The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Medical Monday: Seven Herbs & a Tree for Coughs and Bronchial Congestion

Episode Date: January 26, 2026

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Hey y'all, welcome to this week's show. Before I get into our herbs for the week, this week I am going to tell you how to grow seven herbs for bronchial congestion, coughs, you know, lung issues. Again, these are herbs you're going to want to go ahead and start growing and think of your garden as your herbal medicine cabinet. Fresh during the season, dry them, make teas, make tinctures, whatever, out of season. We never know. We just never know what's going to happen from day to day. The time to have your herbs is before you need them. Don't start trying to buy them when you actually need them.

And certainly don't wait to start learning about herbal medicine until the pharmacies are empty or you can't go to a doctor or something horrible has happened. Start learning now. Start planting now. I know I emphasize that every time. But normalcy bias is such a part of human nature. We always think we'll do it tomorrow.

We'll do it tomorrow. You know, sometimes tomorrow is not like today. Bad things can happen. My friend in Odessa thought she could leave Ukraine with her family at any time, and the Russians come and go, and she'd be just fine. And she's not. Now she lives with constant power outages, missiles striking, drones hitting the building next to her. It was leveled to the ground.

it's bad it's really really bad and had she listened to me and I wanted to help get her out of there before the war started now she can't get out don't let that happen in your life in any way shape or form take action before the time comes but before I get into that I want to say something on a much more positive light note much more you know herbal medicine is my passion but I have a lot of interests. You know, I'm a homesteader. I'm a woodsman. I love to cook.

I decided to start doing videos just sort of on homesteading related topics. A lot of these would be very useful for preppers. I call it my Saturday miscellany. If you sign up for my substack newsletter, which is totally free,

just go to judsoncaryl.com. You can get it in your inbox, or you can just go to Rumble and find it on your own. It doesn't matter. to me. I don't make anything off of either one of them. If like 10,000 people viewed a video of mine on Rumble, I might make like 10 cents. It's hot. I mean, I hope Rumble will develop into a platform where someone could actually make a little bit of money like they do on YouTube. That's the

incentive for people to post on YouTube. But right now, no, no. It is purely a charitable act or just a fun way for me to share with my friends some of the knowledge that I have and to interact with people you know get some feedback last week last Saturday's Saturday miscellany I sent out three videos that I recorded last week no very long I was using new phone I had some audio issues with a couple of them but you know I'm pretty much got it straightened out by now so hopefully the next ones will be a little bit better quality green woodwork I love it green woodwork is what we do in the mountains it's where you go out and fell a tree and then turn

it into something. We don't wait for you know dry kill and dried lumber. I mean green work at woodwork does actually involve splitting boards. You can actually do that and it's a good skill to have in case you couldn't go to the hardware store. You use a fro and you split boards. You can make furniture, you can make spoons and plates and bowls, you can carve things with a knife, you can make, you know, little toys for your kids or whatever, or you can make really useful things that you'll use around the farm and homestead. I love it. Honestly, I've used an axe almost my entire life. I mean, it's almost like I was born with an axe in my hand. I love swinging axe. I'm not very big on

chainsaws and power tools. I really only use when I have to, and I think it's a good thing to learn to use hand tools because again, you'd ever know when you're the grid's going to go down. You're going to be without power. So I got the first introductory video up on that. Another video I did was when I had promised to do in my cookbook, Omnivore's Guide to Home Cooking. I said I'd start doing some videos to show, you know, how to do some of the things I describe in the book, cook through some recipes, et cetera,

or just basic cooking techniques or how to use basic pieces of cooking equipment. And one of the hardest things for me to write about was how to choose a cooking knife that fits your hand, a chef's knife, so a kitchen knife, you know, and how to use it efficiently without cutting yourself. The more efficiently you can use your knife the more pleasurable cooking becomes the more quickly you can do your prep

