Summer 50th, 512 AV
Gemma was at the kitchen table by the time her dad got home. She had been working with her mom on first aid training and was ready to spend some quality time learning about herbs with her dad. He was surprised to see her. Usually he had to call her out of her room to get some training in.
"Hey, Gems, what's up?" He asked. "Didn't expect to see you here." He said.
"Ready for some herblore!" She exclaimed, trying to cover up her bad mood. She didn't want her dad to know how she was feeling. She just wanted to forget and get lost in his little quirky lessons.
"Oh, sure. Let me put my stuff away and I'll be out in a second. While I'm getting ready, why don't you go pick some plantain leaf and when you get back I'll be ready. We can work on making poultices today!" Her dad had been a bit surprised, but now he was back and ready to go.
"Sounds good." She said.
She went out to the garden and looked for plantain. Plantain. Plantain! She found the large leaf and cut two off at the base of the leaf, bringing them inside. Her dad was already waiting for her with the kitchen table now transformed into a workbench for herbalism.
"Ready." She said.
"All right good, so a poultice has a lot of uses. You can put one on your chest to help with congestion, on joints to help injuries feel better, lots of stuff. They're super simple and very useful!"
"So a poultice is just a way of applying herbs directly to the skin. Take this plantain leaf for example." He said, taking one from Gemma.
"If I were to just put this on a wound, it wouldn't really have any effect, because by itself the herb doesn't release what's inside which helps you heal. Instead, I need to process it in some way. Usually we do this with tinctures and salves and such. But a poultice is super simple and you can use it with just one ingredient, which is the fresh herb you'll be using. Or if you have the dried herb, you can add some hot water to re-hydrate the herb and you're ready to go!" He said.
"So take your leaf and put it into the mortar and grind it into a pulp or paste." He said, doing the same with his leaf. Gemma did as she was told, folding the big leaf into the small bowl of her mortar and grinding until she had a paste.
"Good, so now that we have the paste, we just apply it to a wound. So let's say I have a cut on my forearm." He said, putting his bowl to the side and holding out his forearm.
"Put about an inch of the paste over the whole wound." He said, gesturing for her to do so. She did as she was told, scooping the thick pulp with her fingers and slathering it onto her dad's forearm.
"So that's the medicinal part. Now all you have to do is keep it in place and you have the full benefit of the poultice. And how long did that take? Like two minutes. It's super fast." He said with a smile.
"The only downside is that you have to make it fresh every time, kind of like infusions and decoctions. You can't just let it sit in the cellar for seasons on end." He said.
Gemma bound the fake wound with cloth and her dad nodded in approval. She had made a poultice!
Gemma was at the kitchen table by the time her dad got home. She had been working with her mom on first aid training and was ready to spend some quality time learning about herbs with her dad. He was surprised to see her. Usually he had to call her out of her room to get some training in.
"Hey, Gems, what's up?" He asked. "Didn't expect to see you here." He said.
"Ready for some herblore!" She exclaimed, trying to cover up her bad mood. She didn't want her dad to know how she was feeling. She just wanted to forget and get lost in his little quirky lessons.
"Oh, sure. Let me put my stuff away and I'll be out in a second. While I'm getting ready, why don't you go pick some plantain leaf and when you get back I'll be ready. We can work on making poultices today!" Her dad had been a bit surprised, but now he was back and ready to go.
"Sounds good." She said.
She went out to the garden and looked for plantain. Plantain. Plantain! She found the large leaf and cut two off at the base of the leaf, bringing them inside. Her dad was already waiting for her with the kitchen table now transformed into a workbench for herbalism.
"Ready." She said.
"All right good, so a poultice has a lot of uses. You can put one on your chest to help with congestion, on joints to help injuries feel better, lots of stuff. They're super simple and very useful!"
"So a poultice is just a way of applying herbs directly to the skin. Take this plantain leaf for example." He said, taking one from Gemma.
"If I were to just put this on a wound, it wouldn't really have any effect, because by itself the herb doesn't release what's inside which helps you heal. Instead, I need to process it in some way. Usually we do this with tinctures and salves and such. But a poultice is super simple and you can use it with just one ingredient, which is the fresh herb you'll be using. Or if you have the dried herb, you can add some hot water to re-hydrate the herb and you're ready to go!" He said.
"So take your leaf and put it into the mortar and grind it into a pulp or paste." He said, doing the same with his leaf. Gemma did as she was told, folding the big leaf into the small bowl of her mortar and grinding until she had a paste.
"Good, so now that we have the paste, we just apply it to a wound. So let's say I have a cut on my forearm." He said, putting his bowl to the side and holding out his forearm.
"Put about an inch of the paste over the whole wound." He said, gesturing for her to do so. She did as she was told, scooping the thick pulp with her fingers and slathering it onto her dad's forearm.
"So that's the medicinal part. Now all you have to do is keep it in place and you have the full benefit of the poultice. And how long did that take? Like two minutes. It's super fast." He said with a smile.
"The only downside is that you have to make it fresh every time, kind of like infusions and decoctions. You can't just let it sit in the cellar for seasons on end." He said.
Gemma bound the fake wound with cloth and her dad nodded in approval. She had made a poultice!