Wednesday 21 September 2011

Inula helenium/ Elecampagne New Moon Harvest

The Sept Nu Moon was exciting -I had been planning the uprooting of a particularly large patch of Inula/ Elecampagne for the past month. Waking up several times from dreams about this statuesque pungent beauty.
 She stood 9 feet tall at her highest and looked very junglefied indeed.
 It was a warm clear day and Dieter Elektra and I set off with buckets and large spades! Luckily the soil was very sandy and so the heavy digging back work was made considerably easier. I had read that the plant should be at least 3 years old to harvest the roots this one was 4 years old and Massive.

Inula is part of the Daisy family recognisable by her composite flower heads. I have used this plant for many years as my Son Harry was diagnosed with Asthma @ 2 years old. I put him on a mix of Inula, thyme, hyssop and liquorice and his asthma soon disappeared. This mix along with some others now forms the basis of our Lung Tonic Tincture. This tonic along with a Breathe Easy tea, has help loads of folks to get rid of their inhalers. Woo hoo.
Inula is a relaxant so is also indicated when there is a nervous component in a cough. Harry’s original cough was really persistant, I remember going to see a film with him and he literally did small half coughs throughout! The plant’s bitter tonic properties stimulate the appetite and digestion, increasing the flow of bile, so used in IBS and other digestive complaints as well.
.It is also an emmenogue promoting menstruation and can be used to treat anaemia
The Roots looked like Stone Aged Clubs and we had some fun waving them around!
We filled the bath with them and showered the excess mud off then began the mammoth chopping task.......

I think I need a shredder......

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