50 Remedies on 12 Shelves · Instant Digital Access · Printable at Home
"Pioneer women didn't have a pharmacy. They had a pantry. Most of us are standing in front of the same one. We just forgot what it was for."
Click on a shelf below to find the remedy you've been looking for!
About Clara
Clara Whitfield is a homesteader in the Missouri Ozarks and the fifth generation of women in her family to keep a handwritten remedy ledger.
The ledger was started by her great-great-grandmother, who came into the hills by wagon with three children and a sack of seeds. Every woman since has added to it.
In the 1950s her grandmother kept the remedy cupboard for the whole hollow. When a child had a croupy cough at two in the morning, it wasn't the doctor they called.
When she passed, Clara realized she was the last one who could read the handwriting. So she spent the next few years making every remedy in her own kitchen, keeping the ones that held up, looking up what modern research actually says about each one, and adding clear cautions.
The result is The Pioneer Apothecary: 50 remedies, organized on 12 shelves, in a book you can open on your phone or print and keep in a kitchen drawer.
Clara is a narrator character. See the footer.
Here Is What You Will Receive With
The Pioneer Apothecary
This book is built to be used, not read cover to cover. The first thing you'll see when you open it is your new apothecary: all 50 remedies, organized on 12 shelves by what's bothering you.
The contents page shows every remedy on every shelf, and the page you'll find it on.
There, you'll find step-by-step instructions, color pictures, measurements and how much to use.
Every remedy gets its own page, and every page works the same way: what it's traditionally used for, the ingredients and tools (pantry staples flagged), Clara's kitchen notes, numbered steps, how much to use and how long it keeps, a caution box, and an honest note on what the research says.
Let's say it's Sunday night, the pharmacy's closed, and someone in the house is coughing. You go to the Cold Season & Chest shelf and look for a recipe that fits. The Thyme & Honey Cough Syrup looks like a good place to start!
As you can see, you'll find it on page 17. Two ingredients, every step laid out, and it takes about 20 minutes to make.
Don't know where to start? Flip to the Remedy Finder in the back and look up what's bothering you.
Here Are All 50 Remedies
You Will Find in Your New Apothecary
Calm & Sleep
These remedies have traditionally been used to help you unwind at the end of the day, quiet a busy mind, settle into a calmer bedtime routine and make the bedroom feel more restful.
Here are the remedies you will find on this shelf:
- Lamplight Chamomile Tea – The Classic Evening Cup for Winding Down (p.7)
- Porch Swing Lemon Balm Tea – For a Restless, Worried Mind at the End of the Day (p.8)
- Hearthside Nutmeg Milk – The Warm Bedtime Cup Ozark Grandmothers Poured (and Why a Pinch Is All You Need) (p.9)
- Sweet Hay Lavender Sachet & Soak – Turns Any Bedroom or Bath Into a Calmer Place (p.10)
Digestion
These remedies have traditionally been used for feeling overly full after a meal, gas, bloating, a queasy stomach on the road, and sluggish digestion before supper.
Here's a glimpse at what you get inside:
- After-Supper Peppermint Tea – There's a Reason Old-Timers Drank It After Supper, Not Before (p.12)
- Fennel Seed Settling Tea – One Spoon of Seeds for Bloating and Cramping Wind (p.14)
- Wagon-Trail Ginger Tonic – What Homestead Mothers Gave Before a Long Trip, for Queasiness and Travel Nausea (p.13)
- Haying-Time Switchel – America's First "Sports Drink," Carried Into the Hayfields for a Sluggish Stomach (p.15)
Cold Season & Chest
These remedies have traditionally been used for a cough that comes with a cold, a tickly night-time cough, a scratchy sore throat, a stuffy nose and heavy head, and the first sniffle of winter.
Here are the remedies on this shelf:
- Thyme & Honey Cough Syrup – The 2-Ingredient Syrup Homestead Mothers Made in 20 Minutes (p.17)
- Root Cellar Fire Honey – Garlic, Ginger and a Little Cayenne: The Jar That Comes Out at the First Sniffle (p.19)
- Cabin Steam Bowl – Thyme, Peppermint and a Towel for a Stuffy Nose and Heavy Head (p.21)
- Onion Honey Overnight – Slice an Onion, Cover It With Honey, Leave It on the Counter Overnight (p.18)
- Sage & Salt Gargle – The Traditional Gargle for a Scratchy, Sore Throat (p.20)
Heart & Circulation
These remedies have traditionally been used as daily heart-friendly rituals: a morning tonic, a ruby-red afternoon drink, and a warm soak for hands and feet that are like ice the minute you get into bed.
