Witch hazel has been in the pharmacist shops for over 150 years, and likely much longer than that.
It was discovered that distilling witch hazel, and making a water, or sometimes a tincture added to water, and then applied to the face and the skin can reduce inflammation, irritation, and help remove itching from bites,stings, and burns. What a beautiful old fashion, and yet thoroughly modern, herbal ally!
I recommend Thayer’s alcohol, free, witch hazel water.
This preparation has been on the market since the mid-19th century!
Full disclosure I have no financial connection to Thayer. ...

Giant fluffy flakes. I know to quite a few of you. Snow is no big deal, but here it is a huge rarity! ...

Gilled turkey tail is often found on dead logs nearby true turkey tail or false turkey tail.
They can be used the same way as true, turkey tail. They have a lot of immune activating, beta glucans, immune, activating, chitin, and good nutrition. All it takes is boiling it down in a pot or a pressure cooker, blending with the cooking water, and dehydrating to it a driveway for in a food dehydrator finally pottering that and storing in a jar for up to three years add a half teaspoon or a teaspoon to soups or other dishes for a nice mushroom flavor, immune support, and many other benefits.
See my book medicinal Mushrooms the essential guide for more information. ...

True turkey tail and false turkey tail often grow together on dead logs in many parts of the world, in a forest near you even. Maybe even in your backyard, or in your fruit orchard. Based on their clinical trials and long history of use, they are likely the most valuable of all medicinal mushrooms.
Of all species of mushrooms, they contain the highest amount of immunomodulating, beta glucans, as well as prebiotic fiber that will help diversify your gut microflora, benefiting your mood, immunity, and cognition.
Either species works, both are non-toxic. But use true turkey tail over the false turkey tail because of its long history of use; still in a pinch you can use false turkey tail.
Check my book, medicinal mushrooms, the essential guide for more information. It’s fantastic to make a concentrated water-based powder for long-term storage to add too many types of dishes. Really the best kind of food medicine from the forest.

www.christopherhobbs@gmail.com ...

I recently northern California had a series of major, atmospheric rivers, one after another, where we were getting perhaps, 3 or 4 inches of rain per day.
Since I couldn’t stay out of the Woods, because mushrooms were popping up everywhere and I was speaking of various mushroom gatherings, I ended up getting a throat infection, and laryngitis.
After that, I guess you’re being with around so many people, I caught a cold too.
I was in pretty miserable shape until I really started hitting the garliq syrup, as well as Andro Graffis tablets and lots of elderberry juice.
I blended up the garlic, added one drop of mint toil and one drop of oregano oil, and then poured it into a narrow mouthed syrup jar , that makes it easy to sip. If you’re the only one using it and carry it with you you can also just added to a one or 2 ounce dropper bottle.
Over the years, I have been so impressed with the simple remedy that never fails to clear sinus infections, help with ear infections, sore throat, strep throat, and just general inflammation and pain in the throat and upper bronchial area.
I recommend having it on hand all winter.
#garlic
#respiratorycare
#cold
#flu ...

I’d rather enjoy my medicine!
Mushrooms, greens and garlic, major medicine, food.
Lots of super high-quality prebiotic, fiber, high protein, and nutrients that rival animal products because of all the mushrooms. Here I used a combination of Maitake, shiitake, and wood ear mushrooms.

#fungal
#mushroom
#greenmed ...

I taught a class on the health benefits of mushrooms to start the conference, and about 60 to 70% of the audience raised their hand, when I said how many of us would consider ourselves newbies?
It’s so exciting to see so many people being called by the mushrooms! ...

