For related articles and information, please visit OCA’s Organic Transitions Center page  and our Health Issues page.

Hello, this is Jesse Wolf’s partner Kiva Rose, with the second in what will be a long series of posts by us on the topics of medicinal herbs, folk herbalism and natural healing.  Together we host the upcoming herbal conference and celebration in the forests near the Grand Canyon, Arizona, and produce and sell a special digital quarterly for herbalists and the students of herbalism called Plant Healer Magazine, but we are also committed to making available to everyone a certain amount of absolutely free educational content including Plant Healer’s complimentary blog “Herbaria” (subscribe at www.PlantHealer.org), and some of our newest writings will be appearing right here on this Mother Earth News blog.

In all cases, we strive to provide a balance of information, from how to identify and make use of America’s medicinal plants, to interviews with famed herbal practitioners and teachers, with the intention of helping you take some responsibility for your own health and that of your family… in the most natural ways possible.

The Brambles of Summer

Many rose family plants, including Rubus species such as Raspberry and Blackberry, are astringent tonics. This means that they tighten and tone lax tissues, and that’s useful in a practical sense because they help to restrict the loss of needed fluid through those too relaxed tissues. This could be excessive diarrhea or sweating during a fever that is leading to dehydration, excessive uterine bleeding during menstruation, excessive urination, or even bleeding, swollen gums as the result of gum disease.

Most of us think of the leaf or even root in regards to medicinal uses, but the tart, unripe or partially ripe berries are also very useful, and children are generally more easily convinced to take a tasty berry potion than even the nicest tea.  The good news is that Rubus species tend to be very tasty indeed, from leaf to berry! There are a great many ways to turn Blackberries, Raspberries, and other closely related species into medicine, and I’ll provide a couple recipes here so you can get an idea of some easy ways to make your own remedies with them.