Harvesting Ground Ivy

On June 12th I went to one of the areas where I wild-harvest herbs and harvested ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), better know as creeping Charlie in some areas. This Eurasian species has naturalize throughout much of North America. Some people consider it invasive, especially in shady areas, but it really isn't. It can sometimes be prolific, but it doesn't crowd out other species. It often grows on shadier parts of lawns. If you notice a somewhat minty smell when you are mowing the lawn, you've probable mowed some ground ivy!

This is an herb that I use in moderate quantities in my practice - typically about 4-5 litres per year. It is a very versatile herb and I would probably use even more of it if it wasn't for the fact that it is a difficult herb to harvest in quantity due to its small size. As I still had 2 litres of ground ivy macerating and a bit more already pressed, this year I harvested 5 litres. With herbs that I use in small to moderate quantities I usually harvest a two year supply so that I only have to harvest about half of them each year, but because of difficulty harvesting large quantities of this herb it is necessary for me to harvest it annually.

Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) in the early spring before it starts to produce flowering stalks.
The larger, older looking leaves are the ones that have over-wintered.

Ground ivy is fairly sensitive to variations in weather conditions from year to year. In the region where I live it can go into flower any time from mid April to early May. It has a relatively long flowering period, typically flowering until late June or early July.

Although we tend to harvest the aerial parts of most herbs very soon after they go into flower, with ground ivy it is preferable to wait until a bit after the middle of its flowering period. This is because the flowering stalks that we harvest are relatively small and don't weigh very much. It is best to wait until they are almost at their maximum height. I usually harvest it from early to mid June, depending on the weather conditions in any given year.

The young stalks of ground ivy just before it begins to flower.

Fortunately ground ivy has a fairly long period when it can be harvested - typically about two weeks - because, with the unusually cool, wet weather we have been having, there haven't been very many days when the conditions are ideal for harvesting herbs. As a result, I didn't get a few of the herbs that I intended to harvest; but I had to get ground ivy because I use a fair amount of it.

This is what ground ivy looks like when it first goes into flower.

Last year the conditions were the opposite of this year. They were unusually hot and dry. As a result, I harvested ground ivy earlier; on June 5th. It was actually about a week later in its life cycle when I harvested it last year. Had I harvested it at a similar stage to when I harvested it this year it probably would have been about a week earlier, more like the end of May.

Here is ground ivy a few weeks later.

This year on June 12th I headed out to a wilderness area about 15 minutes from where I live to harvest ground ivy. As always, I began by offering tobacco to the spirits of the land and the medicine and asking permission to harvest the medicine that day. After I received permission I headed to an area where the spirit of ground ivy is very strong and there is a large healthy population.

A closer look at our friend. Notice that it has square stalks and opposite leaves, typical of the Mint family.

Although for the most part our spring was cool and wet, we did have a few short periods when it was sunny, hot and humid. The day I harvested ground ivy was during one of those periods. It was very hot that day and I had to be careful not to drip sweat onto the herbs as I harvested them. It was also the first day when the mosquito people were quite present. I rarely use mosquito repellent and only use a natural formulation that I make when I do. However, I never use repellent when I am harvesting herbs. Partly it is to ensure that the essential oils in the repellent I use don't contaminate the herb(s) that I am harvesting. But it is also another way that I give back to the land where I am harvesting. I never intentionally kill biting insects and when I am harvesting I just let them bite me. Eventually my blood will work its way up the food chain, into the soil, and even the plants that live there. The the sacrifice of the plant people when they offer the gift of their medicines is far greater than the little bit of blood that the mosquitoes take from me. In fact, I have a good relationship with the mosquito people and they bite me a lot less than they bite other people. When I'm with other people they hardly bite me at all, unfortunately for the others! When I used to have a more antagonistic attitude towards them they used to bite me as much as anyone else.

The flowering stalks of ground ivy can grow up to 50-60 cm (20-24 inches) tall, but it is best to harvest them when they are about 30-40 cm (12-16 inches) tall. We harvest about the terminal 50% of the stalk. In order to ensure that I do not have too much of an impact on the local population of this herb, I only harvest about from about a third of the stalks in any given area.

The harvested portion of two different size flowering stalks. The top one is 20 cm (8 inches) long,
the bottom one is 15 cm (6 inches).

In preparing herbs to make a tincture there are two stages that can be relatively time consuming. The first is the actual harvesting. Plants for which the harvested portion is small or whose population tends to be more spread out take a lot more time. Of course, we have to include the time it takes to travel to and from the area where we are harvesting as well.

The other stage that can be time consuming is the processing that we need to do with the harvested portion before it can be chopped up to prepare a maceration. There are some herbs from which we use the entire harvested portion. However, these are the minority. With the aerial parts of most herbs, much of the stalk is a fair bit less potent than the leaves and flowers. As a result, we usually have to remove a portion of the stalk. The difference in potency between the stalk and the leaves and flowers varies from herb to herb. The greater the difference, the greater the proportion of stalk that has to be removed and the longer the amount of time it takes to process the harvested portion. The more an herb branches, the more time this takes as well. Ground ivy is about medium in this regard. We do need to remove a fair bit of the stalk, but the stalks do not branch. With this herb it is best to remove the leaves and flowers from about the lower 2/3 of the the stalk. That portion of the stalk is removed and not used. I don't waste anything. The discarded stalks end up in my composter. If I didn't have a composter I would return them to the Earth somewhere at my next opportunity.

