Traditional Healing Herbs are gentle, nature‑centered ways of easing the symptoms of flus, colds, and digestive upsets, of working with chronic maladies, and of giving first aid for minor accidents such as cuts, bruises, and stings. For thousands of years, people have relied on plants for healing. Gathering summer plants for winter remedies is part of the year’s rhythm. There’s a pleasant satisfaction, too, in preparing herbal remedies for your family, your friends, and yourself. Among the joys of summer can be growing and gathering beneficent garden herbs, drying them in big fragrant bunches for winter teas, and preparing a collection of herbal tinctures, syrups, oils, ointments, and cosmetics. In winter, we can use summer’s bounty to keep ourselves healthy.
Roman chamomile. Small daisylike blooms appear in summer on spreading 12 inch perennial plants with finely cut foliage whose aroma is reminiscent of apple or pineapple. Grow in well-drained soil, sun to part shade.
Traditional Healing Uses: To treat sleep disorders and anxiety, soothe skin inflammation, heal wounds, aid digestion, and lessen symptoms of the common cold. Most commonly, young leaves and flowers (fresh or dried) are prepared as a tea.
Other Uses: To bring out highlights in blond hair or moisturize dry hair.
Harvest: Collect and dry flowerheads to make into tea.
Take a look at all our Traditional Healing Herbs in this amazing flip-book! Or click here for a poster.
