in an ointment or a poultice applied to sprains, broken bones and other wounds, where it promotes rapid healing of both skin lesions and bone breaks.

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale (Wildcrafted)

Parts Used: Leaves, Flowers, Roots

Dandelion leaf is a mild chloretic, that is, an agent for stimulating the release of bile from the liver into the gallbladder. The herb is used to support treatment of a variety of liver and gallbladder disorders, especially the incomplete digestion of fats. The release of bile is laxative, and accelerates the breakdown of various steroid hormones, causing an indirect, favorable effect on eczema and other skin conditions.

Dandelion leaf, like dandelion root, also is one of the best herbal diuretics. It stimulates urination but also replaces the potassium lost to the increased volume of urine.

Goldenrod Solidago canadensis (Wildcrafted)

Parts Used: Aerial (above-ground) parts in flower.

Used by American Indians to treat diarrhea, fevers, coughs and as a general sedative. An effective modern remedy for upper respiratory inflammation and congestion, rhinitis, seasonal allergies, cat allergies, sinus infections, colds and flu. An infusion of Goldenrod (aerial parts in flower) is used to treat laryngitis and sore throats. Relieves inflammation caused by bladder infections. In salves is used to treat ulcers, wounds and burns. Makes a yummy tea.

Joe Pye Weed Eupatorium purpureum (Wildcrafted)
Parts Used: Roots

Used by famed Alabama herbalist Tommie Bass to treat kidney and bladder disease, prostate problems, kidney stones, rheumatic pain, and type II diabetes. Joe Pye Weed is also used to treat chronic urinary tract diseases, prostate inflammation and swelling, cystitis, urinary tract infections, frequent urination, formation of kidney stones, and to relieve the pain and discomfort of bladder infections, prostatitis, interstitial cystitis, and rheumatic conditions. Avoid during pregnancy.

Lavender Lavandula spp. (Cultivated)

Parts Used: Flowers

The German Commission E commended lavender for treating insomnia, nervous stomach, and anxiety. The British Herbal Phamacopoeia lists lavender as a treatment for flatulence, colic, and depressive headaches, and many modern herbal practitioners use the herb to treat migraines in menopause. In Spain, lavender is added to teas to treat diabetes and insulin resistance. Cosmetically it has a multitude of uses and can be included in ointments for pain and burn relief. It is anti-microbial, antiseptic, mildly sedative, and painkilling.

Lemon Balm Melissa officinalis (Cultivated)

Parts Used: Leaves

Lemon balm is useful for treating nervous disturbances of sleep and chronic gastrointestinal disorders, but its primary use today is in treating viral infections of the skin, especially herpes, both genital herpes and cold sores. Although it does not eliminate flare-ups, it relieves itching in hours and helps the lesions heal over in a few days. One scientifically controlled study followed 66 individuals who were just starting to develop a cold sore (oral herpes). Treatment with lemon balm cream produced significant benefits on the second day of the outbreak (usually the day symptoms are worst), reducing intensity of discomfort, number of blisters, and the size of the lesion.

Mullein Verbascum thapsus (Wildcrafted)
Parts Used: Leaves, Flowers

Traditionally used as a tea, and is frequently combined with other herbs in mixtures for treating cough. The soothing mucilages of mullein coat sore throats and make coughing more productive. May be taken as an extract if fresh material is used, and is very rarely found in capsule form. The fresh or dried flowers have traditionally been used to make an oil infusion for external use.

Plantain Plantago Major (Wildcrafted)

Parts Used: Leaves

Plantain has been used as a veritable pharmacopeia in some Native American cultures and with some very good reasons. Many of its active constituents show antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, as well as being anti-inflammatory and antitoxic. The leaves, shredded or chewed, are a traditional treatment for insect and animal bites. The antibacterial action helps prevent infection and the anti-inflammatory relieves pain, burning and itching.

Poke Phytolacca americana (Wildcrafted)

Parts Used: Roots (My family & I use the berries but, like the roots, they are poisonous and I do not advise you to ingest one until you do your homework.)

Pokeroot is safe for informed herbal use. Poke leaf is not. Consumption of poke leaves can cause gastroenteritis with intense vomiting and frothy diarrhea. Usually used as a tincture in a dosage of one drop (that's right, one drop) per day. Do not overdose. Most often found in topical applications like creams, ointments, and oils.

Poke is a visually attractive 8 to 10 foot (250-300 cm) perennial with dark green leaves, purple stems, and bright red to bluish-black berries. This common understory tree is native to the temperate regions of the United States east of the Mississippi.

