If you’re a beginner, you could run right out to the health store and stock up on a couple dozen bags or boxes of some bulk herbs you’ve never heard of and bring them home and start learning how to use them. If you’re highly motivated and don’t have any other responsibilities, this might work for you, but if you’re anything like me and you get frustrated when there’s no one around to show you what to do, or you have family members that interrupt your learning curve frequently with such inane and frivolous requests as meals and clean clothes, then you might want to take a slower approach.


I like herbs and I keep about a dozen or so in my house at any given time; however, if you look through your kitchen, you may find that you already have several natural remedies right in your own kitchen or bathroom cabinets.

Raw Garlic is antimicrobial and is great for killing all the little buggies that make you sick. The sulfur compounds found in fresh, raw garlic are so potent, doctors are saying it may be the only remedy for MRSA. You can eat it raw in food or alone. You can use it in oil infusions, teas and/or in a poultice when ingestion isn’t an option. It’s great for treating ear infections, fevers and general sickie stuff (colds, flu, viruses, etc.).

Raw Onions are antimicrobial. The sulfurs contained in onions are very aromatic and can help to alleviate sinus congestion by ingestion of raw onions or just by leaving them on the counter nearby for an hour or two. Onions can be used as a poultice for bruises or chest congestion. The juice of an onion, placed in the ear can rid a person of an ear infection in just a few hours.



Powdered Mustard can be used in a plaster to alleviate the chest congestion associated with bronchial infections. Prepared mustard can be used in a pinch if you don't have the powdered seed in the house.





Olive Oil is great for making salves and oil infusions. It also works in homemade hair conditioning regimes and as a moisturizer in homemade lotions and such. It’s also one of the healthiest oils you can cook with.

Coconut Oil is great oil for baking in place of shortening. Use to fry with or as a butter replacement on toast or in oatmeal. It is a primary ingredient in GOOT – a garlic oil infusion popular for healing the general sickies. It’s less oily and more solid than olive oil and wonderful for making salves and adding to lotions and such. It’s also used for making homemade tooth cleaners. It can also be used as a carrier oil for essential oils and a is completely safe as a personal lubricant. Because of its strong antifungal properties, it’s also very useful for treatment of vaginal infections and diaper rash.

Cayenne Pepper is a great little seasoning. It contains many vitamins and minerals and is good for general health. It can be used to open sinuses, alleviate muscle pain and stop bleeding both internally and externally. It’s also a great way to get a boost without using standard stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, etc.) Be careful not to get this up your nose, in your eyes or under your fingernails – OUCH!

Egg Whites are a useful ingredient in mustard plasters. They are not required for the plaster to work, but they will keep the mustard from burning the skin AND have the added benefit of helping to relieve fevers. Egg whites can be used on the skin or even eaten to reduce fevers. I whip them up with a bit of vanilla and sweetener and spread on toast for my feverish littles if they still have an appetite.



Vinegar is an often over-looked herbal ingredient in the house. The raw stuff is great for killing all sorts of infections. You can use it directly on the skin, in the throat, in the ears and around feminine areas to kill bacteria and fungal infections.

If you have the cheap pasteurized stuff around the house, it can be very useful too. Use it in your downy ball to rinse away soap residues, soften clothes and prevent static cling. Use it in a hair rinse for the same reason. Use it diluted in water as aftershave for your legs (or face) to soften the skin and prevent razor burn. It also softens the ends of cut hair for those who shave or clip in the more delicate areas (face or bikini areas).

Sea Salt (unrefined) is full of lovely minerals that are good for you and its antimicrobial. Use it to season your food or as an herbal remedy. Use as a gargle for bleeding in mouth or sore throats. Put it in your netti pot for sinus infections.




Oregano, Thyme, Sage, and other mints are all also antimicrobial. Surprise! These are good to season your foods, but also can be used in a tea or decoction for a cough or sore throat. Thyme tea tastes a lot like black pepper but can really do a number on a sore throat.