work it makes it's the difference from cooking being you know hard and laborious and a chore and it being a fun where you can enjoy yourself and get creative and hang out and talk with friends and family while you're cooking uh i think it's really important actually so i put that video up and there'll be a whole series there'll be at least a video probably with every chapter or at least i'll probably be doing of this for a few years. I also, by popular request, put out learning how to play guitar. I have been playing guitar for like 30 years. I play at a pretty high level. I pray professionally several times during my life. And, you know, I have a different way of playing guitar, of thinking about guitar. I just did the first video saying, here's how to learn to play guitar in a very efficient way

to avoid a lot of the mistakes I made as a kid. I was stuck for probably 10 years, I mean like a decade at like the like high level beginner, low level, intermediate level. It was so frustrating. And then one day I just sort of like had an epiphany. This isn't rocket science. There are very basic patterns. And I started kind of understanding music theory just a little bit.

I actually had to teach myself to read music. You don't have to read music to play guitar. But see, I was never taught any of this stuff. school. Our music lessons were play three blind mice on the recorder and somehow we were supposed to magically know how to learn how to read music. I had no musical instruction that was worth anything. Totally self-taught. And so my system for playing guitar is pretty common sense. Pretty straightforward. I think if you follow it, you'll learn to play the instrument pretty quickly. After mastering, I won't say mastering the guitar, nobody masters the guitar. I mean,

Chetak and Segovia. Okay, there are a few. 99.9% of us never master the guitar. But after getting that down, I learned another dozen or so instruments. I can play, you know, three different types of banjo, three different types of ukulele, bass, tenor guitar, piano to some extent. I don't get to practice piano enough to be very good at. You know, harmonica, oh, so many things.

Mandolin. I'm actually a pretty darn good mandolin player. Violin. I play violin. all that is self-taught because of that little epiphany and I give you that for free I'm not charging for it dig into it have fun there'll be more lessons I'm gonna do another one in the next couple of days and I also do one on knot tying you know I knots or nots or something we use on the homestead or in the woods or fishing or boating or whatever just constantly I have a working knowledge of about a hundred knots there I know of at least 700 knots believe it or not all them have a different purpose You know, there's not one knot for every purpose. And I put out the first just basic video on knot time. You know, on Rumble, I also have free herb lessons. I haven't done one in a while. This last year has been remarkably injury prone.

I have broken a couple of bones. I've just been really out of commission. But, you know, on the bright side, it's given me time to write, and I've done a lot of writing. And I'll have an announcement on that soon. I should have a new book coming out at least in April. So, y'all just enjoy it. Y'all just enjoy it. Like I said, if you want to sign it for the newsletter, it's totally free.

Jetsoncaryl.com or look for me, Jetsoncaryl Master Erblist on Substack. Share it with your friends. You know, it's just an easy way for me to communicate with people. I make my living off of selling books. So obviously I give away a lot for free and hopes that people will buy my books. So speaking of books, let's get into today's herb that comes from my book, Growing Your Surve. herb garden. And it is, well, they are, because like I said, it's seven herbs for coughs and bronchial congestion. One of the best is Horhound. Horhound is in the MIPP family. You may have

had Horhound candy once in your life. It's a little bitter. It's an acquired taste, to say the least, in modern culture where we don't eat a lot of bitter things. I happen to like it. I happen to like Horhound a lot. It was one of my grandfather's favorites. And, you know, like, Liquorish, old-fashioned licorice. Some people love it, some people hate it. Most people who were never were exposed to it as a child never develop a taste for it. It's one of the main reasons you really got to get your kids eating a wide variety of food because if they don't, you know, you can try to give them an herbal medicine and they hate the taste so much. They can't take enough for them to help them. An ex-girlfriend of mine hated licorice to the

point that, I mean, it would make her nauseous just a scent of it. The only difference she her and me, well, there were a lot of differences, actually. She turned out to be a liberal who was lying to me about everything, thinking that, you know, if she would reveal herself after we got married, well, turned out she was neurotic, obsessive, very liberal, and absolutely narcissistic. And I caught on to it in time, thank God. But she was never exposed to interesting flavors and tastes. She had a very bland palate because as a child she had not been exposed to certain things. Frankly in certain conditions, licorice can be a life-saving herb. Liquorice is the best herb for low blood pressure. Lichrist

