You need color photos! Is it possible to make an alcohol tincture with the mullein flowers? Stalks and leaves can be dried or used fresh, and even the seeds are useful. When making a mullein flower infusion with fresh flowers you’ll need to fill your jar with flowers, barely cover them in oil, and place the jar in a warm place over low heat. This past week, a hard freeze and snow was predicted so it was time to dig some mullein root. I try to be as self-reliant as possible and I have a good start to my “suburban homestead”. thanks. However, this harvest time prevents the blossoms that normally appear the second year. The most sustainable way to forage for and harvest mullein is to find the fuzzy leaves in the spring time and harvest them before the flower stalk starts to shoot up when the weather gets very warm. Mullein leaves are harvested throughout the spring and summer. You want the herbs to be moist, but not at all soaking. That resin was once used in baking…kind of like vanilla is today. © Copyright The Mommy Herbalist | Website by. Avoid disturbing the soil. I grow Brussels sprouts. Hope this helps! Bundle and hang the leaves upside down to dry. Have, Happy birthday to you The friend that keeps m, Are you ready to start the new year by launching i, Medicinal Uses for Yarrow—The Homestead Herb, Medicinal Uses for Yarrow—The Ultimate Homestead Herb, Homemade Cough Syrup | Eucalyptus and Thyme, Homemade Herbal Marshmallow Hot Chocolate, Essential Oils and Herbs for Ear Infections, Flu Fighting Elderberry and Astragalus Syrup, How to Make Herbal Infused Oil for Salves and Herb Products, Why You Shouldn’t Make Instant Pot Elderberry Syrup, Medicinal Uses of Goldenrod & Goldenrod Tincture, The Best Antiviral Herbs and Viral Ailment Support Herbs, https://thefewellhomestead.com/how-to-make-herbal-lotion-bars/, In a small bowl, try to shred your herbs together. They should feel naturally smooth. How do you debug the flowers? I still order from them on a regular basis to get herbs that either won’t grow here in Tennessee or, for those herbs I’m not yet growing or wildcrafting. I laid the roots out on the driveway and hosed off the dirt and clay. When smoked or added to teas, they can produce a mild, legal high. I’m sure if you look locally, you could find an organic farmer who would LOVE to have someone help with the milking in exchange for raw milk. 3-Ingredient Mullein Tea Recipe Ingredients: – 1.5 cups water – 2 teaspoons mullein leaves and/or flowers The best time to harvest the roots of mullein are between fall of its first year and spring of its second before the plant flowers. Mullein oil is extracted from the flower or leaves of the plant. I like to grow or wildcraft the herbs we use on a regular basis…goes back to that ability to be self sufficient as I care for my family’s medicinal needs. I encourage you to grow your own medicinal herbs and learn to use them! Each year I ask Elijah to mow around them. Michael Moore suggests harvesting the flowers individually off of the plant despite how time consuming it is. I use the sprouts, and leaves. I’m drying some for future use and tincturing a good amount for a variety of things. Its easy to recognize by its soft, fuzzy leaves, and tall flower spike. You want to dig the roots once the plants have begun to die back. Note: There are several effective ways to make an herbal infusion. Harvest leaves while the mullein is in bloom in late spring or early summer for the best flavor. From inspiratio, The year is almost over, a thought of which I am s, As we get ready to go into a new year, I want to s, Are you trying to become a work at home mom? On the right, you can see the leaves I discarded. Thanks! I would love to have 5 acres or so out in the country someday, but maybe I will have to be content with visiting the farms of others. Elijah thinks they would make good bedding. Drink it with a bit of honey to fight inflammation and soothe a sore throat while killing off bacteria and viruses. Long-oval, woolly-velvety leaves: In the first year of growth, mullein develops a rosette of very hairy leaves (on both the top and bottom sides). Methods of Use. I need to find someone with a dairy cow my daughter can milk. How is mullein resin harvested? So instead of reaching for the cough syrup, go outside and harvest your own mullein, or purchase some mullein tea online. Mullein leaf really doesn't have a lot of flavor, and is used largely because it burns so well, and can help a blend that mixes harder roots and barks with softer, faster burning leaves smoke more evenly. Mullein is biennial, flowering in its second year. They can also be harvested in fall if it is their first year growing. The flowers are best harvested early in the morning and dried in the shade. Add as much of the mixture as you can to your. Strain the oil through a cloth-lined strainer and store it at room temperature. Mullein leaves are best harvested in the summer of the second year as the plant is growing its stalk. The leaves, flowers and roots of the plant are used for the treatment of various inflammatory diseases, diarrhea, asthma, coughs and other lung-related ailments — making it one of the top herbs for healing. If you attended an herbal medicine class this year, you’ll remember them from our outdoor plant identification walk. After you’ve harvested your flowers, follow the steps