The same two harvested portions showing the amount of stalk that was removed.

Once the stalk that we aren't using is removed, the herb is weighed to determine the appropriate amount we need to use taking into account the potency we wish to prepare and the size of the jar that we will be macerating it in.

This is the amount of processed herb required to make 1 litre of tincture at a 1:5 potency.

Then we have to chop the herb up relatively fine before it can be macerated. With the right tools, that doesn't take very long. For more information on the specifics of making a tincture, see the Making Medicine series of posts.

Here it is again, chopped up and ready to macerate.

Ground ivy is a moderately aromatic herb. Its relatively mild flavour is somewhat minty and musky with just a touch of bitterness. If I have any left over I will dry it and use it to make a tea. I like the taste of ground ivy but some people find it a bit unpleasant. However, it is not overpowering and blends well with many other aromatic herbs.

There is not very much information on ground ivy out there. It is primarily recommended for respiratory conditions and inflammation and ulcers of the digestive tract. In my experience, I have found it to be a much more versatile herb than what you might suspect based on the information in the literature. However, this is typical. When I use an herb and really get to know it, I always find that it has many more properties and uses than what is indicated in the literature.

Rather than turn this into a super long post by getting into the uses of ground ivy, in the Herbal Resources section of my website I have provided a pdf document on ground ivy that you can download that is based on my research and experience with this herb.

Link to PDF file.

So, that wraps up my discussion of my experience harvesting my friend and colleague ground ivy. Except for the difference of habitat, the process is very similar to harvesting blue vervain (Verbena hastata), which I described in the Making Medicine series. In future posts I will discuss the harvesting and processing some different medicines that have a range of different requirements.

Harvesting Herbs: Dancing With Weather

OK, I'm back! I haven't posted anything since I returned from my back-to-back trips to Mexico and Lake Superior - and, yes, my leg is doing great! I'll provide more on that in a future post.

Unlike last year, during which the warm weather came very early in the spring and the spring and first half of summer were extremely hot and dry, so far this year it has been unusually cool and wet in the region where I live. This can have a significant influence on many plant species. Each plant has an ideal habitat that it prefers, including type of soil, moisture level, amount of sun, and climatic conditions. However, there will be a range of conditions in which it can do well and a wider range of conditions that it can tolerate. What these conditions are and how much variation it can tolerate will vary from plant to plant.

The plant life in my area can be pretty lush when there is lots of moisture like there is this year.

There is always a certain amount of climatic variation in any given region. The amount of variation in the Great Lakes region where I live is probably moderate compared to other regions. However, since around 1970 our climate has been noticeably changing - and the amount of change has been increasing with each successive decade. The kind of change is consistent with what we can expect given global trends: a progressive warming with greater extremes. This has had a noticeable impact on plant and animal species.

So, let's get back to the conditions this year. It is fortunate that, although it has been cooler and wetter, we have at least had one or two sunny days most weeks and even on some of the days that it has rained there have been sunny breaks at some point during the day. As a result, some plants that do very poorly if there has been very little sun are managing to stay relatively healthy.

Many plants that don't do well if there is too much rain and too little sunshine are still doing fairly well this year.

On the other hand, there are a few plants that are looking a bit stressed. This is particularly the case for plants, such as a few of the bedstraw (Galium) species, that grow in lower light areas that are relatively moist. Examples include cleavers (G. aparine) and rough bedstraw (G. asprellum). When there is as much rain as we have been getting this year, the typically moist areas where some of these species grow tend to be moist to the point where they are somewhat wet - and not all plants that grow in these areas necessarily like wet conditions.

Rough bedstraw (Galium asprellum) is finding many of the areas where it lives too wet this year.

As an herbalist that wild-harvests almost all of the medicines that I work with, years when it is very cloudy, rainy and cool can be challenging in a couple of ways. Firstly, most herbs need to be harvested on a sunny day and there needs to be at least one additional sunny day between the day they are harvested and the last rain. For some plants there needs to be two sunny days in between. This is because the plant tissues tend to otherwise be too wet and there are many important constituents, such the components of essential oils, that are produced in much lower quantities if there isn't much sunshine. If there are too few consistent periods of sufficient sunshine, there are also a lot fewer days when herbs can be harvested. If the timing of the sunnier periods doesn't line up with when the herbs are ready to be harvested, I may not get some herbs that year. Secondly, there are some plants, such as red clover (Trifolium pratense) and common St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum) that are significantly less potent during such conditions to the point where it isn't even worth harvesting them. In unusually wet (and dry!) years many plants will also be affected by mildew, making them unusable.

Red clover (Trifolium pratense) isn't happy when it's too cloudy and wet!

When the conditions are cooler, cloudier and/or wetter than usual, it is best to harvest herbs in the sunnier parts of their range where they will get maximum direct sun and the soil will be a little bit drier. In years when it is hotter, sunnier and/or drier than usual, it is best to harvest herbs in the shadier parts of their range where they are more protected from excessive sunshine and the soil will be more moist. This year, herbs such as stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), which can tolerate full sun but doesn't usually do well in it, is doing very well in more open areas.

Our native stinging nettle (Urtica dioica ssp. gracilis) is doing very well this year in more open areas.