Take a peek at a few of the remedies waiting for you inside:
- Hedgerow Hawthorn Berry Tea – The Traditional Heart Tonic of the Old Herbals (p.23)
- Sunrise Garlic & Lemon Tonic – A Daily Circulation Ritual (and How to Take the Bite Out of It) (p.24)
- Red Prairie Hibiscus Cooler – The Ruby-Red Tea Settlers Served Cold on Hot Afternoons (p.25)
- Cold-Feet Cayenne Foot Soak – Wakes Up Cold Hands and Feet in Minutes (p.26)
Blood Sugar
These are the kitchen habits that went with a starchy farm supper: a breakfast tea, a spoon of vinegar before bread, an overnight soak and a skillet of bitter greens. Traditionally used for steadier mornings and fewer afternoon crashes.
Take a look at the remedies you get:
- Ceylon Cinnamon Breakfast Tea – For Steadier Mornings (and Why the Kind of Cinnamon Matters) (p.28)
- Supper Bell Vinegar Sipper – The Spoon of Vinegar Grandmothers Took Before a Starchy Meal (p.29)
- Overnight Fenugreek Water – The Traditional Sugar-Balancing Soak (p.30)
- Spring Bitters Skillet Greens – Bitter Greens With Supper, the Way Every Farmhouse Ate Them (p.31)
Skin & Wounds
These remedies have traditionally been used for dry, chapped and irritated skin, minor scrapes and small burns, itchy skin and bug bites, and stings and splinters.
Here are the remedies on this shelf:
- Marigold Cabin Salve – The One Salve to Make If You Only Make One (p.33)
- Honey Pot Scrape Dressing – Honey Has Gone on Scrapes for Thousands of Years, and It's Still Used in Dressings Today (p.34)
- Oat Sack Itch Soak – Rolled Oats in a Muslin Bag for Itchy Skin and Bug Bites (p.35)
- Roadside Plantain Poultice – The "Weed" in Your Lawn That Pioneer Children Pressed on a Bee Sting (p.36)
Joints & Muscles
This shelf focuses on stiff, achy joints, tired and overworked muscles, sore backs and shoulders, stiff necks and knees, and recovery after a long day of real work.
Below you'll find the remedies on this shelf:
- Golden Lantern Milk – Turmeric and the One Pantry Ingredient Most People Forget to Add (p.38)
- Long Day Rosemary Soak – Epsom Salt and Rosemary for Tired Muscles After Work (p.39)
- Hot Ginger Compress – Fresh Ginger and a Hot Cloth for Stiff Necks and Knees (p.41)
- Ranch Hand Warming Rub – The Cayenne Rub Every Farm Kept on the Barn Shelf for Sore Backs (p.40)
- Cherry Orchard Evening Tonic – The Tart Cherry Glass Runners Were Studied Drinking After a Long Race (p.42)
Women's Wellness
These remedies have traditionally been passed from mother to daughter for monthly cramps and aches, night sweats and hot flashes, and the evenings when the whole body feels wound tight.
Here's a sneak peek at the remedies you get:
- Moon Cycle Ginger & Cinnamon Tea – A Warming Cup Traditionally Used for Monthly Cramps (p.44)
- Red Raspberry Leaf Tea – The Traditional Womb Tonic of the Old Herbals (p.45)
- Cool Evening Sage Tea – Brewed and Cooled for Night Sweats and Hot Flashes (p.46)
- Rose & Lavender Rest Soak – A Warm Bath for Tension and Monthly Aches (p.47)
Head & Nerves
These remedies have traditionally been used for tension headaches, foggy afternoons, a throbbing head, and nerves frayed by a long week.
Let's look at the remedies on this shelf:
- Peppermint Temple Balm – Rub It at the Temples; Studied Head-to-Head With a Common Headache Tablet (p.49)
- Rosemary Remembrance Tea – For Foggy Afternoons (Brides Carried It "for Remembrance") (p.50)
- Lavender Cold-Cloth Compress – Lavender and Cool Water for a Throbbing Head (p.51)
- Oat Straw Evening Tea – A Gentle Cup Traditionally Used for Frayed Nerves (p.52)
Kidney & Bladder
Early settlers called them "crane berries" and kept them all winter in a barrel in the cellar. This shelf holds the traditional teas and shrubs for the waterworks: cranberry, dandelion, corn silk and parsley, all from the garden or the pantry.
Here's a quick preview of what you'll find in here:
- Cranberry Bog Shrub – Cranberries, Vinegar and Honey for Traditional Bladder Support (p.54)
- Dandelion Leaf Spring Tea – The Traditional Water-Balancing Tea, Picked From the Yard (p.55)
- Summer Corn Silk Tea – The Silk Off a Fresh Ear of Corn, Steeped Into a Soothing Tea (p.56)
- Kitchen Garden Parsley Tea – From the Bunch You Already Keep for Sunday Dinner (p.57)
Eyes, Ears & Mouth
These remedies have traditionally been used for tired, puffy eyes, a toothache until you can see the dentist, sore gums and mouth sores, and an aching ear.
