Field Notes
Milky Oat Tops 🌿
The Milky Oats Archetype:
Exhausted, worn out, can’t sleep, chronic stress or illness, scattered mind, easily frazzled, lacks boundaries, “what if” worrier that tends towards negativity.
Taste:
Sweet, slightly salty
Energetics:
Cooling, Moistening
Ruling Planet:
The Moon
Ruling Element:
Air
The milky seed of oats…
A nervine trophorestorative abundant in minerals & nutrients that nourish, restore & strengthen the nervous system. A primary plant for burnout, chronic stress & overall exhaustion within the nervous system.
A sweet tonic to wash over our nervous system bringing a gentle calm that tonifies, rebuilds & strengthens the system overtime. This is my favorite aspect of this plant and why I love it singular as well as a foundational element of many of my formulas. My go-to plant for replenishing the nervous system after a bout of burnout or long term stress. This herb is specifically indicated for the type-A, overworked, hyperactive, burning the candle at both ends, a typical American dreamer (whom you may find is also severely malnourished).
To find some balance and invite a little peace into your life, simply begin by taking regular doses of Milky Oats Tincture while you also work in some stress-reducing rituals into your daily life. As always, we work with herbs in addition to adjustments in our lifestyle, diet & sleep habits. If you struggle with slowing down, stress and/or anxiety related to fear of rest, check out my post Honest Nourishment :)
Milky Oat Tops are best extracted in alcohol as a tincture to retain the milky latex where we get all the trophorestorative constituents which is blended to release the active, fresh milky latex, creating a juice in which we tincture.
Its effect on the tissue is demulcent; moistening & soothing to deficient and irritated tissue in direct connection to the nervous system where it coats the nerves with it’s milky latex phytochemicals.
Water infusions (including strong decoctions) extracts the water soluble nutrients present in milky oats which is abundant in vitamins & minerals!
Oatstraw (the stem of the plant) is primarily (highly) nutritive, which makes a great addition to water infusions (I almost always add oatstraw & nettle leaf to my infusions) ~ Best as a long overnight decoction in which it is gentle simmered. *Add a splash of ACV to pull out all those abundant minerals.
Milky Oats & Oatstraw Preparations:
Milky Oat Tops Tincture ~ 1-2 droppers full (about 1.5-2mL) up to 3x/day.
Oat Tops & Oatstraw Tea w/ lemon balm, lavender & milk ~ as a nightcap. So lovely, soothing & nourishing. Steep about 2-4 tbsp. in 8 ounces of just boiled water, cover & let infuse for about 20 minutes.
Oat Bath ~ Traditionally made with oatmeal, I like to use Oatstraw & Oat Tops for a wonderfully nourishing & super soothing bath. Place about 1 cup of Oats in a muslin bag and place in the tub. This bath is specifically indicated for *chickenpox* or any skin irritations like dry skin, psoriasis, sunburn, hives, poison, etc!
Milky Oats Offerings:
I hope you are enjoying Field Notes! I try and keep them simple & straightforward as a way to introduce you to many of the herbs I work with so that you might better understand their actions & properties. If you ever have any questions, drop them in the comments section or feel free to email me ~ I would love to hear from you :)