Sick. At the beginning of Summer? Sore throat, coughing, wheezing, sinus pressure, neck pain, headache, fatigue. Yup, sick.

It’s never convenient to get sick – especially when it means lots of down-time, missing work, and letting the dishes pile up. Who can afford to be sick these days? I certainly can’t. That’s why I did everything in my power to keep this crud at bay including:

My FAVORITE triple antibiotic electuary

You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on a fancy cleanse-in-a-box, most of what you need is already in the pantry

1 T organic, local, raw honey

1 T raw garlic, minced

1 T organic ground turmeric

(you can change the flavor and texture by adding peanut butter, coconut oil, unsweetened cocoa, cinnamon and molasses, which all add medicinal value – or leave it as is)

Mix in a small bowl or cup with a spoon. Take one teaspoon at a time, 3 to 5 times a day. Honey and garlic are known antibacterials. Raw, local honey will give you added enzymes and bee-pollen, especially if you suffer from allergies. Raw garlic is a proven anti-viral as well as anti-microbial, very much worth the pungent fragrance for it’s immune boosting prowess! Turmeric is anti-inflammatory – and unless you are eating curry every day, or taking powdered turmeric capsules, you really can never get enough.

Here’s more of the science behind this formula. 

Deep Breath Therapy

Add honey & lemon juice. Pour boiling water into jar.

Close with a twisty-tie. Make 3 of these & place into jar.

Spoon 2 T blended herbs into a coffee filter

Lemon juice, honey, and Deep Breath bulk or individual sachets

Cover and steep at least 20 minutes. Store in the fridge and serve chilled or reheat as needed.

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

For one pot of Deep Breath tea:

1 – 2 heaping spoonfuls of our Deep Breath blend (mugwort, mullein, and mint)

1 Tablespoon organic, raw, local honey

1 Tablespoon (more or less to taste) organic lemon juice

Add tea to cold water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat when water starts to boil, lean face over steam with a towel over your head and enjoy some detoxifying steam therapy. Make sure to keep a box of tissues close by!

When pot has finished steaming, add honey and lemon juice. Stir and strain out herbs. Delicious hot or cold. More ways to prepare and enjoy Deep Breath here.

Dr. B’s to the rescue! 

The four herbs in Dr. B’s herbal cough syrup: licorice root, horehound, wild cherry bark, lobelia

Do the “spoon test” for perfect syrup consistency

clockwise from top: licorice root, horehound, wild cherry bark, lobelia

Admittedly, Dr. B’s Herbal Cough Syrup is the ONLY home remedy that gave my terrible sore throat any relief as it coats so nicely. It also helped calm the tickle that kept me up at night hacking and coughing…

Make a strong infusion of equal parts lobelia, horehound, wild cherry bark and licorice root. Strain out herbs. Add sugar and slices of organic lemon, cook down until you have a thick syrup et, voila!

Read more about Dr. B’s here. 

You can also cook this potion down to the “hard crack” stage and pour into molds for making cough drops, also heavenly (I would add several drops of lemon essential oil before the pour).

Here’s another Homestead original recipe for homemade herbal cough drops.

homemade herbal cough drops with mullein, mint and horehound

close up of herbal cough drops hardening in powdered sugar molds

I tried all that wonderful stuff, in addition to every other natural remedy I could find – echinacea, Vitamin C, Zinc, honey-lemon-ginger-mint tea, more steam therapy with every herb on the spice rack – parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano and basil – my mom’s go-to for upper respiratory everything…

Until finally my husband said, “You need to see a doctor.” So I took his good advice, went to Urgent Care, they looked and listened, gave me some nebulized albuterol, looked, listened, measured some more, and finally said: “You probably have a viral respiratory infection. We aren’t going to send you home with any meds. Go home and get some rest.”

REST!

REST!

REST!

pillows, blankets, books and hot cocoa. While I’d rather be doing a hundred other things, this being sick business isn’t so bad after all.

The ONE magical ingredient in my barrage of natural, self-heal, self-care, get-well apothecary that I simply didn’t try – REST! I was taking all these beautiful herbs expecting a quick fix, while still maintaining an overloaded work schedule, and trying to maintain my family – cooking, dishes, etc. No wonder my great formulas weren’t getting me better, I just didn’t take the time to rest.

Now I have a Doctor’s note for my boss (who would be me, myself, as I am self-employed!) proving that I’m sick and that I need to rest. Stay-cation granted. I shall rest and be well.

ps – I promise to be well again by Saturday in time for our annual Summer Solstice Wildcrafting Party this Saturday, June 24th starting at 10 am! Read all about it and get your tickets here!