I typically spend about one day per week harvesting the medicines from mid April to mid May; two days per week from mid May to mid June; three days per week from mid June to the end of July; two days per week in August; one day per week in September; I only harvest on two to three days in October; and then it's back up to two days per week in November. This means that during harvesting season I have to minimize the amount of days that I have a fixed schedule, such as clinic days and scheduled classes and workshops. Which days I need to harvest on depends on when the herbs reach the right stage in their life cycle for harvesting and, of course, the weather! During the peak harvesting season I do my best to allow four to five days per week when I have nothing in particular scheduled so that I can head out on a moments notice whenever the herbs and the weather align! Fortunately, a lot of the work that I do can be scheduled around my harvesting days.

This intensive harvesting schedule means that if I harvest almost all of the herbs I use and don't cut any corners to ensure that the medicines are harvested in a respectful and ecologically sustainable way, and are the highest quality possible, I can only harvest and prepare enough medicines to comfortably run clinics two days per week scheduling about five to seven clients per day. I could maybe do three days per week if I really push it, but I would rather not. These constraints are fine with me. Healing work is very intensive. If one gives oneself fully to the medicine it is very difficult to be completely present when seeing more than 15-20 clients per week. It is essential that any healer live a balanced life and look after their own health and well-being in order to be able to fully live the medicine and offer the most to those who need it.

In my practice I only run clinics one day per week. The rest of the time I do other related work such as teaching, writing, and dealing with the various responsibilities I have as a result of being on the board of directors of both our provincial and national herbalist associations. For almost two years a lot of my time has also been devoted to converting the content of courses to an online format. This will continue for a couple of years, but out of necessity it slows down during harvesting season. By nature I do best with diversity and flexibility. My work also requires that I spend regular time deepening my relationship with Nature and the medicines, whether I'm out there observing or just being.

In years where the weather conditions verge towards the extremes it can make harvesting difficult. For instance, of the sixteen herbs that I had intended to harvest this spring, I only managed to harvest ten of them. Fortunately, I didn't need as many herbs as usual. This is partly because I will often harvest enough to prepare a two year supply of tincture for herbs that I use in low to moderate quantities so that I don't have to harvest every herb that I use every year. For herbs that I use in larger quantities this isn't possible. Also, last year I used less of some of the spring herbs than usual.

 American black elder (Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis) is right on schedule this year!

Another challenge associated with more extreme weather conditions is that it can significantly alter the life cycle of a plant. Although the timing of some species such as black elder (Sambucus nigra) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is pretty consistent from year to year, others can vary by as much as one to four weeks depending on the weather.

This year lance-leaved heal-all (Prunella vulgaris ssp. lanceolata) came into flower sixteen days later than last year.

Ultimately, all I can do is surrender! Herbalists have always had to learn to work with whatever Nature provides. Fortunately, I work with enough medicines that if I can't harvest a sufficient quantity (or any!) of a particular herb in any given year I usually have one or more herbs that are similar enough that I can use as a substitute. In the mean time, looking ahead at the coming weeks there is still lots of rain in the forecast. In terms of the rest of the harvesting season, I'll just have to wait and see how the summer is going to unfold. All I know for sure is it will be an adventure!

Healing Bone Fractures, Part 5 of 5

This is the fifth in a series of posts in which I am documenting the process of treating a serious fracture of my right leg. In Part 1 I discussed the details behind the injury and the initial protocols that I used with the remedies I had available while I was still away. In Part 2 I provided a detailed account of the protocols that I implemented when I returned home. In the remainder of the posts I am providing an update on how things are progressing and any modifications that I have made to the protocols that I am using.

At this time I have to report that my leg is healing amazingly well. Since my last post I gradually increased the amount of weight I was carrying with my injured leg while still walking with crutches. On April 7th, about nine and a half weeks after my surgery, I walked without crutches for the first time! It kind of happened spontaneously while we were sitting around a fire. After that I increased the amount that I was walking without crutches each day. On April 10th I drove for the first time. I purchased a cane that day because I had to drive into Toronto on the evenings of the 11th and 12th and I knew I would be walking quite a bit. I thought I might need to use it for awhile, but except for those two evenings, I haven't used it since. On those two days I didn't use my crutches at all during the day except when I took my dogs for a walk in the woods. On the 13th I walked them for the first time without crutches and I have been crutch free ever since! This is pretty amazing given that the original prognosis was that I wouldn't be able to even begin to put weight on my leg until the middle to end of May. My healing process is about eight weeks ahead of schedule. Thank you plant people!

The "complications" that I discussed in my last post are pretty much resolved. I got rid of the remaining infection underneath one of the scabs on my incision. The astringed skin still isn't completely back to normal. It takes quite awhile for the skin to completely heal when the deeper dermal tissues get astringed, so am still applying things to this area at a minimum.

I had another x-ray this past week and the slightly darker area in my lower tibia below the bottom portion of the metal plate is still there, but not as dark as before. The surgeon can't explain it, but it isn't as noticeable as last time and, based on everything else, an infection in my bone has been pretty much ruled out. There is still a moderate amount of swelling around my ankle, although it is improving, but this is not due to infection. It turns out I have a pretty badly sprained ankle. This is typical with the kind of injury that I have. At this point my bone is doing fine and it is the sprain that is giving me the most difficulty. I still can only stretch my ankle about 80% of its normal range. It's a bit painful when I walk and it causes me to walk with a slight limp. However, I still refused the anti-inflammatories and ankle brace that the surgeon suggested. I've been doing some additional kinds of stretches with my ankle and in the last two days it has improved a fair bit. Today I had almost no limp even when I was walking my dogs. Tomorrow I have to teach a six and a half hour field workshop out in the woods. We'll see how well I hold up with that one! On Wednesday I'm off to Mexico for a week and a half, then I'm back for a day and off to Lake Superior for another week. This is part of my work, not a holiday. I am very grateful to be able to go as it was looking unlikely right after my injury. It will probably be awhile before I can run or carry a heavy pack, but otherwise my life is pretty much back to normal!

