All about mullein

This year I have a small medicinal herb garden growing.
One of my prized herbs is mullein (pronounced like mull-in).

Mullein Tea is quite popular as a medicinal tea due to its treatment of respiratory ailments, including chronic bronchitis, asthmatic coughs, hoarseness, and congestion. When this herbal tea is applied as a compress it also relieves skin irritations such as acne, eczema, and bruises. In addition, mullein leaf tea helps alleviate abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and fluid retention.

I initially grew it to make mullein oil, a wonderful treatment for bacterial ear infections! After harvesting a big basket full of leaves, I carefully washed them and placed them in the dehydrator for 10 hours. Then the dried leaves were put into a glass jar, two cloves of garlic were added, and then covered with olive oil to steep in the pantry for a couple of weeks.


What you get is an incredible antibiotic, anti-fungal, soothing oil!
(left: dried leaves for tea, right: mullein & garlic oil)

Gently warm the oil before using then apply several drops into the ear canal and cover with a clean cloth or cotton ball. Apply 2-3 times daily.
I think I'll be using this as a preventative to ear problems in our boys. They are quite a "waxy" bunch if you know what I mean! They also do lots of swimming during the summer and playing in the woods. This remedy is also good for pets who have ear problems!