Growing Medicine (and toilet paper?): Mullein
This is part two of a series. You can see part one, Oregano, here.
I hadn’t heard much about mullein in my earliest studies of herbal medicine. I now believe there were two reasons for that. For one, it’s not one of the big heal-all cahoonas like elderberry, garlic, and echinacea that everyone talks about. I think some also consider it a weed (!), which furthers my theory that one man’s weed is another man’s food or medicine… or toilet paper?
For those of us interested in self-sufficiency, what if you could grow toilet paper? But first, let’s talk about mullein as herbal medicine.
photo credit: wemooninthewoods
Mullein Uses
This spring we harvested our mullein leaves, dried them out, and then made a tincture out of them. (I learned the basics of making tinctures, teas, poultices, and more through a great video called Making Herbs Simple.) Next year we may just dry them and store them as is in order to utilize them as teas or tinctures.
Mullein is great for viruses and while we’ve thankfully never had to battle them, I’ve heard great things about garilc and mullein in combination for ear infections. It’s also very useful for bronchial and lung problems and can be used as a tea, in combination with other decongestant herbs such as horehound.
When we’re not growing it, here are a few mullein preparations that are handy:
- Mullein Herbal Oil (for ear infections)
- Dried Mullein Leaf (for teas)
- Mullein Extract (for viruses)
Herbal Toilet Paper?
I’ll admit, I tried to talk Stewart into the family cloth concept when the boys were full on cloth-diapered. I had a washing machine then so it was so easy to just throw things that were kind of icky into the washing machine and not have to worry about it. His response was that so long as he could purchase toilet paper, he would.
We use toilet paper in our composting toilet setup, but I love the idea of growing something, using it as toilet paper, and having that extra element in the compost! I’m pretty sure we won’t be doing this any time soon, but it’s good to have in the back of our minds as an option.
Until we’re to that point, we’ll continue to utilize mullein medicinally.
Do you grow or use mullein?
Disclaimer: I am not an herbalist or medical professional. This is simply the story of how plant-based medicines have helped our family. I share them here in case they can help yours as well. Please see the full disclosure in the sidebar for more, including information about any affiliate links present in the above post.