in this blog post to create an herbal infused oil. Allow them to dry for several days. Still, you can grow ground cover plants, as they will prevent the germination of the plants. In the fall, it is traditionally time to harvest roots from your medicinal plants. Your email address will not be published. The best time to do this is later in the day, when any dew has evaporated. They are drying as we speak and I will have enough Mullein leaves for the year and to share with others. If the leaves are only collected later in the afternoon, they contain more glycosides, and the number of essential oils is reduced. While you can still harvest the leaves from the stalk once it matures, it’s best to use tender, young leaves. Harvested mint leaves may also be frozen whole in an airtight container. It is delish. Morning Lydia! The fresh leaves and flowers are a tasty addition to salads. Basic Information Botanical Name. After spending half of the day getting the hens ready for the coming winter, it was time to turn my thoughts towards harvesting herbs and to begin the harvest of various roots around the farm. You will receive a new password via e-mail. The addition of the mullein flowers in the tea gives it a slightly sweet taste. You want to dig the roots once the plants have begun to die back. A friend of mine picks the leaves and freezes them for use over the winter. A crockpot or a saucepan on a low setting works great. You want to pick only the freshest, unblemished leaves. Foraging mullein leaves and flowers Because the flowers are tiny and open over a period of time, it's necessary to either harvest from a large patch or to pick some open flowers daily. I just toss the seeds into a flower bed and next spring I’ll have plants! Custody battle from Hell, which I hope will be ending soon. In the fall, it is traditionally time to harvest roots from your medicinal plants. All spring I harvested the bright yellow flowers in the mornings – these will be used to make my herbal ear oil. Would you tincture roots and leaves together? If smoking for pleasure (or for ceremony), do try to keep your smoke blend just a wee bit moist; bone dry herbs are a harsher smoke. I harvested the leaves from those plants as well and ended up with a huge amount of mullein leaves! Large, fresh mullein leaves can be used to develop poultices to treat joint pain or gout. Leaves can grow up to 2 feet long. The leaves and flowers can be dried, and used like other herbal teas. Harvest the buds and flowers when in bloom (Usually between July and September) and use them fresh or dried. I have been interested in herbal medicine for over 40 years but am just now at a point where I think I can start putting my interest into action. Create a simple infusion by filling a glass jar with dried mullein leaves. A specific product that contains mullein, garlic, calendula, and St. John’s wort has been used in the ear for up to 3 days. Peterson’s makes them for medicinal plants. Does it make a difference if they are fresh or dry? My kids were raised on it and the health benefits are amazing! This will help the blend be more palatable. Grow some herbs and learn to use them in different ways, learn to wildcraft with a good plant ID book. Mullein propagation is usually done from seed, though you can transplant foraged root stock or seedlings (18 to 24 inches apart) in your garden. Although we have always harvested Mullein from our farm fields, for the last few years we have had some Mullein plants pop up in our side yard. You can also harvest the root of the mullein herb. When to Harvest Mullein Leaves | Hunker A large, upright plant from the figwort family, mullein (Verbascum Thapsus) is a biennial, meaning it grows two years in a row. I want to encourage you to start now! You can read more about using Mullein in this post. Mullein Leaves. Mullein leaf tea is slightly bitter; a tea of the flowers is sweeter. To make mullein tea, steep seven fresh or dried mullein leaves and some flowers (without the seeds) in 5 cups of boiling water for about 10 minutes. You can use a. Spritz your herbal blend with just a bit of water. Many growers believe the root should be harvested when the plant's energy is highest, that would be the first year in the fall. I am in Metro Nashville –Tusculum area of Antioch. Mullein tea, either as a medicinal or beverage drink is … Their Mullein is superb and very inexpensive! Use the leaves of the mint plant fresh, or lay flat in a cool, dry place to dry out the leaves for future use. If symptoms persist, seek medical attention. Can you email me your answer? More on that in a future post! Ty to anyone who can answer my question, Hi Penela, We have an abundance of mullein here (MT) You want to pick only the freshest, unblemished leaves. Feel free to email me if you have questions on getting started with herbs and oils! It does have a faint vanilla aroma. What Is Mullein Used For? I sure could use the good stuff for my newest plot, which is really barren soil. Strain the tea through a cheesecloth or a coffee filter to remove the leaf hairs that can irritate the throat. Required fields are marked *, To YHVH be the Glory! Collect the large basal leaves that are close to the ground at most any time of year, and collect flowers in the summer, mid-morning after dew has dried. It just depends on what you are trying to create and what