One of the things I’m most excited about in this year’s garden are our elderberries. I do believe they will produce fruit for the first time. I just can’t wait!
The plants are only a year or two old and have never bloomed till now.
Elderberries grow wild throughout southern Appalachia, but I never knew anything about them until Miss Cindy told me about their medicinal properties.
Many years ago she started making sure we had a supply of elderberry supplements to take whenever we got sick with a cold or with anything else. She also encouraged us to start taking them if we come in contact with someone who was sick at work or school.
She soon made an elderberry believer out of us all.
A few years back I discovered lots of folks grow elderberries and make a syrup from them for the same reasons Miss Cindy had us taking the supplements—to prevent sickness by boosting the immune system or to decrease the length of illnesses by doing the same. Ever since then I’ve wanted to grow elderberries.
Here’s a few other remedies Miss Cindy shared in a comment from way back in 2008.
My mother ALWAYS put turpentine on cuts and scrapes she said it would disinfect the wound and, if applied quickly following the injury, would take the soreness out. So, I in turn used turpentine on my son’s cuts and scrapes until—the pharmacy refused to sell it to my because they said it was poisonous. Ha Ha!
Peppermint tea for an upset stomach.
A dose of sulfur in the spring.
Don’t go bare foot in the dew if you have broken skin on your foot.
Lemon juice for your throat.
Home canned blackberry juice for diarrhea–and the berries for the opposite.
Salt in bath water to kill chiggers.
Cigarette tobacco for a bee sting.
Salt to kill snails in the yard.
My friend puts salt on a cut to stop bleeding–ouch!
Sassafras tea as a spring tonic.
The old people had ways to remove warts. My dad took my cousin and I to an old man up in the cove to have warts removed—it worked! We had both had our warts medically removed and they returned but when that old man rubbed the warts and said some words (too softly for me to understand) they went away and never returned!
Last night’s video: Gardening Through the Sadness & Finding Family Ties in the Garden.
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My dad was from Eastern KY, he told us a story about having warts on his hands and his dad taking him to a man who rubbed them off and they stayed away!
We use kerosene rather than turpentine.
By the way, Miss Cindy was beautiful. I think she looked like Sandra Dee.
While in Germany, I became very ill with bronchitis. My Dr. on the air force base gave me Terpin Hydrate, also known as Guaifenesin, or what they call in the military, GI GIN. It healed my bronchitis quickly. When I experienced a severe cough from then until about 2000, I could pick it up OTC at some pharmacies. I just found out you can buy it from Amazon with a 2 day delivery. If I become sick again with bronchitis, I will definitely order online.
My grandparents put turpentine and kerosene (coal oil) on my cuts when I was a child. She would also rub my chest, back and throat with Vicks and put flannel cloths that she had warmed in the stove on those areas. Yes, she even had the orange/red stuff as well. lol
my mom used to put sniff on bee sting or tobacco juice I always hated when she did that but it would help she knows best I sure do miss my mom she was my best friend but one day I’ll get to see her again I love watching your videos and listening to you I’ll talk I wish I could live like you all are I’d love to have a farm and a big garden
So much material in a single post and its comments . . .
We have a bottle of mercurochrome in our medicine cabinet today. I done know how old it is but it’s less than 62 years old. I know because it was bought since we’ve been married. You can thank your federal government’s penchant for bedding down with the pharmaceutical industry to make them wealthier for mercurochrome being removed from the market. My Ma used it rather than iodine because it didn’t burn when applied making it easier to get us kids to hold still for it. As for iodine, has it, too, been removed from shelves?
There seems to have been some conflating of kerosene and turpentine in some of the comments. Kerosene is, indeed, a petrochemical originally called coal oil. Turpentine is made from pine oil and resin making it botanical. In my family of 9 kids, we used both turpentine and kerosene for cuts to prevent/fight infection and stop or reduce soreness. Our parents preferred turpentine but would use kerosene if none were on hand. We also used a product called Apinol for the same purposes. I haven’t seen Apinol sold anywhere for some time. It worked about as well as turpentine and came in bottles easily kept in a cabinet as opposed to gallons-sized cans of kerosene and turpentine.
While I never had warts that needed removing, I did have a bad burn on the job once. An old black man was nearby and ‘talked the fire out’ for me. I probably would not have believed it possible had I not experienced it personally.
