Wildcrafting is a term you hear in herbalist circles which basically means the harvesting of plants from their “wild” environment. In other words: picking flowers or leaves or roots or bark or etc., out of their natural habitat for use as food or medicines. This time of year in our area of Oklahoma there’s lots of Echinacea (perhaps better known as Purple Coneflower) along roadsides and in pastures coming up everywhere. We spent a couple hours wildcrafting (sounds so important, doesn’t it? lol) this morning and loading up the back end of our jeep with echinacea. This flower and its root is a very important medicinal for supporting the 
immune system which, in turn, helps to fight off colds and flu during the winter months. I’ve often felt the beginnings of a cold or sickness and have been able to greatly lessen the length of the illness, or head it off before it even starts simply by taking echinacea. It’s a wonderful tasting tea, and also works very well in an infusion (which is basically a strong tea), and works even better in tincture form (which is an extract made with alcohol). For now, the echinacea we gathered is drying, and we hope to be able to process it soon and have it ready for sale in various forms in a month or two.
immune system which, in turn, helps to fight off colds and flu during the winter months. I’ve often felt the beginnings of a cold or sickness and have been able to greatly lessen the length of the illness, or head it off before it even starts simply by taking echinacea. It’s a wonderful tasting tea, and also works very well in an infusion (which is basically a strong tea), and works even better in tincture form (which is an extract made with alcohol). For now, the echinacea we gathered is drying, and we hope to be able to process it soon and have it ready for sale in various forms in a month or two.After coming back home from our wildcrafting endeavors, we ate some lunch and then started on making various sprays and salves for tomorrow’s market. One spray we can’t seem to keep in stock is our Shoo-Bug spray. Having just returned from camping, we can vouch that this spray really works! And for the times when we didn’t have the spray on, we can vouch that our No-Itch Salve really works! Lol. We didn’t have reason to use our Black Drawing Salve, 
but it was a popular item for sale last week. Someone recently asked if black salve worked for snake bites. Yes! Have this stuff in your snake bite kit for sure! If you’re bitten, put half this container on the bite sight, then eat the rest of the black salve, and then call 911! (Not necessarily in that order). And yes, you heard right about eating the salve. Trust me, it won’t taste good, but can very much help to draw the poison from your system until you can get to help. Same is true for Brown Recluse Spiders and Black Widows.
So, anyhoo, those are a few ‘everyday’ things going on around here. We hope you’re all doing well! Jesus bless you. : )
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The purpose of Jordan’s Crossing Herbal Connections is to promote the sharing of information about healthy, natural products and dietary supplements. JCHC’s views and opinions are INFORMATIONAL ONLY and are not intended to constitute medical advice. If you are sick, injured or pregnant, please consult a licensed health care professional.