Folk Medicine & Recipes

I see the wise woman in her cottage, with a basket of harvested plants. She is teaching the young people who want to learn how to pick the leaves off of the stems, partly so that they will remember what the plant looks like when she asks them to go pick more in the garden when they need it again. She is counting on the younger ones to remember, and it takes many years to know the plants. She teaches them the right time to harvest each plant, and how to mix the plants with water or ferments to bottle for later. Some in the community make herbal beers with her harvests, mixing herbs and grains to ferment them in water and yeast. She bakes bread and adds her healing plants to them. She creates baths for the children to bathe in to make them smell sweet, and kill any infections that might be lingering. She is a mother to many, and her house is filled with the scent of drying herbs…

Folk herbalism is the plant medicine of our ancestors… our grandmothers and grandfathers, stretching back through time. The ones who spent much of their time tending and harvesting healing plants for food and medicine. This is their tradition of living close to the earth, with wild medicinal plants woven into all of our food, drink, and daily rituals. Washing our bodies in the plants, rubbing creams of the plants on our skin… adding herbs to preserve our food and keep it from spoiling. Folk medicine carries on the traditions of our elders. It should be elevated to the honoured place it should be, rather than considered unscientific (which is the colonizer’s way of stating it is of lower value). What our grandmothers knew is what many households knew. How to make easy teas, broths, ferments, salves, compresses, healing baths… sweet syrups and bitter drinks to heal the body and soul.

I’ll go through each of these traditional herbal medicines, easy enough for anyone to make. Fresh healthy plants + organic good quality liquid (menstruum) = great medicine! You cannot make a medicine wrong, unless it molds… and then it is compost for the soil. If your medicine is too weak (too little plant material, or a less concentrated extraction), it will still be wonderful… you just will need to take more of it often to feel the effect you’re looking for. Trust that the medicine you make is wonderful, mostly because the plants are incredible themselves, and you made it from your heart. You don’t have to dress the plants up, they are powerful enough on their own.

We make medicine using the folk method, which does not involve a lot of measuring and numbers. As long as your medicine will be preserved, these methods will be all you need to make excellent medicines for the rest of your life. They are simple to make and pretty easy to remember or teach others. We call this way the folk method because this medicine is intended to be for the folk! The people who use it every day and make it to take care of their families and communities. Folk medicine has been shared by our ancestors for thousands of years, mostly through oral traditions within communities… It belongs to all of us.

These traditions have been carried by our ancestors through time, and now they pass it on to us.

SIMPLES

When you are getting to know a new plant elder, you should spend time just with that one plant, one on one. Developing a deep relationship with a plant takes time and patience. Even though you may be exploring different plants tasting and introducing yourself to them over the entire course, there is likely going to only be a few plants you go really deep with this year. I’ve often given the assignment to take a plant ally on a date, which is quite fun! Just you and the plant together… Go for a walk in the woods together, go swimming together, bring your plant to the movies, or to meet some of your friends.

Working with one plant at a time is the essence of simples. Simples are medicines we make with just one plant. In medicine making we start by making simples, getting to know each plant in different forms of extractions. After we have gotten to know each plant well enough, we can start mixing plants together and learning how they support each other’s actions. 

Simples are safer ~ The benefit of working with simples is that if any adverse reactions happen, we will know what caused it, since only one herb was being used. Once I have worked with each herb on its own enough to know some of the common experiences people can have to that plant, when I mix it with other herbs, I’ll have a better idea of any side effects in the formula being caused by that specific plant. 

You will be working with simples your whole life as an herbalist if you want to become very experienced with each plant. And it takes many, many years to know one plant (I’m at 20+ years and still working with simples and learning more from each plant I work with). I have been working with 50+ plants intimately for those two decades, primarily as simples in order to know them well. The plants you work with one at a time will become the plants you feel confident recommending to others. Get to know that each plant in various different herbal preparations, and slowly a trust will build that you know this plant well and can safely recommend it. This takes time and should not be rushed.

Formulas are helpful because some of the compounds in one plant that might cause some negative side effects can be balanced with the addition of another plant. The best example of this you will often use is combining a plant high in drying or astringent compounds (such as flavanoids, tannins, or other bitter principles) with plants that contain mucilaginous carbohydrates (polysaccarides). Such as blending nettles (astringent) and oatstraw (muscilaginous) , or plantain (astringent) and voilet (muscilangenous) fresh juice. Another example of this balancing in a formula is using a stimulating plant with a sedating plant to balance out the sedating effects that might make you tired during the day. Or blending a warming plant such as ginger with a cooling plant such as burdock or nettles, so the cooling plant does not create an excess of cold damp mucous in the body adding to congestion and sluggishness. As you get to know the energetics, actions, and personality of each plant over time, you will see what plants might balance each other out. 

