We are not quite done with canning and there is still a lot of produce to put away in the cellar, yet the children are already suffering with the first colds of the cold and flu season. This appears to be respiratory and Jon woke up breathing very loudly. So here is how I am treating the children naturally.
I had Jon get in the hot shower and breath in lots of hot steam. When he got out I rubbed peppermint and eucalpytus essential oils on his chest and feet. I then covered his feet with socks and wrapped him up in extra blankets.
Next, I made some horehound and honey cough drops. We grow horehound in our herb garden so I boiled some in to a tea. I then added the honey and a little lemon juice. I boiled it to hard candy stage and with a little cream of tartar put these in a pan rubbed with oil. For exact instructions you should look at thefamilyhomestead.com website. Once these set up, the kids were excited to suck on them. If you haven' had horehound before, it is very bitter. These are not too bad because of the honey in them and the honey is great for sore throats and coughing.
Finally, I am brewing up some chicken soup to feed them. I had cooked some chicken bones the other day in to a nice broth. I cooked some onions and garlic to some of the chicken fat, added some brown rice, and the chicken stock and meat from bones. I also added some lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. When this is fully cooked, I will added some kale cut in ribbons. This soup is packed with all types of things that are good for sickies as well as having lots of vitamin C.
There are lots of treatments that are natural for colds and flu. It is good to plan ahead and have the items on hand before someone gets sick so that you can respond with the best possible treatments. If this really settles in to someones chest, I will use an onion poultice to move it out.