Let's look at a few of the remedies on this shelf:
- Tea Bag Eye Compress – Cooled Chamomile or Black Tea Bags for Tired, Puffy Eyes (p.59)
- Clove Bud Toothache Pack – The Same Clove That Went Into Christmas Oranges Went Against a Sore Tooth (p.60)
- Saltwater Mouth Rinse – Swished and Spat for Sore Gums and Mouth Sores (p.61)
- Warm Sock Ear Compress – Rice, a Clean Sock and Three Minutes, Nothing Goes in the Ear (p.62)
Liver & Cleansing
During the Civil War, coffee got so scarce that families roasted dandelion roots to get through the morning. This last shelf holds the bitter tonics and spring broths that came out when the snow melted and the first greens showed.
Take a look at the remedies featured here:
- Roasted Dandelion Root 'Coffee' – The Civil War Coffee Substitute That Tastes Closer to the Real Thing Than You'd Think (p.64)
- Burdock & Dandelion Spring Tonic – The Spring "Clean-Out" Tea Every Farmhouse Brewed (p.65)
- Milk Thistle Seed Tea – The Traditional Liver Herb of the Old Herbals (p.66)
- Spring Nettle Broth – The Mineral-Rich Spring Soup (and How to Pick Nettle Without Getting Stung) (p.67)
And that's every one of the 50 remedies on the 12 shelves. Here's the whole wall in one place:
+ everything in the back of the book...
Pantry Staples Checklist (p.68): see what you already have and the dozen things worth adding.
Measures & Storage Chart (p.69): spoons to cups, and how long each preparation keeps.
Remedy Finder by Complaint (pp.70–71): look up what's bothering you and go straight to the page.
Sources (p.72): every study and monograph cited in the book.
+ Four Free Bonus Books
With Everything You Need
The first one you'll receive is The Wild Pantry: A Field Guide to 52 Medicinal Plants Growing in Your Backyard (a $49 value). The main book covers what's in your kitchen. This one covers what's growing outside your door.
Inside you'll find one plant for every week of the year, each on its own page: how to identify it safely, the look-alikes to avoid, the parts used, what it was traditionally used for, one simple preparation, and cautions. It opens with the 3-check identification rule and where never to harvest. Once you know what to look for, you'll never see your backyard the same way again.
The second gift you'll get is Make Do or Do Without: Forgotten Depression-Era Skills for Hard Times (a $29 value).
Just like home remedies were forgotten when pharmacies replaced apothecaries, so were the skills that carried our great-grandparents through the 1930s. Inside: the 15-staple Depression pantry and the meals it stretched into, preserving without a freezer, mending and making clothes last, homemade soap and cleaners, and the kitchen garden that feeds a family on a tenth of an acre. They didn't call it prepping. They called it Tuesday.
My third gift to you is The Kitchen Drawer Medicine Chest: Everyday Household Items for Home Care (a $29 value).
Sometimes you don't need to make a remedy at all. Baking soda, salt, vinegar, honey, Epsom salt, oatmeal, lemon and a clean cotton cloth cover more than 50 traditional comfort uses: soaks, compresses, gargles, steams and poultices. It includes the 5-minute comfort routines, a checklist for building your own home-care drawer, and a clear "when to see a doctor" page.
And the fourth is Lights Out Living: The Homesteader's Guide to Life Off the Grid (a $29 value). If the lights went out tonight, would your home still work?
Inside you'll find a rain-barrel system and gravity filter for water, a rocket stove and hay-box cooker for heat and cooking, oil lamps and solar lanterns for light, a no-power root cellar and "clay fridge" for food that keeps, a checklist for the first 24 and 72 hours of an outage, and 12 weekend DIY projects with materials lists.
All five books are delivered instantly as digital downloads inside the Apothecary Vault, and every one of them is built to print at home.
Now you can find the remedies you need for whatever's bothering you, in just one place.
Just scroll down and click on the button below to get instant access.
Digital edition, shown printed
| The Pioneer Apothecary50 remedies · 12 shelves · 72 pages | $49 |
| The Wild Pantrybonus book | $49 |
| Make Do or Do Withoutbonus book | $29 |
| The Kitchen Drawer Medicine Chestbonus book | $29 |
| Lights Out Livingbonus book | $29 |
Printable at home
Keep-The-Books
Money-Back Guarantee
From the moment you get access, you have a full 60 days to put the book to good use. Make the syrup. Print the binder. Try the remedies on your shelf.
If at any time during those 60 days you are not completely satisfied, send us one email and we'll refund you the $37. It's as simple as that.
And you keep the book and all four bonuses, even after the refund.
Why You Should Get
The Pioneer Apothecary
You'll Have Your Own Apothecary at Home
The Pioneer Apothecary collects the remedies homestead families made back when the general store sold cloves, ginger and cider vinegar as medicine.
