Poison Ivy/Oak

Boiling a handful of willow leaves or bark scrapings in a quart of water can help with poison ivy or oak. Apply it to the area after cooling the liquid. Pat it on wiht a soft cloth to relive itching

Yucca

Yucca:

The best part of the Yucca to use medicinally is the root. Pound the root into a mild soap. This is good to cleanse cuts, scrapes, etc or for washing your hair or bathing. Make a poultice of the soapy root for skin rashes, boils and poison ivy.

Black Birch Tree

Poison Ivy or skin rashes: Boil the twigs from a Black Birch Tree. Make a strong tea out of it and then let it cool. Apply it to the affected area, repeating several times after it dries. The young leaves used fresh and the bark of the twigs are the main medicinal parts of a black birch. Drying the leaves for later use does not work unfortunately. I have only known this tree to work when the parts are used fresh.

Sedative: Make a strong tea from the leaves and twigs and drink when stressed and needing sleep. It induces a good night’s sleep and calms the nerves.

Pain: Boil the bark and twigs to release the oil and apply this to sore muscles and strains to relieve pain.

Jewelweed (Spotted Touch Me Not)

Jewelweed (Touch Me Not).

Jewelweed

Jewelweed 


This is almost an embarrassing post, but something that I am sure everyone has dealt with at one point or another.

I was on a backpacking trip with Tom, my partner for 7 years. Well I was terribly constipated. It was to the point of pain and I was miserable. As we were hiking, he gave me a few leaves off of a jewelweed plant and told me to chew on them. Mind you NOTHING I tried was working. I did as he suggested.
Within an hour, well…..I was no longer constipated! I have used this plant several times and it always worked well.Mind you it is perfect for Poison Ivy/Oak as well. The juice from the stalk placed on the affected area will ease the itch. I know of some people who take this and freeze it, making little ice cubes to use for poison ivy as needed.