Storage For Herbs, Tinctures, and Hacks that Make Our Lives Easier!

Simple is always better.  Storing your herbs, tinctures, and other remedies, doesn't have to be expensive, and it doesn't have to take alot of time.

Today, I want to focus on storing dry herbs, and tinctures.

Tinctures: one of the most important things to understand, is that light changes properties.  For instance, a blue or green bottle will let in more UV rays, destroying plant cell properties, the way it damages our skin.   Amber bottles (the brown bottles, we generally see) are the consensus for keeping more kinds of light out.

If you don't have a brown or amber bottle, the next easiest thing, that I have found works well long term, is a mason jar, or food bottle, placed in a paper lunch sack (kraft paper) and, as in all storage, kept in a cool, dry place.

An apple as it oxidizes

Another trick, is to avoid storing tinctures in dropper top bottles. 

It's fine for while you have an open bottle that is actively being used, but for long term storage, keep a screw tight lid on, it allow less oxidative damage to your hard work.  Oxidation really puts the brakes on shelf life, safety, and overall nutrition.

 If you are in a smaller space, and struggle to find room for your "stuff", try getting creative.  Under a bed is generally cool and dark, dresser drawers are great.  Even a clothes closet can work.

Each week, if you can donate a half hour of your time to preparing for furture needs, you are set if something happens.  If nothing happens, you are still set!

Like all arts, the right tools, the right knowledge, the right thing, makes creations easier.  But sometimes, we have more time than money, and other times in our lives, we have more money than time.  Figuring out how to make either work for you, is what simple is all about.

•  Any statements or claims about the possible health benefits conferred by any foods or supplements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

• Read Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER:

DISCLAIMER:

All information and resources found on Herbs and Wildcrafting are based on the opinions of the author and are meant to motivate readers to make their own nutrition and health decisions after consulting with their health care provider.

• Please consult a doctor before making any health changes, especially any changes related to a specific diagnosis or condition.

• No information on this site should be relied upon to determine diet, make a medical diagnosis or determine a treatment for a medical condition.

• The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice.

• No information on this site should be used to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease or condition.

• By reading this website, you acknowledge that you are responsible for your own health decisions.

• Do not take anything from any website, including this one, and try it without proper research and medical supervision.

“If you take anything you read from any web site, including this one, at face value, and then go off and try something you read about, without having appropriate safeguards and/or medical supervision, you will get what’s coming to you, which could include, but is not limited to: death, permanent disabilities, damage, headache, bad breath, or worse.” -Dave Asprey



Any statements or claims about the possible health benefits conferred by any foods or supplements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

I’m just sayin’…

Thieves Oil-Origin and Recipe

Thieves Oil-The Ultimate Topical Remedy

“Thieves Oil” may offer immune support during illness, including colds, flu, bronchitis, pneumonia, sore throats, etc.

The fresh Ginger in this version helps in rebuilding muscle tissue and nerve. Thieves Oil has highly anti-infectious properties that help support a strong immune system because of its antimicrobial properties.

These "thieves" were actually spice traders and merchants who imported spices, including cinnamon and clove from India. When the Black Plague hit, all international shipping and trade was closed down. Unable to do business, these spice traders quickly ran out of money and had to find a way to support themselves.

Since other people in the communities were afraid to touch the plague ridden bodies, the thieves decided to loot the victims homes and the dead.  They could do it because they had a secret.  

If they rubbed vinegar, oils, and certain spices all over their bodies, they didn't get sick.

They took clothes, jewelry, pots and pans, and bartered or traded them for food and money. 

Their plan worked and they were able to set up a very lucrative pawn business. Until the French King found out…

When the King heard about the story of the thieves he wanted to know their secret. He wanted to know how they were able to touch dead bodies without getting sick! 

How did they protect themselves from the dreaded disease?

He sent his Constables out to capture them. Four of the thieves were caught and brought before the King. He gave them a choice to either share their secret formula of "immunity" or be burned at the stake. The four thieves decided to share their secret formula with the King.