is a good antiviral. Liquorice is great for kidney and bladder stunts, but if you never, if you if you hate licorice you're not going to use licorice and likewise Horhound. Horhound is a very bitter herb. But it's a very bitter herb. But it's It's excellent and it's pretty, I won't say it's completely safe. Don't take a lot of it if you're pregnant. I mean, obviously I never recommend herbs here in pregnancy because I'm very careful about such things. Some herbs are good during pregnancy, but a horhound is a really good herb for cough, sore throats, and bronchial complaints. You can grow it indoors and outdoors.

It's a really easy herb to grow. Horhound is weedy. It actually prefers poor soil. It does not have to be cold stratified. It doesn't require much water. And actually overwatering it can kill it. Once established, it's going to grow in clumps and they'll reach about a foot and a half in height. The leaves are grayish grain with a soft textured appearance, so you can use that in your landscaping.

And it should really reseed every year once you get it going. Space them about 18 inches apart. part and they're hardy from zone 4A to 9b, which is essentially the continental United States. I mean, seriously, unless you're going to go to the very most extreme zones, you can probably grow whore hound. Mullen is also weedy. Mullen is generally considered a weed, but it's going to be absolutely beautiful in your garden. It grows tall. I've seen mullin plants that can be eight feet tall, maybe even taller. Soft, velvety, light green leaves, a large stalk of, I guess you would call them conicals shaped, or like a, you know, like a church steeple of flowers coming up, beautiful yellow

flowers. I mentioned, I think, last week, that a friend of mine who's a master gardener grows mullin purposefully in her wildflower garden, and she just lets it spread. It's in her, you know, formal gardens and everything, because she thinks it's just such a beautiful, plant and I absolutely agree. When it first comes out of the ground, it actually looks like burly tobacco, but then it starts forming that long, tall stalk, and just a couple of stalks of mullin are going to give you so many leaves and flowers. The leaves and flowers are both great for all bronchial issues and actually have some antihistamine properties. The flowers, though, steeped in in warm oil, are very antibiotic, antibacterial and wonderful for your infections, very soothing. If you have kids,

be sure to grow mullin. One of the best herbs of all time. Interestingly, the herb actually, you know, I told you how the flowers kind of grow up in this conical shape and has a long stalk. Mullen has been used as a torch in times of need. People would take that stock and dip the flowering end, I guess you would say, in fat or pine pitch, tar,

and light it and carry it. as a torch. And it's also known as cowboy toilet paper because of soft velvety leaves. It's been used as a substitute for toilet paper. So if we ever have another great toilet paper famine of 20, what was it, 2020, 2021, I don't know. Mullen could come in pretty darn handy. Mullen is biennial. It flowers and seeds in the second year and then dies back. It likes full sun and a dry, well-draining soil. Again, this is one that likes poor soil. It's weedy. I often find it growing beside the road, beside railroad tracks, you know. So you're not going to put it in like rich, heavy composted soil. You're going to

put it on the edges of your garden. You can put in the dry areas. It likes full sun. It really needs no special preparation. The seeds, you could start them indoor and sew them after spring. You don't need to cold stratify the seeds. Seeds germinate in about 10 days. And you're and once it's established, it's going to sell seed. And this one is hardy from zone 4A to 10B. So it'll actually take some pretty hot temperatures. You can grow this in South Florida if you want to. You can grow this in South Texas if you want to.

Coltsfoot is such a great long herb. It is actually synonymous with long herb. I mean, on a literally literal basis, because the Latin name is Tusalago, which, well, you probably brought Robitusson, coughs here before. That means it stops coughing. That's what the word tussolago means. It's Latin for something to do with coughing. I can't remember the exact definition and I don't feel like flipping through my Latin dictionary right now. But tussolago, it means this is an herb that stops coughing.

