Five herbs to have in an activist first aid kit

We’re in the middle of the Autumn Rebellion, the global actions of Extinction Rebellion focused on bringing acute awareness and immediate action to solving the human-caused climate crisis. It’s a time for practical things, even in blogging.

So, here is my quick guide to the most essential herbs—not just for first aid kits, but—specifically for activist first aid kits. (There are some unique issues to take into account.)

Image by Arie Farnam

There are plenty of herbs that are helpful in first aid, but in modern reality, first aid kits have to be portable and we often need them in cities, on roads or in places where a lot of fresh herbs aren’t available. Furthermore, activists need first aid kits that address the basic needs of humans in stressful and physically risky environments, as well as the means to safeguard long-term health and to counteract possible chemical attacks by security forces.

While I may have a larger supply of herbs at a tent or first-aid station at a major action, the question of which herbs to put into a light field kit is of crucial importance. Most of the time, for field kits we’re talking tincture and salve, but there is one exception to that rule.

Here are my five top herbs to keep in a first aid kit:

1. Lemon balm: For herpes (as a salve), strep throat, calming, emotional support and as a sleep aid in uncomfortable conditions (as a tincture). While not specifically a disinfectant herb lemon balm salve has been shown to be as effective as Acyclovir in fighting off cold sores and it is also “specifically active” against the streptococcal bacteria responsible for most bacterial throat infections.

2. Yarrow tincture: For cramps, sore muscles, inflammation, swelling, wound disinfection and to slow bleeding. Often referred to as nature’s Ibuprofen for its dramatic anti-inflammatory properties. It also combines well with plantain in a general healing salve for scrapes.

3. Mullein tincture, glycerate or syrup: For stomach problems and breathing troubles. Mullein helps an acute cough right away and heals damaged lungs. This is the most obvious difference for activist kits. Mullein is the best known herb for recovery from pepper spray or tear gas attacks.

4. Echinacea tincture: A good immune support and prevention at the first sign of sickness. I add echinacea to general wellness and boosting drafts for activists. If taken only at times of extraordinary stress, it’s immune support and energy enhancing effects are notable.

5. Ginger syrup, candied ginger and also thin slices of fresh root: Fights nausea and calms the stomach, warms the extremities and aids breathing. This is the one herb you can literally hand out like candy. On a autumn blockade with a cold mist coming down, distributing thin slices of fresh or candied ginger root can both warm and sooth activists much as alcohol might without the undesirable effects that make alcohol unwelcome at most actions.

There are plenty of other things that might be useful, but this is what I would take if limited to five herbs, partly because of the climate I live in and what grows here locally, also because of what I have found most helpful for the people around me.

St. John’s Wart and calendula would be good alternates for echinacea and yarrow but some people react badly to St. John’s wart and while it can help with some viral infections, it makes people oversensitive to sunlight. Calendula is helpful for most skin problems and fights bacterial and fungal infections, but it doesn’t have the uses yarrow has in slowing bleeding or soothing inflammation.

Thyme is a good alternative to mullein for breathing problems and it has its own digestive uses but in a pinch I’d choose mullein simply because I find that it’s affects are more short-term and short-term relief is what I want in a first aid kit.

Cautions:

• While lemon balm is very handy for preventing the flare up of a minor sore throat and usually can handle the very beginnings of a bacterial infection, strep throat is a serious condition that requires professional medical attention and has historically (before antibiotics) led to many deaths. Especially in stressful, cold and wet conditions out in the elements, be aware of the dangers of strep infection. Particularly in the case of throat and gland swelling, advise patients to get indoors and seek out medical attention immediately.

• Yarrow is related to ragweed and people with ragweed allergies may react poorly to it. Also, while yarrow is easier on the kidneys than Ibuprofen, it shouldn’t be used in high “pain-killer doses” (about 1 tsp of tincture every 3 hours for an adult) for more than a few days running.

• Ginger will calm some stomach problems but will not do much for stomach flu, food poisoning or other infection. If stomach pain or nausea increases and results in repeated vomiting, it is time to get off the front line and seek medical attention.