The King immediately posted the thieves secret formula all over the town.
(Sometimes I run across wonderful information, but sadly lose the origin of the article.  If anyone knows the author or website to the above story portion of this recipe, I would love to give credit where it is due!  )

THIEVES OIL RECIPE

• Quart size mason jar or similar
• Cinnamon sticks, crushed and splintered (Don't use powdered)
• Whole Cloves, crushed to smaller pieces (Again, powdered doesn't work well)
• Whole Ginger, chopped or grated (This is my addition since my Hubby's back surgery, as Ginger heals and strengthens muscle tissue.)
• Rosemary (2 or 3 Sprigs)
• Lemon Zest (optional)

Place these in the jar, and cover to just above the ingredients, with a good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO is oil is from the first pressing and will take on the qualities and properties of the spices as it infuses.).

Shake well daily.  Place the jar either in a sunny window, or on your stove where it will not get direct heat.  The idea is to heat up and cool down the oil over a period of about 4-6 weeks.  I usually do six weeks, but I'm in the mountains of the Western United States, and sunlight can be limited in the winter.  In summertime, I can get a great infusion in about 4 weeks.

At the end of the infusion period, strain out the ingredients (my chickens usually reap the benefits of the used up herbs.  It can only do them good...) and tightly bottle your oil and store it.


A note on storage:  Colored bottles allow different wavelengths of light to penetrate your oil, and this can change the properties you've worked so hard to gain.  Brown bottles work best for storage, always remembering to keep them in a cool, dark place.
A great hack for this, if you don't have a brown bottle, is to keep a clear bottle in a brown paper sack for storage.

Remember that your intuition with herbs can be a great addition to your knowledge.  If you feel inspired to add something to a recipe or concoction, do your homework, and keeping in mind safety, you can often enhance or "discover" better solutions to your healthy lifestyle.

California Poppy: Pain Relief Without the Narcotic

We live in a world where everything that should nourish us has been altered, rearranged, or nullified, by GMO's,  companies with no moral compass, depleted soils and rising costs; our bodies are breaking down without those building blocks, and we are hurting.

Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, IBS, Lupus, MS and an entire host of other painful and debilitating ailments are seeing more men and women on vast cornucopias of drugs.  So many caught between a rock and a hard place.

Sometimes it's easiest to begin tackling the largest problems with small steps, and here's a great beginning.

California Poppy grows in abundance all over the west coast, from California to Washington State and further.  These cheerful orange and yellow flowers are as uplifting to our bodies as they are to our eyes. 

General Information

California poppy contains chemicals that may create a sedative action (Sleepiness), act as an analgesic (to relieve pain), anti-diarrheal, antitussive (helps relieve coughing). diaphoretic (helps promote sweating),  and an antispasmodic. It also repairs nerves and alleviates nerve pain.

Unlike opioids or even the stronger acting Poppy species, Rudolf Weiss states that the effect of California Poppy is towards “…establishing equilibrium,” and is not at all narcotic (1988, 289).

As exemplified by California Poppy, all poppies contain a variety of alkaloids that are likely have different activities, as well as other constituents that we know from experience can modulate the effects of the ‘active’ constituents.

Many herbalists have observed that crude herb extracts of the various poppy species are less addictive albeit less potent in their activities than the purified alkaloids,  but with far fewer side-effects.

• Medicinal Parts

Use the parts that grow above the ground for medicine. A fresh flower as an extract is the most effective, but I still use my dried herb all year long, and love it!

The seeds are tiny and black, held in long pointed pods that split open when ripe.

• Harvesting Instructions

Harvest in the spring, and gather the whole above ground plant and dry it.  Or tincture the whole fresh plant

(There is some evidence that the tap root is mildly toxic, I don't use it, but others do.  Use common sense, and if you are a beginner, please err on the side of caution, and just use the above ground parts.) 