So here are the changes to the protocols that I have been using:

Systemic Herbal Formulation: In Part 4 of this series I provided the details of the third and fourth systemic formulations that I used. At about the nine week point the fourth formula ran out. The fifth version of the formulation contained wild bergamot herb (Monarda fistulosa) 20%, boneset herb (Eupatorium perfoliatum) 20%, common comfrey herb (Symphytum officinale) 18%, wood nettle herb (Laportea canadensis) 15%, maidenhair tree leaf (Ginkgo biloba) 15%, turmeric rhizome (Curcuma longa) 10%, and white pine leaf/twig (Pinus strobus) 2%. I added the wild bergamot because of the risk of infection in my tibia. It is an excellent herb for circulation and inflammation, but it is also an amazing antimicrobial. Yesterday I ran out of my fifth formulation and once more I made a slight change, substituting common burdock herb (Arctium minus) for boneset, and reintroducing stinging nettle herb (Urtica dioica) instead of wood nettle. Otherwise the formulation is the same. These changes were primarily implemented to prevent my body from getting too used to the formulation. I am continuing to take 6 ml three times per day on an empty stomach, 5-10 minutes before each meal.

Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), my dear friend and colleague!

Herbal Sleep Formulation: I have been sleeping great, but probably not enough because most nights I have been working late. To support my healing process by making sure that I continue to get good sleep, I am still taking 0.75 mg of melatonin and an herbal sleep formulation when I go to bed. I have made additional adjustments to my sleep formulation so that my body doesn't get used to it and it continues to be somewhat coordinated (overlapping) with my daytime formulation. I have made two additional sleep formulations since my last post coinciding with the two most recent systemic formulations for my leg. The first one contained English lavender flowering spike (Lavandula angustifolia) 20%, wood nettle herb (Laportea canadensis) 20%, St. Johnswort herb (Hypericum perforatum) 20%, common comfrey herb (Symphytum officinale) 15%, hop strobilus (Humulus lupulus) 15%, wild bergamot herb (Monarda fistulosa) 9%, white pine leaf/twig (Pinus strobus) 1%. The most recent one that I prepared a couple of days ago contains English lavender 20%, stinging nettle 20%, St. Johnswort 20%, hop 20%, common comfrey 10%, wild bergamot 9%, white pine 1%. I am continuing to take 6 ml immediately before bed. Very rarely I've needed to take an additional 3 ml dose when I've woken up at the crack of dawn and had difficulty falling back asleep.

Homeopathic Remedies: I am continuing to take the same homeopathic remedies that I indicated I was using in Part 3.

Supplements: I am continuing to take the same supplements that I indicated in Part 2 except, as I mentioned in Part 4, I no longer need to take probiotics.

Topical Herbal Preparations: As I mentioned above, the infection underneath a scab that I discussed in Part 4 is gone, but the skin around my incision is still a bit astringed from doing too many poultices. As a result, I've had to cut back further on the topical preparations compared to what I was doing before. In spite of this, I have hardly any scar! Here's what I am currently doing:

• When I wake up I apply the liniment I am using (see Part 2) to my whole lower leg up to and including my knee, but not to the area of the incisions themselves. I actually ran out of the liniment and made a new batch. It has the same essential oils in roughly the same proportions, but I increased the potency to 3 drops per ml of base oil and the base oil is now 2/3 the infused oil I have been using and 1/3 castor bean oil (Ricinus communis). I made these changes because I was concerned about the possibility of an infection in my lower tibia. This has now been ruled out, but I am continuing to use the higher potency liniment to help address my sprained ankle. I do not apply anything to the area of my skin around the scar that is still somewhat astringed.
• In the evening before I go to bed I reapply the liniment as in the morning, but this time I apply castor oil to the astringed areas of my skin. This has been an interesting experiment because I haven't really used castor oil before. Nevertheless, I know a couple of people who have had great success treating bone fractures almost exclusively with castor oil packs. The castor oil is very drawing and it is accelerating the exfoliation of the dry scaly skin. However, it is also slightly astringent. Initially I tried applying it twice per day and it actually aggravated the astringed skin a bit. I've found once per day to be working much better. Once the astringed skin heals, I will go back to applying Monika's scar ointment to the area of the incision (see Part 4).

Castor bean oil (Ricinus communis) has many healing properties.
It can also help reduce infections deep in the tissues.

So there you have it! Needless to say, I'm very happy with how things are going. No matter how much we think we know, healing is still a very powerful and mysterious thing. It never ceases to amaze me, whether I'm experiencing it first hand or supporting other people with their healing process.

I'm going to be out of commission for the next few weeks as I will be off working in Mexico and then near Lake Superior. I will report on how my leg holds out when I get back ... and then maybe it will be time to write about something else. Enjoy the spring (or fall if you live in the deep south)!