• Mullein tincture may help acute breathing problems caused by chemical agents used for “crowd control” but if it does not help and breathing problems continue, seek out professional medical help. It is also ineffective in the other major problem with these chemical weapons, which is eye and skin irritation. The key thing to remember is that these chemicals are acidic and that is the cause of the adverse reactions. Neutralize the acidity with a liquids with a base ph. Water mixed 1 to 1 with antacid solution is helpful. A wash of soy milk has also been known to prevent acid burns.

Desperate parents and kids who will only eat mac'n cheese? Here's a healthy option.

Like a lot of people these days, I’ve got a kid with eating issues. Due to neurological and developmental issues, the doctors keep saying she needs about twice the optimal daily allowance of protein for a child (about 30 grams for most kids, 60 for my kid).

BUT due to sensory sensitivity issues she won’t eat most meat or eggs. She will sometimes eat legumes and nuts but not nearly often enough. The one significant protein source she’ll always eat is cheese, but dairy protein alone isn’t going to cut it for brain development.

Let me get one thing utterly clear here.

There’s a lot of judgmentalism out there about parents saying their kids have eating issues or intolerance to certain foods, when in reality it’s sometimes about parents wishing their kid was more special than the next kid or the inability of parents to set limits on the demands of entitled, picky kids living amid excess privilege.

And on one level I am as irritated as the rest. It is not “cool” to have neurological difficulties or sensory disorders or allergies or digestive illnesses. The real thing is a huge pain in the butt. If not eating gluten either helps you avoid little bumps on your skin or helps you feel good about yourself or about your kid, go for it. At least it is bringing the gluten free prices down for people with acute digestive illnesses. But please don’t make a big deal about it in every gathering where your child might ingest a small amount of gluten and have absolutely nothing happen. That kind of behavior is going to get a child with a real nut allergy killed, because people stop taking it seriously.

On the other hand, people who are irritated by this wave of special eating issues need to get a grip as well. Be grateful that you or your kids don’t have issues and can freely eat what they want. The instance of life-threatening allergies and real actual, factual, documented deaths from allergens has gone up in recent decades. Few researchers want to risk a funding ban by pointing fingers at the chemical industry and agro-business but there are plenty of studies linking the toxic stuff these industries put out to harmful hormonal, genetic and immune effects. People who say they really have a problem and are willing to eat the potatoes with nothing or the like and thank you for them are not realistically faking a problem for fun or image considerations.

Sure, shrug the next time a mom guilt trips you about how you should have made gluten free cupcakes for the birthday party because her little tike is “sensitive” while he’s over at the table going to town on the Doritos and she doesn’t care. But pay attention when it is clearly a real issue.

So, back to the story. If you are irritated by talk of food sensitivities and just want the recipe for healthy mac’n cheese, use the scroll bar.

Given all her sensory sensitivity and her love of cheese, my daughter has become obsessed with mac’n cheese in recent months. She had seen it on TV and the fact that it was mostly just noodles and cheese, two of her favorite things, was extremely enticing. For me, however, not so much. She gets plenty of cheese protein in a regular diet and there is very little nutritional value otherwise in this standard comfort food.

So, I was resistant for a long time. Finally, I decided to research healthier options for mac’n cheese, Other than hiding tiny bits of meat in it, the only viable option I came up with for adding protein was protein powder. It’s less than ideal but I was also concerned about other nutrients. Finally, I came across a recipe for reasonably healthy pumpkin-based mac’n cheese. Still a ton of dairy protein and the pumpkin sauce would make the protein powder disappear more easily.

The best part was I had just pulled a small pumpkin out of my garden.

There are those who have told me I should cut out all gluten from my kids’ diets given the sensory and neurological issues, but even testing the theory requires months of absolute isolation from gluten and that isn’t feasible in our school system without a heavy-handed doctor’s order, which we aren’t likely to get in order to just test a theory. So, this recipe includes regular whole wheat macaroni noodles, but you can substitute as needed.

My younger kid, the one without most of the eating issues is lactose intolerant, so I used lactose-free milk and cheese but the same can be done with regular milk and cheese.

