Four herbs to combat allergies from Upstate apothecary
Do springtime allergies have you feeling under the weather? The solution could be growing in your backyard.
Joni Gude, a certified herbalist and owner of Baldflower Apothecary in downtown Spartanburg, provides herbal solutions to her clients for a variety of ailments including respiratory, gastrointestinal, and inflammatory issues.
She offers pre-mixed herbal teas, steams, and soaks, a variety of handcrafted balms and oral supplements, and sells 45 fresh herbs by the teaspoon as well as custom herb mixes to fit client needs. Many of the herbs in her shop are grown in her garden.
Baldflower Apothecary, the only walk-in dedicated apothecary in the Upstate, opened on Feb. 17 and is a culmination of Gude's lifelong interest in plants and tea making and her family's historic herbalist practices.
Her interest in starting a business started during the pandemic, when she began making an herbal tea, now sold as her COVID-T blend, for herself and her family, based on her research on herbs that support respiratory health.
“My daughter and I stayed healthy, and I started sharing it with my family. I kind of realized that I was doing something real,” Gude said. “Then, my mom told me that my grandfather would make teas and soups for people to help them feel better. It was ancestral. It was inspiration.”
To help alleviate the effects of spring allergies, Gude recommends four herbal options you can grow or buy:
Purple dead nettle
Gude says this commonly seen plant, while considered a weed, packs a punch when fighting respiratory illnesses.
"It has high anti inflammatory and antihistamine properties," Gude said. She sells it by the teaspoon, which can be used to make a tea, in a respiratory steam, and in her "infection fighter t."
Mullein
Gude says mullein, an invasive species common to the Upstate, supports the lower respiratory system and is extremely easy to grow from foraged clippings.
"It has anti inflammatory properties, but it's an expectorant so it goes in and it loosens mucus and helps you cough and expel it out," she said.
Mullein is an ingredient in Gude's "the covid t" tea blend, which also includes burdock root, bee pollen, lavender, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, elderberry, bladderwrack.
Menthol
Menthol, an extract of the mint plant, offers relieve for sinus issues when inhaled.
Gude offers menthol crystals, that can be warmed in a wax warmer or boiled, a menthol rub with eucalyptus, and as a soak for the bath with salts, lemongrass, lime, lemon and oranges.
"A menthol rub is really good for sinus pressure," Gude said.
Lemon balm
Lemon balm is an herb that can be used in teas or poultices. Gude utilizes it in her "viral ease t".
"That's easy to grow and that's a really