Goldenrod: Nature's Medicine 💊 Goldenrod Season Combat Cold and Flu Season

 Hello Friends.  Welcome to today's wonderful and informative post. I truly hope you gain knowledge concerning this wonderful powerhouse of natural medicine that God provided. 

Today, we are going to be discussing and looking into this beautiful plant that peeps its head and body out at this time of year. Yes, September is the season of Goldenrod.  Gorgeous, sunny, bright yellow flowers and tall green stalks. The flowers and leaves both have medicinal properties. 

Goldenrod gets blamed, however, for allergies this time of year, too. You see, Ragweed blooms too at this time. You will be able to tell the difference and identify. The reason Goldenrod is NOT to blame this season is that Goldenrod is not a wind-blown pollinator, which means its pollen sticks to itself. Ragweed is blown by the wind, which means its pollen goes everywhere. 

Goldenrod has been used for centuries, dating back to Biblical days (as with all of God's natural medicine he created for us), for all kinds of ailments and preventions in the human body to which I will include in this post further down. 

For now, let's get started gathering and preserving this wonderful plant. 

When you are getting ready to harvest Goldenrod,  you can find it growing in pastures and wooded areas. If you see some in pastures or even along roadways, be careful. Some farmers can use pesticides and fungicides, and along roadways, you can have car emissions that reach those in the wind as well. Word to the wise, try to find a reputable source of a farmer and ask permission to harvest or collect from your own pasture, should you find some growing. If you need to collect from a roadway, go further back off the road and bypass the ones up front closer to the road. 

Harvest as much as you can, because there are at least 3 ways I preserve mine. Just please leave some for the bees. They need it. 

When you have harvested all you can, find a place where you can thresh it really good. The reason for this is that not only have bees been harvesting the pollen, but little spider mites, as well as other bugs, love it too. 
You want to make sure to shake all those out before you bring them into your home. 😳😲

You can go one extra step and wash them after bringing them in if you like. I do it just for precautionary measures. 

After they have dried off a little (presuming you washed them) let's get to the next step. 

I love to use Goldenrod fresh and dried. The next thing I will go ahead and do is grab a handful and place stems together and flowers headed in the same direction, like you are making a bouquet.  Tie the ends of the stems together really well to make a bundle. Hang them in a place where they can completely dry, probably up to 4 weeks. 

After 4 weeks of drying, we are going to remove the flowers and leaves and store them. I use the dried flowers to make medicinal herbal tea. 

To prepare the dried plant for tea, untie all your bundles and take one stem at a time and strip the leaves and petals (flowers) off the stem. Be careful not to accidentally cut yourself. The stems are pretty brittle. 

They should look like this when you're done. 

Now just store them in an airtight container,  jar, or plastic bag so no air reaches them. 

I'll quickly show you how to make tea. There are two ways I prepare my tea. First way is, I have some reusable cotton drawstring tea steeping bags I bought from a health food store, or you can find them on Amazon.  I have some in my Amazon Storefront on my Kitchen Essentials List.  

I will take a few tablespoons of the dried flowers and place them into the tea bags, pull the drawstring, and place them in a pot of water and bring to a boil first,  then reduce the heat and let steep for 10 minutes. 

Then I will remove the tea bag and squeeze out all the water to draw out more goodness. I pour the tea into my cup, add some honey to taste, and enjoy. 

You can also steep this in the microwave if you need it faster. 

The second way I prepare tea is by using a porcelain cup that has a filter in it with a lid. 

I place water into the cup and put it into the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes to reach the desired temperature of the water. While the water is heating, I take the filter and place a few tablespoons of the dried flowers in it. When the water is done in the microwave, I remove the cup, place the filter with the dried flowers inside, and put the lid on. I let this steep for 10 to 15 minutes to draw out all the medicinal properties.  Remove the lid, lift the filter out,  press down the flowers with a spoon to extract more tea, sweeten with honey, and enjoy. 

This particular tea cup with a filter is also in my Amazon Storefront.  (My link to my Storefront is below.) 

I have even made tea and drank it ice cold too in a pinch. 

Wow!!!!! Did you see that? 

Now, let's go back to those fresh flowers, and I will walk you through how I use them in two more ways for medicine. 

The second way I use Goldenrod is by making a tincture. 

If you washed the flowers, let them dry because you do not want moisture in your tincture. It can cause the flowers to mold. 

Next, begin cutting your flower stalks down into smaller pieces. Yes, stems, leaves, flowers, and all. 

Start packing the smaller pieces into your jar, packing and pressing down, but not so tightly that there is no room for a little space. If that makes sense. It will when you pour your liquid in. 

