Most of you who are here probably have some relationship to the turn of the wheel. And maybe have forgotten what it was like to be oblivious to how the elements effect us. I certainly celebrated the natural rhythms of the seasons growing up and as a young adult but it wasn’t until I started diving into herbal medicine that it suddenly became real in how integral it is. How the weather and the environment was inside and outside of me. And that I was apart of all of it.

In herbalism we look foremost at the environment that the medicinal plants grow in as it gives us an understanding of what their innate intelligence is. These observations can seem childlike and outside of science, but my understanding is this criticism is part of the dogma of science rather than the reasoning, as observation is the first scientific act. The plants know how to thrive in their environments, they have been learning and improving their adaptability for 100’s of thousands of years and can pass this vital wisdom onto us in the form of healing.

On the west coast, this time of year, for the month of January we usually start the season off with a black cotton wood bud harvest. Each place in the world will be different but it will have one thing in common, humans and plants alike are experiencing some sort of weather and this onslaught of sensation, warm or cold, moisture or dryness is something that all living things have to adapt and accommodate daily.

This is why I often say I practice elemental plant medicine. From the micro to the macro, it is the dance of the elements that we are navigating, inside and out, as above so below.

Black cotton wood has developed a way of coating its delicate leaf tips as they begin to bud, with a resin. This protects them in the wet damp boggy environments that the tree thrives in. The leaf buds appear in early January when they are at risk of freezing or becoming sodden and the resin protects them from both these potential dangers and repelling the microbes that would feed on the weakened tissue. This resin, full of complex compounds that we know as the wonderfully sticky aromatic Balm of Gilead has been used for century’s as it is jam packed full of medicinal qualities. It is the sum of the trees knowledge to protect and restore, to regenerate and keep warm the delicate leaf tips until the perfect time for growth.

We use this resin for regenerative healing, harnessing so easily its wisdom of being able to keep its soft young leaflets alive and integral. We capture the aromatics in our lungs and the knowledge that it passes on for keeping away bacteria that like to break down tissue. We are thankful for the analgesic quality, the stasis that this resin is so useful for in its adaptability with its environment, using it to dull the pain of wounds, burns and sore throats, aching joints and sore muscles. We are grateful that the resin can help draw heat and circulation to the area of our bodies as it wards away frost and ice and we feel blessed for the way its caramel vanilla scented perfume lifts and soothes our hearts as we wait for the light to become longer in our days.

In this episode of the herb hunter I am at my usual patch, one that I have visited for about 10 years in a row now, gathering the buds and you can her me snapping off the

bud tips as I walk around saying hello to my old friend the black cottonwood grove, because of course I am in relationship with this place. It has character that shifts and changes each year as it moves itself through this complex world that we live in. And I feel welcome here and loved and whole. We are a part of each other.

Gnarly resin coated buds of the black cotton wood tree populus trichocarpa

This year so far I have made a tincture and an infused castor oil. Right now I am away from sea level and at 1500 feet where it is colder and the harvest a little longer. Down in the valley the tightly rolled buds all covered in resin have already started to unfurl, the resin subsided as its job is done and the harvest window over. Both medicines have been made very simply using the folk herbalists method, which means without measurement. After gathering the buds I dust of any excess sand or mud and place them in a mason jar, filling the jar to the top, not too loosely and not too tight. You can see in the photo of the tincture that there is enough room to wiggle but its still pretty packed. We want the menstrum (liquid part) to be able to flow and move around the marc (solid part). Having some wiggle room also means we can effectively agitate the tincture, not necessary as fluid dynamics ensure movement but still a good way to encourage and connect.

This is one of the few tinctures that I use 100% 190 proof alchohol for, with out dilution as the medicine is all resin, that alchohol is able to absorb so well and the higher the alchohol content, the more of the resin will be absorbed. I have only made 8oz as this tincture goes a long way, being very strong in flavour and action. The last 16 oz jar I had lasted me about 4 years however with the advent of covid and the absolutely horrible painful sore throat that has accompanied it I have found an uptake in use. I use the tincture to manage the pain of the sore throat while also helping heal the mucous membranes and i find it is very effective. I also use it in my preventative throat spray, throat and nasal spray being, from my research and observations, the most effective means for not catching covid. The black cotton wood is very anti bacterial/viral - thats is its job after all, to protect the delicate tissue of the budding leaflets from micro organisms and even in alcohol it has a faint stickiness, effectively coating the mucous membranes in our mouth and throats providing protection. I do not use it for a nasal spray as I find the alchohol their too abrasive but hey, I always encourage play and experimentation for yourself and I love to hear of your experiences.

Black cotton wood tincture - I include the twig tips as well as there is resin in there also. A good rule of thumb is if you can taste it its there and it means a little can go a long way.

Next week I’ll talk about my miraculous black cottonwood ghee that I use for wounds and burns but fo now I just want to mention that we are experimenting with an infused castor oil, that being slightly miraculous in itself. I once talked to a women who was using hot castor oil packs on her ovaries. She was in her early 40’s and had never able to get pregnant due to an early ectopic pregnancy and the subsequent scarring. She was experiencing painful menstruation and was thinking she might have cysts and that the castor oil would help. Much to her surprise (and delight) she became pregnant a month later, the castor oil having effectively healed the fallopian tube resolving the scar tissue.

