Pick of the Season: Labrador Tea

Northern Manitoba bursts with flowers, berries, and leaves to provide for both wildlife and people. Pick of the Season is a series that highlights what to harvest and how to use it. Get your hot water ready, it’s time for Labrador Tea.

 

Widespread around Churchill and Wapusk National Park, this aromatic shrub is found in two varieties. The first variety, Bog, or Common, Labrador Tea, is likely to be in forested areas of Black and White Spruce, while the dwarf variety, Marsh Labrador Tea, can be found hugging the sub-arctic tundra.

While this plant was enjoyed by Indigenous communities and early Europeans as a hot beverage, it was also used for medicinal preparations to treat diarrhea, stomach flu, headaches, infant teething pains, and even bad breath. It is important to note that improper preparation of the plant can cause health complications, so for this post, we’ll focus on a use for outside the body:

Bug-Free with Labrador Tea

One practical, topical use of the plant is to repel insects.

Method:

• Pick enough fresh Labrador Tea leaves to fill a glass jar (your choice of size) roughly ¼ to ½ of the way. [1]
• Crush fresh leaves, place in the glass jar, and cover with olive oil.
• Place the container on a window ledge where it will get plenty of sun and warmth.
• After two weeks strain the crushed leaves out of the liquid and you have an organic and pesticide-free insect repellent that leaves your skin soft and fragrant.

Historically, the leaves of Labrador Tea were also hung in closets to repel moths, as well as ghosts!