Juniper Berry Medicine.

The herb is also known as gin berry, hackmatack, horse savin, old-field common juniper, mountain common juniper.  Juniper berry medicine has been known to man since the time of the Egyptians.

Seen as a small shrub they can grow into small trees.  The plants are used as ornamentals in people’s gardens or along walkways.  Juniper is slow growing but long lived.  They look, at least to me, scraggly.

Juniper (Juniperus communis) is a conifer, the most widespread of all the conifers.  What we commonly refer to as berries are cones.  If you look at one of the berries up close you can see the overlapping scales that make up the cone.  A single berry contains 1-3 seeds. They start a reddish colour and mature into the berry we are familiar with being a dark blue to black.  This process takes 3 years.

The plant is dioecious – male flowers on one plant and female flowers on another plant.  There will be no berry production unless you have both types of plants.  Leaves are needle-like and cling together in whorls of three along the twigs.  In colour the leaves are a gray to blue green with a white band.  Enjoys a sunny spot and they are winter hardy.

I would suggest wearing gloves to harvest the berries (and I pick nettle with my bare hands.) The branches are sharp and prickly.  While I do see the plant when in the forest, I have not found a sufficient number of plants with a sufficient number of ripe berries to harvest.  In this case easier to order.

Culinary Use.

I think most people think of juniper as a culinary herb.  Great in sauerkraut, pickles, or as an accompaniment to game meats.  Also, gin.

I am planning to try making my own gin this winter, but this project is secondary to my interest in juniper as a medicinal plant.

I feel like juniper is another of the many plants that folks have a one-dimensional view of.  Juniper berries increase glomerular filtration in the kidneys.  This increases the flow of urine. As a diuretic and a good antibacterial juniper is a great herb to use for urinary tract infections.  The action of the herb itself delivers it to the system in the body that you want to have an effect on.  I know that until I started working with it personally, I thought juniper berry medicine – great for urinary tract infections.  It has a depth to it that goes beyond a single use.

Properties

Juniper berries are analgesic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, anti-rheumatic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, aromatic, carminative, depurative, diaphoretic, digestive aid, disinfectant, diuretic, emmenagogue, hypocholesterolemic, hypoglycemic, rubefacient, stomachic, urinary antiseptic, uterine stimulant.

I am working with it as a rubefacient and analgesic.

Aches and Sprains.

We got an extra-large snowfall last weekend which of course meant extra large snow shovelling.  It wasn’t a dry snow either.  Wet and heavy and if I had been in the proper frame of mind it would have been perfect (perfect) to make a snowman.  Now I have kind a of a knot in my shoulder.  Looking to make a muscle rub that might help relieve the ache.  I also slipped on one of my woods walks and knocked my breath out.   Let us hear it for passive respiration because I haven’t had the wind knocked out of me like that since I was 10 and decided I could do a backflip in my friends’ backyard.  Throwing yourself backwards onto the earth is not a backflip.  It was more like a backflop.  Anyway – there are many spots on my body could use a nice muscle rub.

Juniper Berry Infused Oil.

Juniper berry medicine is excellent for sore muscles, aches and pains.  Crush them in a mortar and pestle then put them in a container.  Cover with oil and let them macerate.  You can add in the needles and young twigs.  Some herbalists use heat as part of making an infused oil and some don’t.  I don’t have a hard and fast technique.  It depends what else I have going on that day.  If you do decide to use warmth prevent your oil from going above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  After I make the infused oil it should store for a year.  To help it maintain potency without going rancid you can add vitamin e or rosemary essential oil.  This juniper oil would combine with goldenrod to relieve muscle aches and sprains.  I may experiment with making a salve.  My best friend has a sore knee and she might enjoy having a go to for topical use.

Concerns.

I would not use juniper internally during pregnancy because the high volatile oil content could stimulate the uterus.  Food quantities would be fine.  There are warnings about the volatile oils in juniper berries irritating the kidneys but this is not a real concern.