The Artistic Farmer

Barrisca nigra (black) or Sinapis alba (white) Cruciferae                      

Found on waste land and in gardens. Also cultivated as a pasture herb. Leaves are cress-form, hot biting. Flowers are intense yellow, cross-form, also hot and biting. Seeds are long, narrow, also very hot. The herb is used both in medicine and to cleanse pastures. As a green manure crop, mustards are dug in just at flowering time. The condiment is usually prepared from seeds of black mustard.

Use, internal:

An important antiseptic tonic. Treats poor appetite, flatulence, bad breath. Also colds, catarrh, pneumonia.

Use, external:

Mustard is a poultice and plaster herb. In external application it acts as an irritant and excitant and so is valuable treatment of paralysis and pectoral complaints. As a poultice or rubbing remedy, to relieve internal and external or inflammations, congested lungs, paralyzed limbs, rheumatic and arthritic pains and stiffness. Mustard baths are a decongestant. Dose: Eat the young leaves freely as a salad herb. And a handful can be eaten easily, daily, as a spring tonic and general blood remedy. When a cold is threatening, chew a teaspoon of the seeds several times during the day to expel the accumulating mucus.

To make a Mustard Poultice:

Use a handful of mustard powder to a handful of bran; make a past with hot water; apply hot.

To make a Mustard Plaster:

To every handful of ground mustard add three parts of whole wheat flour. Mix into a pliable past with hot water. Then add further some hot vinegar (about two teaspoons of vinegar to one cup of the mustard-whole wheat flour mixture). Spread on a piece of cloth and apply hot over the area to be treated: chest, kidneys, paralyzed areas. In cases of sensitive skin where blisters may be provoked, add the white of an egg to every half pint measure of the mixture.