Wonderful Horsetail !

Horsetail is seen by many as a pesky weed - hard to control - but when I saw it on one of my towpath walks I was so excited to see a plant 'in the flesh' that I have been using in my herbal practice for years - albeit as a Herbal Extract!  In my herbal medicine practice I would usually use Horsetail in a herbal mixture for strengthening damaged or wasted tissue, skin / nail / hair problems, calcium metabolism distortion - but only in very small doses.  (NB: Never try to diagnose or treat yourself with herbal medicines - always see a fully qualified practitioner because even seemingly 'natural' products have their cautions and contraindications!).                  

Horsetail – has been attributed many folk names, such as Dutch Rushes, Horsetail Grass, Horsetail Rush, Paddock pipes, Pewterwort, Scouring Rush, Shave Grass – but we will just settle for Horsetail !  Mind you, there are around 50 different species – so to be sure that we are talking about the right thing, maybe are best to use the botanical name ...

  The botanical name for the commonly used Horsetail is ‘Equisetum Arvense’ – this name being made up from ‘Equus’ which is latin for horse and ‘seta’ which is latin for bristle / brush.  This name was formulated as it was thought that it looks like a horse’s tail !  Its dry rough stems give us a clue as to why it was also called Pewter-grass or scouring-rush – as they have been used to polish metal in the past! 

  This is an ancient plant which dates back to the carboniferous era of earth’s vegetation!  There were once primitive, gigantic horsetails but their relatives today are somewhat smaller!  You will see the horsetails with their spirals twisted tightly against the flowering stem-head when conditions are dry but they uncurl rapidly when humidity rises or rain falls – a clever old plant – I wonder why I have seen so many of them uncurled this year !!!!

 

Horsetail is a massive storehouse of the (trace) mineral silica  (but, of course, contains many other compounds).  You will often see supplements of Silica derived from Horsetail advertised for strengthening hair and nails.   However, before you run out and buy silica supplements (from Horsetail) you should know there is another side to this plant – it also allows for powerful elimination through the skin, bowels and especially the kidneys – so if you ever do buy these supplements, I would advise you to always start on half the recommended dosage first.

In addition to the above Horsetail has a role to play in digestion, circulation, in the musculoskeletal system, in the urinary system and externally can be used to stop bleeding and speeds healing of cuts and wounds.  It is also antiseptic and anti-inflammatory for skin problems. What a plant – indeed - a handy weed !

 

As if all this wasn’t enough Horsetail is also ‘calcium protective’ to the body – hardening bones and teeth and is an essential mineral for nervous-system resilience too.  (Silica is stored in the nerve sheaths – which are the protective sheaths which ‘insulate’ the nerves – allowing for quick nervous energy recover after mental and physical effort).

Where Silica in Horsetail is especially magical is that it aids the regeneration of healthy tissue in the body and can also help to break down abnormal tissue, such as abscesses; my Herbal Medicine teacher used to have us imagine that the Silica was like a little hammer and chisel, carefully chipping away at unwanted matter in the body!

 

Where I am using my batch of Horsetail is for skin products.  Silica is really important for the skin and has even been termed as a plant ‘collagen’.  (Collagen is a common form of connective tissue in the body – as we get older our supply of collagen diminishes, with the result that our skin becomes less elastic, losing its tone, while our nails may become brittle and our hair become coarser and loses something of its shine).  Silica – along with many of other substances it contains – is vital to help form and preserve collagen.  Yay !

When I noticed the Horsetail growing, I thought what a great ingredient it would be to include in a home made soap - I would then have a soap which would have cell rejuvenating properties and would help to increase the elasticity of the skin - maybe??!!  I will give it a go anyway ...

Here is what I have done so far ...  

 I gathered some young horsetails stems (you can see that they are young as the 'spokes' face upwards, rather than outwards!).   I was careful not to pick the plant too close to the edge of the towpath (where little doggies might have visited it!) – I gave it a little wash in some rain water and left it to wilt and dry a little overnight. 