And it's tussolago officinalis, which means it was in the officina. It is the official medicinal herb of traditional European medicine, especially the monastic medicine, the Middle ages to stop coughing. In appearance, the leaves are very much like Mullen. They're nowhere near as big. They actually, there's a common name for it, Coltsfoot. It actually looks in shape like a small horse's hoof. The flower looks sort of like a dandelion, but really a bizarre looking dandelion. It's a really unique looking flower. And if you live in a POA or, you know, property owner association, whatever, or an area where you have to grow more ornamental plants and you're afraid to grow mullin, absolutely grow Coltsfoot. The flowers are pretty. The plant

is so unique looking. You could feature this one up, you know, where people are going to see it in your landscape. And people are going to ask you, what's that pretty little plant you're growing? And you know, it's a wonderful medicinal herb. I would say it's very ornamental. This would definitely be a go-to. Yellow flowers, like I said, sort of like dandelion. It's actually Tussilago Farfara, not officinalis, but it was used in the

Ophesina, so I'm going to go either way on that. Let the word police argue with me on that one. But anyway, once the flowers die back, it makes a nice ground color, ground cover, and

it prefers partial or moderate shade. So this is one you don't have to give full sun to. So really where you don't want to plant mullin, plant some colts foot. It's perennial. It actually grows best from divisions. It can be a little hard to get the seeds going, but the seeds do like cold stratification. So if you plant the seeds in the garden in the fall or early winter, a few of them should come up in the spring and you'll be fine. Otherwise, you know, start them off in your freezer for a month or two. Plant them in doors, get them going, and then try to transplant them out. Hardiness on this one is 4A to 6B.

So it is a plant that enjoys more cool weather. I have seen it growing outside of 6B. I have seen it growing in zone 7, 7A, 7B. That's pretty hot. It's going to be like eastern North Carolina hot, and it does get hot. I know I don't have to tell you a lot of you guys that were, you know at Lejeune or or Bragg or whatever it gets hot oh my word but anyway it will grow a little bit further than they say it will it may just not be as hardy time is an excellent herb and this is one you're going to want to grow because it goes great in so many recipes time is one of the time and parsley are probably the two herbs I use most in cooking time just goes so well with onions chicken, pork, a love time. Time is an excellent anti-spectrant, an excellent expectorant. Let me get that right.

Time is an excellent expectorant that has antiseptic properties. It has antibiotic properties. It is like the go-to for lung congestion inflammation. I keep some dried time on hand all the time, and I actually take it on a pretty daily basis in my regular tinctures. easy to grow from seeds, easy to grow from cuttings. When it's starting out, it can be a little sensitive. It's actually best to start them indoors and plant them out in late spring, what's the weather's warmed up. Time is originally a Mediterranean plant,

but it can be grown in, you know, England and in North, New England. You know, it can be grown in Canada. I mean, it doesn't have to have the heat, but it does like a dry, well-draining soil. It prefers partial shade, but we'll do fine in full sun. Some people say it does better in full sun. My experience is it does better in sort of partial shade. Probably depends on where you live. It grows about a foot tall in tight, bushy clumps.

So it's really easy to incorporate into your landscape. The essential oils of time will probably help keep some of the bugs away from some of your other plants. So you may want to plant them with your vegetables. The flowers can be pink, they can be white, they can be purple. It just depends. And it's hardy from zone 4A to 11. So it can be run, like I said, a wide variety of conditions, but it does do best in warmer climates.

Definitely needs some sun, don't plan it in full shade. And it doesn't compete well with their plants. Time actually needs to be weeded, or, always my preference, a nice mulch on top, nice mulch on top, but remember the soil has to be able to freely drain. Time hates wet feet. The roots cannot stand standing in water. Now, libelia is another essential lung herb for me. It's expectorant and it dilates the bronchiales. You may want to use it. You may not. Lebelia in nature is very similar to tobacco. If you have a little too much of it, it will make

you sweat, it will make your nauseous, it will elevate your heart rate and blood pressure. It will make you throw up. I use labelia again on a daily basis. Lillia grows wild all around me. Some cultivated varieties have gotten out. The cultivated, well, let's see, the wild variety is a very unassuming little plant. The cultivated varieties are beautiful.