Now, for this part, you will need to decide what liquid you want to use in your tincture. Normally, tinctures are made using 80 to 100 proof alcohol such as vodka. I have a conviction about alcohol, so I choose to use apple cider vinegar.  You can also use vegetable glycerin if you like. 

Next, I pour ACV into the jar, covering the flowers all the way up to the neck of the jar. I will take a knife and debubble to make sure the liquid is seeping into all the flowers, nooks, and crannies. I don't want air in the jar either. 

Wipe the rim of the jar off and place lid and band on fingertip tight. 

You will store these in a cool, dark place for 4 to 6 weeks. (If you are not interested in the next way I use Goldenrod,  you can skip further down, and we will get to the next step to do after 4 to 6 weeks.) 

While we have some fresh flowers left over, I will show you the third way I use Goldenrod.  I use this wonderful plant to make an all-natural anti-inflammatory topical ointment (oil). We also use this for severe breakouts from poison oak, ivy or sumac. 

To do this, I use the same procedure as above for cutting the flowers, stems, and all, stuffing the jars. The only thing I do differently is, in the ointment, I use an oil of some sort. You can use jojoba, coconut, vitamin E, or olive oil. I choose to use olive oil. Olive oil is Biblical not only for ingestion but so many other reasons. This is the only oil they used for multiple purposes. 

Make sure your oil covers the flowers and seeps into all the nooks, cracks, and crannies as well. Debubble to make sure whether or not you need to add more. Fill to the neck of the jar. Wipe the rim of the jar, add the lid and ring, and tighten finger tip tight. Store this in a cool, dark place as well for 4 to 6 weeks. 

Please make sure to label which is which if you do both tincture and ointment. They look the same. 

Now we get to the good part. It has been 6 weeks, and I am ready to strain and pour them up to use. 

Let's start with the tincture. 

You will need a bowl, strainer, potato masher, measuring cup with a pour spout, and a brown glass amber bottle with a dropper. You will probably need an extra dark bottle to store leftover tincture in for storage. 

It is time to strain the liquid tincture from the flowers. Here is my setup. 

Open your jar, drain all the liquid out, then you might have to reach in and grab the flowers and pull them out.  Take your potato masher and press all the liquid out. If you would rather use a cheesecloth for this, you most certainly can. 

After rendering all the liquid out, pour it into a spouted measuring cup to pour more easily into your bottle. 

There you have your tincture. I had a brown glass olive oil bottle that I saved and washed. I stored the rest of the tincture in it. 

Now I am going to repeat the same process for the ointment. Even though I labeled my tincture from the ointment, you can still see a color difference so that will be nice if I forget to label them. 😬

Look how lovely. 

I pour mine into little jelly jars. You can pour yours into anything you have on hand. 

Be sure to label your jars. 

And there you have your wonderful dried flowers for tea, a tincture, and an ointment.  

Now, for the part that has been needed to add to this post is all the medicinal benefits of Goldenrod, just so you can have them for your records for your Apothecary cabinet. 

Goldenrod is a powerhouse of medicinal benefits and multiple uses. 

Diuretic: Goldenrod is an excellent diuretic, which means it flushes out the system and body of toxins. It is used in people with kidney issues. Breaks up kidney stones. Flushes the kidneys. It is used for Urinary Tract Infections, Bladder Infections, and Yeast Infections. If you have kidney issues, it can be used long-term. 

Diaphoretic: means it is used for the Upper Respiratory system. Bronchitis, Colds, Flu, chest congestion, and continuous coughing. Seasonal Allergies, itchy, watery eyes, and sneezing. It can also be used on pets for pet dander. 

Anti-inflammatory: This covers a multitude of issues. Muscle aches and joint stiffness or inflammation, lower back pain, tendonitis,  and chronic inflammation elsewhere in the body. 

Dermatology uses: It has been used for skin rashes, eczema, psoriasis, and itches such as poison oak, sumac, and ivy. It can also heal burns and wounds. 

Goldenrod has been used on certain kinds of cancers (still in research) and combats Insulin Resistance and Type 2 diabetes. 

With all these medicinal benefits, why would we not harvest and preserve it to add to our apothecary cabinet?

I hope you have found this post very informative and educational. But there is more. There are also video versions of this same article, broken down into parts. 

Here is the first part: How To Harvest/Preserve Goldenrod To Use as a Natural Remedy. 

Part two: Goldenrod/Making Tincture and Infused Oil 

 This post contains affiliate links to 4D Farms LLC. participates and earns a small commission on purchases you make when visiting our links at no extra cost to you. 

