In From the Drop of Heaven, Francisca knew how to treat a fever long before the doctor ever knocked. She knew more natural homemade cold remedies than I could type. All she needed hot water, mustard seed, vinegar, and time. Her remedies were born of hardship, honed by centuries, and passed from mother to daughter like sacred knowledge. A handful of thyme. A cut onion. A wool sock soaked in vinegar. They weren’t just cures — they were acts of devotion.
Before the world smelled like menthol and bleach, it smelled of boiling onions, vinegar steam, and clove. When someone caught a cold, nobody rushed to the store — they reached for what they had: in the garden, in the root cellar, behind the flour crock for more natural homemade cold remedies.
Here are more of the old answers — more natural homemade cold remedies that soothed generations before us, and still can.
More Natural Homemade Cold Remedies
Oregano
Francisca used oregano in her snakebite remedy. It is also good for many other ailments, including the common cold. Oregano tea is helpful in loosening phlegm and soothing coughs and asthma. If you don’t have any oregano plants hanging from your rafters as they did in Le Petit-Courty, you probably have a jar in the spice cupboard. Place a teaspoon of dried leaves in a mug and add boiling water. If you can find fresh oregano at the supermarket, be sure to buy organic. Tea made out of insecticide-laced oregano will not make anyone feel better. Use three teaspoons of freshly bruised leaves. Allow the leaves to steep for 5 – 10 minutes. Breathe in the vapors as it steeps, then add a little honey (also adding additional antioxidant properties) and lemon juice, and enjoy your natural remedy.
Flaxseed Tea for Deep Coughs
Flaxseeds, boiled until they turn gelatinous, make a thick drink that soothes a raw throat. Some recipes say to add lemon rind or licorice root. Francisca likely didn’t love the taste, but she knew its value: it quieted the kind of cough that rattled the ribs.
Onion Poultices for the Chest
When a cough took hold deep in the lungs, I imagine Francisca would slice an onion finely, sauté it gently in lard, wrap it in old muslin, and lay it on the chest. Warm, not scalding. The vapors opened the lungs; the warmth calmed the spasms. A wool cloth held it in place.
Sometimes a second poultice was pressed to the soles of the feet. One to draw the sickness out, the other to keep it from climbing back in. Now that sounds quite medieval to me.
Steam Tent for Congestion
A pot of boiling water. A towel over the head. Add a handful of dried thyme, mint, or even pine needles if they are handy. The steam rose hot and fragrant, curling into the sinuses and lungs. Ten minutes under the towel left the skin pink, the nose running freely — a small relief that felt like a miracle.
More Natural Homemade Cold Remedies
Clove Tea for Sore Throats
Not everyone had access to lemons, but cloves were available from haberdashers. A handful steeped in hot water made a bitter, bracing tea that dulled pain and eased swallowing. A spoon of honey softened the taste. Children were bribed to sip it slowly, their faces twisted with each swallow.
Wool Socks and Vinegar for Fevers
This one sounds like medieval thinking for sure. When fever crept in and cheeks turned hot, vinegar-soaked wool socks — wrung out and pulled over cold feet — were said to “draw the heat downward.” Strange, perhaps. But mothers swore by it. The body cooled, the patient slept. And that, too, was a cure.
Ginger
People have used ginger for thousands of years to expel toxins in the body. Ginger’s natural anti-inflammatory properties will soothe your throat and warm your body to chase colds away. You need about a two-inch piece of ginger root. Peel and thinly slice, then add to about four cups of water. Allow to simmer for about 15-20 minutes, and then strain into a mug. Ginger is naturally sweet, so taste before adding anything additional, but a squeeze of lemon, cinnamon, and honey also adds flavor and benefits.
📚 For more natural homemade cold remedies,
buy From the Drop of Heaven
📚 Request it at Your Local Library
Sources:
Weiner, Michael A., Earth Medicine, Earth Food. MacMillan Publishing Co, Inc. (1980) Print
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