Journal Prompt ~ Write down a list of plants you have already gotten to know one on one. These are the plants you can recommend to others. What medicines would you like to make of these plants? Now list three plants newer to you that you would like to get to know one on one, and try some preparations with them!

Creating your Apothecary

Imagine walking into your beautiful pantry filled with medicines grown from your garden, or harvested wild from plants growing around you… From your travels, from important moments in your life, and from gardens or wild places you dearly love. Imagine every bottle holding memories of a day spent in the wild, picking in the sun, or on a cool afternoon… by the river, at the farm, out deep in the woods, or in your garden. Every bottle holds sunshine, moonlight, rain, rich nutrients from plants that have grown year after year… And all that nourished the plant is inside the bottle. The love that was present when the plant was grown, picked, and made into medicine. Love allows everything to shine, and medicines that are filled with well loved plants sing!

Building a Stock of Simples

Simples make up the main stock of your apothecary. Once you have all of your simples made of your main plant allies, you can mix the simples to create blends. Simples are your ingredients for all blends, so you want to slowly build up your apothecary stock of tinctures until you have a complete tincture set of your main allies. We can then use the simples on their own, or blend them into formulas. 

As you get to know each plant, you’ll notice the difference between one batch of tincture and other - Dandelion root tincture from plants that were harvested from composted beds vs. dandelion root tincture harvested from wild field areas without compost. Harvests you did at different times of the plant’s growth (such as early flowering or late flowering). Leaf harvests in the spring vs. leaf harvests in the fall. There will be variation in every batch of medicine.

Shelf Life of Herbal Medicines

Medicines do have a shelf life. Tinctures seem the best and most fresh tasting in the first year, and then slowly change. I think they are excellent in the first 3 years, then by 5 years I start to notice a real difference between them and the new tinctures. Though tinctures they say will last up to 20+ years or more, I do find that I don’t like using tinctures older than 10 years. Herbal vinegars are best in the first 1-3 years, and then tend to go bad… Herbal oils generally should be used in the first year or two. Track your medicines by the month and year you made them so you can use or share them while they are still really potent. You will get a feel for their potency through your senses - taste, smell, and color. Most importantly don’t forget to properly label your medicines with the date you made them!

Video ~ Building your Apothecary

Creating Magickal Blends

Next module we are going to start moving through the systems of the body and the chakras, getting to know the plants that support us on many levels. We will profile groups of plants with similar or complimentary actions, and you’ll start to get a sense of what plants you’d want to blend together. I love creating blends from my stock of simples. Many plants really strengthen each other, or balance each other’s energy and actions. Blends can be incredible, as the plants synergize and dance together to support us.

I like to keep my blends to a specific need, so the actions of each plant is strengthened instead of lessened. For example, if I make a blend to strengthen the lungs, I want to make sure the plants I put in the blend all contribute strongly to the point of that medicine - to repair and rebuild the lungs.

When I create blends I think about what is most needed, for myself and my family or loved ones first. Then I ask when our community is needing, and I’ll make blends for the intention of supporting those I don’t know.

Journal Prompt ~ What do you feel like you most need support with physically? What do you struggle with emotionally or in your mind and nerves? What do you feel like your soul is most seeking? These guiding questions will lead you to what kind of medicines do you want to have for yourself in your apothecary. What would you like to have on hand to offer others?

Ritual of Medicine

Ceremony & Practice of Medicine Making

In every culture around the world, and in every one of our lineages, medicine making was a sacred and ceremonial practice that involved prayer and intention. Plants were picked on sacred days of the year, blessed, and prayed over. Medicines were understood to be magical and sacred… healing not just the physical body, but the soul as well. In sacred space we call the spirits of the plants, asking for their support in the medicine we make. When I am harvesting for a specific medicine or person I’ll talk to the plant when I am collecting. I will seek its support and guidance. Before I start cutting the plant I talk to it about the medicine I would like to make. The plants are living, intelligent, beings. They generally are really eager for us to make medicine of them once they see why we are needing them… and they often have guidance to share.  

Creating Sacred Space

Before you make medicine, create a simple altar for yourself with a candle, simple blessing herbs, and a drum if you’d like. When I make medicine, I create a simple altar (more elaborate if I’m with a group), offer blessings, and speak some prayers of intention, calling any helping guides to join me. I call on our loving ancestors, and ask that the medicine be blessed. As I process the plants, I call in the spirit of the plant, holding it to my heart, and asking for the plant to be present in the medicine I’m making. In this way medicine making becomes an intimate, sweet time to connect more deeply to the plants, your helping spirits, to yourself, and your community.