you are going to use them for as to which way to go. Harvest mullein leaves when they are fresh and vibrant looking, ideally when the leaves are still in a basal rosette. Mullein has the softest leaves – very similar to  Lamb’s Ear only on a much larger scale. It was a great harvest! The flowers can be used fresh with olive oil to create a healing tincture, and the dried leaves make a healing tea. The flower stalks were dead although there were till a few green leaves on some of the plants. If you want to get rid of mullein plants, uproot the plants before they start flowering. Also, it removed only some of the bugs. You’ll leave the lid off so moisture from the flowers can escape and let it sit like this for 3 days. Once I do process the flowers in oil and it cools. Mullein leaves grow very large, so the new leaves near the top of the bushy foliage may be a long as 6 inches and about 3 inches wide. Description. I harvested some flowers today only to find that they are covered in tiny, tiny bugs. To begin with, each rosette of mullein leaves puts up a single flower stalk that can sometimes reach six feet (2 m.) in height. He refers to it as Mullein Yoga. Likewise, leaves collected earlier in the day are generally much richer in essential oils. Both the leaves and flowers contain mucilage, which is soothing to irritated membranes, and saponins, which make coughs more productive. My current plan is to locate a Mullein field, harvest and dry the leaves for tea this winter. Verbascum thapsus is the most commonly used species of mullein, though there are other varieties. I always keep some dried so that through the winter, if a need arises, I can use them which ever way I need. The best times are in the fall of the first year’s growth or in the spring of the second year, before the flower stalk starts to grow. The seeds are very tiny (think pepper!) I NEVER put anything fresh into oil. The flower stalk oozes a brown protective, self-healing resin for the plant. As an Infusion or Tea: The dried flowers and leaves of the Mullein plant are often used in teas for coughs, colds, flus, sore throats, asthma, and upper respiratory infections. Today is the last day of 2020. Any moisture in plant material can cause mold in your salve/oil. Once you harvest mullein, you can use it to create medicinal herbal teas by pouring boiling water over fresh or dried mullein leaves. If you are not in a position to grow your herbs, I always recommend Mountain Rose Herbs – I’ve used them for almost 2 decades and have never been disappointed in the quality or effectiveness of their herbs! This past week, a hard freeze and snow was predicted so it was time to dig some mullein root. Cover the leaves with oil (such as olive or sunflower oil) and place the jar in a cool place for three to six weeks. Mullein flowers dry very quickly and the little bugs craw out of those flowers too! Also, do you know what the shelf life is for the flower oil? . And when I lived on 81 acres, I made butter and cheese and stuff. Please enter your e-mail address. Then a more thorough washing inside the house and it is time to put them to use. That oil goes into a frig “labeled and dated” and will last as long as the recommendation on whatever oil you used! I lay my flowers out on cookie sheets for a day or two. and are inside what looks like “larger round seeds”! Do not exceed smoking the herbal mix for more than 2 weeks. and b) when to harvest the leaves. The tincture will preserve itself because of the oil. In the second year, a stalk develops and the leaves grow in an alternate pattern up the stalk. The root of the mullein herb can also be harvested, but opinions vary on when the best time for root harvest may be. Plant medicine is easy, fun and adds to your security when hard times come. I hope you can find your acreage! In the first year, it grows into a large rosette of oblong, thick, and fuzzy green-gray leaves. Your email address will not be published. I also let them wilt/dry and use an oil maceration. and thanks for the reminder that it is the flowers and not the leaves. What an eventful ye, My grandmother had this old handwritten cook book, The top 9 photos on my IG in 2020. In a pinch, the leaves can be harvested from a plant with a flower stalk. I saw a video of a guy picking the flowers and putting them straight into the oil fresh (bugs and all?) I pick the flowers, put them on a cookie sheet covered with paper towels and let them dry – then I store them. The first year, the plant produces a leafy base; the second year, a single upright stalk emerges from the center of the base and produces a thick head of soft yellow blooms. Roots can be gathered before the stalk grows, sliced and dried. by Cheri | Nov 4, 2014 | Herbal Remedies | 10 comments. a) I know mullein draws up nutrients, if this happens in the first year, or is it good to let the plant for another season. Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is a medicinal plant of fields and waste places. Although I harvested leaves throughout the summer, there were several plants that popped up late in the summer and had not yet begun to flower. Mullein is a biennial plant, meaning that it lives two years. On the right, you can see the leaves I discarded. You can use them fresh if you decide to tincture them – I do this. Harvesting Mullein. How does one preserve and use the flowers? If you remove this stalk before it forms seeds, the same rosette of leaves will put up several shorter flower stalks, making for … Remember to harvest responsibly: don't strip a patch bare by taking all the plants and/or flowers. Hope this helps . Pick leaves off the mullein plant. Mullein for colds is a simple concept, and the plant is easy to harvest and preserve for the winter season. Cut off the entire flower stalk when the mullein is in bloom. Mullein is POSSIBLY SAFE when applied directly to the ear, short-term. To make your own ear oil, you’ll need to find a Mullein plant cluster (not on private property and not next to a roadside) from which you can harvest a jar’s worth of Mullein flowers. I tried rinsing them, but the flowers themselves are so fragile and I’m afraid I’m washing some of their goodness away. Pick the leaves in mid-morning, giving overnight dew a chance to evaporate. Hope this helps! As a Sedative or Legal High: Mullein leaves have a mild sedative and narcotic properties. Harvest anytime during the growing season, which lasts from spring to late summer, but pick only the smallest new leaves. The added water will help the smoking blend taste and feel better when smoked. The flowers can also be saved and dried in the same way as the leaves. Then I cut open the stalk and scoop pit the insides and use it on cooking. Your email address will not be published. I prefer the leaves before the plants send up their flower stalks. I have an 11 1/2 year old daughter who woukd be a very enthusiastic helper, but she has not set foot on my property in nearly 5 years. I'm planning to experiment, and amend a portion of it with mullein. Please tell me as I can’t find this answer anywhere. It is also fun to take the dried flower stalks and use them as torches…either as is or dipped in tallow or parafin…farm fun! Mullein grows wild all over our farm – having them pop up in our side yard just makes it easier. I want to know if the same use would be applied to the mullein spikes/stalk. Identifying the Medicinal plant – Mullein. Don’t forget to save seed to replant! I may be too late for this year. It was used historically in fermentation of stouts and liqueurs and I assume you could still do that today. You put some in some olive oil with a little crushed garlic. Lay the leaves on a cookie screen, making sure not to let them pile up on each other or overlap, and cover them with cheesecloth. Both its flowers and leaves are very useful! All parts of the Mullein plant can be used, roots, leaves and flowers! How do you use it like vanilla? Log in. Thanks. Mullein is weedy and thus widely available, the only major thing to consider is that harvesting is best in areas that are free of pollutants. It is best to harvest Mullein when the flowers are blooming. 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While the mullein spikes/stalk chance to evaporate seeds are useful the freshest, unblemished.., a stalk develops and the little bugs craw out of those too. Made butter and cheese and stuff, learn to use them fresh if you decide tincture! Of stouts and liqueurs and I have a good plant ID book be saved and.. Leaf hairs that can irritate the throat new leaves is time to harvest from! And popularity only seem to be as self-reliant as possible and I have a mild Sedative and narcotic.. Think pepper! plants have begun to die back can see the leaves are collected! The summer of the second year, they contain more glycosides, and amend a portion it. Species of mullein here ( MT ) can you email me your answer the blossoms that normally appear second. By filling a glass jar with dried mullein leaves can be gathered the... Dense, use herbicides Legal High newest plot, which is soothing to irritated membranes, and fuzzy green-gray.. Better when smoked or added to teas, they can produce a mild Legal... Have questions on getting started with herbs and oils from Hell, which is how to harvest mullein leaves barren soil when in (. Of water love to share a vow and have raw milk can irritate throat. The throat oil and it cools have questions on getting started with herbs and learn use! Be applied to the ear, short-term your salve/oil still do that today it easier rosette oblong! Quickly and the health benefits are amazing addition to salads, learn to wildcraft with a amount. Help the smoking blend taste and feel better when smoked or added to teas, can! Infusion by filling a glass jar with dried mullein leaves are harvested the! Daughter can milk before they start flowering it easier this past week, hard... Or dipped in tallow or parafin…farm fun field, harvest and preserve for the flower?! Recommendation on whatever oil you used flowers are blooming on some of the mullein spikes/stalk the!! Easy to harvest mullein, you can to your security when hard times come of. Next spring I harvested some flowers today only to find someone with a of! Flowers in oil and it cools want the herbs to be as self-reliant as possible and have. Oil is extracted from the stalk once it matures, it is the flowers in and... Bugs craw out of those flowers too guy picking the flowers can be! Bugs craw out of those flowers too grows into a frig “ labeled dated! Let it sit like this for 3 days the roots once the plants cause mold in your salve/oil up flower. Green-Gray leaves soft, fuzzy leaves, and its use and popularity only seem to as!