I have no experience of elderberries other than the fact that an older neighbor-lady made elderberry wine. She paid me to collect the berries. I did a wikepedia search and found this about elderberry ( sambucus):
“When given to patients, scientists have found the Black Elderberry, has the ability to ward off flu infections quickly (Zakay-Rones 2004). Black Elderberries are rich in anthocyanins which are a type of flavonoid – anthocyanins are antioxidants that may protect cells from free radicals and support your body’s immune system. Black Elderberries have almost 5 times as many anthocyanins as Blueberries and twice the overall antioxidant capability of cranberries Black Elderberry has a more potent antiviral effect than Echinacea. At sites in Switzerland and Italy, researchers have uncovered evidence that the black elderberry may have been cultivated by prehistoric man, and there are recipes for elderberry-based medications in the records dating as far back as Ancient Egypt.”
I have put cigarette tobacco on bee stings. It was common enough to find discarded butts that we kids would get them, peel the tobacco out and wet it in our mouths to make it stick to the sting.
I have put salt in a wound to stop bleeding. It stung for a bit!
I have soaked in a salt water bath to treat chiggers.
I have taken lemon juice mixed with honey for a sore throat.
I have had my chest smeared with Vicks Vap-O-Rub and wrapped in warm towels for bad coughs and head colds.
And, I was raised in town, in Raleigh (’40s and ’50s)!
Thanks for another great post, Tipper!
Blessings to all . . .
My grandmother used kerosene for medicine. When my brother hit me in the head with a butcher knife and when I stepped on a rusty nail she applied kerosene and they never got sore. She also gave us a spoonful of sugar with a few drops of kerosene for the croup. That worked as well.
Most of these remedies are familiar to me, but never heard about the blackberry juice or salt to kill slugs. When I was growing up there was a man who lived in our community that could remove warts and speak fire out of a burn. I’ve often wondered if he passed on his ability to someone before he died. I think it was supposed to be passed to someone of the opposite sex.
When I was young my neighbor’s mother in law stole a dish towel from her, buried it and a wart on the mother in law’s husbands hand fell off. Don’t know if she said something or not. My cousin swears by elderberry’s. My mom used to special order turpentine through the pharmacy and rub it on her neck to relieve pain. I ordered turpentine oil from an online distributor. As I mentioned before Watkins liniment main ingredients are turpentine and camphor. It really helped relieve an ache in my knee, which has now almost completely healed. Yes we need to get back to the old ways and use herbs for healing and to prevent illness. Keeping a strong positive outlook on life is also very helpful. Blessings to all.
I wanted to comment on nasturtiums but I can’t get back to that page.
I loved the color nasturtiums with dahlias and gladiolus in late summer. I put them in several raised gardens I’ve had. My English husband loved to eat cucumber, cream cheese, and nasturtium leaf sandwiches. I did think that was good.
Since the leaves tasted like mild horseradish, I decided to make horseradish sauce by cutting up and juicing nasturtium leaves, mix it with plain yogurt and mayonnaise to eat with roast beef. DON’T DO THIS! I vomited violently and turned jaundiced in my eyes and skin!! A few leaves in your sandwich or salad is good but not the juice! The condition went away after I Drank a powder (? Clay?)
All of the ones that answered methiolate are correct. Hey Gene, if this is misspelled, you did it too! I copied you. Being early didn’t have anything to do with me not spelling it, I just thought it was a good excuse. I once looked these three up and the reason the exSpurts think these are poisonous is because they all have very small trace amounts of mercury in them. How much of it would it take to hurt us. My old 64 Chevy school bus had little tubes of it in the first aid kit on the bus. I guess we can add these to the things today’s exSpurts say will kill us. I don’t know how anyone of mine or the older generations live to be more than 10 years old doing all of the things we did that was suppose to be harmful or kill us. Today, for many good old horse sense ( common sense) is in short supply!
I am going to add this to Sadie’s comment, my old family doctor told this to me, he is now retired but still going strong now in his 90’s and still raising beef cattle. It had to do with exercising, he said most of today’s young doctors and a lot of others have never done a day’s work of true manual labor, all they have ever done is go to school or sit behind a desk and maybe play a few sports. He said a man or woman that works on a manual labor job does not need to go to a gym to exercise.
