Showing posts with label cough syrup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cough syrup. Show all posts

Monday, 11 March 2024

‘Tis the season

With the arrival of the third month of the year, things are starting to move. The quince tree is coming out in leaf. The elder leaves were possibly the first to appear but I wasn’t there to watch them. The blackcurrant bushes are bursting. Spring in finally springing. The snowdrops have seeded, the early daffodils have been waving in the breeze for a month and the main show are blooming.

Sweet violets have been spreading their scented wonder since late January in my garden. We made a violet syrup at the February workshop with a round of “Ooohs” as the lemon juice turned the turquoise liquid pink. I searched for the white violet last Saturday in the nooks and crannies of the Sanctuary bank but although the leaves were present, there was no sign of the flowers.

We have been working at the Sanctuary on the few dry days in between the constant rain. We held our first Wassail on January 6th; serenading the trees and gifting them with bread soaked in cider after a day of pruning and ivy clearance.

At the end of February we began the winter clear up. Wild cherry and crampbark trees were pruned, the large haul of twigs divided between four to debark at a later date. Half a ‘boot load’ was delivered to the Little Bird herbal apothecary in Shipston on Stour, the rest dried or made into tincture.

There are still untouched bottles of crampbark tincture in my larder from previous years, so I processed wild cherry for over an hour before my hands were too sore to do any more. It yielded three trays of bark for drying and those have filled two large jars to store for later.

A week ago, when my writers group were finalising details for our belated Christmas curry meetup, I received an email asking if I’d got any spare cough syrup. It seemed an ideal time to try out the new cherry bark, so the morning was spent decocting cherry bark, hyssop, mullein, sage, thyme and marshmallow leaves, elecampane and astralagus root and rosehips. The first five ingredients were aimed at the cough, the marshmallow to soothe any inflamed tissue and the last two to boost the immune system and Vitamin C levels. I tend to throw rosehips into any kind of winter syrup, ‘just because’.

After straining and measuring the liquid and cleaning out the pan, I let it evaporate for an hour or so, but didn’t have the patience to reduce it by 7/8ths, as you should with a medicinal syrup. After adding the same weight of sugar as the remaining volume of liquid, it made 4 jars of cough syrup and the recipient was delighted. The rest of the group received home made marmalade, made at the beginning of February.

After years of treading water thanks to Covid and various bereavements, we are now making plans and moving forward. Last year’s apprentices have settled into a community and brought a new set to join them this year. They spent Saturday’s workshop picking nettles for ChristopherHedley’s nettle iron tonic, all of them armed with thick gloves against the Sanctuary’s particularly vicious variety.

While the women used secateurs, the men took up pick axes and crowbars to remove roots from unwanted trees to make space for levelling the ground to receive flagstones for a new shed we’re intending to erect.

The bramble hedge which hasn’t been touched for the past three years and was threatening to engulf both the path and eventually the summer house was also given a serious haircut. Roots were dug up from the identifying shoots and I brought home a full basket of leftovers, which were duly washed yesterday morning, left to air dry overnight and this morning have been left in my kitchen hot cupboard to macerate with cider vinegar for three weeks. They still fought back, despite the scissors and secateurs brought in to subdue them! My previous bottle of bramble root vinegar, made around 2005, is almost empty. I’m looking forward to another full bottle in the larder to deal with digestive anxiety and upset tummies.

I have a whole article on “What to do with bramble”, written in 2015. I’ve also discovered Sally Pointer and Alex Langland’s YouTube videos on how to make bramble runner cordage. The apprentices seem keen to experiment but I’ve suggested we wait until summer when both nettles and brambles will be softer and more malleable.

This Wednesday will see my first public talk on holy wells and sacred water. I’m sure there will be a few herbs thrown in for good measure along the way.

Wednesday, 8 June 2016

What to do with a cough?



Coughs are very close to my heart. I live with a man who suffers with a long term cough after every virus. If he’s overtired, his throat muscles can be irritated by something in his food and coughing can ensue. I could lose a lot of sleep from his coughing fits if I didn’t do something to help!

Two of our three children had whooping cough where the effects lasted for twelve months. We got very good at rushing upstairs with a bowl the minute we heard the first cough! I've worked alongside people with asthma and have dealt with children to defer asthma attacks. My eldest son had a childhood friend with cystic fibrosis. I worked as patient representative in a regional review of lung cancer services for three years and learned many things about the importance of early diagnosis.

Coughs are a normal response to irritation or congestion. The approved medical wisdom is that most coughs are harmless and should heal themselves within three weeks. Three weeks is quite a long time to be without sleep or exhausted because of the cough. Herbs can help.

Before you decide whether or not to do anything there are some questions which need answering first.