Mushrooms from the genus Agaricus are among the best edibles. Of course, in the store, you can get portobellos and button mushrooms.
In the wild there are the meadow mushroom, the prince, and almond scented red staining Agarics.
So yummy.
However, they are also tricksters.!
Some look perfectly harmless and delicious but after eating you can wake up in the middle of the night feeling incredibly nauseous and have to throw up.
I learned my lesson early on so now I look very closely.
However, I don’t avoid them by any means.
Make sure you have a reliable field guide, or attend a Foray or workshop from a local Mushroom club.
One of the very best first pass signs are nicking the very base of the mushroom, and seeing if it turns immediately yellow. If it does, don’t eat it.
Smell the very base after nicking. If it smells even faintly like chemicals or library paste, don’t eat it.
Still, a few of the common Agarics don’t stain yellow or smell bad at the base, maybe only a very faint chemical smell.
This could be Agaricus californicus, which, unfortunately, is nauseating to many people.
Again, make sure you know what you’re picking and eating. The first time you try a new species, cook some, and then eat only a spoonful the first time. Work your way up to higher amounts. If you have an edible species that others have tried, and you know you’re not sensitive..
Some mushrooms from this genus are highly medicinal as well. The so-called sun agaric is highly sought after, and found in most Chinese herb shops. Its uses are for boosting immunity, counteracting cancer, and protecting the internal organs.
Please see my new book, medicinal, mushrooms, the essential guide for lots more information.
Or check out my new seven week course on medicinal mushrooms on the Shift Network that just started.
#mushroom
#fungus
#ChristopherHobbs ...

Pretty mind boggling… Our gut microflora produces 90% of our serotonin, a crucial neurotransmitter that our nervous system uses to regulate mood, sleep, blood circulation and sexual function.
Are beneficial, microbes produced a lot more serotonin when there is high diversity, and the most beneficial species are present. New research shows that mushroom fiber and fiber in beans and legumes are among the very best types of fiber for diversifying and promoting healthy flora.
Episode day is a traditional plant used throughout Latin America to help allay the gas that can be produced when eating a high fiber diet like legumes, beans, and mushrooms.
You can add it to the cooking for a little extra flavor, eat a leaf during or after the meal, or make a liquid tincture extract, and add 20 drops to a little water. Then drink during the meal or after .

#beans
#fiber
#mushroom
#digestion

Www.christopherhobbs.com ...

Green tea, or Camellia sinensis is one of the most popular drinks worldwide.
And for good reason, it has a light refreshing taste and gently energizing properties that also have the power to help us concentrate. Unlike black tea or coffee, green tea contains the special amino acid L-theanine which has a calming and centering affect. Together, a high quality green tea preparation, such as Matcha tea can provide an extended period of the ability to stay centered and in the moment.
Regular use of green tea helps protect the body against free radicals and chronic inflammation that can lead to many diseases. If you drink coffee, try substituting a high-quality Matcha tea for a couple of weeks. In this case, you can get major benefits with the buzz.
I often add a Reishi powder to Matcha for additional benefits, such as helping to maintain a balanced immune response to pathogens or other physical challenges.
Especially during the winter, this is my typical go to morning beverage.
Time honored green tea with the Rishi really does make my life a better place!
#tea
#reishi
#ChristopherHobbs ...

Datura species occur in the southwest desert. Long uses a shamanistic and visionary plant and is a sacred medicine.
Used by a number of indigenous peoples in the southwest desert in northern Mexico.
All parts are toxic and should be used only after long training.
To find out more about its traditional use, check out the books of Carlos Castaneda where he details its use through his teacher, Don Juan.
The books were highly influential in the 60s and 70s were over 8 million copies were sold.
Although Carlos Castaneda received his PhD from the interviews and research that he did over a number of years, the books later became controversial, because the central figure, Don Juan was a composite of what he learned in his interviews and work, and not a real person.

#shamanism
#psychoactiveplants
#datura ...

Wild ginger, root and rhizomes only have been used as a tea in traditional Chinese medicine for many centuries to clear phlegm, cold, and flu symptoms.
only use for up to three weeks at a time during acute symptoms. It’s safe when used according to the traditional uses. As a T only. Don’t make tinctures or use them.
3 g a day dry or 6 g fresh of the roots in rhizomes. Steep for 20 minutes in boiling water drink a half a cup at a time twice daily.
Discontinue after acute symptoms clear.
Very powerful medicine, indeed, and you can add it to other cold and flu herbs like elderberry, Andrographis, and eucalyptus. ...

