Yarrow: Wild, Available, and Always Ready to Help

Leaving in midsummer is something farm families rarely do, and I’m deeply grateful to our team who made it possible for us to take this special journey.

We hiked old volcanoes in Iceland, then walked nearly 100 miles along the West Highland Way in Scotland. Ever the herbalist, I packed our Acute Support blend to ward off airplane bugs and a jar of first aid salve, just in case.

A fall on a volcano

With only 24 hours in Iceland, we decided to hike up a dormant volcano just outside Reykjavik. It was steep, and we’d just stepped off an overnight flight. we were tired, hungry, and completely unprepared for the climb I had expected to be a meandering walk.

The trail followed a stream bed rich with medicine: Yarrow, Angelica, Coltsfoot, Red Clover, Lady’s Mantle, and Plantain, each thriving along the rocky path. (My family will tell you I can’t resist pointing them all out.)

Halfway down, I slipped on loose gravel. My hand caught the fall just enough for a rock to puncture my palm. It was a deep wound, bleeding heavily. We had no first aid kit, but we had the plants. I remembered a patch of Yarrow growing farther down and walked until I found it.

I chewed the leaves and flowers into a poultice and wrapped it with a Lady’s Mantle leaf to hold it in place. The bleeding stopped almost immediately. I left it on until we returned to the hotel hours later, washed it, and applied salve. The wound healed beautifully though my skin stayed stained green from the Yarrow for the next ten days.

Yarrow along the way

The next day, we arrived in Scotland. By day two, my son had come down with a head cold, likely a souvenir from the flight. We used up our herbal extracts quickly; I’d packed enough to boost our immune systems but not enough to manage a full-fledged illness. And I hadn’t packed any tisane blends, my favorite way to dry up congestion.

Then I noticed Yarrow again, growing wild along the stream banks. Its astringent nature makes it one of nature’s best “styptic pencils,” but those same properties also help dry excess mucus. My favorite cold-time blend is Yarrow, Tulsi, and Elderflower but this time, all I had was Yarrow. So I gathered small bunches as we walked, adding Rose Hips for vitamin C, and steeped it with whiskey and honey for his cough.

Five days later, I came down with the same symptoms, this time with fever. Still, there was Yarrow, my steadfast ally. Each morning, I filled a flask with hot water, added the freshly gathered herb, and sipped it warm as we hiked. Every Yarrow plant felt like a gift.

Yarrow is antiviral, fever-supportive, and drying to the excess fluids that accompany a head cold. Even miles from home, I had what I needed.

The gift of knowing the plants

When people ask how our trip was, I think about the beauty of being sick in the middle of the Highlands with no apothecary shelves to reach for, only the living medicine at my feet.

Even as an herbalist, it’s rare to find yourself in a place where the plants are your only option. It was humbling and deeply comforting to look around and recognize the support that was already growing there.

Before this trip, Yarrow was already on my short list of “If you could only have one herb…” favorites. Now, it sits firmly at the top—with Calendula as a close second.

Yarrow grows nearly everywhere—wild, available, and always ready to help. It is, without question, the herb I can’t do without.