If you enjoy our blog and content, be sure to sign up to receive emails when a new post is published so you don't miss a thing. We would love it if you would join us. Enjoy your reading. 

If you are curious about any products you see in our images or that we use in our home or on the farm, please feel free to visit our Amazon Store, where everything is organized into lists for each category. 

Visit our Amazon 4D Farms Storefront here 

4D Farms LLC. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Our storefront link is an affiliate link that earns our farm a commission at no additional cost if you click through and make a purchase. You can trust that we recommend products that we use in our own home and love, and maybe some we wish to have. Our storefront is designed to help you locate items easily by specific, organized, and titled lists. 

Thank you for your support. 

If you like video versions of our content here on our blog, you can visit our YouTube Channel here 

We hope you find something that you enjoy. We also have our channel designed by playlists so you can find your favorite topic to search for certain videos easily. We hope to see you there also. Subscribe to our channel so you can be notified when new videos are uploaded. Be sure to turn your notification bell on too or you will miss them. 

We also have a Novelty Merch Store for 4D Farms where you can find apparel, housewares, and novelty gifts for yourself, friends, and loved ones. We hope you like our custom-made designs by me and one of my daughters-in-law. They are our own and copywritten. 

You can visit our store here 

Other affiliate links for your shopping experience:

Dollar Tree:

I love Dollar Tree and in case you didn't know, you can order from their website online. This is a great feature for anyone who might need to order multiple quantities of something. Perfect for Schools, Daycares, Churches, Nursing Homes, etc. You can find all you need in one place and have it delivered right to your door and you can shop in the comforts of your own home. You can get to their website by clicking here

Nutri Mill:

Nutri-Mill: Stand Mixers and Grain Mills: ( use Code: 4DFARMS20 at check out) If you are interested in grinding your own grain into flour to turn into the most nutrient-dense bread ever, then you need a grain mill. I love my Nutri Mill Classic Mill. They also have the best stand mixers. You can also purchase grains from them or you can find some on Amazon too. I have a few companies in my Amazon Storefront , who carry Non-GMO grains. You can order any size pounds you like and have them delivered to your home. Look for them on my Kitchen Essentials List along with all of my bread-making utensils, pans etc., that I personally use in my own kitchen to make delicious bread with. Link to my Amazon Storefront is above. 

Smokers and Grills for the guys:

PIT BOSS Outdoor Smokers and Grills: are the smokers and grills my guy uses to smoke and grill all of our meats. He even has some videos on our YouTube channel of how he smokes and makes a lot of our meats. He has even smoked eggs before. Yes, EGGS. They were so delicious. One of these bad boys is the perfect gift for anyone who loves to grill or smoke meats. Check them out. 

Bentgo:

If you are into lunch-making and meal-prepping for you or your kiddos, you have to check out Bentgo for all your lunch making needs. Lunch boxes, water bottles, backpacks, utensils and other lunch making accessories: They are not just for kids, They have a line of adult items as well and you can have then personalized now. This is awesome. I have a playlist of Lunch Making Videos on our YouTube Channel. Link is above. 

TideWe:

If you are the hunter or huntress in your family, check out TideWe for all your hunting gear for guys and gals: Most of our hunting seasons are in the fall and winter and their line of insulated hunting gear is one of my favorites. We also love their hunting blinds for ultimate concealment. Be sure to visit them. We have a Hunting Playlist on our channel as well. 

Optics Planet, Inc.:

Since we are avid hunters, we rely on ammo, gun parts and scopes to be accurate and on point. You can visit their website here and find all your essentials 

Garden Tower Project:

If you are a gardener and love those flowers, herbs or veggies, but you don't have the garden space, then consider going vertical on your porch or balcony to save space. You can check out Garden Towers here I know you will find something there you like. 

Herb Affair:

If you want to save money on supplements and want to make your own like I do, you can find all you need here at Herb Affair Here, you will find an array of powdered herbs and spices for medicinal use, Capsule It Machine to make your own capsules and an assortment of different size capsules to fill with your herbs. This machine is so easy to use and has clear and easy instructions to follow. 

Have a Blessed Day

Tracy 

Keeper of the Home 

August Update On The Farm

 Hello Friends.  I hope September finds you happy, blessed and healthy. 

Let's get everyone all caught up from the month of August.

 It was a busy month for us. First off, school started back on the 3rd which means helping with drop off and pick up. No, we are not obligated, it is just something we want to do. 

