Into the Woods We Go...

 

Twice a year my family goes camping at an event called Earthskills Rendezvous.  At this event there are several well trained healthcare providers in the holistic approach.  Even though, there are wonderful care givers at the event I always pack my own family first aid kit.  Every trip looks a little different and every trip I can better tweak my herbal bag, but for this trip I took:

Redmond Clay- I love this stuff, and one day I will do a post just on it.  We use it for upset stomach, burns, stings, diaper rash, and poison ivy

Elderberry Tincture- to fight off colds

Echinacea Tincture- for immune support and to clean wounds

 OnGuard Essential oil blend- immune support and cold fighting

 Essential oil travel set- has a collection of oils that have several uses

 Past Tense essential oil blend- for headaches

Emergen-C-immune support

Arnica salve- for sore muscles and bruises

Throat Coat tea by Traditional Medicinals

The trip went well for several days, and we only used the Echinacea to clean two small knife cuts and Past Tense for a sun/dehydration migraine.  On day three my husband came down with a cold, and he is very susceptible to it moving to his chest.  We weren’t very diligent and I didn’t have the syrups I usually treat him with so he went to the first aid.  They gave him some lovely tincture blends for immune system support and cold fighting. Great!  Well, with my husband’s tendencies it wasn’t enough.  Very quickly his cold went to his chest and was a very violent wet cough.  This gave him great discomfort and me great concern.  I decided to brainstorm and treat with what I did have.  A wonderful friend loaned me a pot to boil water in and I made a steam out of tea tree, lemon, peppermint and Breathe essential oil blend.  I rubbed his chest and neck with Onguard and Breathe, and also applied OnGuard to the soles of his feet.  Then I got him to take my Elderberry tincture along with the camp's First Aid tincture blend.  His coughing soon settled and he was able to sleep.  I was so thankful, because it was very violent, and he was having a hard time catching his breath.  About four hours later, he woke and started coughing again.  The treatment had worn off so I re-dosed him with everything and he settled back down.  This was the cycle for the rest of the night, but by morning he was MUCH better!  I was so thankful for my bag of herbs, but I missed my thyme treatment.  The next day there was a bizarre put on by the campers and one man brought his wildcrafted Mullein, so I bought a small sample amount to make a tea if my husband’s coughing got worse.  We are home now and I have him on my usual treatment for his chest colds http://theherbalhutch.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-first-herbal-remedy-i-make-each-fall.html.  This trip showed me one area that was lacking in my herb kit, so I will soon be making a thyme tincture to fill this need.  I know there are other herbs for chest congestion, but so far thyme has worked wonders for my husband so I plan to start there for now.

What Herbs would you take into the woods with you?

 

Jill, The Herbal Hutch