Citrus Peel is also (yup, you guessed it) antimicrobial. It can also be used to flavor other less pleasant remedies.

Potatoes are a lovely substitute in meals for those who can’t eat bread, but did you know they can be used as an herbal remedy as well? My favorite remedy using a potato – cut a chunk of potato skin off the potato and lay it over boils and sties to pull them out and alleviate the associated pain that comes with them. This remedy works better than any other remedy I’ve tried for this.

Black Tea is a great beverage, if you’re not sensitive to caffeine, but it also kills germs (yup, it’s antimicrobial too!) and shrinks inflammation. Tea bags work great in the mouth after tooth/gum surgery to help heal wounds and lessen pain and inflammation. Tea bags can also be used on eyes as an easy poultice for pink eye and other eye ailments.



Raw Honey is also antimicrobial (are you beginning to notice a pattern here?). Use it to sweeten a spoonful of crushed garlic, a cough remedy or a shot glass of cayenne water. It can also be used as an antiseptic barrier on open wounds. Regular ingestion of raw honey grown locally can help to reduce and even reverse seasonal allergies. It also tastes wonderful on toast, biscuits and peanut butter sandwiches.

Oatmeal is a common ingredient in anti-itch baths and soaps and facial masks. Whole oats can be ground into powder and thrown into a bath for treatment of poison ivy or chicken pox. Whole oats can also put in a sock or pantyhose and thrown into the bathwater like a teabag for the same purpose. The powder can be used to make a facial mask with raw honey and other ingredients to draw out impurities and renew skin.



Baking Soda kills mold, fungus and bacteria. Make a paste and use to draw out poisons left from bee/wasp stings and bug bites. Used in a bath, baking soda can help to sooth wounds and rashes. Sprinkle in the shoes to help prevent or kill the fungus that causes athlete’s foot. Sprinkle on carpet to kill mold and other microbes that cause odors. It also helps to release pet hair from carpet. Just sprinkle on and vacuum off. Use it as a paste to strip soap buildup and other residues from hair.

For cleaning the bathroom, this stuff is cheap and awesome! I can clean my bathtub ring in minutes by applying dry and rubbing off with a dry cloth. The baking soda just soaks up the oil and soap ring and rubs it right off. Coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Pour down a drain and cover with vinegar (use the cheap stuff) to help clean and open clogged drains. This little trick also makes a great volcano model. Baking soda will also whiten and clean teeth.

Peroxide used to be a staple in most homes, but I think maybe it’s being overlooked these days. It’s so very inexpensive and it’s also antimicrobial. It can be poured directly on open wounds and is generally less painful than using alcohol in this manner. It’s also safe for treating wounds on your pets. Peroxide can also be used in the mouth as a gargle for sore throat and ear infections. It also cleans and whitens teeth. It’s a bit unnerving but it can also be used directly in the ear canal for sore throats and ear infections. Peroxide is the primary ingredient in your oxygen laundry boosters. You can just pour peroxide into your wash to help get your whites a bit whiter.

Alcohol (Whiskey, Vodka, Rum, etc.) can be used to make tinctures, clean wounds, numb baby's gums during teething and in an emergency can even be used to calm a cough and induce sleeping while ill.

Mix equal parts whiskey, raw honey, and lemon juice to make simple cough remedy. One to three teaspoons as needed is usually enough. Did you know that a common liqueur called Jägermeister, now sold as a beverage was actually invented as an herbal tincture and includes 56 bitter herbs. I’ve actually been known to use a swig or two of this to get me through a difficult bronchial illness.

Lemon Juice when mixed with water or whiskey and honey can make a great cough remedy. It’s considered a good remedy for strep throat. It can also be used interchangeably with vinegar in many recipes.



Arrowroot Powder is gluten free and non-GOM and can be used in place of cornstarch and flour for making sauces. It’s a great base for body powders. Corn starch usually comes from GMO corn and if inhaled can cause respiratory problems.