Poke was a common herbal remedy long before Europeans settled North America. The Mohegan Indians used a poultice of mashed pokeberries to relieve breast pain. The Delaware Indians reportedly used the pokeroot teas and poultices to relieve the joint pain.

During the first half of the nineteenth century, American physicians promoted pokeroot as a topical treatment for cancer, applied to areas of the skin where cancer was visible.. A poultice of root or compress of its tincture was used to treat inflammations and cancer. After the Civil War, pokeroot was more commonly used internally as an "alterative" (a substance that favorably alters the course of an illness) for arthritis and skin conditions. Pokeroot was widely believed to relieve constipation, and it was used to induce vomiting to treat certain kinds of poisoning. In the 1890s, a Dr. W. W. Baxter even made one of the first "diet pills" from pokeberries.

Scientists continue to search for new uses for this potent herb:

~ Pokeweed antiviral protein shuts down the ribosomal "energy generators" in cells infected by HIV.

~ Phytolacca mitogens stimulate the production of B and T cells by the immune system. They also, however, increase sensitivity to the lectins of foods.

~ The triterpene saponins in pokeroot have been shown to counteract swelling and edema caused by acute allergic response.

Usually used as a tincture in a dosage of one drop (thatÍs right, one drop) per day. Do not overdose. Most often found in topical applications like creams, ointments, and oils. Safety has not been established for pregnant women, nursing mothers, or children under the age of 6. Do not use pokeroot if you have liver or kidney disease.

St. John's Wort Hypericum perforatum (Cultivated)

Parts Used: Flowering tops.

Herbaceous St. John's Wort with yellow flowers filled with 50 to 60 stamens is the best selling medicinal herb in the United States and much of the rest of the world. A St. John's wort oil made with the blossoms and olive, sunflower, or wheat germ oil has been used for centuries for treating wounds and burns. St. John's wort as a whole herb gives the body "just enough medicine" to overcome the physical aches and pains and mild viral infections that keep the brain from recovering from depression. Nineteenth century Eclectic physicians in the United States used St. John's wort to relieve pain caused by injuries to the spine and puncture wounds in the hands and feet. The herb was noted for its ability to slow frequent urination, and treat "throbbing pains" of any origin.

White Pine Pinus strobus (Wildcrafted)

Parts Used: Inner bark and fresh leaves.

Antioxidant, antiseptic, astringent, bitter, expectorant, demulcent, & diuretic. White pine is a useful remedy in coughs and colds and has a beneficial effect on the bladder and kidneys.

Wild Violet Viola spp. (Wildcrafted)
Parts Used: Flowers and leaves.

Violet is a cooling, soothing herb. Violet leaves are very nourishing and are wonderful in salads. They are alterative, anodyne, antineoplastic, antiseptic, demulcent, depurative, dissolvent, diuretic, emmolient, expectorant, laxative, mucilaginous, nutritive, suppurative & vulnerary. The flowers are antiscorbutic, aperient, and are all edible. They are used in syrups for sore throats and coughs, and given to children for digestive upsets. Violet flower oil is used for relief from tinnitus. They are also absolutely dreamy crystallized in sugar.

Wormwood Artemisia absinthum (Cultivated)

Parts Used: Leaves and flowering parts.

Counters food-poisoning and parasites. Prevents giardia, dysentery, and amoebas. Cholagogic, digestive, appetite-stimulant, liver-stimulant, wound healer. Wormwood contains constituents that may be toxic if ingested in large amounts and for extended periods of time. Not to be used while pregnant. Use of wormwood can lower seizure threshold; interacts adversely with seizure-reducing medications.

Yarrow Achillea millefolium (Wildharvested & Cultivated)

Parts Used: Flowering tops.

The British Herbal Compendium notes that preparations of yarrow lower fevers, induce sweating, stop cramps, encourage menstruation, relieve inflammation, and stimulate the release of stomach acid to digest proteins and fats. The herb is used in skin treatments of slow-healing wounds. The Complete German Commission E Monographs recommends sitz baths with yarrow added to the bath water to relieve pelvic cramps in women. Use with caution if you are allergic to ragweed. Its use is not recommended while pregnant.

*Please note: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. The information we provide is for educational purposes only and not meant to prescribe, diagnose, treat or prevent any disease. It should not substitute the advice or recommendations of your physician or health professional, nor should it replace prescription medications without proper supervision.