  • When did the cough start? 
  • Have you suffered with a virus recently? Influenza? Whooping cough?
  • What does the cough sound like? Is it in the throat? Is it dry and non-productive? Is there a "harrumph" kind of sound like asthma sufferers have? Does it start high up and deepen so that the person ends up either retching or actually vomiting but without the characteristic whoop of whooping cough?
  • Is the cough triggered by eating or by lying down?
  • Does the cough happen after experiencing heart burn?
  • Does the cough bring up any phlegm? (i.e. a productive cough) What colour is it?
  • Do you feel breathless after coughing?
  • Do you bring up any blood?


Sometimes it’s a good thing to get a medical diagnosis and further tests.

  • If the cough produces yellow or green phlegm see your doctor as there is probably an infection which may be deep in your lungs e.g. bronchitis or pneumonia.
  • If the cough has been going on for more than three weeks or is getting worse, see your doctor.
  • If you are breathless after coughing or have trouble breathing
  • If the cough has been going on for three months and you've seen your doctor insist on a chest x-ray.
  • If the cough is caused by heartburn, see your doctor.
  • If you are coughing up blood, see your doctor.
  • If you are asthmatic but are coughing all the time, get your medication checked. You may need your prescription changing or to change the way you take it.


Coughs can actually be a good thing. They expel particulars which reach your windpipe. They get rid of the excess mucous which has been produced by your body in response to a virus.

If a cough is productive and deep you may want to do something to help it. Elecampane root infused in honey can really help to get deep stuff up and out. The roots can be left in the honey and chewed. Nasty thick stuff which is infected also responds well to mullein leaf given as a tea but filter before drinking to remove any hairs.

A standard cough mixture can be made from a combination of equal parts of hyssop, white horehound and marshmallow leaf or root. This is a very old recipe and will both relax and soothe tissue. If you have a really inflamed/sore chest from lots of coughing, add plantain which will soothe inflamed tissue and rehydrate it.

General Cough Syrup Recipe
(from Non Shaw and Christopher Hedley's Herbal Remedies)
1 l (2 pints) water
40 g (1 1/2 oz) dried herb or 100 g  (4oz) fresh chopped herb
450 g (1 lb) sugar
Put herb in water, bring to a boil, let simmer 20-30 minutes, strain.
Clean out pan, pour liquid back into it, let sit on minimum heat until
you only have 2 dl (7 fl.oz) left Add sugar, simmer until sugar has dissolved, pour into jars, label. (This takes time. 1 fluid ounce evaporates about every hour.)

Judith’s cough syrup
1 handful each of dried horehound, marshmallow, sage and thyme
½ handful dried hyssop
Fresh orange peel diced.
1” root ginger grated.
2 pints water
Place everything in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer with the lid on for 20-30 minutes. Strain and measure the liquid (1.5 UK pints). After cleaning the saucepan, return the liquid and add 1lb 8 ozs sugar. Heat slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon until all the sugar has dissolved. Bring syrup to the boil and pour into sterilised bottles, seal, label and date.

Cough syrups for children can be made from violet flowers or onions or thyme (don't give to under 2s).

Violet flower Syrup
Fill a clean glass jar with violet flowers, cover with boiling water and leave overnight with the lid screwed on. The next day, strain and measure the infused liquid. Don’t worry if it looks and smells strange. For every 7fl ozs of liquid add 5 ozs of sugar. Add the juice of at least half a lemon. The liquid will turn the most delightful shade of pink! Put all the ingredients into a pan and bring to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes. Pour the resulting syrup into a sterilized bottle or jar, seal, label and date. Store in the fridge and discard if it starts going moldy. The suggested dosage for a child’s cough or slight constipation is 1-2tsps given at bedtime. If you are making this for a child under two years old and usually make your syrups with honey, use sugar this time.

If someone, either a child or an adult is exhausted from coughing and can’t sleep, try using an onion poultice. This method is taken from Kiva Rose Hardin's excellent article on Onions.

Onion Poultice
An onion poultice made from sautéing a chopped onion in oil until transparent, then thickening the mixture with flour. Spread the resulting paste on muslin or a clean piece of old cotton sheet and cover to retain the heat. Lay the poultice on the front or back of the chest with a hot water bottle next to it to keep it warm. Cover with a towel and leave on the skin for 15-20 minutes. Remove and apply a good chest rub.

Coughs in the throat, especially dry coughs respond well to sage and thyme. This can be made into a tea or an elixir

Post viral tea
Infuse 1tsp dry sage with 1 tsp dried thyme with 1inch grated root ginger in a lidded container with just boiled water for ten minutes then strain and pour onto the juice of half a lemon and honey to taste.

Cough Elixir
I make my elixir with fresh sage and thyme (enough to fill a 2lb glass jar) plus 2-3 sprigs of white horehound fresh or dried. Pour over 1lb of honey. Stir to remove any air bubbles then fill the jar to the brim with brandy, stirring well. Leave for 4-6 weeks shaking when you can. Cherry bark and hyssop both relax constricted tissue so are good for dry coughs and could be added to any cough mixture or elixir.

