Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is one of the seven radical weeds featured in Wild Woman's Garden, because it:
- Aids progesterone production
- Shrinks fibroids and hemorrhoids
- Dries secretions & reduces menstrual flooding
- Regulates blood sugar levels & mood swings
- Remedies bladder symptoms
Magical Yarrow has other uses, too. It can stop bleeding, lower a fever, treat strep throat, and relieve the aches and pains of flu. Perhaps because of its reputation as a heal-all, Yarrow is associated in folk tradition with love and marriage. Sachets and charms of Yarrow flowers were said to keep a couple together for seven years, the number associated with Venus, Goddess of Love. For best effect, work your own Yarrow love charms on a Friday, the day of the week ruled by the planet Venus.
Yarrow ale was a traditional drink at country weddings for centuries be
fore the introduction of Hops to brewing. The ale has all of the healing qualities of the herb. We lift a Yarrow toast to celebrate love!
Yarrow Ale (makes about 8 16-oz. bottles)
1 gallon water (use bottled spring water)
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup organic unsulphured molasses
1 oz. dried Yarrow flowers (enough to pack two muslin tea bags)
1 quart strong Sage infusion
1 packet brewer's yeast
Bring the water to a boil. Add the brown sugar, molasses, and one of the muslin bags of Yarrow. Boil for a half hour. Remove the herb from the "wort," and allow the liquid to cool to 70 degrees (about room temperature -- this will take a couple of hours). While the wort cools, prepare your fermenter. This can be any glass container larger than one gallon, with a wide mouth. Wash with soap and water, and rinse first with boiling water and then with a strong infusion of Sage to discourage unwanted bacteria.
Pour the cooled wort into the fermenting jar. Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of lukewarm water and let it sit for about fifteen minutes. Add the yeast/water to the jar, and suspend the second muslin bag of Yarrow in the wort. Cover the jar loosely with plastic wrap or a loose top so the developing gas can escape. Let it foam up for a week or ten days. When the foam is gone, wash and sterilize bottles as above (recycled Grolsch beer bottles work well). Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to each bottle. Pour ale into primed bottles and cap or cork, label and date. Set bottles in a cool spot for a couple of weeks to carbonate, then refrigerate and enjoy.
For more about brewing healing herbal beers, watch for Alewife's Garden, coming next year from Radical Weeds.