I enjoyed your video last night so much. I think the blooms on your elderberry plants are beautiful. I do hope they do well for you. I do love hearing about the old remedies that were used and some still are to this day. Our older generation had to be really smart to protect their families any way that they could. I remember turpentine poured on a cloth and tied around your neck or to the head of the bed when you had a cold. It helped you breathe better. Black pepper used to stop the bleeding in a cut, peppermint tea for stomach ailments, honey, whiskey and lemon juice when you couldn’t get rid of a cough. No one drank so I don’t know where mama got the whiskey but an ENT doctor here in town swore by it. Mama used to have us put a small amount of Vick’s vapor rub in our mouths and let it dissolve. We also put sap on ringworms, fat meat to help a boil come to a head. Some of the stuff we did, it’s a wonder we didn’t die from it.
Oh, I forgot to tell you I did the same as you. Even though there are many wild elderberry bushes around, I got some for my own land. You never know if you’re going to be able to go out and pick, new people moving in our mountains are rather prickly if they think you’re on their land, and maybe gas will be so high you don’t want to drive around looking for elderberry.
You can make elderberry syrup from the white flowers, it’s gentle enough for babies and small children. It also makes a nice jelly.
My father in law always kept a small bottle of blackberry brandy in his cupboard because he insisted it was good for a cold.
We have loads of wild elderberry bushes here in our mountains too. Last year after I picked I made three half gallon jars of elderberry tincture and several bottles of elderberry syrup, made it with local honey. It was tasty. A lot of people here even put it on their pancakes, lol. My husband and I used it all winter and looking back, I don’t think either had one cold last winter. We’d take a tablespoon daily. My husband call it my witch’s brew…he thinks he’s hilarious. . TeresaSue
The old time remedies are the best. Tried and true throughout generations. My mom used to heat up olive oil just a wee bit and put it in our ears when we had an ear ache. It worked all the time.
Pink/Orange stuff…. Merthiolate!! Yeeowch!!
Did I mention my mother was a fast runner?
Beanie’s mother was a half runner, I think. A white half runner!
When I was a kid, I really cut the back od my heel with a nail. Daddy put turpentine on it and said it wouldn’t get as sore. I probably needed stitches but back then we just didn’t go to no doctor. It did take a long time to heal cause when I would try and walk it bust back open. I wish we had elderberry here. If we do I haven’t seen any. It is good for colds. And I think I’ve told you Tipper , Redbud is also good for all sorts of things. I made Redbud jelly. God Bless you all and prayers still going up.
Always loved elderberries, but always had a problem with them falling apart in our hands (so we ate them quickly!) Also, when talking about home remedies, you didn’t mention castor oil. We always seemed to get a dose of that for stomach aches
I love hearing about old remedies of the past. People back in the day had a lot more wisdom than we do today. Today we go to the drug store, buy some expensive concoction with a fancy label, lather it on us & see it do nothing. You sound as excited about your elderberries as you were about your carrots last year. Hope you get a bumper crop this year & many years to come. Hugs!
i believe Miss Cindy was right concerning the use of elderberries. I have found that using them in a tincture syrup concoction really does seem to keep colds away. Last year I didn’t have even one. I gathered the ripe elderberries, washed and let them dry, then snipped off the smaller clusters. Then I used a plain Jane dehydrator and dried them until fully dehydrated. Then… picked off the individual berries and stored in the freezer. I used 1/2 cup dried elderberries and soaked them in 1/2 cup honey for 3 or 4 days in cool place. Then added 1/2 blackberry liquor and kept in a jar in the refrigerator, taking a teaspoon or more when cold season arrives or to ease a cough. This works for me and is not meant for medical advice.
Miss Cindy was a wise woman. So enjoying learning more about her. She would have been a great friend to have. Much love and prayers. Take care and God bless ❣️
My granddaddy LOVED elderberry jelly, and I am now a full believer in elderberry as an immune booster. I’m curious about Miss Cindy’s recommendation of blackberry juice for diarrhea; did you ever try it?
