home  csa  nurturing soil  celebrating health  nourishing diversity farm apprenticeship  contact us

Herbs in Milk

Both boys are under the weather today. I suspected they might be, as they spent the day with a couple of other kids who were sick last week- I was warned but what can I say, I really really wanted to go to that ale workshop and needed someone to watch them......so they have fevers, coughs and runny noses. Its not a lengthy thing though, Benjiro had the worst of it the first day, yesterday and looks much improved today, Indio on the other hand is miserable and was just fine yesterday and so it goes......

This brings me to one of our favorite ways to take in herbs while sick round these parts, and that is herbs in milk. Its really not anymore complicated than you would guess, but a cup of herb infused milk is really soothing to the soul and helps relax, and nourishes at a time when the kids are not hungry because they do not feel well. Warm milk is good for the nerves, and is comforting to the soul, especially before bedtime, or when a sickness has the child or adult resting much of the time.

I usually gather an herb I feel is specific to the occasion. I crunch and grind it into a paste in my mortar and pestle, really mashing it up good. You can actually harvest quite a bit as it grinds down to paste and not much of it compared to plant volume when picked. Today and yesterday, my choice has been hyssop.

Hyssop, Hyssopus officinalis, is a great ally for any cold or lung or sinus congestion, active in viral infections, and also is a mild sedative, helping relieve tension. I use the leaves, flowers and stems from our plant in front of the house. Hyssop has many uses- it nourishes the blood, it has been used as a stomach tonic, awesome for soothing sore throats, can assist with fevers, helps digestive woes, and is strengthening to the immune system with powerful anti-viral properties. Aside from all of hyssop's healing possibilities its also extremely easy to grow.

After smushing up into a nice juicy green paste, I put in a small pan and pour some raw goat milk over the top. I heat this very gently up to just before a simmer, give it a stir, and then turn the burner off and let it sit for up to an hour. Then I bring the heat up to simmer once again, strain the herb material out, and place in a cup. Into this, depending on the herb and the herbs taste, I can mix a tiny bit of maple syrup or raw honey, or even better, another supportive herb infused honey, or herbal syrup. I really like rose honey for this.

The kids really like it, they call it their green milk, and that is one of the most important things in my eyes at least in treating children with herbs- that it tastes good, and they like it. That healing from the green world is comforting, is loving, and tastes yummy. There is no good vibe in forcing a kid to open up with something that makes them want to gag, something that tastes awful- the powerful message behind that is that you have to feel bad to feel good, which is a crappy dynamic in the first place, and well, there is just no excuse for that IMO where there are a ton of herbal options that heal well and taste great for kids. Using herbal medicine in times of sickness is a deft art for the herbal mom and pop- balancing the art of the medicine and the herb itself with finding a way to have the child enjoy the process. Be it herbal massage, herbal baths, or herbal teas, that is a whole post within itself, these ways to be artful about supporting health in times of sickness with children- but "green milk" is just one of my allies in this area.

p.s. of course you don't have to feel ill to enjoy green milk. Sometimes before sleep if my mind is racing and I have a lot of nervous energy, green milk is just the soothing hand I need.