Herbal Medicine 101, Lesson 34: Birch

judsoncarroll4

https://rumble.com/vnzydx-herbal-medicine-101-lesson-34-birch.html?mref=e72kh&mc=egssm

Torey

Birch is another one of those very common plants that is all too easily forgotten when it comes to herbal medicine.

A friend on mine adds birch leaves to a tea blend she sells.

I've never had alcoholic birch beer but I have had a soft drink birch beer, similar to root beer. Better than most root beers. I have tasted wine made from the sap but I wasn't overly impressed. Very bland.

I have made syrup from the sap but what a lot of sap needed! Way more than maple sap. It was quite intensely flavoured; stronger than maple syrup. I liked it but a bit too much work for me.

Birch twigs make good "tooth brushes" in case you forget a toothbrush when on a camping or hiking trip. This is due to the xylose content which may have antibacterial properties against Streptococcus mutans that forms plaque on teeth. Xylose is being used as the sweetener in some tooth pastes.

Are you going to be doing a post on chaga? Seems like a good companion discussion.

judsoncarroll4

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/905023#Comment_905023

Good tip on the toothbrush! I don't have any whole chaga right now that I could show in a video. I like to use whole herbs when I can, because I think it makes it more accessible to people, kind of demystifies the herbs. But, this winter as fewer fresh herbs are available, I will have to use some dry herbs... we'll see

Torey

I can send you some pics of chaga that I have harvested and some that is still on the trees if you would like to do it that way.

judsoncarroll4

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/905025#Comment_905025

Sure, that would be great - thanks!

MaryRowe

Thanks for reminding me about the medicinal uses of birch. I planed a stand of river birch not long after I moved on this place--river birch is what out Dept. of Conservation sells as the native birch for this area. I wanted the branches for basket weaving, the bark for other crafts and dye--you get browns and tans from the outer bark, lovely pinks and lavenders from the inner bark, also yellows, golds, and a dark green from the leaves, depending on the mordant.

But I haven't tried making medicine yet....sounds like I need to get going on that too. Also sounds as though spring is the best time for gathering from birch for medicinals, right? Is there any part good to gather this time of year?

judsoncarroll4

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/905056#Comment_905056

Yes, spring is best. The inner bark from branches would still be okay now, but as the tree is going dormant it won't be as good.