Video ~ Ritual of Medicine Making

Heart Connecting

Before I process plants to make medicine, I hold the harvested plants to my heart. I can do the same with dried plant material by just holding a handful to my heart. I spend time pressing the plant to my heart, taking at least 5 minutes or more to send the plant gratitude, and ask the plant spirit for support and healing. I wait to start until I have felt the plant spirit arrive and connect to my heart and soul. I call in my loving ancestors and guides, asking for them to bless the medicine I’m making. Trust the plants and the ancestors will guide your hands.

Hold the plants to your heart, and offer prayers for the healing energies you would like to call in. Call the spirit of the plant, and as that it finds its way to those in need. Offer any prayers you would like for the medicine you are blending. Imagine the people who need it receiving it into their bodies, hearts, and souls, bringing deep healing and love. 

Processing Plants

Processing plants and preparing them to go into liquid takes time… it is a meditation. Create a simple altar, light your candle and blessing herbs, and take time processing the plants to prepare them for the liquid that will hold their medicine. Breathe deep, smell their oils on your hands, take in their energy, and allow their spirit to surround you… It is magick.

Processing plants is when we remove leaves and flowers from stems, chop roots up into small pieces, or shave the inner bark off of branches... We cut up the plant material until they are in small pieces, usually about a 1/4 inch or smaller. You can always blend your plant material after you have added it to the menstruum (the liquid you are using for extraction such as alcohol or vinegar) to more fully macerate your plant material. 

After you have processed the plants by cutting them up you can add them straight to your menstruum, or wilt on a paper bag or screen before adding to the menstruum. This allows excess water to release from the plant material, which reduces the water content in your final extract. Otherwise the water in plants can dilute down your alcohol, vinegar, or oil (and water in the plants mixed with oil = mold).

Processing plants is a community practice. It is best done with more than one person, especially if it is a large amount of plant material. This is always one of my favorite moments during class, when we all sit in prayer together with the harvest, laughing, praying, and feeling the plants as they pass through our loving hands. It is magic. My greatest heart memories with students, besides sitting in meditation when we are in receiving the magick of the teas together.

Moon Phases & Holy Days

The moon, sun, and planets can add extra energy and blessings to your medicines… Making plant medicine during special moon and sun phases, or during planetary events, brings extra strength to your medicines if they are made with intention. I love to make medicine that connect my prayers and intentions with a sacred day, aligning the cylces with the events of my life. During the next full moon, harvest plants that are in season, and put your medicine out under the moonlight to drink in her powerful energy…

My first medicines when I was 14 and 15 were all made on full moons, as well as the holy days such as solstices or equinoxes. My favorite was creating jasmine water on the full moon. I would sprinkle dried jasmine flowers into a bowl of water and set on my roof underneath the moon light all night. I kept the jasmine water away from sunlight after it was finished, and took it out only at night to wash myself before dreaming.

Full moon medicines - The moon is connected to heart, our dreams, visions, hidden desires, emotions, intuition, magick, sacral chakra, womb, blood, the spirit realms, dream journeying, meditation, and our spiritual practice. Medicines that connect to the heart, sacral chakra, and third eye, are especially potent if made on the full moon.

After making your medicines on the full moon, let them sit overnight in a sacred place under the moonlight. I like to put them in my sacred wheel in the woods - a ceremonial stone circle within the pine trees. Or you could just place them outside your door, on a fire escape, porch, or in your garden. I have always found a way to have my medicines soak in the energy of the full moon, growing up in the city. You can steep your medicines in the moonlight in the 3 days before and after the full moon when the moon’s energy is the strongest.

Menstruum

Menstruum is sacred and powerful. Menstruum is a liquid we use that dissolves constituents in plants and then holds them in suspension. It also holds the energy of the plants, which means these medicines are both physical and vibrational remedies.

Examples of menstruums include water, vinegar, alcohol, glycerine, oil, and honey. Know where your menstruum is coming from! For many thousands of years making menstruum for herbal medicines was a sacred practice. Sacred fermentations were made into vinegar and alcohol, which was used to drink, cook, and extract plants… just as it is today! Fermentation was always considered a magical process, and often involved wild plants and herbs that helped in the fermentation. Plants, grains, and fruit (all of which were considered sacred) were used to create powerful mind altering and medicinal ferments. Wild yeasts that grew on specific fruits and plants would eat the sugars in specific plants or grains, creating vinegar or alcohol. There are still many cultures and communities around the world fermenting and extracting plants in traditional ways. This knowledge is invaluable to community health and resiliency. We honour the elders, and the oral traditions they have been passing for generations… Now let’s meet our menstruums!

Water is life. 

Water has a powerful healing spirit, which anchors energy within it for a period of time. When we add alcohol to water, we hold the energy strongly in place, and we preserve medicinal and nutrient compounds that have extracted into the liquid. Water carries the nourishment of Gaia, transporting nutrients like blood through the body. Water is the great nourisher, because it is through water we receive all nourishment. Nutrients travel through the water in plants, through their vessels, then into the water in our cup, into the water of our blood, seeping through our capillary walls into the water that surrounds all of our cells. 