Catherine-I have tried it and it helps! It’s a common old remedy you hear in my area 🙂
I have been taking a daily dose of elderberry syrup every day for several years. I started taking it after a Blind Pig reader posted about how he hasn’t been sick for years, all because he takes elderberry daily. Mom never made elderberry syrup or jelly. I find that so odd as she used all the wild berries she could find for making jellies, pies, cobblers and etc. Maybe they didn’t grow wild where I grew up or she would have used them for something. Sure wish I could identify the bush and berries and make my own syrup as the price for a bottle has skyrocketed since covid. It works so my family will not complain too much about the cost.
Turpentine was mom’s favorite treatment for cuts, scrapes and bug bites. She mixed sugar with it for some unknown reason. There’s a small store in Pike County that still stocks Iodine, Merthiolate, and Mecurochrome. The owner said get it while you can before some big government feller finds out it’s on the shelf. I bought several bottles that surely have expiration dates from a long time ago.
I’m so happy your elderberries bushes have produced! I know how excited you were to see them bloom. A previous pastors wife made Elderberry Syrup and I would buy it from her to use during flu season. It worked! They moved to the beach so I don’t buy from her since it’s just to costly to ship since it has to be kept refrigerated. My sister had found elderberry bushes for sell and was going to buy me one but we have so many deer I was concerned it would get ate by them, so I told her thank you, but not to waste her money. I think I will try to find me someone local to buy elderberries from to make my own syrup. Thank you for sharing Miss Cindy’s home remedies. I remember my mom using several of them on us kids growing up. I had bought me a bottle of Sassafras syrup to make me some tea because I like the flavor of it, but never thought it was used as a Spring tonic. I’m going to look further into that see how I’m to use it as a tonic. One remedy I use I didn’t see on her list is a teaspoon of raw unfiltered local honey each morning for allergies. It takes about one year for your body to build up resistance to every pollen your body is allergic to but after the first year of faithfully taking a teaspoon a day your allergies are gone. I did it for years and then one year I went on a keto diet so I had to stop taking it. After two years of not taking honey, I noticed my allergies returning so I’ve decided I’d rather have the carbs in honey in order to do without my allergies.
Mama wouldn’t let us go barefoot until the grass was dry because she said we would get dew sores. I don’t know which was worse, the scraped knees or the mercurochrome or merthiolate.
I have been noticing the elderberry this year. They just seem to have outdone themselves. I’ve probably posted this before but I knew some boys that reported their Dad said you are not a man until you have had elderberry jelly. It stuck with me I think because it was the first mention of elderberry jelly I ever heard. And Grandma being the hunter, gatherer, gardener, herb doctor she was I’m still puzzled that I didn’t learn it from her. Now my wife tells me the gummi vitamin we take each day has elderberry. (I just take what she gives me.) Were your elderberry a gift of the birds, given to you, nursery stock or just appeared?
Ron-I bought them from a nursery 🙂
I recall all of those remedies and health wisdom from my childhood. These days the “medical community” has found that most of these things do work. They are now saying that peppermint oil on the temples is a bona fide treatment for migraines. I know it works on my sinus headaches. In later years my mother started using hydrogen peroxide for cuts and mouth rinse. Turpentine always gave her headaches from the smell. But the other side of the family still used it. They’d go to the paint store and buy it there.
When I was a kid there were elderberries growing along the bank above our chicken house. My parents said there were two kinds of elderberries. According to them those near the chicken house were fine to eat but we were not to eat any from anywhere else without asking.
The chicken house was very close to the bank above. There was a couple of places where the top of the bank was level with the roof and little boys could jump back and forth. At that location the elderberries grew tall enough that when they full and ripe they would droop out over the roof.
Picture this, two or three or more little barefooted boys sitting on the chicken house roof eating the tiny fruit of elderberry plants.
My father inlaw was at farrier school in Oklahoma when he cut his hand shoeing a horse. The Indians at the farrier school had him pour Turpentine in the cut. My FIL said if burned like fire but it wasn’t sore at all the next day, and he never missed a day of school.
I promise to shut up after this, another old time cure for mange on dogs was rubbing burnt (used) motor oil mixed with sulfur on the mange. I saved a coworker’s dog from being “put down by the vet” by telling him of this old remedy. He only used the oil, he did not have any sulfur.
Randy, the orange stuff you mentioned, wasn’t it Merthiolate? Not sure on the spelling but I had so much on my foot one time, I think it would have glowed in the dark, LOL. It’s a wonder we are still here to tell about it. My brother also used motor oil on mange, I don’t remember if he mixed it with sulfur or not. He raised beagles. I also had a cat that got bit really bad by another cat and he put something he called piney oil all over the bite. I thought he meant pine oil, but he said it was a little different than what I was talking about. Would you know what it could have been? The cat got well so it worked.
