Something Happening Here: Head for the Hills, Mountains, and Other Remote Areas!

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July 20, 2007 Newsletter

Moving to the Country Might Mean Allergies You Never Had Before

There are quite a few negatives about city-suburb living, but there's a good chance allergies and hayfever aren't two of them. Therefore, if you decide you are moving to a rural area no matter what, you might find a few surprises some spring a year or so after you make the move. You might find you can no longer tolerate trees pollinating! And then there's ragweed, ragweed, everywhere! Further, you don't want to have to use over-the-counter medications like those that use a "psuedo-ephedrine" active ingredient (I don't need to list brands here with the little "trademark" or "registered trademark"--you know the OTC meds I mean!). Well, in a serious attack you may have to, but there are other more natural rememdies that might help. And I have a few other ideas as well.

The following remedies listed are ones that I have tried. That is the only basis for mentioning them and I AM NOT GIVING MEDICAL ADVICE! For LEGAL purposes only, I am saying do not use these items without consultation with your doctor! (That is my disclaimer, okay? Use these rememdies at you rown risk!) I am only saying these are things that I use! If you can still get it on the market or through a natural food co-op, Mormon Tea, an American ephedrine product, and Ma Huang from China both have ephedra in them, but if you can get these you need to be careful with use if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease or thyrioid. DO NOT use if pregnant! You probably should not use if nursing, either. These usually come in capsule form or in teas. You can also find a tea product such as a sinus tea that has ephedra in it. Ephedra really is the best tonic for nasal and respiratory allergies and hayfever.

If you have had your allergies turn into more acute respiratory problems to where a cold or bronchial cough develops, you might try hyssop, which grows in many parts of the country as a native plant. If you can come by some naturally, you need to dry the herb part of the plant (the flowering part at the top, but you can probably throw in the stems as well), and then you need to take teasoon or so, put in a "tea ball" or infuser, in a 1/2 cup of water, using up to three times a day. You can also use this for gargling. Another native plant that probably exists near your homestead is horehound--heck, it grows in most parts of the country!--and it is good for sore throats and coughs as well. In fact, I have eaten it right off the plant! Wash the leaves, take a few, put in your mouth and chew 'em. Or make a tea from extract. It is a very good expectorant, that is, it helps you to cough up the gunk in your system. Another remedy which can be hard to come by is licorice--make sure you get it from your natural food store, not some commercial "candy" store! Anise seed, which you can also buy, is similar to licorice. Crush anise seeds into a powder, and put 1 teaspoon into 1 cup of water, 3 times a day.

I there is no hyssop and/or horehound around and you don't mind using herbal remedies that are probably not native to your area, a wonderful (for me anyway) tonic is mixing cayenne pepper into orange juice. The pepper can be garden grown, from a local store that sells cayenne pepper (if you live in the Southwest it should be easy to find), or bought in a local grocery store (but make sure it is fresh! If you use old pepper, you might as well be using nothing!). Use as much pepper as you can tolerate, and sip it often. The OJ does not have to be fresh squeezed but it should be as fresh as you can get it. And make sure it is 100% ("Sunny D" won't cut it!).

Echinacea, which grows in the Great Plains area (and was used extensively by the Great Plains natives) is probably the most popular natural herbal remedy now for anything from colds to flu. It comes in many herbal teas designed for that purpose. If you can find this purple plant, the best way to process it is to freeze dry it to maintain medicinal properties. I have used it in teas bought at the local co-op. It is also mixed in with peppermint (which you can grow yourself) or other mint, as well as lemon, and cayenne pepper.

If you have bronchitis or are incessantly coughing, even a dry cough, "vapors" always helps me (especially since I live in a dry climate). Boil some water in a pot. After the water boils a bit take it off the burner, put on a hot pot holder, get yourself a towel, put it over your head as well as the pot, and get your face as close to the hot vapors as you can stand--do not burn yourself! Breathe in the vapors. More effective is to put drops of peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, or ginger oil into the hot or very warm steaming vapor water.

Then again, if you do wind up with a cold or cold-like symptoms, a great bet is garlic, which you can buy fresh at the grocery store, at the food co-op, or grow yourself. You do know that it was garlic eating that helped Italians during the infamous 1919 Spanish flu epidemic that killed up into the millions worldwide. Simply, almost no Italians got it because they ate so much garlic. The best way to eat the garlic is NOT COOK IT! the best way to eat garlic is to stick a clove in your mouth and chew it, chew it, and chew it some more. It might taste terrible and be darned near intolerable, but would you rather be sick?

But, if all of this fails or your allergies are very serious because the pollen is wafting through the air so thick you can actually SEE CLOUDS OF IT (such as what happened out here where we live this past March, from the cedar trees), try spending a week in a place where these pollens are not likely to bother you! What we did was go a few hundred miles north into northern New Mexico, where it was still snowing! We made an "inner tubing-horseback riding" vacation out of it! When we got back home, the uber-cedar-pollination was about over.

Like what you read? Then subscribe to the Something Happening Here Newsletter! I do not have a set time for it to come out, but I try to make a newsletter once a week or as much as possible with hints and tips on how to live better and more naturally on your rural remote land. From handling garden insects to collecting valuable resources like water and firewood to raising your children to dealing with neighbors, I believe my 25 years experience living on the land can help you make the most of your rural remote life.

Click here to read the previous newsletter about how we fix out dirt driveway after rains washed them out, dealing with mice, and more.

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