The wild is Lillbia and flotta. Cultivated varieties, there's a beautiful blue Labilia that I did a video on. Cardinal flower is far more accomplished. commonly planted. The wild, the inflata is much more strong. I would say that the cultivated varieties, I don't even know if there's a third as strong as the wild. But you may want to start with that. I mean, I'm a guy who likes strong tobacco. I mean, seriously, I'm not a health nut. I actually like tobacco. And I actually use tobacco to help prevent or stop an asthma attack.

but in my taste for tobacco, I like jet black Majuro cigars. I like Honduran tobacco. I like the old Mexican daimos. I like the old dry-cured Italian cigars. These are really strong tobacco. I'm sure I'd like a Cuban cigar. I just, you know, I can't afford that. And I'm not going to do anything to support a communist government.

But like the Hondurans will knock you on your butt. I like a mammoth cave, pure burly chewing tobacco. I often just smoking in my pipe. I like a tobacco that would make most people nauseous, dizzy, and passing out. That's just me, you know? So I do great with libelia. You may actually want to start with a cultivated type of libelia, like the cardinal flower, which, again, is going to be one of the prettiest plants of your garden.

I mean, literally, people will stop and ask you, what is that gorgeous plant? Lillia prefers partial shade. It does not like full sun. It likes a moist soil, a good loamy, humus-rich soil, all the good compost. It's a woodland plant. Usually it grows right. In the woods or on the edges of woods. I mean, oftentimes I've been deep in the woods.

I've started having some bronchial issues. I have bad asthma, just hereditarily. And miraculously, there's a little libelia plant, and I just grab it and eat it. I have a tolerance to Lillia. Most people throw up if they eat it. I don't, which is really good because it's actually saved my life more time than once. I always say a prayer and thank God it's there because it's an absolute miracle for me. It's a lifesaver.

Plant your plants about a foot apart, even more. They should sell seed if you get them going. They'll grow to be a foot to, they can actually go three feet tall. I've never seen one that big. In Florida, usually is six inches tall. And some of the cultivated ones I've seen around a foot, foot and a half. half, Hardy from 2A to 9b. So this is one you could grow in Alaska. Lillia is really easy. Really easy seriously. It does need to be cold stratified. So as most of these weedy herbs tend

to be. You either need to sew it in the garden in the fall and just light it every winter or start in the freezer and you know get your starts going about this time, yeah, about this time of year, and transplant them out after the last frost. But once this established, you're good to go. Pluracy root is another one. Wow, if you are in a POA or an HOA and you need to be able to grow herbs on the down low, plurisy root is in the milkweed family

and it has the most beautiful orange blossoms you will ever see. This is an actual traffic stopper. I mean, I have literally seen people stop their cars and get out and try to take a picture of pluracy root, also known as butterfly weed, just growing side of the road is a weed. It's that pretty. It's asclepius tuberosa, also known as butterfly weed, etc. It's a perennial. It needs to be cold stratified. You know the drill by now. But as a perennial, it's going to keep coming back every year. So once you get it going, it's going. I mean, it's great for pleuracy, which is inflammation lining around the lungs. It's also a great

decongestant. It helps with inflammation of the membranes. It is so good for pneumonia. It is antispasmodic, so it's good for asthma. It's great for bronchitis, any kind of lung congestion. This is the one you want on hand. Cold stratify those seeds. Get it out there in full sun in a well-drained soil. This one's going to grow really well where you want to plant your mullin. It's, it grow about two feet tall it can actually grow a little bit taller it grows in thick clumps and the flowers are a vibrant orange it is it's a spectacular wildflower often called a weed which is a shame it will flower from throughout the summer and into fall you're going to enjoy this plant for a long time and it's going to come back every year what's better than that hardiness on this one four a to 10b

So anywhere outside of the very highest elevations. And this one actually will grow in the desert. I mean, it does, it's pretty easy. I mean, it's weedy. And your neighbors are going to love you from planting this one. I mean, seriously, this is one of the prettiest plants I know of. And it's drought tolerant. So, you know, what do you got to lose?