So I am curious to see what kind of boost the black cotton wood will add to the castor oil. They are both analgesic and anti microbial - the castor oil supports the immune system and is good at breaking down and drawing out, while the black cotton wood is good for regenerative healing. I am curious to see what this combination will mean for arthritis sufferers and will let you know!

Windswept and fallen down - Black Cottonwood

Oh vey the doldrums of winter. Truly my most hated time, when the crispness of the cold has reduced itself to an endless harumff of damp boggy grey monotony as we sit in the nothingness pause before spring arrives.

So brightening my days by making one of my favorite medicines, black cotton wood ghee, an incredible rich scented and beautiful egg yolk yellow salve.

First off, ghee is a great skin care product and an excellent way to use fat to preserve and pull out the constituents in the black cottonwood resin, especially when it comes to resins as resins don’t give them selves up to water and we don’t want water in our fat as it will go rancid. Resins however do work well with fat or alchohol.

Traditionally we used tallow and if you can get it, it also makes incredible medicine, however I never had access to it so I began to use ghee. To make the ghee you will simply need to take unsalted butter and slowly melt it in a crock pot, double burner or skillet where all the buttermilk solids will separate from the fat. These solids are easy to skim off. You keep at it until all the solids have been removed and there is no more little bubbles or popping from the fat. Just mind so as not to over heat and burn the solids in the process. By keeping an eye on it and a low heat this is easy to avoid.

Once you have got your ghee ready now is the time for adding the black cotton wood buds and I use a ratio of 1:1 - for example one pound of buds to one pound of ghee. You can dilute down from here as 1:1 makes a nice strong concoction, so figure out how you like to use the salve and you’ll know next time if you want it lighter.

For this part the only thing you have to watch out for is frying the cotton wood buds rathe than allowing them to stew. So we really have to keep the heat low and constant because you want a long couple of days maceration of the buds in the ghee. A crock pot will be to hot even on the low setting but you can use it as a water bath and let your buds seep in the ghee that way. Personally I use my wood stove with the pot on a big trivet so that they would stay warm but not begin to cook. As they unfurl they begin to look like toasty little cockroaches so just again keep an eye on them that they don’t get too crispy. You’ll be able to tell because the ghee will take on that burnt aroma. I also let the mixture get cold over night on the wood stove and then warm up again. Mainly because it suited my rhythm but of course I felt that this also added somehow to the method. How ever you fit in medicine making into your life will as well naturally add something to your method and medicine.

After a couple of days or 10 hours or basically when they look good and ready and you’re good and ready they are done. This is the important part, this is where the real medicine part comes in. You just have to trust yourself. If you have never done it before trust that you don’t know what you are doing and that you will learn. Trust that you’ll be able to taste, smell, see if something is off. Know that you will be able to taste tell see feel if it is all good. This feedback loop is about 80% of the healing. And if you are in doubt, reach out and ask. No question is too stupid and the only stupid thing is someone who can’;t learn from a question or thinks it’s a waste of time.

So when you’re ready, strain off the ghee from the black cottonwood buds, press out the buds to squeeze every last ounce out and if you don’t have a press use the tea towel method or think about getting a small press.

A small note about cleaning. OMG is this stuff sticky and the only way to get it off is with copious amounts of rubbing alchohol of normal alchohol which can be quite expensive. The cheapest solution is to go to the thrift store and buy a good heavy bottomed pan and cheap sieve and just have them hanging about in deep storage until that one time of the year when you use them for making this salve. Small utensils, funnels and presses can that the liquid salve just passes through arn’t such an issue. but please. Spending five hours at the sink with a couple liters of alchohol to get the pan clean is not really worth it.

The ghee is liquid when its warm and solid at room temp and below. You can always a a smidge of beeswax to firm it up but I never bother and like its absorbability with out the wax and you also avoid that issue where the wax can create anaerobic environments on festering skin wounds. Which is good as that can exasperate infection. It also keeps well for 2-5 years.

2oz pot of just solidified black cottonwood ghee

And hey presto you are ready to use your ghee through out the year as:

An incredible skin lotion that will moisten, repair and feed dry skin as well as having the added benefit that when you hug someone they say oh my you smell amazing!

Burn and wound cure all for skin. I have a gal who buys my black cottonwood ghee since it is the only thing that clears up her ailing fathers skin ulcerations. I use it all the time on burn wounds. I use it for skin wounds that are difficult, or slow to heal.

Black cotton wood is specific for burns….I had a fellow herbalist who had a neighbor accidentally spill a pot of boiling water over her feet and absolutely refused to go to the hospital (which would be the recommended course of action). Even despite the skin sloughing of her feet. My friend had black cotton wood infused honey at the time (great for sore throats and perfect for burns) and she soaked her neighbors feet every four hours in the honey. Not only did it help manage the pain (its analgesic qualities greatly sooth) but it resolved the burn wounds in about a week with very little scaring.

Wounds that I don’t use it on - bloody and broken skin wounds from animal bites or power tools etc. This is not a salve that works well for general acute violent injuries apart from burns. I also generally don’t use this for eczema or psoriasis.