Plantain does not grow in my kitchen, but it does grow in my front yard. It’s a common weed found in most front yards. Use fresh bruised leaves to treat wounds and insect bites. Plantain can be used as an ingredient in homemade booboo salves and lotions. It is one of the primary ingredients found in Bulk Herb Store’s Eden Salve.

There are various species, but two of the most common can be seen in the photos to the left and right.


When it’s time to get more adventurous and start adding new and wonderful things to your natural remedy repertoire, the following is a list of the things that we find are most useful in our home and you probably would never find us without.

Tea Tree Oil is not a common food or staple in most homes, but it can be purchased in the pharmacy/vitamin section of most WalMarts and I won’t go a summer without a bottle in the medicine cabinet. It’s a fantastic antiseptic for wounds, can be added to homemade cleaners to disinfect surfaces and I have yet to find a better anti-itch remedy for mosquito and chigger bites.



Activated Charcoal is a very potent anti-toxin. It is used in hospitals all over the world as a first treatment for drug overdose. It can be used to reduce or reverse the harmful effects of many poisons and toxic substances including pharmaceuticals, alcohol, nicotine and toxic/chemical allergens found in processed foods. It can also be used to alleviate the symptoms associated with food poisoning.

Catnip is also in the mint family and shares antimicrobial properties with many of the other mint family members but it also has an extra sedative effect. It has a neutral grassy flavor and is a wonderful addition to herbal remedies which would be well aided by pain relief and/or relaxation (sleep tonics, cough remedies, tummy aches). The cats like it too!



Mullein is probably one of my favorite herbs to have on hand for any illness that includes mucous-type congestion as a symptom. It’s a little more hassle to use because of its fine, prickly hairs that need be strained out (use a coffee filter, paper towel or an old t-shirt) before use, but it will thin and expel mucous faster than any other decongestant remedy I’ve ever used on myself or my family – including the most common over-the-counter remedy, guaifenesin--used in such products as Robitussin® and Mucinex®

Ginger is common in some households and maybe, not so common in others. It is an anti-inflammatory, an antiviral and an antimicrobial. It’s a terrific seasoning for Asian cuisine, but it’s the bomb at relieving nausea, including the tummy upset associated with motion sickness and morning sickness.





Cod Liver Oil is a great remedy for everything that ails you. Grandmas used to give it to their kids for every illness you can imagine and for good reason. Cod liver oil is an omega 3 fatty acid which means it will help the body to assimilate all the good stuff—vitamins A & D, calcium and magnesium especially. It’s food for the immune system. It helps to alleviate pain and inflammation in muscles, bones and joints associated with trauma and/or arthritis. It also contains natural vitamins A & D which are easily absorbed because they are included with the omega fatty acids and help to alleviate many problems associated with skin and eyes and helps to alleviate depression and anxiety.

http://www.westonaprice.org/cod-liver-oil/clo-number-one-superfood

Acidophilus and other probiotic strains are lovely little microbes which are naturally found in the intestinal tract and vaginal canal of most mammals. These benign little creatures keep other harmful microbial critters (candida, e.coli, salmonella, etc.) from taking up residence in the digestive and reproductive parts of the body and causing harmful infection and illness. Probiotics also aid in the digestion of certain foods and nutrients. These can be found naturally in many fermented foods (yogurt, kimchee, sauerkraut, etc.) and supplemental (capsule) form at many of your health food stores.

Check out our forum and learn more about fermented foods.

http://welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/board,123.0.html



This list is by no means exhaustive but it’s a great place to start. Start with what you know and add more as you go. Eventually, you’ll look back and wonder how you ever lived without these things in your cabinet.

If you'd like to learn more about herbs and natural healing, a good book for beginners is The Green Pharmacy, by James A. Duke, Ph.D. Check out the following link for my personal review on this book.

http://www.bulkherbstore.blogspot.com/2009/02/green-pharmacy.html