Healing Bone Fractures, Part 4 of 5

This is the fourth in a series of posts in which I am documenting the process of treating a serious fracture of my right leg. In Part 1 I discussed the details behind the injury and the initial protocols that I used with the remedies I had available while I was still away. In Part 2 I provided a detailed account of the protocols that I implemented when I returned home. In the remainder of the posts I am providing an update on how things are progressing and any modifications that I have made to the protocols that I am using.

Overall, things have been going well, specifically with regard to the healing of my fractures. My leg is strong and I am well ahead of schedule. However, there have been a couple of unexpected complications relating to other aspects of my healing process which I will document below. I will begin with adjustments to the remedies and protocols that I am using.

Systemic Herbal Formulation: In Part 3 of this series I provided the details of the second systemic formulation that I began using about 3 weeks after my surgery. At about the 5 week point the second formulation ran out and once more I decided to make a slight change to the formula. While maintaining the focus on healing my bone fractures, I wanted to increase the emphasis on improving circulation to help further compensate for my lack of movement which was still resulting in a fair amount of blood pooling in my foot. At that time I only made a slight change, substituting rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) for wild ginger (Asarum canadense). I made additional changes at the 7 week point when I prepared my fourth formulation, replacing American plantain (Plantago rugelii) with maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba) and stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) with wood nettle (Laportea canadensis). The fourth version of the formulation contains wood nettle herb (Laportea canadensis) 20%, boneset herb (Eupatorium perfoliatum) 20%, common comfrey herb (Symphytum officinale) 20%, maidenhair tree leaf (Ginkgo biloba) 18%, turmeric rhizome (Curcuma longa) 10%, rosemary herb (Rosmarinus officinalis) 10%, and white pine leaf/twig (Pinus strobus) 2%. I am continuing to take 6 ml three times per day on an empty stomach, 5-10 minutes before each meal.

Wood nettle (Laportea canadensis) is rarely mentioned in the herbal literature.

Its properties are similar to stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) but a bit more diverse.

Herbal Sleep Formulation: My sleep has been very good since my last post four weeks ago. Beginning a few days after I posted Part 3, I was able to gradually start shifting slightly onto my right side, which made it easier for me to sleep. For the last two weeks I have been able to sleep completely on my right side without any discomfort. However, I still can't lie on my left side for more than 10-15 minutes before my leg starts to get uncomfortable as there is pressure directly on the plate and screws in my leg. It doesn't hurt, it just doesn't feel good. At this point I am sleeping mostly on my right side and shifting onto my back or left side for short periods a few times per night when my body starts to stiffen up. Because of the importance of getting good sleep to facilitate my healing process, I am still taking 0.75 mg of melatonin and an herbal sleep formulation when I go to bed. Due to the additional changes to my primary systemic formulation, once more I made a slight adjustment to the sleep formulation as well so that the two formulations remain well coordinated. It now contains English lavender flowering spike (Lavandula angustifolia) 20%, wood nettle herb (Laportea canadensis) 20%, St. Johnswort herb (Hypericum perforatum) 15%, German chamomile flowering top (Matricaria recutita) 15%, common comfrey herb (Symphytum officinale) 10%, hop strobilus (Humulus lupulus) 10%, turmeric rhizome (Curcuma longa) 9%, white pine leaf/twig (Pinus strobus) 1%. Once more this formula overlaps with and carries over some of the properties of my daytime formula while still maintaining its effectiveness as a sleep formula. Among other things, wood nettle is an excellent tranquilizer. I am continuing to take 6 ml immediately before bed and additional 3 ml doses through the night, as required. However, in the last three weeks I haven't had to take an additional dose more than once or twice per week.

Homeopathic Remedies: I am continuing to take the same homeopathic remedies that I indicated in Part 3.

Supplements: I am continuing to take the same supplements that I indicated in  Part 2 except that I no longer need to take the probiotics.

Topical Herbal Preparations: It is with regard to the application of topical preparations that I have had to make a couple of adjustments, partly because of some unforeseen complications.

The first change to the protocols that I implemented was at the suggestion of Monika Ghent. She recommended that I use a scar formulation instead of a generic ointment on my incisions. Since Monika has a lot more experience than I do working with topical herbal preparations for healing and cosmetic uses, as this is one of her areas of specialization, I had her make up the formulation for me (see below). About two weeks ago I started using it on the scars from my incisions twice per day.

About a week and a half ago (7.5 weeks since my surgery) is when things got a bit complicated. Firstly, I started to get a rash on my leg around the area of my incisions. At first I wasn't sure what was causing it. Since I hadn't been using the scar ointment for very long and it contains a number of ingredients that I have never used before, I considered the possibility that I was allergic to one of the ingredients in that formulation. I stopped using it for a few days but the rash got worse. That's when I realized what was going on. I had over-astringed my leg from poulticing too much!

Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis) is a very potent healing and antimicrobial herb. It is also very astringent.

I increased the proportion of this herb to boost the antimicrobial element of my poultice formulation

which may have contributed to the more rapid astringing of my skin.