My plan was to make the mac’n cheese in secret without letting my daughter know it had pumpkin in it, because she insisted she only wanted “pure” unadulterated mac’n cheese. And when she throws a food fit, it is epic. Not that we let her get away with dictating everything, but when you can avoid a hours-long scream-a-thon with basic precautions, you just do it.

So, I cut up and steamed the pumpkin. I pre-cooked the noodles. But then my daughter got home from her playdate early and the gig was up. She noticed the mound of noodles in a pot on the stove and went into overdrive. “I want mac’n cheese! I want mac'‘n cheese!”

Fifteen minutes later, after calming exercises and a discussion plus role play on how to express enthusiasm and make an appropriate request, I agreed to let her “help” cook. I figured that the added flexibility fostered by being involved in the cooking would balance out her disagreement with pumpkin in the sauce.

First, we had to make the sauce base and keep it free of lumps. This requires putting the butter in the pan and then briskly whisking in the flour and protein powder. You can use just flower, but you’ll need about 2 TBSP of flour. I can do this asleep by myself. But with my daughter it’s quite tricky. Thus no pictures of this stage. She managed it and thanks to the hand blender, there weren’t even any lumps.

Then we poured in the milk and plopped in the pumpkin, which hadn’t been pureed yet. You can puree it earlier to be on the safe side, but with a hand blender this works too. Just don’t let it get too hot first. My daughter insisted on tasting it at this point, still without salt and she was understandably horrified. But I managed to talk her out of full judgement.

She first got excited when I dropped in the mixture of herbs, salt and spices I had prepared ahead of time. She loved the smell. Who doesn’t? Pepper, paprika, basil, oregano and rosemary are a good smell combo. Then she was so taken with the pretty colors in the sauce that she insisted I take a picture.

The next taste test was the best part. She already loved the sauce, declaring it to be “the best sauce ever” and we hadn’t even added the cheese yet. Once we did she was fully on-board. We mixed the noodles directly into the sauce once we were happy with it and then poured the whole mess into the greased baking pan.

I saved out a third of the cheese to sprinkle on top and added breadcrumbs for a nice crust.

So, here’s the recipe in a nutshell:

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of wholewheat noodles (pre-cooked)

• 2 TBSP butter

• 1 TBSP flour (Use 2 TBSP if not adding protein powder)

• 3 TBSP protein powder (equivalent of about 30 grams of protein)

• 2 cups milk

• 1 TBSP dried oregano

• 1 TBSP dried basil

• 1 tsp dried rosemary

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp turmeric powder

• 1 tsp sweet paprika powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 1/2 -- 2 cups pureed winter squash (or one small winter squash or pumpkin, with seeds and rind removed)

• 1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (save 1/2 cup for topping)

• 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (save 1/2 cup for topping)

• Olive oil to grease the pan

• 3/4 cup bread crumbs for topping

Bake for 45 min to 1 hour, until top is golden brown.

The waiting for it to bake was the hardest part. My daughter was over-the-top excited and the smell was pretty amazing. In the end it came out beautifully and our men-folk ate it with amazed glances at me, given that I’m known for only making healthy stuff and my daughter insisted we wait until after they’d eaten to tell them the secret ingredient.

Easy vegetarian, herby campfire roasting - Fire Snakes

The summer camping season is officially open in most of the northern hemisphere. Sleeping, cooking, eating and playing outdoors and close to nature is a good way to ground your body and soul, build self-sufficiency skills and relieve the stresses of the daily grind.

But being crammed into a crowded campground full of fumes and junk food may not qualify as either healthy or stress free. The negative aspects of camping can be mitigated by seeking out places that are not overburdened with visitors or even just sleeping and eating outdoors in your own backyard. 

Illustration by Julie Freel from the book Shanna and the Goddess

The act of sitting around an small fire and preparing food is extremely powerful, and that probably has something to do with our genetic memories of thousands of years of doing just that with our families and clans. Cooking outdoors over a fire connects you to ancestors, regardless of what corner of the earth your people come from. Beyond just the closesness with nature, that connection can be healing. 

But most of us are overwhelmed enough by simple camping and cooking a real meal over a fire can be daunting. The easiest thing to prepare over a fire is something you can put on a stick and roast. Most of us roasted hot dogs and marshmallows as kids. But those may not be endlessly appealing today.