Go ahead and get yourself. some seeds on this one if you can possibly find them. Wild cherry, of course, is a tree. Wild cherry bark is excellent. For coughs of any kind, it's also expectant. It contains small amounts of cyanide that actually relaxes the lungs, calms the breathing, believe it or not. But of course, it could be toxic if overused. It is one of the go-to remedies for asthma. It's one I like to have on hand all the time. And pretty tree. I mean, right now the Cherry trees are blooming. And obviously, cherries are one of the prettiest trees you can grow. Basically, any member of the cherry family can be used interchangeably. You don't have to just get, you know, native to North America black cherry. Just grow some cherries and use the bark. And if you grow some cherries that bear fruit, you can make some great pies. Who doesn't like cherries? Chiries may actually be my favorite fruit.

Makes a wonderful wine. Oh my gosh. When I was in Georgia, there was this little winery that did a cherry. based version of port port wine i am not one with a great sweet tooth i basically stay away from sweet wines this was jaw-droppingly good i am not kidding you i mean that was that's literally the best dessert wine i've ever had in my life and with a cigar it was pureless and some dark chocolate oh i mean wow seriously wow anyway um Other herbs that are great for coughs and chest complaints include the mallows, violets and licorice, so we've already discussed, camomile, stinging nettles, linden blossoms, that's another tree that's basswood, St. John's wart, Angelica, Pimpanella, Masterwort, Plantain, juniper berries, the wormwoods, the whole

wormwood family, Artemisus, lungwort, and all the mints, all the mints. So there's a Chinese herb that really bears mentioning. It's called Dangshin. Latin name is codenopsis. It is so good for asthma and COPD. It is an adaptogen. It strengthens the lungs and helps you more efficiently exhale so you can more efficiently inhale. I mentioned before.

I mentioned probably the first show I did on this. I used to buy it. And then when COVID hit, I couldn't because all the Chinese people knew how good it would be for any kind of lung illness. That's when I incorporate in my herb garden. You may want to look into it as well if you have lung issues. Sassafras is great for coughs and chest complaints, along with wild cherry bark and Angelica.

That's what we traditionally use in Appalachian Mountains. You can't buy it anymore because the government says it's carcinogenic, which is absolutely ridiculous. With studies that they based it on, we're basically giving the equivalent of 50 gallons of strong sassafras tea to a mouse on a daily basis. they had it so concentrated. You could not replicate those studies in real life. I disregard it, but that's me.

Hey, I'm not advising you do it. If you believe your government, go for it. Do I need to say anything more on that? A week after they finally admitted the COVID virus probably came from the lab in Wuhan. You know, that thing I was kicked off of Facebook for saying. Anyway, I won't go down that road. y'all that's some herbs you can use there's some herbs you need to get going in your garden

asap because we have no idea from one day to the next what's going to happen and we don't want to get caught with their pants down as they say so have a great week and i'll talk to you next time the information this podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition nothing i say or right has been evaluated or approved by the FDA i'm not a doctor the u.s. government does not recognize the practice of verbal medicine, and there is no governing body regulating herbless. Therefore, I'm really just a guy who studies herbs. I'm not offering any advice.

I won't even claim that anything I write or say is accurate or true. I can tell you what herbs have been traditionally used for. I can tell you my own experience, and if I believe an herb is helped me. I cannot, nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use an herb anyone recommends you're treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you.

You may have an allergy, a sensitivity, an underlying condition that no one else even shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health. By continuing to listen to my podcast or read my blog, you agree to be responsible for yourself to your own research, make your own choices, and not to blame me for anything ever.