• General Dosage

½ Dropperful or 20-60 drops 1-4 times daily. (Take lowest amount, until you see how it may affect you, and work your way up if needed.)

Use a rounded teaspoon of chopped plant as tea, drink 1-3 times daily.

• Precautions

California poppy appears to be safe for most people when taken appropriately by mouth for three months or less. There isn't enough information to know if California poppy is safe for longer term use.

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Not enough is known about the use of California poppy during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.

There is some concern that California poppy might slow down the central nervous system too much when combined with anesthesia and other medications used during and after surgery. Stop using California poppy at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.

For Greater Detail on this wonderful plant, Try Todd Caldecot's Website.

How To Make an Herbal Tincture

While Alcohol is not something I drink...it does have an important place in the world of herbal healing.  Why?

Alcohol dissolves most, if not all, the constituents in your herbs. 

It also makes the mucous membranes in the mouth more permeable, allowing the herbal properties to  bypass your digestive system and enter the bloodstream efficiently.  Best of all, it increases the shelf life of your herbs by years. 

But for those who worry, it may comfort you to know there is the same amount of alcohol in the average dose of tincture, as there is in a ripe banana. 

If you're still concerned about the alcohol, you can place the tincture in a cup, pour boiling water into the cup, and the alcohol will evaporate within seconds.

Or pour your tincture dose in a metal spoon and heat it from below with a match to burn off the alcohol. 

Glycerin or honey are another choice, and will preserve your tinctures safely for one to three years and offers wonderful benefits in it's own right, but from a long term  storage aspect, a wood-grain alcohol is a better preservative.

To Make A Tincture

To make a tincture, you will need a 1 quart canning jar, your chosen herb, 3 cups of either vodka, gin or brandy.
The liquid acts as the menstrum and will preserve the tincture for up to 5 + years.
Sterilize the jar.

• Fill the jar half way with your herb.
• Pour the 3 cups of alcohol over the herb until it comes up over the top of the herb.
• Shake well.
• Leave in a cool dark place for 6 weeks. Shake it every day or so.
• If after the first few days, the herb is not fully immersed, add a touch more alcohol. The herbs need to stay totally submerged under the liquid for the 6 weeks.
• After 6 weeks strain out the herb.
• Place tincture in a dark bottle, and label with herb and date.

Take 20 drops of tincture in juice, warm water, or tea  3-4  times a day. Do not take it for more than 2 weeks at a time. Give your body a rest, and take it again for 2 weeks if necessary. If the condition persists, contact your health care provider or herbalist.

If you don’t want the alcohol of a tincture, you can use vegetable glycerin or honey to make a glycerite.

Glycerite Formula

The formula for making the glycerite is the same as a tincture.

• Follow the above steps, and replace the vodka with either the vegetable glycerin or honey.
• Allow the 6 weeks and then strain.

Dosage

• 1/4 tsp. 3 – 4 times a day, although each tincture may have a slightly different requirement.

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For a great discussion on the use of alcohol in tinctures and the LDS “Word of Wisdom”, go to http://www.hotpepper.ca/lds/wordofwisdom/prohibitions/hot-drinks/
"A wise herbalist is very educated on the effects of herbal medicines, and knows quite well what an infusion of a plant will do to the human organism.
I can hardly imagine someone being labeled “unwise” because they are withdrawing the constituents of a plant in the only way it can be extracted and used…”

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Is Black Elderberry The Best Antiviral Herb We Know?

No one ever likes to get the flu. I’m a baby about the nausea which accompanies it, and after having hyperemesis in all four of my pregnancies, and figuring that I’ve spent the better part of two years in bed with morning sickness, I will do whatever it takes to avoid it again.  Enter Elderberries!

I loved them as a kid, when here in Sanpete County, Utah, we gathered as a big extended family every year to harvest them and made syrup with them.
Sparkling bottles of it covered the counters and tabletops ready to go downstairs for storage.  It was made even better when we got pancakes the next morning!  Elderberry syrup was my absolute favorite!