Whether you're vegetarian, vegan or just tired of the choice between ultra-unhealthy sausages and ultra-sugary marshmallows as campfire roasting treats, I have an easy and delicious option for you. Much tastier than just roasting a piece of bread over the fire, you can fire-bake your own bread in a few minutes, and it will have all the flavor of fresh bread along with the tang of the campfire. It's simply delicious. 

This recipe is a free excerpt from the children's and family Summer Solstice story Shanna and the Goddess. 

Fire Snakes

Fire snakes are bread dough formed into long snakes, twisted around a stick and baked over an open fire (or in the oven, in a pinch). 

They are very simple to make and can be dipped in everything from peanut butter and honey to cinnamon and sugar or ketchup, herbs, cheese sauce and bacon bits. Toppings are unlimited.

You can use any yeast or sourdough bread recipe that is not too sweet (sugar will tend to burn, so add it after cooking). Here is a basic recipe:

• 1 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 4 cups (or more) all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• A handful of dried or fresh, savory herbs, such as basil, thyme or rosemary (optional)

Mix the water, sugar and yeast in a bowl and let it sit for ten minutes.

Then stir the flour and salt in a large bowl.

Add the yeast mixture and the olive oil. 

Mix well and add extra flour as needed until it forms a heavy dough that can be molded. 

Let it rise for an hour. 

Cut off pieces about the size of a golf ball. 

Sprinkle flour on a clean surface and on your hands and roll out the balls to form snakes. (With large hands you can do this without a rolling surface in camping conditions but it can be tricky for kids). 

Then poke a marshmallow roasting stick through the end of a snake and wind the rest of the snake around the stick in a corkscrew pattern. Pinch the end together around the stick firmly. 
Roast over the fire and dip it in toppings as you eat.

Camping tip: Forage for tea and enjoy a vitamin boost

Nine years ago I packed food and video equipment in to a Greenpeace blockade camp in a military zone in the Czech Republic, dodging patrols and slipping up unmapped trails. The goal of the camp was to protect a couple of tree-sitters and thus to occupy a strategic hilltop marked for a US radar base that would put the first foreign troops in the country since the Soviets were kicked out in 1989 and destroy a fragile ecosystem in the process. 

Creative Commons image Yoppy of Flickr

I'm delighted to report that Greenpeace and local activists won that fight. 

I don't recall our packs containing anything like tea or even coffee when we carried supplies in and maybe this wasn't actually an oversight by the more experienced blockaders. In the end, other than a renewed sense of what can be accomplished by non-violent activists and the unsung little victories of environmental and social justice, I came out of the Brdy Hills with an item I no longer needed to carry in my camping kit - tea. 

I'm a tea drinker--herbal, black, green, you name it--and especially on camping trips, a hot drink in the morning is essential, though I can live with or without caffeine. As a result, I have always carefully stocked and refreshed a tea supply in my camping kit and I suffered greatly a few times when it ran out at an inopportune moment. 

The Greenpeace campers taught me how incredibly easy it is to forage for tasty, drinkable leaves if you're out in the woods anyway. After learning this, it seems almost silly to pack the stuff. 

Creative Commons image by  Woodley Wonder Works 

The basic thing to remember is that if you are used to eating the berries, you can usually brew the leaves. Wild huckleberry, raspberry, blackberry and strawberry leaves make a great base for tea. Raspberry and blackberry taste pretty similar to black tea and you can treat them much the same. But instead of caffeine you'll get an extra dose of iron and other nutrients, which is particularly useful for when you're outdoors and active. 

Beyond these, the year's newest fir needles are an excellent addition to make a more fragrant tea. Mint and wild thyme or wild oregano flowers can usually be found as well.