Contrary to what you are likely to read in the herbal literature, all herbs are astringent. This is because the most common astringent constituents, such as organic acids and polyphenols, are found in all plants. Whenever we apply herbs in concentration to a localized area there is a danger of astringing the tissues too deeply so that the affect penetrates down into the deeper living tissue layers. It is even more of a concern for mucus membranes, but it can happen to our skin as well. This is one of several reasons why it is very important that a poultice is very mucilaginous, because this reduces the affect somewhat. I had been applying a poultice to my leg for about 5 weeks at that point, twice per day for 30 minutes to an hour. I knew that the astringency would be a concern eventually. However, my poultices were very mucilaginous. I was applying oil-based preparations such as liniments and ointments to my leg twice per day as well. The moisturizing action of the oil also helps to counteract the affects of the astringency to some degree. In addition, because my fractures were healing well and also to reduce the potential for excessive astringency, in the last two weeks that I was applying poultices I only did the afternoon poultice a couple of times per week. So, I was taken off guard when I got the rash. I didn't expect it to happen that quickly given everything that I was doing. That being said, once I realized what was going on I stopped applying the poultices.

The second complication was that there were two spots, one at the top of each incision, where very thick scabs had formed. Scabs have an important protective function and are often an important element of the healing process. However, scabs can actually interfere with healing and lead to the formation of more scar tissue if they persist for too long. If they are relatively thick, they also interfere with the ability of the herbal constituents to penetrate to the underlying tissues where they are needed. Finally, by trapping too much moisture, they can also lead to infection. That's what happened in my case. I got a mild infection under the scabs. As a result, I stopped using the ointments on the scabs because the oil base can also contribute to trapping moisture under the scabs. Instead, I began applying essential oils directly to the scabs. I am using marjoram (Origanum majorana) because it is very antimicrobial. I combine it 50/50 with English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) essential oil. Although the lavender is not as antimicrobial as the marjoram, it is a good combination because lavender essential oil is very healing and not as harsh. It is one of the few essential oils that can be used neat (undiluted). Combining them reduces the harshness of the marjoram essential oil. Essential oils are appropriate for this application because they are very penetrating and they don't contain any water or fixed oil (lipid), so they won't add to or trap moisture under the scab. I have been using them for a bit more than a week now and the infection is gone from one of the spots and almost gone from the other.

English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) has been part of many of my systemic and local formulations.

Now that I've explained the complications I've had to deal with, here is what the topical protocols I am using currently look like:

• When I wake up I apply the liniment I am using (see Part 2) to my whole lower leg up to and including my knee, but not to the area of the incisions themselves. I apply a 50/50 mixture of neat lavender and marjoram essential oils to the two areas where there was a bit of infection under the scabs. Then I apply Monika's scar ointment to the rest of the area of the incisions, and any remaining areas immediately adjacent where there is still a bit of the astringency rash to help heal and moisturize those tissues. Monika was kind enough to provide the ingredients of her scar formulation. It contains cocoa butter (Theobroma cacao), shea butter (Vitellaria paradoxa), castor oil (Ricinus communis), camellia oil (Camellia sinensis), argan oil (Argania spinosa), rosehip oil (Rosa rubiginosa), infused oil [St. Johnswort herb (Hypericum perforatum), pot marigold flower (Calendula officinalis), purple loosestrife herb (Lythrum salicaria), yarrow herb (Achillea millefolium) and American plantain herb (Plantago rugelii) in a base of olive oil (Olea europaea) and coconut oil (Cocos nucifera)], vitamin E (mixed tocopherols), vitamin D, English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) essential oil, patchouli (Pogostemon cablin) essential oil, carrot (Daucus carota) essential oil, and Bach flower remedies [cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera), clematis (Clematis vitalba), impatiens (Impatiens glandulifera), rock rose (Helianthemum nummularium), star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum), crab apple (Malus sylvestris) and walnut (Juglans regia)].
• In the evening before I go to bed I more or less repeat the morning protocol except that I use the comfrey ointment instead of the liniment.

On March 20, which was one day short of 7 weeks since my surgery, I had an appointment to have the first x-rays done since they were last taken immediately after my surgery. My leg felt strong and, as I suspected, the healing of my fractures looked very good. I also didn't have any pain when the surgeon put pressure on my leg from various angles. As a result, I was given the OK to begin carrying some weight with my leg. The original prognosis was that I wouldn't be able to do so for 12-16 weeks. So, this is in about half the time originally expected.

Fortunately I have been working hard to maintain as much strength and flexibility in my leg by doing various exercises and stretches. Stretching the tendons and ligaments, especially in my foot, ankle and knee, is actually the most difficult part of the rehabilitation process. At that time I had managed to get about 80% of the movement in my knee and 60-70% in my ankle. It has been steadily improving since.

During the first week I put about half of my weight on my leg when standing still (therefore 1/4 of my total body weight) and 10-20% of my weight on my leg while walking. I have also spent much more time walking around. For instance over the last 2 weeks I have been walking my dogs in the back field and woods where I live every day.

During the second week, which is ending today, I have been standing normally (therefore carrying 1/2 of my full body weight) and have worked up to carrying about 40-50% of weight while walking. I don't want to put too much stress on my bones too fast, so I will continue to increase the weight gradually and work towards being off the crutches in another 2-3 weeks.

As you can see, much of the scar looks like it is many months or even years old. The scabs near the top

of each incision are the areas that got infected. The dry areas from the astringency

of the poultices are slightly visible, especially below the lower incision.