Our schools start back that early. I know some schools in other states do not start back until September.  Man, I remember those days. And we had the longest summers. But some where over the past few decades, they changed it. Our summers got shorter. 

This also means that I was helping with homework which I love to do. It is the teacher in me. 

First Day of School. I was procrastinating.  I was so not ready for school to start. 

There were several projects and things that needed to be closed down because dear hubby got called to work and we would have to leave at the end of August. 

We finished out the month enjoying the pool until it was time to take drain, clean, take down, fold up, pack up and store until next year. This pool as been so enjoyable this summer and glad we upgraded to a larger size. I even enjoyed swimming with a few frogs and diving for treasures with the grandkids.  It was so sad to see it go. 

We still had plenty of sleep overs even on school nights. This is not my first rodeo.  I still know how to get kids up and get them ready for school and drop them off. 😁😁

I was harvesting as much as I could until it was time to leave. Now, the grandkids get to still keep picking them some cherry tomatoes and getting some watermelon that we planted for them to enjoy. 

Everything else is pretty much done. They can pick until their all gone or they quit producing. 

Our little family of foxes have just made themselves right at home. In the mornings, we would wake up and find them sleeping on our hay bales. 

We finally got the meat back from Teddy the steer that was born and raised here on the farm. He made excellent marbeled steaks and great tallow for us to render. We thank him for his sacrifice every meal we sit down to eat. 

If you want to know how to render tallow you can click below and catch our video. 

My Momma and Daddy came to visit one day and she taught me how to make apple butter for the first time. 

You can also catch that video here 

We celebrated dear hubby's birthday first then youngest granddaughter.  

Dear hubby and our oldest son got one last fencing project done and we moved the dogs to where the last fencing project can be done or started while we are gone. We have to have someone come in and push down trees and stumps in this last area because of trees growing into the fence line. While the fence is being taken up, this gives the opportunity to extend the new fence lines and divider sections in that pasture. The guys have been planning changes all summer for this area. 

A new cement pad was created under the cattle chute and a weigh scale. Big accomplishment.  

I was able to get all my packing done while the grandkids were at school so they could not see. We prepped them as soon as we could so they could start getting use to the idea. Although, everything still falls apart the day we have to leave. 

I went through the whole house deep cleaning because I never want to come home to a dirty house. 

Then, wouldn't you know it, I CAME DOWN SICK.  I had had a stuffy nose since we had our night swim and it never went away, then fall pollen season and it just progressed. 

I was in bed for almost 4 days with dear hubby trying to wait on me hand and foot. All I wa doing was coughing my head off, sleeping,running fever and couldn't hardly hold anything on my stomach. He was bringing me soup and jello. That's all I could tolerate. 

The coughing was so bad that neither one of us was sleeping and my ribs, abs and insides were so sore. I had had enough and so had he. He said, "That's it, I'm taking you to the doctor!" He knows me, I will exhaust all natural solutions that I can before I surrender to go to a Dr. But this was getting worse and out of my hands. Although I do believe in using every natural medicine source that God gives us,he also gives me common sense to know when it is out of my hands and I need medical attention.  

When I got to my physician,  she also believes in holistic remedies, she asked me what all I had tried and my regimen. I told her and she said that all the things I did were great, its just that this had progressed and gone on for so long that now it needed to be addressed with modern medicine. I had a severe sinus infection, upper respiratory issues and the infection was going down into my ear. 

I knew I had to do something drastic because we had only a few days before it was time to leave and travel for two days. I was miserable and knew I HAD to get better and didn’t have a choice. 

We had one last family cookout with my Momma and Daddy, our grown sons, daughters in law, and grandchildren. I made it through that day but was not 100 percent but was not going to cancel. 

I didn’t even get any pictures that day. But it was a very good visit. 

That night we got our trucks loaded and the next morning we headed out. The medicine she gave me was helping fast except the stinking cough. The first day traveling, I was ok. The second I was tired. We had some beautiful scenery. No traffic problems. I was so blessed and the Lord gave us two good days of traveling.  We reached our destination and unloaded, rested and little, met our land lords for supper and picked up just a few things from the grocery store to get dear hubby started with some breakfast and lunches. 

That next morning he reported for work but he told me to sleep in and rest. 

We love this lake house and get to stay here every time we come to this plant. This time we have so many visitors. 

Every day sometimes twice a day, we see a herd of 2 bucks, 4 or 5 does, and 4 fawns. 

They dont seem to mind us at all. 

This is my view every day and I have so many nice places to sit and relax or do blog work. Sometimes I go down to the dock. 

