Hyssop--- Powerful Healer, Beautiful Plant....(Simple Herbal Remedies Day Three)

My hyssop plant is one of the most beautiful and aromatic herbs in the garden, and the one that everyone always points to and asks what it is.

It is located in the same bed as many of my herbs, but the one thing that I see over and over is honey bees crawling all over it, buzzing happily around it, or collecting nectar from the flowers once it begins to send up flowerets.

Hyssop in incredibly easy to grow as long as it can have partial shade and sunshine both, as well as dry feet. I boost the growth of mine through bunny berry tea, which is why it is so incredibly tall this year, but hyssop is very prolific if you can keep up with it and trimming it back.

If you choose to grow Hyssop, my encouragement would be to place the plant where it can grow large and have some room to spread out, because while Hyssop is not tall, it definitely can broaden out, and so tower over or shade other plants that dont grow up to three feet tall. My favorite variety of Hyssop, the Anise Hyssop variety, can actually grow up to four feet tall, and just as wide as it is tall. Normally every three years you can split the plant and share the other half with a friend, or double your harvest depending on how much you use and what your friends grow in their gardens. :)

Hyssop has, from ancient times, been well known for its cleansing and healing properties. It has been well documented for healing skin ulcers, scars, and eruptions (think acne). And internally, it is well known and used in alternative medicine for relieving high blood pressure, easing nasty coughs (Anise Hyssop makes the BEST tea that even my little ones love to drink), and helping bring down fevers by encouraging the body to sweat. It has a slight sedative property to it as well, so really good for the sick Littles in your family who are restless and miserable while ill and recovering.

Have a black eye or someone in the family who does? Crush some leaves, make a tea, and put it on the eye with a washcloth that has been chilled. You can even put the leaves right on the eye.

Have a bug bite that has become infected and you just cant seem to get it to heal? Crush some leaves, make a paste with baking soda and the leaves, and hold the poultice on your face with a wet washcloth. Couple times of this, and your bug bite will be healing and showing fresh, clean, new skin. No kidding.

Best of all, if you have someone in your family who seems to be chronically ill, hyssop is excellent for boosting the immune system when taken one cup a day for a couple weeks. For children under ten, 1/2 cup, and for children under two, don't use this herb internally for more than just the occasional cold or bad cough. Hyssop is very strong, and while appealing, can be a little tough on kids' systems.

What part of the plant do you use? The leaves foremost, and then the flowers as well. (which, as you can see by the pic at the top of the page, are absolutely beautiful).

Want a recipe for a simple skin wash for someone who has a healing to do with a cut, burn, or infection? Here it is:

In a small pot combine the following:

One cup Hyssop leaves, bruised

1/2 cup lavender

1/2 cup calendula flower petals

3 cups water

Heat on very low, with lid on, to steep for an hour.

At the end of the hour, compost the herbs/flowers, and strain the tea into a large wide mouth quart jar. Keep in fridge and use twice to three times a day on the skin issue at hand. It is fine to use cold, and will keep in the fridge with no change for up to two weeks.

If you do not have these herbs on hand, can I suggest purchasing them from a wonderful company that has very high quality products, AND offers an affiliate program for home bloggers such as myself? Every purchase you make helps to support The Welcoming House Blog, and those mean the world to us here. So please, think about it and check them out. Here is their link: 

If you would rather make a healing salve for your skin because you like that it sticks to the skin and protects it (I have a friend who would rather use an ointment than a wash is why I am giving this option) all you have to do is the following:

Taking the ingredients above, cut the amounts in half of each item.

Still put into a stock pot and cover with a lid, and let steep for an hour.

Strain and let cool completely.

With a hand blender and a double boiler combine the following:

1/2 cup coconut oil

2 oz beeswax pellets

the tea from the herbs/flowers

10 drops vanilla extract (you CAN make your own you know...)

When all things are combined and the product is smooth, pour into small tins such as these and label once cool. These are wonderful gifts for friends at Christmas, because this is one of those salves that comes in very handy during bug bite season the following summer. :)

I hope that you have learned a lot about Hyssop here in this article, things perhaps you did not know before. I have written an entire book on the subject of Growing Your Own Medicine, and would really encourage you that if you are interested in learning about MANY different herbs, you consider purchasing it. The series that inspired the book STILL, 18 months later, is one of the largest pinned series that The Welcoming House has seen, with over 47,000 hits on a single post before a year had been up. I am thankful that I can help so many who are looking for alternative healing, and who might just be looking to be a little more in control of their own health.

Tomorrow we have my fabulous friend, Karina Ritchey of the Celebrate Every Day blog coming over for a guest post that is both educational and entertaining. She is going to show you HANDS ON how she and her husband ease the pain and stress of migraine headaches and sore, right muscles, using a home treatment that most people would simply never think of. And I can't tell you any more than that because I want to see you back here tomorrow soaking it up straight from her!

One more thing, quickly. Would you like to see a weekly post like this simple series has been in the future? I love to share about herbs because it is a fascinating subject and you can learn SO MUCH, putting the power of your own health into your hands. If you would like this, would you please comment and let me know what some of the herbs are that you are interested about learning? I am always, ALWAYS open to suggestions from my readers.

Many Blessings to you and yours,

Heather