When dry, the root slivers can be powdered or pulverized in a blender and stored in glass jars to make a sedative tea. One teaspoonful of the powder to a cup of warm milk can be taken each day, the milk will help to disguise the strong flavour. Add a little honey if you like.
I can hear you saying, “Why should I drink a nasty brew like that when a clean pink sleeping pill will have a quicker effect?” The answer surely is in what other effects each one will have. Sleeping pills can make you feel dizzy and vague the next day, and do not really attack the cause of your problem; they only palliate the nerves by anaesthetizing them. They cost a lot, and you may find you need an ever-increasing dose to produce the same effect, with the possibility of permanent addiction. Nature’s way costs you only a small amount of time and virtually nothing in cash. You will have no side-effects (provided of course you apply commonsense and take only this recommended quantity), and it will strengthen the nerves, not anaesthetize them. Valerian’s high silica content and its natural phosphorus, too, will ensure this. If you don’t want to wait two years before having your own supply, plant your valerian and get your intermediate requirements from your natureopath or health food store.
Obviously, Mercury is given dominion over this herb: it acts on the whole nervous system and the senses too, the “communicators” of the body. It is sometimes used in herbal treatment of epilepsy, and in other diseases of a mental or hysterical origin, where nerve “messages” are not getting through correctly. Its other ancient name, “All-heal”, should speak for itself.
For the home gardener—plant valerian near vegetable rows, and use its cut tops and any small root remains in the compost. Its high phosphorus content seems to draw earthworms to the area, and this has been confirmed in field studies in America.
Keep valerian out of the kitchen, though. No culinary masterpiece can ever be created by the addition of a little valerian root powder.
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