Jelly fungi are used around the world for food and medicine. Wood ear mushrooms are very commonly sold in Asian markets.
Which is butter is another group of jelly bungee that are widely used.
Typically you will see the bright orange gelatinous fruiting bodies after a big rain in California. They often appear really the next day or two.
I eat them raw when I’m in the woods, and dry them for used in soups, they are easy to rehydrate.
A Snow White jelly fungi is called snow. Fungus, Tremella fuciformis.
Three types of witches butter are commonly found in the woods. Tremella aurantia is a parasite on the common bracket polypore group from the genus Stereum, the false turkey tail mushroom.
That is what you are seeing in the video, the small white yellow brown bracket fungi below the mass of witch’s butter.
So this is the species in the video.
Another orange jelly fungi that grows in similar environments grows on a type of crust fungi. They appear as lighter or white patches on the bark near the orange, fruiting bodies.
Both can be used the same way.
To my knowledge, all jelly fungi are safe to eat and use for medicine.
A third type of witch’s butter is Dacrymyces chrysospermus. On the west coast, and often grows on, downed and dead conifers, whereas the other two species are growing on hardwoods like oaks
Bottom line, all three can be used for similar purposes.
as a therapeutic herb, witch’s butter is eaten or brewed and blended and taken by the teaspoon for stomach, irritation, or inflammation. Also, for gastritis or stomach ulcers. Research shows that compounds in the fungus inhibit the bacteria associated with gastritis and stomach ulcers. Helicobacter pylori.
Other studies show that regular use of which is butter or other jelly fungi can help reduce and stabilize blood sugar levels.
#mushroom

Check out my book, medicinal, mushrooms, the essential guide for more information.

#mushroom
#fungus
#medicinalmushroom
#herbal
#christopherhobbs ...

Eucalyptus extract, tea, or essential oil is an essential herbal medicine for your medicine chest.
Eucalyptus globulus is the official species and it’s originally from Tasmania. However, it has been widely planted for medicine, windbreaks and firewood around the world. It is fast growing and can get out of control.
I was just in Perú, it’s the only tree around in some places of the highlands. Peruvians use the leaves and revere them as medicines and keep buckets of the juvenile foliage around for its aromatic qualities.
It’s also widespread in southern parts of the US.
The adult or juvenile leaves will work, but the juvenile leaves are much preferred.

You can make a tea infusion, add a little honey and drink to decongest your sinuses inhibit pathogenic bacteria in your throat and upper respiratory tract.
The oil can be added to inhalers , or add one or two drops to a cup of hot water. I like adding it to a cup of peppermint tea.
During the cold and flu season it is magnificent.
The really old time cough drops called Fishermans friend contains eucalyptus, oil and mint oil and. what’s so great about it is the sugar Content is low and it contains slippery elm bark extract for soothing the throat. These essential cough drops are available at many grocery stores or supermarkets.
Much preferred to the hard candy cough drops that you usually find that contains only a dab of herbs and oils, and mostly refined sugar.
Whether you buy the oil or make your own teas or even essential oils from eucalyptus, they are always one of the very best herbal medicines to have on hand, especially during the cold and flu season. Also, effective as an anti-histamine if you have respiratory allergies.

Check out my website www.christopherhobbs.com for many herbal handouts, articles, and soon videos.

If you’re into mushrooms for medicine, check out my seven week medicinal mushroom webinar on the Shift Netwerk starting the last week of January.
Here is a link to my one hour free class introducing the course.
https://shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/mamCH/chrisrhobbs/

Thanks for watching, and I hope to see you there. ...

Over the course of 60 minutes, you’ll discover the power of mushrooms as medicine — how they’re safe, with negligible side effects, and very inexpensive (and sometimes even free if you’re willing to hunt them yourself) to procure.

You can RSVP for free here:

https://shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/mamCH/chrisrhobbs/

#mushroom
#prebiotics
#immunesystem ...

