After spending half of the day getting the hens ready for the coming winter, it was time to turn my thoughts towards harvesting herbs and to begin the harvest of various roots around the farm.
Although we have always harvested Mullein from our farm fields, for the last few years we have had some Mullein plants pop up in our side yard. Each year I ask Elijah to mow around them. If you attended an herbal medicine class this year, you’ll remember them from our outdoor plant identification walk.
All parts of the Mullein plant can be used, roots, leaves and flowers! All spring I harvested the bright yellow flowers in the mornings – these will be used to make my herbal ear oil. More on that in a future post! You can read more about using Mullein in this post.
Mullein leaves are harvested throughout the spring and summer. I prefer the leaves before the plants send up their flower stalks. Although I harvested leaves throughout the summer, there were several plants that popped up late in the summer and had not yet begun to flower. I harvested the leaves from those plants as well and ended up with a huge amount of mullein leaves! They are drying as we speak and I will have enough Mullein leaves for the year and to share with others. Mullein has the softest leaves – very similar to Lamb’s Ear only on a much larger scale. Elijah thinks they would make good bedding.
Mullein Leaves!
You want to pick only the freshest, unblemished leaves. On the right, you can see the leaves I discarded.
In the fall, it is traditionally time to harvest roots from your medicinal plants. This past week, a hard freeze and snow was predicted so it was time to dig some mullein root.
You want to dig the roots once the plants have begun to die back. The flower stalks were dead although there were till a few green leaves on some of the plants. It was a great harvest!
I laid the roots out on the driveway and hosed off the dirt and clay.
Washing Mullein Roots
Then a more thorough washing inside the house and it is time to put them to use. I’m drying some for future use and tincturing a good amount for a variety of things.
Mullein Root Harvest!
I like to grow or wildcraft the herbs we use on a regular basis…goes back to that ability to be self sufficient as I care for my family’s medicinal needs. Mullein grows wild all over our farm – having them pop up in our side yard just makes it easier.
I encourage you to grow your own medicinal herbs and learn to use them! Plant medicine is easy, fun and adds to your security when hard times come. Begin by researching issues that your family deals with on a regular basis, find the herbal solutions, grow them and learn how to use them!
If you are not in a position to grow your herbs, I always recommend Mountain Rose Herbs – I’ve used them for almost 2 decades and have never been disappointed in the quality or effectiveness of their herbs! Their Mullein is superb and very inexpensive! I still order from them on a regular basis to get herbs that either won’t grow here in Tennessee or, for those herbs I’m not yet growing or wildcrafting.
Don’t forget to save seed to replant! I just toss the seeds into a flower bed and next spring I’ll have plants! The seeds are very tiny (think pepper!) and are inside what looks like “larger round seeds”!
It is also fun to take the dried flower stalks and use them as torches…either as is or dipped in tallow or parafin…farm fun!
Do you use Mullein on your homestead?
Blessings,
I am in Metro Nashville –Tusculum area of Antioch. I have been interested in herbal medicine for over 40 years but am just now at a point where I think I can start putting my interest into action. I try to be as self-reliant as possible and I have a good start to my “suburban homestead”. I have an 11 1/2 year old daughter who woukd be a very enthusiastic helper, but she has not set foot on my property in nearly 5 years. Custody battle from Hell, which I hope will be ending soon. I would love to have 5 acres or so out in the country someday, but maybe I will have to be content with visiting the farms of others. I need to find someone with a dairy cow my daughter can milk. And when I lived on 81 acres, I made butter and cheese and stuff. I would love to share a vow and have raw milk.
Morning Lydia! I want to encourage you to start now! Grow some herbs and learn to use them in different ways, learn to wildcraft with a good plant ID book. Peterson’s makes them for medicinal plants. You need color photos! I hope you can find your acreage! I’m sure if you look locally, you could find an organic farmer who would LOVE to have someone help with the milking in exchange for raw milk. My kids were raised on it and the health benefits are amazing! Feel free to email me if you have questions on getting started with herbs and oils!
How does one preserve and use the flowers? Is it possible to make an alcohol tincture with the mullein flowers? Thanks! 🙂
I pick the flowers, put them on a cookie sheet covered with paper towels and let them dry – then I store them. You can use them fresh if you decide to tincture them – I do this. I also let them wilt/dry and use an oil maceration. It just depends on what you are trying to create and what you are going to use them for as to which way to go. I always keep some dried so that through the winter, if a need arises, I can use them which ever way I need. Hope this helps!
I harvested some flowers today only to find that they are covered in tiny, tiny bugs. How do you debug the flowers? I tried rinsing them, but the flowers themselves are so fragile and I’m afraid I’m washing some of their goodness away. Also, it removed only some of the bugs. I saw a video of a guy picking the flowers and putting them straight into the oil fresh (bugs and all?) Does it make a difference if they are fresh or dry? Also, do you know what the shelf life is for the flower oil? Thanks.
I NEVER put anything fresh into oil. Any moisture in plant material can cause mold in your salve/oil. I lay my flowers out on cookie sheets for a day or two. Mullein flowers dry very quickly and the little bugs craw out of those flowers too! Once I do process the flowers in oil and it cools. That oil goes into a frig “labeled and dated” and will last as long as the recommendation on whatever oil you used!
Please tell me as I can’t find this answer anywhere. I grow Brussels sprouts. I use the sprouts, and leaves. Then I cut open the stalk and scoop pit the insides and use it on cooking. It is delish. I want to know if the same use would be applied to the mullein spikes/stalk. Ty to anyone who can answer my question
Hi Penela,
I include the stalks when I make an oil maceration of Mullein. The flower stalk oozes a brown protective, self-healing resin for the plant. That resin was once used in baking…kind of like vanilla is today. It does have a faint vanilla aroma. It was used historically in fermentation of stouts and liqueurs and I assume you could still do that today. Hope this helps 🙂
How is mullein resin harvested? How do you use it like vanilla?
Would you tincture roots and leaves together?
We have an abundance of mullein here (MT)
Can you email me your answer?
Thank u so much.