Onion syrup is another simple recipe which is suitable for children. This is KivaRose Hardin’s recipe

Simple Onion Syrup
1 Cup roughly chopped fresh onion
Small handful of fresh or dried Sage or Thyme or Monarda (or equal amount of fresh chopped White Fir, Abies concolor, needles). (Optional)
Juice of half a lemon (Optional)
1 tsp freshly grated Ginger root (Optional)
Enough honey to cover herbs
Place the onion and other herbs in a jar, cover with honey, stir to remove air bubbles and cover. Let it sit overnight. The honey will very effectively suck all the juice out of the onion.  Use by the teaspoonful beginning the next morning. Some people like to eat the onion bits with the honey and some people prefer to strain the solids out. It’s up to you.

Steaming
Coughs caused by post nasal drip can be helped by steaming. Pour boiling water into a bowl with eucalyptus leaves or essential oil (a few drops only) or sage or rosemary or pine needles. Lean over the bowl, trapping the steam in by placing a towel over the head and stay like this until the water is no longer giving off steam. Be very careful not to get burned! For greatest effectiveness, this must be done four times a day for ten minutes for at least 7 days straight.

Sore Throats
Sore throats caused by coughing can be really helped by sipping cider vinegar and honey in hot water (2tps of each in a mugful of water). Infused sage vinegar is really nice and you could add it to rosehip honey or elecampane honey for improved effect.

In our household, coughs happen every year and often last for several months. They can be loud and debilitating for the entire family, not just the sufferer. It's a good idea to make your infused honeys, vinegars and elixirs well before winter sets in and to have a store of dried herbs in the cupboard so they can be reached quickly. Now is the time to discover what you have in the larder and make new remedies.

Sunday, 10 November 2013

Syrups and Cordials: comfort in winter



With the modern emphasis on reducing amounts of simple carbohydrates we ingest, it may seem strange to think about the production of sugar or honey based recipes. Unless you are faced with someone suffering from diabetes or Syndrome X, there are good reasons for delivering herbal medicines in a syrup.

Children are much more likely to take their medicine if they are syrup based (and personally I would much rather give them a small dose of sugar rather than a mouthful of artificial sweeteners!). Syrups can also be helpful when you are using very bitter or bad tasting herbs (remembering not to do this if you are taking a bitter which much be tasted to kick start your digestive processes.) They can also be fun, allowing you to match flavours and herbs to suit your mood and physical need.

The production of medicinal syrups has been set out in great theory and detail on The Herbarium website. If you wish to make syrups from layering sugar and powdered leaves, barks or petals, it is best to follow the herbarium instructions. They also advocate producing syrup which has a 2:1 sugar to liquid ratio to prevent decay and bacterial infiltration of the finished product. If you are producing syrups for your own use and keep the bottle in the fridge after opening, I use a 1:1 ratio as this has always worked for me.

My basic syrup recipe comes from Non Shaw and Christopher Hedley. After you have made your decoction of herbs, you need to evaporate the resulting liquid by 7/8s over a minimum heat. On my gas cooker, an inch of liquid evaporates during the course of one hour, so if I’m making a medicinal syrup from four pints of liquid, it can take a whole day to evaporate leaving me with the required one eighth. That’s fine if you have sufficient time but if I’m making syrups and cordials during a workshop which only lasts three hours, we usually compromise and make a simple cordial which doesn’t require such a massive volume reduction.

General syrup recipe from Non Shaw and Christopher Hedley's Herbal Remedies
1 l (2 pints) water
40 g (1 1/2 oz) dried herb or 100g (4oz) fresh chopped herb
450 g (1 lb) sugar
Put herb in water, bring to a boil, let simmer 20-30 minutes, strain. Clean out pan, pour liquid back into it, let sit on minimum heat until you only have 2 dl (7 fl.oz) left. Add sugar, simmer until sugar has dissolved, pour into jars, label. If making a syrup with more liquid, the general rule of thumb is add 1lb sugar or honey to every 1pint of liquid.

When we were making syrups during yesterday’s workshop, the question was asked, “Which herbs would you not put in a syrup?” It wasn’t something I’d really thought about before, but apart from the obvious poisonous herbs, I really couldn’t think of anything I would actively avoid putting in a syrup.

What I would be wary of is to use herbs which could be dangerous in high doses. For example, several years ago I experimented with a Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) syrup made from St John’s wort seed tops and lemon balm with added lemon juice. It tasted wonderful and I was really worried that anyone with children who might get hold of the syrup could ingest large quantities which might do them harm. You could argue that this holds true for any medicinal product and is the reason why one should always be mindful of dosage and safety where any kind of medicinal product is concerned.

