Root Medicine
“The truth is
I have mud on my hands
From digging roots
The truth is
I have brought them to you
It is the truth
I worked to get them
And complained
While digging them up
The truth is
Once I got back here
And saw your face
It didn’t matter
That work”
Swampy Cree Indian
Roots are usually the most potent part of perennial and biennial plants. They work to anchor the plant in the soil and to draw nutrients out of the soil to feed the plant. They also function as a receptacle for food storage. Besides storing minerals, trace minerals, water and a host of other nutrients, they also contain a wealth of chemical constituents that have a medicinal effect on our bodies. Dandelion root has dozens of known chemical constituents; and since phyto-chemistry is still a young science, there are probably dozens more yet to be discovered. It is amazing to think about how the plants don’t even need many of these chemicals for their own survival, they are gifts of healing in this interdependent web of life.
Roots work on our bodies on a deep level. They supply us with concentrated bioavailable minerals and nutrients that help heal illness by correcting nutritional deficiencies. They can be deeply cleansing to the blood and nourishing to the liver, and improve our overall digestion with some of their bitter components. Roots offer us excellent support to long-term chronic health imbalances and also support the body during seasonal changes. Roots are nearly always featured in winter remedies. Chinese herbal medicine tends to use mostly roots in their material medicas. There is also much folklore surrounding roots, probably because they are hidden and thus mysterious.
Harvesting Roots
Roots are gathered in the spring and fall, when the energy and nutrients of the plants are concentrated in the roots and they are considered most potent.
Roots need to be washed carefully—a vegetable brush works best, and then cut into small pieces and spread on trays to dry. A food processor works great to chop most roots. Some people dry their roots whole but I find them very difficult to use for teas and other preparations later. Pre-cut roots are much easier to handle and easy to use.
Roots will keep up to three years if properly stored in a cool, dark place—away from moisture, sunlight and excessive heat.
Common and useful roots that can be found growing here in the Upper Midwest Region:
Angelica
Blue Cohosh
Blackberry
Birthroot
Chicory
Comfrey
Ginseng
Wild Ginger
Roots that do not grow locally, but are very useful additions to your home medicine kit:
Astragalus
Dong Quai
Echinecea
Ginger
Goldenseal
Kava Kava
Licorice
Osha
Valerian
Wild Yam
Every aspiring herbalist should take time to research and familiarize oneself with all of these valuable roots. This short list covers a whole spectrum of illnesses and afflictions.
Herbs for Winter Health
The roots and barks take center stage in the winter season, providing the medicinal components of many cough syrups, immune-system enhancing formulas, sore throat lozenges, warming winter teas, and more. The following is a sampling of recipes and formulas that can easily be made at home to provide comfort and relief from the common ailments of winter:
Warming Winter Spice Tea
2 pt Sassafras root
2 pt Sarsaparilla root
1 pt Sweet Birch bark
1 pt Chicory root
1 pt Dandelion root
2 pt Orange peel
2 pt Cinnamon bark
2 pt Ginger root
To make: Use 1 Tbsp per cup water. Simmer gently 10-15 minutes. Sweeten with honey, if desired.
Most of these ingredients cannot be harvested locally, but all can be ordered through any herb supplier. This tea is delicious, like an herbal root beer.
Throat Soother Tea
2 pts Slippery Elm bark
1 pt Comfrey root
2 pt fennel seed
1 pt Licorice root
2 pt Marshmallow root
2 pt Cinnamon bark
2 pt Orange Peel
To make: Use 1 Tbsp per cup water. Simmer 15-20 minutes. Add 1 tsp honey per cup if desired.
White Pine, Whiskey & Honey Cough Syrup
From “Stalking the Healthful Herbs” by Euell Gibbons
½ cup coarsely chopped White Pine bark
2/3 cup boiling water
½ cup whiskey
1 cup honey
1. Pour boiling water over the White Pine bark in a jar
2. When cool, add ½ cup whiskey
3 Put a lid on the jar and let sit overnight
4. Nest day, strain, then add 1 cup honey
5. Mix thoroughly.
This cough syrup will keep indefinitely without spoiling.
Dose is 1 Tbsp for adults and 1 tsp for children, as needed.
Note: I made this recipe with Gin one year and it was fabulous! Gin is actually made with Juniper Berries, so the flavor of the Gin and the White Pine married perfectly…
Cyclone Cyder
Equal Parts: Garlic
Onions
Ginger
Horseradish
Hot Peppers
Chop everything fine. Put in a glass jar and pour gently warmed apple cider vinegar over to cover. Add 2 Tbsp honey to each pint of vinegar used. Mix everything thoroughly, cap with plastic or wax paper underneath lid to avoid rusting. Let sit at least 2 weeks, 6 weeks even better, before straining.
Warming, decongesting, tonic, and/or medicine. Can be taken daily as a digestive aid, to warm the system, and clear the sinuses, or taken in concentrated doses for sore throats, colds and flu. Great winter medicine, good for what ails you.
I make up to a gallon a year of this stuff. Lately I have added Echinecea root and Osha root to the recipe. It tastes a lot like salsa, and I have many people ask me for it every year.