Holy Horsetail!!

There is an abundance of horsetail in our area - particularly in my yard! I was going to elaborate on the medicinal uses of horsetail; however, there is a superb overview of horsetail on the University of Maryland Medical Center website.

I thought it might be fun to share couple of simple recipe ideas using horsetail. There are more out there in herbal beauty books and on the interwebs if you do a bit of searching.

Horsetail Hair Rinse

Ingredients:
2 1/2 teaspoons dried horsetail (double the amount if fresh)
2 cups boiling water

Optionally add any (or all) of these:
calendula

lavender

rosemary

peppermint

etc.

Directions:
Steep horsetail in boiled water for 20 minutes. Shampoo hair and rinse thoroughly. Poor horsetail rinse through hair and leave in for ten minutes. Rinse with clear water.

Horsetail Nail Soak

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp dried horsetail (double the amount if fresh)

3 Tbsp dill seeds

2 cups water

Directions:

Place herbs and water in a small saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Gently boil covered for 15-20 minutes, remove from heat and allow to continue steeping covered until cool. Strain into a sterile bottle and refrigerate until ready to use. Warm a small amount of the mixture and soak nails in a small bowl for 10 minutes 3 or 4 times per week. Trim nails and massage moisturizing lotion into hands after each soak.

Original posting: June 3, 2010