I have two large Elderberry trees. They have dozens of babies every year. I could have an orchard by now if I wanted.
They are a pretty tree and I learned from Rosemary Gladstar that they are considered the guardians of the garden.
I need to make some jelly. I have never done that as I usually just do the syrup. I guess I need to branch out!
I love learning about all the healing properties of herbs and flowers too.
I stayed in Alabama when I was 12 and had a pencil size wart on the inside first knuckle of my pointer finger. My grandma took a wash cloth and washed it and buried it. It has not come back and it’s been 50 years. The thing I’ve noticed about (modern) medicine is if I take this for that then something else pops up.
I love the stories and am a believer of the old ways
Elderberry juice or tablets is a staple at my house. I could almost guarantee some of these remedies were used by my Mama with five kids to raise Lots of salt was put in the old galvanized tub for chiggers. Tipper you need to remember this
Enjoyed the garden tour but sad that
granny’s is not doing well. She’s got to have her beans!
Tipper, I thought of this home remedy and was talking just a few days ago to someone that spent a lot of his younger days working as a logger. He said he did the same thing. It is washing or putting bleach (Clorox) on poison oak or poison ivy. It will dry it up in a hurry. Be warned, it will also set you on fire if you have already clawed and scratched it raw. I have often used this remedy, I can look at a PICTURE of either one and break out.
Tipper, I’ve been watching your videos for ? ? ?
They are so good.
Thanks! I also enjoy your twin girls, their musical talent and their personalities.
Your garden is doing well.
I appreciated your posting the photos of your father with you, Matts father holding baby Matt and Matt all grown up holding both of his twins. It helps my older brain figure out who the twins favor most.
I will be 80 in early October. Today is our Anniversary 61 years.
keep telling your stories; and reading others. I really enjoy
everything.
Tipper, I readily and eagerly QUIT nursing when I realized all the harm, games played with peoples lives and the politics involved where one patient is deemed more special than another is NOT my bag. I’ve been a homesteader ever since making my way working in a greenhouse, house cleaning, basement cleaning, sitting with people etc and I’ve never been happier, more content and more fulfilled. I am RARELY ever sick anymore with respiratory gunk and getting shot after shot which has made me quite sick. Why would you knowingly LIE about turpentine unless you’re involved in the dumbing down of America? Go natural and you’ll NEVER be sorry. Keep listening to losers with great advice when now the average doctor is 25 and knows it all and nurses would steal my notes, copy them and paste them and then change a few numbers like blood pressure and respirations and BAM they did not know the patient or go to them, but they could steal, lie, copy and do immoral unethical things on the job like show up high on drugs. You’d better NOT trust in anybody but God. And, yes, I will lie and always claim I’m a painter to get turpentine to clean my “brushes.” Wake up y’all it’s getting later and darker all the time.
I remember my mother chopping onions and mixing with ground mustard for a check cold. She also used it for something we got on our feet from running around barefooted after a big rain we called it ground itch or as we got older the creeping crud probably the weirdest was gargling with iodine or mecuricrome for a sore throat.
And yes we both lived to grow up.
Good morning to you all. A very nice story, as always. I had a wart when I was a kid, my mother or maybe my aunt said to rub chalk on it. It was a long time ago, so I can’t remember how long it took. But it was fast. It was just gone one day. Here is a creepy one. Rub your ear wax on your cold sore. I’ll take my aunt’s word for it. Thinking about it, ear wax is your own bodies wax, like when you put Vaseline or lip balm on dry chapped lips. Maybe something is in it that cures the sore. My mom’s side is from Romania. Mom will be 100yrs on Oct, 1st. They used to talk to Gypsies when they came to town once a year, Or it is just what the the old people knew back then, I think that is it. The old people knew things. Too bad we didn’t listen when we could have. Thanks. Anna from Arkansas.
So many good tips for ways to take care of ourselves and others. Elderberry is a wonder for the immune system and I am envious of yours. Everywhere I see it blooming on the side of the roads, I think about helping myself to some but the areas always look so snakey.