Fresh forage tea is particularly high in nutrients and flavor, and you'll enjoy the break from dried teas. However, there are a few cautions to observe while you're doing this:

Creative Commons image by Julie of Flickr.com

• Don't eat or brew plants you can't identify or are not sure are edible.
• Don't eat or brew plants found within a few yards/meters of an established campsite. First of all, the campsite will become stripped. And second, the males of our own species and those of one of our most friendly species (dogs) have a habit of marking the edges of such campsites with their urine. You can't be sure who has been there before you.
• Don't eat or brew plants found within 20 yards/meters of a minor road or 100 yards/meters of a major road. You don't want toxic heavy metals along with your iron supplement. 
• Don't pick plants in protected areas, national parks, high mountain meadows or particularly fragile habitats. If planning to camp in these areas, you do need to pack in everything. (And pack everything you brought in out again, of course.)
• When harvesting wild plant leaves for tea, be careful to take only a few leaves from each plant. Don't pull or you may damage the roots. If possible use scissors. Take only what you need. Harvest for future use, only if there is a great abundance of a particular plant and then be careful that you don't damage the plants or topsoil. 
• Before harvesting wild plants, sit a moment in the area and get a sense of it. Does it smell right?  Do you have a relaxed feeling or an uneasy feeling? Any sense of disturbance or unease you feel could indicate that you should not pick plants there. Human beings are still quite capable of instinctively sensing the health of plants without knowing logically why. The area could be polluted or too fragile and your body might pick up on that.  
• Give your thanks to wild plants you harvest from, whether silently or out loud, when you are finished.

Next time you're camping and have access to hot water out in the woods, brew up fresh forage tea and you will have an immediate connection to the local land and the earth itself.

Feverfew: A tenacious friend to guard against migraines

The first thing I noticed about feverfew is that it is one tough plant. I planted feverfew in a pot early on in my gardening adventures, partly because the flowers are known to repel wasps and we were having a problem with wasps invading the back veranda where we like to sit. 

Unfortunately for the feverfew, I was not a very good gardener all those years ago and because this pot was by the picnic table, away from all the other beds and plants, I often forgot to water it for weeks at a time. It was under the veranda roof, so this was really a problem. It lookedcompletely dried up several times, and I thought it was dead. Then my toddler children over-watered it on many other occasions, drowned it in mud, dug its roots out and tipped it over. 

Creative Commons image by  Swallowtail Garden Seeds

Twelve years on, the feverfew is still alive. 

It does have some ability to dissuade wasps from congregating, but only if you take care of it well enough to allow it to make flowers. The more flowers the better, when it comes to repelling wasps. They have a bitter smell. 

Relief for those suffering from migraines

However, the real gold in feverfew is in its ability to prevent and subdue migraine headaches. While the name of the plant suggests it as a treatment for fevers and it has been used that way historically, modern medical studies have proven its worth specifically in treating migraines. In Canada, the use of feverfew to treat migraines has been legally recognized. 

The flowers and leaves of feverfew can be collected and dried, powdered and put into gel capsules for natural headache pills or the fresh leaves and flowers can be tinctured in 40 percent alcohol. The dried-leaf capsules will only have full potency for a few months, so if you can tolerate a small amount of alcohol, tincture may be the better option. 

The short shelf-life is also a good reason to grow your own or find feverfew locally. It will not stand up well to industrial processing or the length of time necessary to distribute commercial capsules, so supplements with feverfew may not be as effective.

Creative Commons image by Graibeard of flickr.com

Warnings

There is one consistent warning given about feverfew. Chewing the fresh unprocessed leaves may result in mouth sores or loss of taste. It has a pungent and bitter taste that is not particularly pleasant, so I don't really recommend it. I did once chew a leaf as a test and suffered no strange effects, but people with greater sensitivity may well suffer from sores and the taste doesn't help matters.

I have found no report that tea from feverfew leaves or syrup made from an infusion would be likely to cause sores, but the taste is so repulsive that I doubt either would be a popular remedy. 

Other uses

Feverfew is also still used to treat fevers, irregular menstruation, colds and sometimes infertility, but these uses have not been studied in modern times and documentation of their traditional use is sparse. Given that there are usually more well-known herbal alternatives for these issues, I generally use feverfew only for headaches. 

Standard dosages

Studies have shown feverfew to be safe if 50-150 mg of leaf powder is taken daily for less than four months. Longer use has not been studied. These dosages are standard and individual reaction and individual plants may vary widely. This isn't specific medical advice and consultation with professionals as well as careful self-observation is recommended.

Feverfew is a tenacious herb and a steadfast friend when you the world is too much for you.