  The following day I filled two glass jars (which had been sterilised first) with the whole, broken Horsetail and then filled them to the very top with some Olive Oil.  I also placed a bit of cling film on top of the jar to ensure it is air-tight.   I left leave this in the sunshine for a couple of weeks, shaking it occasionally.  Some people keep the jars in a dark place, but I really like the idea of the sun infusing its goodness into the oil!

Oils infusing ... from left to right - Horsetail, Comfrey and Calendula

As you can see, I have also been infusing some Comfrey and Calendula - but more on those soon !

This method of creating and infusion is a ‘cold method’ – which I prefer as I feel that ‘things change’ once heat is added to the equation – however, either is effective in extracting the active, fat-soluble ingredients found in herbs and plants.  After two weeks, I strained the oil through a muslin cloth and stored it in a dark bottle in a cool area. (In Sydney I kept most of my oils in the fridge - because it was hard to find really cool areas - here in the UK I don't struggle so much !)

 

Just as a note, if you wanted to do this more quickly, you could employ the ‘hot method’, whereby you would need a double boiler (or a pyrex glass bowl inside a saucepan with a layer of water in the bottom of it)..  Place 250 gm of dried herbs / plants or 500 g of fresh plus 2 cups of olive oil into the double boiler and heat really slowly and gently for 2 hours, occasionally stirring gently.  When this is done you let the herbs cool and strain the oil through a cheesecloth or muslin cloth and store as above.

 

The uses for the finished product - ie, the infused oil are numerous, including massage oil, hair oil / treatments or can be used in making lotions, salves, creams or soap.  I used my infused oil in some soap that I made up ...

Before I get onto the soap, I thought I would include here a little recipe for an easy 'healing salve' - which could include this infused oil ... I have made lots of variations of this in the past - 

Healing Salve - may help fingernails / cuticles / unhealing skin problems ...

120 mL infused oil - or maybe a combination of oils - depending on your preferences

14 g beeswax (if you don't have a supplier, you could even grate some beeswax candles and use that!)

You gently heat the infused oil and beeswax in a double boiler (as above) until the beeswax is thoroughly melted.  If you would like to add a preservative you could add 20 drops of Vit E oil to the mix. 

Allow it to cool for 3 - 5 mins and then you could add in some essential oils if you wished - to keep things simple, I would just add 10 drops of Lavender Essential Oil (not Fragrance oil) to the mix.  Pour the oil into a dark glass jar, cover with some cling film and allow to cool completely until putting on a lid.  This would be an excellent ointment to help nail / skin health in general and may also be used for dog's skin and paws.

To preserve it, you can keep it in the fridge until ready to use.

One more easy, topical use for Horsetail is to make a compress - this can help to relieve rheumatic pain and chilblains and heal cuts and wounds ...

Take 50 g of the plant and steep it in 1 litre (2 pints) of hot water for about an hour, stirring occasionally.  When the water is tepid pour the water onto a pad of cotton wool and bandage it in place.  Keep it in place for as long as it is needed (but not longer than overnight !)

Anyway - I digress !  With the infused oil that I made up, I made up a batch of soap ...

 

When making soap I used the 'cold process' method - there are loads of websites you can visit to discover more about this.  I also included a Comfrey infused oil that I had prepared at the same time as the Horsetail (more on Comfrey in a future blog entry!) - with the extra soothing properties of Goat’s Milk and Oats

Because I make the soap with Lye, it is required to sit and 'cure' for a minimum of 6 weeks before use - I made this batch on 10 August, so still have a wee while before I can use it !  It is looking good though !

If you see me along the canals, (on our Narrowboat 'Caxton") give me a hoy and I will give you a chunk - to be used only after mid September !

I first noticed the Horsetail growing back in July - at that time we were travelling around Wales and thereabouts (in our Narrowboat); at the time of writing we are down Oxford way and there is not a bit to be seen - darn - should've grabbed more and dried it !  Ah well - lesson learnt !