Even though we will be here for a few weeks, things are still rocking on at the farm and being done. Our oldest is overseeing those things. 

I am going to use this time to learn new things, get some projects done, see a few things and relax. 

Check out our YouTube channel weekly because I usually have two new videos are week. Our traveling trip video will come soon and I will let you know. In the meantime check out these 

 This post contains affiliate links to which 4D Farms LLC. participates and earns a small commission on purchases you make when visiting our links at no extra cost to you. 

If you enjoy our blog and content, be sure to sign up to receive emails when a new post is published so you don't miss a thing. We would love it if you would join us. Enjoy your reading. 

If you are curious about any products you see in our images or that we use in our home or on the farm, please feel free to visit our Amazon Store where everything is organized into lists for each category. 

Visit our Amazon 4D Farms Storefront here 

4D Farms LLC. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Our storefront link is an affiliate link that earns our farm a commission at no additional cost if you click through and make a purchase. You can trust that we recommend products that we use in our own home and love and maybe some we wish to have. Our storefront is designed to help you locate items easily by specific, organized, and titled lists. 

Thank you for your support. 

If you like video versions of our content here on our blog, you can visit our YouTube Channel here 

We hope you find something that you enjoy. We also have our channel designed by playlists so you can find your favorite topic to search for certain videos easily. We hope to see you there also. Subscribe to our channel so you can be notified when new videos are uploaded. Be sure to turn your notification bell on too or you will miss them. 

We also have a Novelty Merch Store for 4D Farms where you can find apparel, housewares, and novelty gifts for yourself, friends, and loved ones. We hope you like our custom-made designs by me and one of my daughters-in-law. They are our own and copywritten. 

You can visit our store here 

Other affiliate links for your shopping experience:

Dollar Tree:

I love Dollar Tree and in case you didn't know, you can order from their website online. This is a great feature for anyone who might need to order multiple quantities of something. Perfect for Schools, Daycares, Churches, Nursing Homes, etc. You can find all you need in one place and have it delivered right to your door and you can shop in the comforts of your own home. You can get to their website by clicking here

Nutri Mill:

Nutri-Mill: Stand Mixers and Grain Mills: ( use Code: 4DFARMS20 at check out) If you are interested in grinding your own grain into flour to turn into the most nutrient-dense bread ever, then you need a grain mill. I love my Nutri Mill Classic Mill. They also have the best stand mixers. You can also purchase grains from them or you can find some on Amazon too. I have a few companies in my Amazon Storefront , who carry Non-GMO grains. You can order any size pounds you like and have them delivered to your home. Look for them on my Kitchen Essentials List along with all of my bread-making utensils, pans etc., that I personally use in my own kitchen to make delicious bread with. Link to my Amazon Storefront is above. 

Smokers and Grills for the guys:

PIT BOSS Outdoor Smokers and Grills: are the smokers and grills my guy uses to smoke and grill all of our meats. He even has some videos on our YouTube channel of how he smokes and makes a lot of our meats. He has even smoked eggs before. Yes, EGGS. They were so delicious. One of these bad boys is the perfect gift for anyone who loves to grill or smoke meats. Check them out. 

Bentgo:

If you are into lunch-making and meal-prepping for you or your kiddos, you have to check out Bentgo for all your lunch making needs. Lunch boxes, water bottles, backpacks, utensils and other lunch making accessories: They are not just for kids, They have a line of adult items as well and you can have then personalized now. This is awesome. I have a playlist of Lunch Making Videos on our YouTube Channel. Link is above. 

TideWe:

If you are the hunter or huntress in your family, check out TideWe for all your hunting gear for guys and gals: Most of our hunting seasons are in the fall and winter and their line of insulated hunting gear is one of my favorites. We also love their hunting blinds for ultimate concealment. Be sure to visit them. We have a Hunting Playlist on our channel as well. 

Optics Planet, Inc.:

Since we are avid hunters, we rely on ammo, gun parts and scopes to be accurate and on point. You can visit their website here and find all your essentials 

Garden Tower Project:

If you are a gardener and love those flowers, herbs or veggies, but you don't have the garden space, then consider going vertical on your porch or balcony to save space. You can check out Garden Towers here I know you will find something there you like. 

Herb Affair:

If you want to save money on supplements and want to make your own like I do, you can find all you need here at Herb Affair Here, you will find an array of powdered herbs and spices for medicinal use, Capsule It Machine to make your own capsules and an assortment of different size capsules to fill with your herbs. This machine is so easy to use and has clear and easy instructions to follow. 

Have a Blessed Day

Tracy 

Keeper of the Home