Oat straw is a favorite herb for nervous system support, especially when our nerves feel frayed, edgy, frazzled, or burnt out. 

Oat straw is the stem and leaf of the plant that gives us the grain, oats.  It has a similar mild, sweet, nutritious taste. 

Oat straw is loaded with protein, minerals, and vitamins. 

Drinking oat straw infusion can help build strong and flexible bones, calm nerves, ease depression, soothe and restore mucous membranes in the lungs, digestive tract, reproductive organs, and the skin.

Oat straw is known as an herb that can help get us in "the mood". Have you heard the expressions “feeling your oats” and “sowing your wild oats”? Both of these refer to oat’s aphrodisiac effect.

I drink a nourishing herbal infusion of Oat straw at least once a week.  If I am feeling stressed or burn out, then I drink it more often. Making the infusion is a simple process that only takes about 5 minutes, and a couple more minutes to strain, after it steeps for 4-8 hours. 

I make the infusion before I go to bed and let it steep on the counter overnight.  It is ready to drink in the morning.  If I don't get around to making it at night, than I will make it in the morning and the infusion is ready by the afternoon.

To make the infusion, I weigh out 1 ounce of the herb, put it in a quart mason jar, fill the jar with boiling water, cover with a tight lid and let it steep for 4-8 hours.  Then I strain the infusion, squeezing the herb to get every last drop.  I drink the quart of infusion within 24-48 hours, keeping it stored in the fridge.

Oat straw is a great friend to have on your side any time life gets too intense.  It provides whole food nutrition in an easily absorbable form.

Oat Straw Nourishing Herbal Infusion

Ingredients:

1 oz by weight of dried Oat Straw, cut and sifted

1 quart of boiled water

1 quart ball canning jar with a tight lid

straining set-up:

I prefer to use a ceramic coffee drip filter, a potato sac towel square, and an empty quart jar

Directions:

1. Boil water.

2. Place Oat Straw that has been weighed to 1 ounce, into the canning jar.

3. Fill the jar with boiling water, stirring in the Oat Straw and topping it off with more water.

4. Cover with a tight lid.

5. Let it sit on the counter for 4-10 hours, overnight works well.

6. Strain by placing the cloth in the filter, place the filter on an empty jar, and pour the infusion through the cloth and filter into the empty jar.

7. Empty all of the Oat Straw into the cloth and squeeze out any excess infusion still in the herb.

8. Store the infusion in the fridge.  Drink within 48 hours.  It will go bad relatively quickly, due to it’s protein content.

9. Drink 1-2 quarts a week over ice.

10. Oat Straw infusion can be sweetened with a little honey, if desired.

If you want to dig deep into Oat Straw and learn how to make nourishing herbal infusions, check out my online course, Nourish Yourself.

With Nourish Yourself, you will learn how to work with common herbs in simple ways to build and support health.