Wild mushrooms from the genus, Agaricus can be delicious and among the best edibles. They can also turn your stomach inside out wake you up in the night on your knees in front of the toilet.
This Genus is a tricky one. So care is needed. And some experience. Get a good guide like David Arora’s all that rain promises and More.
First of all make sure to differentiate them from the Genus Amanita. Amanita has a white, spore, print, and members of the genus Agaricus have a dark brown spore print.
As long as you take a spore print, it literally is black or white.
Make sure to smell mushrooms, nick them, bruise them and smell. As you gain more experience in training your nose, which is always a good thing, you will be able to recognize some mushrooms just by their smell.

*Check out my 7-week class on the health and healing properties of mushrooms, and we will cover identification.
Free 1-hour talk:
https://vimeo.com/user98329480/download/776801393/f28ae8aad7

Many interesting smells like anise, chemicals, fruity, and others.
With members of the genus Agaricus, which include the button mushroom in the stores and portobello, always take a spore print when first recognizing and before eating members of the genus. Look for the movable ring under the gills on the stem, the club shaped base, when the mushroom is young pink girls, and then later dark brown as it matures.
Always Nick the very base, and if it turns bright yellow right away or even a bit slowly, smell it. If it smells like library paste or chemicals, with those two characteristics you can always reject it. It can cause, nausea and vomiting if you eat it.
If it is mildly or strongly, almond scented, then it is typically edible.
Even when you think you have an edible Agaric eat only a teaspoon of the cooked cap the first time maybe a tablespoon. Wait till the next day if you’re OK, then eat some more.
The rule is always go low and slow when you don’t 100% feel comfortable with your identification.
Always good to join a local mushroom club and go on some forays with expert guides.
#mushroom
#fungus ...

The shrimp mushroom is often considered one of the top edible mushrooms. On the north coast of California I often see Italian Forager’s hunting for them. I’ve asked about their preference for them. They praise them highly.
They often grow under conifers, and I have especially seen them under mixed conifer trees, including Douglasfir.
The bright, purple, red color, funnel shaped cap, striated, edge of the cap, are all key characteristics.
Make sure to taste it take a little piece of the gills or stem and put it into your mouth crush it a bit and smack and see if you get an acrid taste like a radish, or if it has kind of a sweet, nutty taste.
and if it is quite acrid, spit it out, it won’t hurt you. But it can be quite spicy if it has a mild taste, then it is edible.
As with all new edibles that you try, always cook up a few tablespoons, and eat just a little bit the first night , even though the shrimp is eminently edible, some people could have an allergic reaction, but this is rare.
The next night you can eat a regular amount.
Mushroom can be stirfried I add a little water and olive oil to the pan, grilled, made into a kebab with vegetables.
if you want plenty of recipes, check, Chad Hyatt’s book, the mushroom hunters kitchen.

#cooking
#mushroom
#fungus
#mushroomcooking
#forest ...

This is an offering from the Earth, a wonderful antibiotic that helps us stay away from corporate medicine.
You can read or download my booklet on medicinal lichens on my website, to find out much more.
to find the PDF link, go to the magnifying glass, search icon in the upper right of the toolbar. Just search for Usnea.
Www.christopherhobbs.com
A number of species of usnea occur around the world.
Usnea longissima is used in Chinese medicine as a valued herb.
If you find some in the woods, you can harvest a few bunches. Make sure there is plenty around.
Best to dry it first, and tincture in strong alcohol, preferably 190 proof. Use the strongest type you can get.
I use Extractahol which is 190 proof organic, you can get on the web.
Blend it up well. Add just enough alcohol so that a half an inch of clear liquid is over the dried lichen.
Shake daily, and then squeeze out through a nut milk bag.
Add one ml, which is one dropper full, of the tincture into a little water and gargle, then swallow.
It actually tastes better if you add a little honey, making an elixir. these lichens are a powerful medicine, used all over the world or treating infections .
Gray green lichens are not toxic even if a different genus.
Stay away from orange or bright colored lichens.
Good to have on hand in your medicine chest.

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www.christophehobbs.com

#herbalism
#health
#nature
#naturelovers
#herbal
#wildmedicine
#wholefoods
#wellness
#plantbased
#infections
#antibiotic
#christopherhobbs ...