Wildcrafting: Yarrow

While on a walk the other day with my Boxer, Hoodoo, I saw that Yarrow had begun to bloom. Daisies & Asters as well. Yep, time to go wildcrafting and start some herb projects!


Yarrow is one of my favorites. Mullein is another, but it won't ready & available until August or September. Yarrow is one of those all-around great plants that should never be overlooked or considered 'just a weed'.


First for the Yarrow correspondences, then I'll present some of the great uses for this great plant.

Don't you just love this little guy!? He made it all the way up a Yarrow stalk!

Yarrow
Latin: Achillea mille folium


Other Names: AchiUea, Allheal, Angel Flower, Arrow Root, Bad Man’s Plaything, Bloodwort, Cammock, Carpenter’s Weed, Death Flower, Devil’s Mustard, Devil’s Nettle, Devil’s Plaything, Dog Daisy, Eerie, Field Hops, Gearwe, Gordaldo, Gordoloba, Green Arrow, Herbe Militaris, Hierba de las Cortadura, Hundred Leaved Grass,  Knight’s Milfoil, Knyghten, Lady’s Mantle, Millefoil, Milfoil, Militaris, Military Herb, Millefolium, Noble Yarrow, Nosebleed Plant, Old Man’s Mustard, Old Man’s Pepper, Plumajillo, Sanguinary, Seven Year’s Love, Snake’s Grass, Soldier’s Thousand Seal, Soldier’s Woundwort, Squirrel’s Tail, Stanch Grass, Stanch Weed, Tansy, Thousand-leaf, Thousand Seal, Thousand Weed, Woundwort, Yarroway, Yerw


Magickal Attributes: Attracts friends, Banishing, Blockages removed, Contact w/ others, Courage, Divination, Dream work, Exorcism, Faery magick, Fear repelling, Handfasting, Happy marriage, Healing, Longevity, Love, Prophecy, Protection, Psychic powers, Purification, Repel negative energy, Road opening


Medicinal & Other Uses: Amenorrhea, Anesthetic, Anti-inflammatory, Antiseptic, Aromatherapy, Astringent, Baldness, Beer flavoring, Bowels, Bleeding & clotting, Blood purifier, Catarrh, Chicken Pox, Circulation, Colds & flu’s, Coughs, Crafts, Cystitis, Diabetes, Digestion aid, Dyspepsia, Eczema, Fever, Gastritis, Glandular system, Gum problems, Headache, Hemorrhoids, Incense, Insect repellant, Liver stimulator & regulator, Lowers blood pressure, Lungs, Measles, Menstrual suppression & regulation, Nipple soreness, Nose bleeds, Peri-menopause, Potpourri, Sachets, Slows heartbeat, Smallpox, Smudging, Toothache, Thrombosis, Ulcers, Uterine tightener, Varicose veins, Vision, Wreaths


Deities: Achilles, Aphrodite, Devil, Faeries, Oshun, Yemaya


Gender: F
Planet: Saturn, Venus 
Element: Earth, Water


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Harvest Time: Summer & Autumn during flowering season


Garden Uses: 
Companion plant for repelling bad insects and attracting good, predatory ones (wasps, ladybugs, hoverflies).
Fertilizer
Beneficial compost additive.


Plant Feed Recipe:
A liquid plant feed can be made from the leaves by filling a milk jug or other container with the leaves and adding some water. Let mixture steep in the sun for a week or two and then dilute the smelly dark liquid in water using 1 part mixture and 10 parts water.


Culinary Uses: Cook like spinach, eat as a side dish or add to soups.


Other Uses: Dried Yarrow stalks for I Ching sticks.


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Parts & Their Uses

Diaphoretic (sweating agent)

Astringent (shrinks body tissue)

Tonic

Stimulant

Mild aromatic

Fever & pain reducer

Flowers:
Boil the flowers & leaves in water to make a tea for clearing up a cold within 24 hours.
Yellow and green dyes are obtained from the flowers.


Drying Flowers:
Gather freshly opened flowering stalks, cutting close to the base. (If the root is needed, carefully uproot the entire plant). Tie in bunches of three or four then hang upside down to dry in an airy place away from direct sunlight. When thoroughly dry, remove the flower clusters carefully and place in jars with tight-fitting lids, and stored away from sunlight. The leaves can be stripped and saved & stored in the same manner. The stalks can be cut to length for I Ching sets, adding a small pouch for storage (to sell).


Leaves:
Crushed leaves can be used for clotting blood in wounds.


Roots:
Crushed purple root is a numbing agent.


Whole Plant:
Burn in fire pit as a mosquito repellent.


Tinctures:
Use for urinary disorders, menstrual problems, and cardiovascular complaints.
Cotton pads soaked in tincture will soothe varicose veins.


Oils:
Boil down the flowers to make the essential oil.
Inhale oil for allergic mucus problems, including hay fever & mild asthma.


Infusions:
Drink flower infusion for congestion.
Use a flower infusion externally for minor skin problems, such as eczema & chapping.


Infusion Recipe: 
Pour 2 cups of boiling water over 1 cup of crumbled dried flowering yarrow tops, cool and strain. Pat on skin.