Hi there Herbal Hivers,
Thank you so much for the mention and for the challenges you organize 🙏
I will share with you what I know about Artemisia Absinthium.
In #Bulgaria we call it White Pelin, and it is easily found in the country. The blooming period is in July and August and this is the time to be harvested and dried in shade. I love the smell of wormwood, fresh or dried, always when I see a plant I rub some in my palms or I'll take just a leaf and keep it.... that is why most of my pockets have some dried herbs in them 😁 always a good surprise when I discover them again and they still smell nice.
What we use wormwood for - the most common use is for detox of the digestive tract, "friend of the stomach", as it is said in my little herb book, published 1990...I should probably get an updated version 😊 Helps if you lost your apetite, stomach acids or if you need to recover faster from illness. Wormwood also works good for some problems women can experience and for overall improving of the uterus muscules;
But the most known use of wormwood in Bulgaria is as part of Troichatka 🙂 (cannot translate this but "troi,tri" means 3, so like triple something 😄)
Troichatka - contains 3 herbs - wormwood, clove and tincture from green walnuts. It can be found as tincture from all 3 herbs, or the wormwood and clove are dried and made into powder, just the walnuts are in tincture. It is used for detox of the digestive system and the liver as well. Removes different parasites too... Strong detox, I would say. It is done once in the year if you are with good health.
I have tried the Troichatka tincture and my husband tried the dried herbs. Both ways have special intake system, you start with small amounts and then you increase the dose. (I will not go into details for the doses, because it depends on the product and the personal need. There is always a description how it shoud be taken in every product.)
It is bitter, no matter how you take it 🤯😁 but the tincture was way easier, I just had to dilute it in water. The other option is to mix the herbs with some water and drink it. As results, not sure what works best, but I think the dried herbs are more effective, since they are with much, much stronger taste and the fibers (just my personal opinion)...but my husband was brave enough to do the whole course and at the end it was intense... Have you tried to chew a clove?!? I usually chew just ONE if I have toothache and works great, so I cannot imagine if I have to take full spoon of powder...
If you decide to try it - Make sure to read everything about it, consult with your physician, do NOT just start taking it. It is strong and it can have side effects if you have pre-existing conditions or you are pregnant.
There are many products online, you just type Troichatka and there you have it, even on ebay. But I would always suggest - buy it, if possible, from a small company or family business. I think they put much better energy 🌞 in what they do and sell then a big corporation.
Another way I use wormood is as fertilizer and insect repellent in the garden. Same as nettle fertilizer, you put fresh cuts in water, I put 1 big plant in 10l of water, and leave it there for 10 days. After this I dilute 1l of the fertilizer with 1l of water and spray it on my plants. I have tried it against white cabbage butterfly and ground fleas, as I call them ( small, black-bluish, insects that jumps when you touch them). I used it on my kale, mangold and brussel sprouts. It helps but I was not very regular so I still had some damage but that's ok. We always have to leave some to Mother Nature anyway 🙏
I wish I had some images of mine, but Wormwood is out of season here.
Thank you Herbal Hive for the opportunity to share and be part of the Magical Artemisia challenge , I hope you found something usefull.
LOVE, PEACE AND #HIVE ON!