Harvesting Wild Horsetail Plant For Horsetail Tea
Horsetail plant (Equisetum arvense), also called or shavegrass, is the descendant of a large perennial plant that grew millions of years ago in the Paleozoic era. Imagine a huge forest of these tall, vertical, horsetail like trees providing shade for dinosaurs! Today's version is a much smaller variety that is actually a wild plant herb that can be harvested and infused into herbal teas. I use dried horsetail in addition to nettle, oat straw and red clover in my herbal tea blends for added minerals and nutrients. It is quite a find when I discover wild horsetail growing in abundance in an area that is clean and free of pollutants. Horsetail Plant HarvestAlong our wild adventures a few months ago we came across many beautiful patches of wild horsetail plant growing close to a fresh water source. The plants kind of cluster together in one spot and are a vibrant green color that is hard to miss. Horsetail is an aquatic plant, so it must have a water source nearby to thrive.
Horsetail is fairly easy to recognize, but it is always important to have a wild plant guide available for confirmation. It has a series of jointed or segmented hollow stems that are 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick with no real leaves. (see pics) The stems usually grow about 1-2 feet tall. The real test for proper identification is when you touch the horsetail plant, it should feel rough and scratchy. Again, when wildcrafting wild plants, like watercress, it is good to use scissors to cut the stems. This makes it easier and also ensures that the plant will continue to grow after you have picked some. Make sure to only cut about the first 6 inches or so to allow further grow to occur. The best time to harvest horsetail is when the feathery-like stems are pointing upward as opposed to downward. This is when the nutritive value is at its prime.
Horsetail Herb BenefitsHorsetail stems contain silicon crystals embedded in its plant fiber. This gritty texture, like sand, gives it a common name of “shavegrass” or "scouring rush".The herb is therefore known for its especially high amounts of silica. Silica nourishes the skin, hair and bones and is absolutely essential for the body to create and maintain collagen. Silica is also important for strengthening connective tissue for support in our ligaments, muscles, and joints. An increase in silica helps us absorb greater amounts of calcium, which provides healthy bones. The plant is also a nutritive herb as well as a cleansing herb that can remove toxins from inside the body. Silica helps to eliminate aluminum from the body and helps in the healing of wounds and skin damage or burns when taken internally. Horsetail is relatively high in selenium as well as silica. Horsetail also contains:
*****Pregnant women should not use this herb because it contains small amounts of nicotine and equisitine with can be toxic to fetal development.***** Interesting fact: Horsetail is known to absorb gold dissolved in water better than any other plant. A cup of horsetail tea contains a relatively small amount of gold, but the Chinese use this homeopathic dose as treatment for joint issues like rheumatoid arthritis. We gathered this horsetail from California "gold country" waters, which is still commonly high in very minute particles of gold. How To Dry Fresh Horsetail Herb Freshly wildcrafted horsetail plant does not take long to dry. At about 75-85 degrees it will essentially dry in one day. I usually dry it one of two ways depending on how much I collect. For smaller amounts I lay it out flat on dehydrator sheets with the teflex underneath. For larger quantities, I lay it out on a big sheet in a shaded area, out of direct sunlight. This harvest I gathered enough to fit into a gallon glass jar plus another quart jar. It is always good to preserve your herbs in airtight glass containers so they stay as fresh as possible before use. How To Use HorsetailFresh horsetail herb can be used fresh or dried and made into an herbal tea. You can make an alcohol tincture using the harvested plant material. Also, horsetail powder extracts are available in most health food stores.How To Make Horsetail Tea: To clarify, horsetail is an herb not a wild edible green. That is to say you can't eat it fresh, you need to make an herbal preparation to extract medicinal superfood qualities. Like I mentioned, you can use dried horsetail plant in a tea infusion or in a menstrum of alcohol, called a tincture. I prefer horsetail as a tea that I can mix and blend with other herbs, even Chinese herbs and Ayurvedic herbs. Sometimes I use it when I make herbal tea bags, blending it with other herbal stimulants that don't need to be decocted or boiled. To make horsetail tea, simply pour hot water over dried horsetail and allow to steep for 20 minutes or more. ------------------
If you want to use horsetail, but can not find it growing wild, you can also buy it dried in bulk quantities. Mountain Rose Herbs is one of the best places to get high quality herbs and spices. Visit our other pages on:
Return from Horsetail Plant to Fermented Foods |