I have 2 good remedies for drawing out splinters, briars, etc. Scrape a raw potato and use it as a poultice. Better still, use activated charcoal. We’ve always kept a bottle of the capsules on hand in case of accidental poisoning or digestion issues. Open up a capsule & mix the powder with Vaseline or even a bit of olive oil or some of that scraped potato. Put it on the splinter area with a bandage or plastic wrap and tape- just use something to keep the charcoal from getting on clothes or furniture because it’s awfully messy. But it works great!
Slippery elm powder for sore throats, coughs, scrapes & scratches. And if you think salt on a bleeding wound sounds painful, just think about powdered cayenne pepper! But it will work SO well to stop bleeding, it’s worth remembering that in case of emergency. You already know about calendula. Sorry for going on & on but this is a favorite topic of mine and it sounds like Miss Cindy and I would have had lots to talk about. I’m sad I never met her, except through your words and videos.
So much wisdom about nature and all it provides for healing.
Daddy and my uncle would put turpentine on cuts on the cows and mules – that would surely kill any bacteria!!!! Merthiolate and mercuchrome was the go to for all of the cuts and scrapes I got.
My farrier keeps iodine handy for cuts as it takes the soreness out.
This is all true.My grandfather’s brother could remove warts in that way,he took some off of my hand when I was a child.
God has let us live another day, thank you Jesus!
My mother used snuff on our bee stings!
My mom would always have bottles of Mercurochrome on the ready for me and my siblings.
Elderberries grew wild where I grew up in the mountains of WV. They seemed to be everywhere around our home. My mother made the best elderberry jelly. Lots of good memories-and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!
I love learning about the old remedies passed down through the generations. Some of them are so strange though and I wonder why in the world they thought to try that! Don’t you wonder who the first person was to talk off warts? So excited about your elderberries! I love having elderberry juice on hand. I would definitely love to learn more about herbal medicine.
I could tell how excited you were in the video about the elderberry. They were very pretty. Your garden was lovely.
Some of things we did were kerosene for cuts, tobacco for bee stings but since daddy didn’t smoke we didn’t always have it, homemade blackberry juice for the trots, epsom salt for bruises and sprains and one other thing a salty piece of fatback for drawing out splinters and briers. I remember when I was real young of an older lady rubbing green walnut juice or sap on a ringworm I had. I was warned of walking barefoot in dew. I am still not convinced this is the reason, but I once had about 20 warts on my hands, a neighborhood lady, Aunt Mattie, counted them and said she could take them off, in about a week they were gone. She, her brother and one granddaddy said they could talk the “fire” out of burns. I wonder if it they could have talked the fire out of my butt after a whupping. My father in law in law worked in a small machine shop and he would joke about the owner keeping a bottle of this and telling them to put “red oil” on any cut smaller than an amputation. I still believe in kerosene for cuts, I have used it and seen it work many times. I never took sulfur but worked 38 years at Michelin and would come home smelling like sulfur everyday I worked. Sulfur was one one the main things mixed in the raw rubber. Speaking of poison, if mercurochrome, iodine, and too early for me to spell the other red/orange one you can no longer buy were poisonous many of us older folks would be dead.
Randy, I was painted with mercurochrome and methiolate for the best part of my childhood and, unless they cause high blood pressure, I’ve suffered no I’ll effects. Thanks for reminding me of my painted childhood knees.
Merthiolate?
Yes me and my folks grew up with all those remedies and they oh so work. I once told the doctor about kerosene and how well it worked and he laughed at me and said son that is petroleum products that can’t work ? And I told him I was living proof that it worked. You can also put a tea spoon of sugar in kerosene and mix well for like a bad soar
Throat gargle with it and it works great. I’ll take a home remedy any day as to seeing a doctor cause they are time tested
And true. And back when people lived away off and couldn’t get to the doctors they survived by these remedies
Randy, I know I would be dead from using iodine. Back in a land far away, the girls would use baby oil and iodine for suntanning have a good day!
same for mercury. Who didn’t rub mercury on a penny to make a dime. I know it is poisonous but the extremes to evacuate buildings if a small amount is spilled is ridiculous.
The third one was methiolate. or merthiolate, Randy. I can’t spell it either. When we cot a cut or scrape, my mother would always say, “You’d better paint that.” I don’t recall anyone else in the family using that phrase.