Except for a couple of minor issues that I mentioned above, my fracture is healing very well. However, when I saw the surgeon a couple of weeks ago, there was some potentially bad news as well. There was a shadow in the x-ray at the bottom of my tibia below the lowest part of the plate that could be an indication of an infection in my bone. The surgeon wasn't completely sure, especially since there were no other indicators: no pain, no abscessing. He will reassess it when I see him in 2 weeks for another x-ray. In the mean time, I am focusing my treatment on my bone fractures and incisions. At this point I don't know to what degree I should be concerned about the possibility of infection. It is still inconclusive. So far all I've done is ramp up the essential oil content of my liniment when I apply it around my ankle by adding a couple of drops of marjoram essential oil to the liniment that I apply to that area. My current systemic formulation is going to run out in a couple of days and I will probably add an antimicrobial herb to the next version. I hope that it was just an anomaly in my x-ray because infections in bone are difficult to treat, even with a combination of herbs and antibiotics. If there is an infection, it would have been introduced during the surgery, possibly when the screws were put into my bone in that area. According to standard procedure, all of the materials they used would have been disinfected and I was given intravenous antibiotics during the remaining time (about 16 hours) that I was in the hospital following my surgery. Unfortunately, there is always a risk of acquiring an infection when in a hospital and the risks are greater when we must undergo surgery. Infections acquired in hospitals are often the multiple antibiotic resistant kind. In truth, I held out until the last minute on approving the surgery, partly for this reason. However, it was clear that my fracture was too severe and the likelihood of it healing properly with just a cast was very low.

If it turns out that there is an infection, this will require another aggressive protocol. I'll know in a couple of weeks. In the mean time, my fractures are healing amazingly well and I hope to be walking without crutches very soon. For this I am very grateful! I will continue the updates in Part 5.

Welcome! (spring is on its way)

Spring is on its way! That's what I heard today from some friends of mine. They flew in last night and when I heard them this afternoon, their chattering was music to my ears and brought tears to my eyes. Who are these friends of whom I speak? The red-winged blackbirds of course! They are always the first travelers to return at this time of year in the region where I live. There have been other signs. The amount of daylight is increasing by about three minutes per day. Three weeks ago the cardinals started singing their territorial songs. The song sparrows usually start singing around the same time, but with my broken leg I haven't been getting outside in the morning, which is when they usually sing at this time of year. So, I haven't heard them yet. Yesterday the robins started separating from their winter flocks and staking out their territories. But it's the return of the red-wings that really marks the turning point for me. In a week or two my other bird friends will start returning. Slowly at first, but in a month there will be many new species arriving every day. I look forward to greeting all of them! I love and embrace the blessings of all of our seasons, but I have to admit that April/May is my favorite time of the year.

Welcome back red-wings!

I'm also going to miss the winter. This year, because of my leg, I missed a lot of the most spectacular winter days because many of them occurred during the first month after my injury. At that time I wasn't very mobile and I wasn't able to spend much time outdoors, except on the sunnier, calmer days. Even then the snow was too deep for me to hobble on crutches around the land where I live.

There have been other milestones in the last couple of weeks. I have really been appreciating those days when I could sit outside and be with the land. In the last few weeks I have been able to get out more as my leg gets stronger and the snow isn't as deep. I've gone from a couple of times per week to almost every day. Sitting out there I am totally in awe and so grateful for my life and the blessings provided by our Earth Mother. A bit more than a week ago I was finally feeling strong enough to hobble out to my prayer area, stomp a trail around the circle on one foot, and dig out the offering stones in the four directions from under a bit more than a foot of snow. It was hard work in my condition but finally I was able to offer prayers and tobacco at my prayer area in the flesh. Then on Saturday I took my first walk through the back field with my dogs. I was totally elated! Finally, on Sunday I made it all the way to my prayer area in the woods. The most difficult part of the journey was hopping over the small creek in my back field. First I made offerings to Grandmother, thanking her for her sacred waters. This is one of her source waters where she flows out of the Earth. Her name is Necheng qua kekong. This is a poor representation from an old version of the Mississauga dialect of the Anishinaabe language that was recorded a couple of hundred years ago by someone who didn't understand the language. The Mississaugas were the people who lived in this area at that time. I don't know what it means, but I'm sure it's much more suitable than the "Don River". I have asked a couple of friends who are members of the Anishinaabe community if they know anyone who might be able to translate it, but so far no one has been able to.

Grandmother emerging from the Earth.

Today I was able to make it out to my prayer area in the woods for the second time. But I also managed to go further and visit the old Grandmother White Pine. This is probably my favorite sitting spot in the woods. I was so grateful to finally be able to sit there with her. It brought tears to my eyes. It's been seven weeks since I've been able to visit her. Usually when I'm not away I sit there for a bit every day. While I sat there quietly, listening to the voices of the birds and the wind, I felt so much gratitude to the Medicine and the plant people for my healing. My leg is coming along amazingly well. I will be getting an x-ray on Wednesday to make sure everything looks as good as it feels, and I should be able to start carrying some weight with my leg by the end of the week. This is half the amount of time of the original prognosis! I'll be providing more details on that next week in the next installment of my series of posts on Healing Bone Fractures. One of the reasons it has been important to me that my leg heal quickly is so that I can fulfill my manda and travel to Mexico and Lake Superior for three weeks from late April to mid May. I booked my flight yesterday! In the mean time, the spring equinox is on Wednesday and I'm looking forward to offering ceremony to honor the passing winter and officially welcome spring!

Applying a Poultice

This post is an tangent from my series on Healing Bone Fractures. In that series I have mentioned applying herbal poultices to my leg. I had considered including more details about applying a poultice in one of those posts but decided to do it separately so I can provide more details. I would like to thank my friend Elyse Portal who took some great photos while I was applying a poultice to my leg last weekend.