Twelve shelves, fifty jars, every one made from something in your pantry or garden. You stop wondering what to do and start reaching for the right page.
Your Grandmother's Remedies, Written Down Properly
Onion and honey on the counter overnight. A clove against a sore tooth. A warm sock of rice for an aching ear. People open this book and say, "My grandma made me this."
She may not be by your side anymore, but with this book you can still make the remedies she made, with the measurements, steps and cautions she never had to write down.
Ready When the Stores Are Closed or the Power's Out
Iced roads, empty shelves, a storm that takes the lights. The night you need a remedy most might be the night your phone is at two percent.
That's why the book is built to print. Put the twelve shelves in a binder and keep it in the kitchen drawer. A binder doesn't need a charger.
Less Than One Trip to the Pharmacy
One trip for a bottle of cough syrup, a sleep aid and a tube of heat rub can run you forty dollars, and next winter you'll be buying all three again.
The Sage & Salt Gargle on page 20 costs about a nickel to make. Most of the ingredients in this book are already in your pantry, and the rest cost a few dollars at any grocery store.
Don't Wait Until You Need It
In about one generation, we stopped asking how these things were made. The best time to have the book is before the next cough, the next sleepless week, the next storm.
The 80% discount and the four free bonus books won't be here forever. The remedy you're looking for might be waiting on one of these shelves.
Digital edition, shown printed
| The Pioneer Apothecary50 remedies · 12 shelves · 72 pages | $49 |
| The Wild Pantrybonus book | $49 |
| Make Do or Do Withoutbonus book | $29 |
| The Kitchen Drawer Medicine Chestbonus book | $29 |
| Lights Out Livingbonus book | $29 |
Printable at home
What am I getting today?
You're getting The Pioneer Apothecary: all 50 home remedies, organized on 12 shelves by what's bothering you, on 72 full-color pages. Every remedy has its own page with the ingredients (pantry staples flagged), numbered steps, how much to use, how long it keeps, Clara's kitchen notes, a caution box and an honest note on what the research says. Plus the Pantry Staples Checklist, the Measures & Storage Chart and the Remedy Finder in the back.
You're also getting all four bonus books free: The Wild Pantry ($49 value), Make Do or Do Without ($29), The Kitchen Drawer Medicine Chest ($29) and Lights Out Living ($29). That's $185 worth of books for a one-time $37, with instant digital access the moment you order, and every book built to print at home.
And you're covered by the 60-day money-back guarantee. Try the remedies, print the binder, and if it's not the most useful thing in your kitchen, one email gets you a full refund. You keep all five books either way.
How do I purchase?
Click the green "Get Instant Access + 4 Bonuses" button above. It takes you to our secure checkout, run by Digistore24, where you can pay by card, PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay. The whole thing takes about a minute.
As soon as your order goes through, you'll get an email with your access link to the Apothecary Vault, where all five books are waiting to read or download.
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Scientific References:
- European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC). Community herbal monograph on Thymus vulgaris L. (thyme): traditional use for cough associated with colds.
- Paul IM, et al. "Effect of Honey, Dextromethorphan, and No Treatment on Nocturnal Cough and Sleep Quality for Coughing Children and Their Parents." Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, vol. 161, no. 12, 2007.
- Mowrey DB, Clayson DE. "Motion Sickness, Ginger, and Psychophysics." The Lancet, vol. 319, no. 8273, 1982.
- Daily JW, et al. "Efficacy of Turmeric Extracts and Curcumin for Alleviating the Symptoms of Joint Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis." Journal of Medicinal Food, vol. 19, no. 8, 2016.
- McKay DL, et al. "Hibiscus sabdariffa L. Tea (Tisane) Lowers Blood Pressure in Prehypertensive and Mildly Hypertensive Adults." Journal of Nutrition, vol. 140, no. 2, 2010.
- Johnston CS, et al. "Vinegar Improves Insulin Sensitivity to a High-Carbohydrate Meal." Diabetes Care, vol. 27, no. 1, 2004.
- Kuehl KS, et al. "Efficacy of Tart Cherry Juice in Reducing Muscle Pain During Running: A Randomized Controlled Trial." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, vol. 7, 2010.
- Göbel H, et al. "Effectiveness of Peppermint Oil and Paracetamol in the Treatment of Tension-Type Headache." Der Nervenarzt, vol. 67, no. 8, 1996.
- Pengelly A, et al. "Short-Term Study on the Effects of Rosemary on Cognitive Function in an Elderly Population." Journal of Medicinal Food, vol. 15, no. 1, 2012.
- EMA/HMPC community herbal monographs: Salvia officinalis (sage), Melissa officinalis (lemon balm), Capsicum (cayenne, cutaneous use).