I have to admit, I don’t use most of my syrups in their concentrated form. I prefer to drink them in a mug of hot water. I find this the most comforting way to take them as I don’t have a very sweet tooth and a spoonful of syrup is too sweet and doesn’t last long enough in my mouth to truly savor.

What I really like about making syrups is the ability to create something unique for an individual at this moment in time. Yesterday was a classic example. Judith has been suffering with a lingering tickly cough. It is irritating especially as she sings in several choirs during the week. She was going to make a classic cough syrup of hyssop, white horehound and marshmallow. When I mentioned that Chris has found relief for his coughs with sage and thyme, she added some of those, proving heat with root ginger and added flavour with juice and rind of a lemon.

Judith’s cough syrup
1 handful dried horehound, marshmallow, sage and thyme
½ handful dried hyssop
Fresh orange peel diced.
1” root ginger grated.
2 pints water
Everything was placed in a saucepan, covered with water , brought to the boil and simmered with the lid on for 20-30 minutes. It was then strained and the liquid measured (1.5 UK pints). After cleaning the saucepan, the liquid was returned and 1lb 8 ozs sugar was added. The mixture was heated slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon until all the sugar was dissolved. The syrup was then brought to the boil and poured into sterilised bottles, sealed, labelled and dated.

Maggie was interested in a mineral rich and fortifying syrup. She chose to make a nettle and rose petal syrup, to which was added ashwagandha roots and a small handful of rosehips.

Maggie’s Nettle and rose syrup
2 large handfuls of dried nettle leaf
1 12oz jar full of dried apothecary’s rose petals
1 small handful of dried ashwagandha roots
1 small handful of rosehips
¼  inch grated ginger root
2 pints water
Everything was placed in a saucepan, covered with water, brought to the boil and simmered with the lid on for 20-30 minutes. It was then strained and the liquid measured (1.25 UK pints). After cleaning the saucepan, the liquid was returned and 1lb 4ozs sugar was added. The mixture was heated slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon until all the sugar was dissolved. The syrup was then brought to the boil and poured into sterilised bottles, sealed, labelled and dated.

Lorraine was attracted by the bowl of fresh rosehips on the table. These had been picked on the farm two days previously. She decided to make a warming rosehip syrup with added ginger and lemon.

Lorraine’s Spiced Rosehip Syrup
3/4lb fresh rosehips
1” root ginger grated
1 lemon juiced and peel diced.
2 pints water
After placing all the ingredients in a saucepan, they were blitzed to a pulp using a stick blender before bringing to the boil and simmering for 30 minutes with the lid on. The contents were then strained through muslin to remove all the seeds and hairs. 1.25 (UK) pints were returned to the clean pan together with 1lb 4 ozs of sugar. The mixture was stirred constantly on a gentle heat until all the sugar dissolved and then was brought to the boil before pouring into sterilised bottles. The bottles were then sealed, labelled and dated in the usual way.

Bill and Janey made a spiced apple cordial using the recipe posted last time. During lunch we drank a rose and lemon balm cordial which I made during the summer and froze.

Rose and lemon balm cordial
5-6 strongly scented roses (I used a mixture of Apothecary’s Rose, William Shakespeare and Gertrude Jekyll)
20 lemon balm stems
4 flowering stems of self-heal
4 lemons
2 lbs of sugar
2 UK pints (20fl oz) of water
Remove the leaves from the lemon balm stems and the leaves and flower stalks from the self-heal and place in a large bowl. Chop into small pieces with scissors. Add all the rose petals and mix. Remove the ends of the lemon and cut into slices. Add these slices to the herbs. Measure the sugar and cold water and place in a saucepan on the heat. Bring to the boil stirring all the time with a long wooden spoon. Pour the sugar syrup carefully into the bowl. Cover with a suitably sized dinner plate so all the plant material is submerged under the syrup. Place the bowl in a cool larder or fridge overnight. You will see that the syrup has turned pink by the following morning. Remove the dinner plate and strain the syrup into a jug. Squeeze the plant material well to remove as much syrup as possible. If you want to maximise your syrup, return the squeezed plant matter to the bowl and cover with cold water. Mix well then strain again and drink. (This should provide your first taste of the cordial at a suitable strength for imbibing.) Pour your rose syrup either into sterilized glass bottles or clean plastic bottles and immediately freeze. The glass bottles should be sealed, labelled and dated and kept in the fridge once open. Dilute to taste with still or sparkling water.

With recent drops in temperature, it is tempting to think there is very little produce available to make ourselves something fresh. A quick walk around our urban environment in the noontime sunshine revealed a multitude of fresh nettles and a red exuberance of rosehips. There is still time to forage and make sufficient cordials to keep us through the winter.