bitterpattern

A is for Achillea is part of the Alphabet Project, begun by edible office/Zoey Kroll. I’ve picked her challenge up and am embarking on the Alphabet Garden: the Herbal Set an A-Z compendium of medicinal herbs largely growing in the san francisco/ channel watershed/ salmon run nation (with occasional shots from maine! because it calls to me, and when it calls, i return). We’re tincturing, harvesting, planting, mapping and eating our way through the alphabet, leading up to 350.org‘s 10-10-10 global day of action. see also the larger alphabet garden set.
see also: alphabet remedies

Achillea, or yarrow is blooming in San Francisco right now. I harvested a few different Achillea Millefolium cultivars from Hayes Valley Farm this week. A “Moonshine” and a pink. According to most herbalists I’ve consulted, these cultivars aren’t as medicinal as the white, wild yarrow that grows in meadows, along road, and many border areas across North America. Rosemary Gladstar does note that in Switzerland the pink yarrow is considered to be the most medicinal yarrow, and indeed this is the most common yarrow that grows in Switzerland. I am interested in updating and expanding our knowledge of A. Millefolium cultivars. In the 21st century, and particularly in the urban setting, where we have to make due with the seeds we have, the plants that have been given to us, where so much exchange has taken place, it seems we should take note of the other varieties and cultivars; perhaps they have specific values that have been overlooked, or that have been genetically developing in particular local contexts. Would love it if folks wanted to start a discussion or exploration of this.

For the past few days, I’ve been working with the harvest of Achillea in 3 ways. I decided to make some external applications: a wound wash, an oil for inflammation, and a tea spray for the fruit trees at Hayes Valley Farm.

For both the Achillea Wound Wash and the Achillea oil, I filled a jar with the fresh harvested yarrow blossoms and stems 1 1/2 inches from the top. For the wash, I covered the plant material with witch hazel (so that the witch hazel is about 1 1/2 – 2″ over the plant material), and I’ll let that sit for 2-4 weeks. Once I’ve strained the plant material, I will add distilled water and glycerine to it (I’ll blog about it again at that point). For the oil, I chopped up the yarrow a bit in a cuisinart and covered the plant material with apricot kernel seed oil (so that the oil is about 1 1/2 – 2″ over the plant material). That is sitting in the sun; in 2 weeks I’ll strain that (oils should sit with the herb in sunlight for a minimum of two weeks – longer is good).

Achillea Wound Wash: Yarrow has long been used to heal wounds. It was frequently used on the battlefield for soldiers before modern warfare. Perhaps linking to both it’s history on the battlefield as well as it’s association with invulnerability, the latin term Achillea references the warrior Achilles who was invulnerable except for one spot: his heel. I think of yarrow as working the polarity between vulnerability and invulnerability, making us vulnerable and invulnerable in the ways that are beneficial to ourselves and our communities. Yarrow disinfects, reduces inflammation, helps blood to clot, and helps to repair tissue.

Achillea Oil: The yarrow oil we’re making can be rubbed on any external inflammation, as well as added to gauze for a wound, or rubbed into varicose veins. Herbalist Lisa Zahn has some excellent insight into yarrow oil; find that writing here. Yarrow is known to enhance the actions of the herb it combines with. I think it would go wonderfully with St. John’s wort oil in a salve.

Achillea Insect Tea: For every 16oz of water, add one cup fresh yarrow blossoms and leaves. Let sit in the sun for at least 24 hours, then add to 1 gallon of water. You can then apply to affected leaves with spray bottle. Acoording to this website, Yarrow is especially good for soft bodied insects, aphids and mealy bugs.

Please note: I’ve written about yarrow before, particularly about it’s signature action of treating bleeding.