For the most part, a poultice is the most potent method of application of herbs to a localized area. This is because as the constituents of the herbs are absorbed into our tissues through the layer of moisture covering our skin, they are immediately replaced by more constituents from the herbs that diffuse into the layer of water. Also, the concentration of constituents is very high because the ratio of herb to liquid is very high. We are using a lot of herb and very little water.

We usually use dried herbs, but I often apply what I call a "survival poultice" if I get some kind of injury or bite when I'm wandering around in the fields and woods. In these circumstances I will find one or a few good healing herbs in my immediate area, chew them up and apply them where needed. I used to do this for my kids when they were small and we were on a hike or camping trip. You don't need to worry too much about bacteria in saliva because the antimicrobial properties of the herbs are very concentrated when applied this way and will take care of any risk of infection.

Here is the bowl of dried herbs I'm using for this particular poultice.

When using dried herbs, they should be coarsely ground. I usually rub them between my palms or use a mortar and pestle. We apply just enough boiled water to moisten them but so that they are not runny.

The herbs after moistening them with boiled water.

The purpose of the poultice I am preparing is to help heal the incisions from my surgery and to penetrate deeper into my leg to help heal my broken tibia (shinbone) as well. This poultice consists of 1 part common comfrey leaf (Symphytum officinale), 1 part stinging nettle leaf (Urtica dioica), 1 part purple loosestrife herb (Lythrum salicaria), 1 part pot marigold petals (Calendula officinalis), 1 part Canada goldenrod herb (Solidago canadensis) and 1/2 part whole flax seed (Linum usitatissimum). It is essential that a poultice is very mucilaginous. Comfrey is one of the few herbs that is mucilaginous enough that it doesn't require the addition of a more mucilaginous herb. However, since comfrey is only making up 20% of this formulation, it is necessary to add something to make it more slimy. My preference is to use a small amount of whole flax seed whenever I prepare a poultice. It will add the extra mucilage that we need and has important healing properties of its own. Never use ground flax seed. We just want the mucilage. We don't want to release the oil.

Getting ready to apply the poultice. At this point I had been poulticing the smaller incision on the right twice per day

for two weeks and the larger incision on the left for one week. There is clearly a difference between the two.

When applying a poultice I always put some gauze between the poultice and the skin. This serves two purposes: firstly, it ensures that small particles of herbs can't get into an open wound; secondly, it allows the poultice to be easily lifted off when finished without having to wipe bits of herb off the skin. This is important because when we remove the poultice we want any remaining herb infused liquid to dry on the skin. We use the minimum amount of layers of gauze to prevent bits of herb from getting through. The number of layers will depend on the thickness of the gauze.

Laying the gauze in preparation for the poultice.

When we apply the poultice we must completely cover an area a bit larger than the area we are working on with the moistened herbs and press down on them so that there is good contact with the skin. I usually apply it with a spoon and use the spoon to press the herbs once they are applied.

Beginning to apply the poultice...

...and finishing it off.

Under normal circumstances our skin is water-proof. In order to get the constituents of the herbs in our poultice to penetrate through our skin our skin must be hydrated to eliminate its water-proof characteristics. To accomplish this it is necessary for the entire area where we wish to apply the poultice to remain moist. We can't allow the skin to breathe. To accelerate this process it is also necessary that the poultice be applied as hot as we can tolerate and remain warm for the duration of the application. This process also takes time. The longer the poultice is in contact with our skin, the more hydrated our skin becomes and the better the penetration. I usually recommend a minimum of 30 minutes, but an hour or more is sometimes necessary, depending on the severity of the condition being treated. To facilitate the hydration of our skin it is best to wrap the poultice in plastic so that our skin remains in complete contact with herb infused liquid from our poultice and isn't able to breathe (no contact with air). Most types of plastic wrap are made of polyethylene which isn't known to leach any toxic chemicals. After wrapping the poultice I recommend pushing down on it once more to make sure there is good contact with the skin and no air spaces between the plastic and the herbs.

The poultice wrapped in plastic.

This whole process must be done as quickly as possible so that the herbs are still hot. Once the poultice has been wrapped in plastic it is necessary to cover it with a towel or something similar to help insulate it to keep it warm. If is going to be applied for a long period of time it may be necessary to apply a hot compress over the plastic. A cloth soaked in hot water that has been wrung out so that it isn't dripping will do. The cloth can be reheated periodically when it cools down. If the area where we need to apply the poultice isn't too large, a hot water bottle will also work and is more convenient than using a compress.

Covering the poultice with a couple of layers of towel.

Once we are done we can remove the poultice. For my leg, I have been applying a poultice for 45-60 minutes twice per day. When we use gauze the whole thing will lift off really easy.

The poultice has been uncovered and is ready to be removed.

When we remove the poultice the skin will be moist with herb infused liquid. We don't want to wipe this off. Let it dry completely before covering the area.

After removing the poultice we let the remaining liquid completely dry on the skin.

Notice the larger droplets of herb infused water.

Once the remaining herb infused water has dried completely the process is complete. We can bandage the area, if necessary, or cover it in some other way. We can also apply an ointment or liniment to the area, if appropriate, to further assist the healing process.

Which herbs we use, how often and how long we apply a poultice will depend on the situation, but the basic elements of applying a poultice will always be the same.