The cupboard
Kitchen herbs & spices
Filter by element or search a plant. Traditional kitchen and folk use — four tastes, not a clinic monograph.
18 plants
Nettle
Urtica dioica
A green salt — the mineral broth of the hedgerow.
Stiff joints · Hollow energy · Irritable skin
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Oatstraw
Avena sativa
The mineral tea of a nervous system that has been spent.
Frayed nerves · Hollow energy · Irritable skin
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Plantain
Plantago major
The path-side leaf chewed for bee stings and brewed for raw tissue.
Irritable skin · Sore throat · Dryness
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Oats
Avena sativa
Breakfast as medicine — the original nervine food.
Frayed nerves · Restless sleep · Hollow energy
Ground, build, and settle
Calendula
Calendula officinalis
Pot marigold — the gardener’s skin flower, also a golden broth.
Irritable skin · Sore throat
Ground, build, and settle
Rosehip
Rosa canina
The autumn fruit of the rose — a sour pantry vitamin.
Chill & congestion · Hollow energy · Irritable skin
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Sassafras
Sassafras albidum
A sweet woods root of the spring pot — and a modern caution.
Hollow energy · Irritable skin · Puffiness
Ground, build, and settle
Sarsaparilla
Smilax spp.
A sweet, earthy root of the old spring tonics.
Hollow energy · Irritable skin · Stiff joints
Ground, build, and settle
Yellow dock
Rumex crispus
A taproot that goes to the clay — the bitter used for ‘thick blood’ and eruptive skin.
Irritable skin · Indigestion · Hollow energy
Warm, move, and stimulate
Burdock
Arctium lappa
A long taproot that goes to the clay — food first, blood-cleaner second.
Irritable skin · Hollow energy · Puffiness
Ground, build, and settle
Red clover
Trifolium pratense
The meadow blossom in the old blood-and-skin jars.
Irritable skin · Hollow energy · Cough
Warm, move, and stimulate
Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
A gentle bitter that also draws — belly, liver story, a loose bowel.
Indigestion · Irritable skin
Warm, move, and stimulate
Chickweed
Stellaria media
The cool spring mat — a water green for hot, dry, itchy skin.
Irritable skin · Dryness · Hollow energy
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Cleavers
Galium aparine
The sticky bedstraw — water’s lymph mover of the spring hedge.
Puffiness · Irritable skin · Hollow energy
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Horsetail
Equisetum arvense
A silica salt — the joint-and-tooth mineral of the ditch bank.
Stiff joints · Puffiness · Irritable skin
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Violet
Viola odorata
The heart-leaf of spring — a cool green for lymph and dry heat.
Cough · Irritable skin · Dryness
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Witch hazel
Hamamelis virginiana
A drawing tree — the stillroom’s wash for hot, loose tissue.
Irritable skin · Sore throat
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Oak
Quercus robur
The strength tree — a world lives on one oak, and the bark draws.
Sore throat · Irritable skin
Brighten, circulate, and clear