Collecting Mullein Leaves...and hiking

I ventured out over the past weekend for a few hours. It was a nice winter day, with temps in the 20s, so not bad to be out and about. I chose an area that I normally do not go to that often. It is just across the river from where I was on New Years day, but to get there adds about 8 miles or more to my trip; with the exception of last summer when it was so dry that I was able to cross the river easily in many places.

Getting to the area; I had to drive through a wooded area and up a hill that was quite snow packed and slick, with the rear end of my car doing a bit of fancy movement before I got to the top. That hill was on my mind the whole time I was hiking, but coming home, I took it very slowly going down it with no problem

I cut through a campground that is designated as a horse campground, for people that use the local horseback trails that are on the public land. I would normally avoid that, as the people and their horses do not really appreciate the fun my dog has scaring the horses, but on this day the place was totally abandoned, so no problem with that.

As I walked through the woods, I detected the odor of decaying flesh. I moved back and forth, worked my way upwind, and located the carcass of a doe.



The river is running nicely, but was freezing over wherever the current was not moving fast enough. In the time since then, it has began warming up, so some of that ice will break up and disappear soon, if not already. Emma loves to go out and walk or run along on the ice. She made me nervous though venturing out on this ice, that was just downstream a short distance from faster moving water.




I would not walk along this tree trunk with the snow on it!


And as noted in the title, I did collect some Mullein leaves. I dry these and use them to make tea; for use when I have a cold, sore throat, or respiratory problems. I have read of people that smoke it or inhale the smoke vapor to treat the same conditions; and they say it is helpful. My personal opinion is that I see no benefit to myself of inhaling smoke when I have a respiratory problem.....but perhaps it does help some people.

Mullein is a very hardy plant, and as I did on this day, you can sometimes find plants with florets of green leaves even in the winter.

This is a typical dead Mullein plant with the trademark stalk full of seeds. The stalks are a very attractive yellow during the summer months, and we have some planted at home as landscaping.


Close up of the stalk.


Close up of the leaves on the dead plant. It did not occur to me at the time, but I could have gathered these
 leaves for use. I have done that with dead Goldenrod plants with good results.


Typical wintering plant.


Some of the leaves that I collected.



And just a picture of the dead flowers/seed head of a plant. It somewhat resembles Goldenrod, but I do not know it's identity.


It was a nice relaxing day. As always, it was nice to be out there, no one else around, with just the sound of the wind and flowing water. I headed back home, downloaded pictures, and spread my leaves to dry. They will soon be dry enough to make tea.

To do that, I normally will just put a leaf or two into a teapot, bring to boil, let simmer, then drink; sometimes adding sugar or honey. Too many leaves makes a very strong and bitter tea....so I have learned to start with one or two and add as needed.

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!