Who knew that I would rediscover this little black berry again, during the cold and flu season?

Most of us, when we start getting sick, make a beeline to the Doctors office, and wonder why we even got the flu?  Didn't we get our flu shot?  Hmm...

We're hanging over our knees in the waiting room in all our sickened glory,  for a prescription of the latest, greatest flu fighter, which is not as great as we've been told.   (For myself, I've chosen not to get a flu shot, because of the ingredients, and of course, the fact that I always get the flu, every time, just a week or two after my shot.  No thanks.)  

So the question becomes, Tamiflu, Elderberry, or ride it out?

Let's begin with side effects of Tamiflu.  They are severe enough that it's been banned in Japan after the death of 18 youths associated with it.  Another 10,000 reported unusual behavior,  some as severe as attempted suicide. At it's best, one of the most common side effects of it is nausea and vomiting.  Um...isn't that what I'm here for?

• At the beginning of the year, Dr. David Jockers, wrote an article for Natural News on elderberries, he said, "With a cold, flu or any other virus, drugs only have the ability to mask or treat symptoms, but they cannot eliminate the virus itself. Only the immune system can do that." 

Our bodies are built to mount up a defense, and do a great job of it, if they have been given the proper building blocks to do it.   Adding Elderberry gives our immune system a giant boost. It's high in in vitamin A, contains a greater amount of Vitamin C than an orange.

It has high amounts of Quercetin, an antioxidant "used for treating conditions of the heart and blood vessels,  including hardening of the arteries, high cholesterol, heart disease, and circulation problems.
It is also used for diabetes, cataracts, hay fever, peptic ulcer, schizophrenia, inflammation, asthma, gout, viral infections, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), preventing cancer, and for treating chronic infections of the prostate.
Quercetin is also used to increase endurance and improve athletic performance."

It is also an anti-inflammatory.  And it only gets better with research.

• The 2001 study published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine stated that elderberry extracts are "natural remedies with antiviral properties, especially against different strains of influenza virus."

• Another 2004 study published in the NLM commented on reduced duration of flu symptoms when using elderberry: "Symptoms were relieved on average four days earlier and use of rescue medication was significantly less in those receiving elderberry extract compared with placebo."

• University of Maryland Medial Center writes "Elderberry may have anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anticancer properties" and "one study suggested that elderberry could kill the H1N1 virus."

• Clinical trials on patients displaying full-blown flu symptoms took place in Israel in the middle of a flu epidemic in 1992-93. Half were given the Sambucol black elderberry extract and half a placebo.  Within 48 hours 75% of patients who had been given Sambucol had clearly improved and within 72 hours 90% were symptom-free. Only 16% of patients on placebos had shown any improvement after two days, and the rest took at least six days to recover.

When I start to feel a twinge of a cold or flu, I head for the, always open, elderberry syrup and make a cup of steaming hot tea.  Some people prefer to just take a tablespoon.  It's really good on pancakes too...I'm just sayin'....

Elderberry Syrup

• 2/3 cup dried elderberries
• 3 1/2 cups of water
• 2 T ginger (Optional)
• 1 t cinnamon powder (Optional)
• 1/2 tsp cloves (Optional) Where to find this
• 1 cup raw honey

Add the elderberries to the water, and bring to a boil.  Gently simmer for about 30 minutes, or until it is as thick as you would like it.  Then add the spices (if desired), simmer for 10 more minutes.  Finally add the entire pan to the honey, bottle and  store.

• It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. 

For canning:

• Sterilize four 8 oz. jars, keep hot. 
• Heat lids and rings in hot water, keep warm but not boiling. 
• Fill water bath canner and bring to boil.
• Pour hot syrup into sterilized jars leaving 1/4″ headspace.
• Wipe rims clean and screw on lids.
• Process for 10 minutes in water bath canner (add 1 minute for every 1,000 feet above sea level). 

Yield: About 4 pints syrup