Water holds our prayers and vibration. Whatever you send into water will remain there, and it will pass into our bodies. Be mindful of what energy you put into the water. Only plants that have been blessed and honoured… the energy of your love and compassion. Your prayers. 

Water is great for extracting minerals and vitamins, mucilage, carbohydrates and starches, aromatic and bitter compounds, sour/acrid compounds, tannins, and some essential/volatile oils. The problem with water extracts is that they only last for a couple of days, sometimes weeks if refrigerated. Bacteria thrives in water! Water is the most mild of menstruums and can pull out vitamins and minerals well, so we use it for making nutrient rich infusions. It is the best menstruum to extract mucilage if you are needing a demulcent to moisten and reduce inflammation. Any plant where you are wanting polysaccharides that are mucilaginous I recommend making a water extraction. 

Use clean, healthy water for your teas and medicines. Some people will harvest water from a sacred spring to use for plant medicines… and I highly recommend this. The more you send healing prays and blessings at the spring or water source, the more blessings will flow into the cup that you drink.

“In hot climates, where cold drinks are so important for well-being of the family (and where there is no electricity and therefore no refrigerator), much attention is given to the drinking water. Into the water jugs every morning are put sprigs of fragrant herbs such as sweet basil or mint or bee balm. Or crushed leaves from the lemon tree, or pieces of borage herb, or slices of cucumber." - Traveler’s Joy by Juliette de Bairacli Levy

Alcohol

Alcohol is excellent for extracting many medicinal compounds in plants, many of which are poisonous in high doses. Strong compounds can cause side effects, but they also can be powerful medicine! The compounds alcohol extracts the best are alkaloids, essential oils and resins, glycosides, acids, and bitter principles. Alcohol does not extract minerals and mucilage well, so if you are going for the nutrient content in a plant, water or vinegar infusions are best. I like to use organic alcohol when I can, but that’s not always possible.

MAKING SKULLCAP & MUGWORT TINCTURES

We generally use vodka or grain alcohol (like Everclear) for tincture making, since they are the cleanest of alcohols. I have also made tinctures using rum, brandy, and tequila, so you can find what you enjoy! I like mixing herbs with the alcohol that is local to the place you are harvesting from. For example I might make a tincture using rum if I’m making a tincture out of a plant from the Caribbean.

Since some alcohols might have cultural or familial meaning, you might gravitate towards some over others. Know where your alcohol comes from if possible! I often match sweeter alcohols (like brandy or rum) with sweet tasting or sweet natured plants. Most importantly if you can buy from smaller locally run communities and businesses please support them.

Vodka and Everclear are the most popular alcohols for making tinctures. Make sure you purchase in glass containers, as plastic can leach into the alcohol.

Glycerine

Glycerine is a very sticky sugary substance extracted by plants, and contains no alcohol. Both glycerine and vinegar are great alternatives to alcohol for tincture making. They aren’t as shelf stable as alcohol tinctures, and they aren’t quite as strong, but you can take higher doses of them safely. I highly recommend both herbal glycerites and herbal vinegars as alternative to alcohol tinctures if you do not want to work with alcohol. Herbal glycerites are gentler on the body, and have a sweet energy! Glycerine extracts essential oils, polysaccharides, saponins, alkaloids (though less than alcohol), tannins, acids, and glycosides. If you are wanting bitters, you won’t want to use glycerine - water or alcohol extracts are better. *** You want organic glycerine made from coconut, soy, or corn. Palm made glycerine contributes to deforestation.

Glycerine at Wildly Organic ~ Made from coconut. Glycerine at Mountain Rose Herbs ~ Made from soy. Glycerine at Aromatics International ~ Made from corn.

Vinegar

Herbal vinegars are delicious, and wonderful to use as salad dressing, or as a daily cleansing drink. Vinegar is helpful for the body’s acid/alkaline balance, which can help to lower inflammation and support clearing wastes from the body. The sour taste stimulates digestive juices and enzymes to be produced. Great for people who have heartburn due to low stomach acids. I like to do 2 spoonfuls of herbal vinegar in water daily. Vinegar pulls out minerals in plants much more than other menstruums, which makes herbal vinegars very nourishing and great for rebuilding healthy bones, cartilage and tissue. I recommend herbal vinegars if you are needing to strengthen joints, bones, tendons, or ligaments. Vinegars only last for about 2-5 years, depending on what herb you are using and whether or not you add honey (which also helps to preserve it). Vinegar is great menstruum to extract minerals and vitamins, as well as sugars, tannins, glycosides, and bitter compounds.

Carrier Oils

Oils like olive, sesame, and coconut are moistening, lubricating to the body, nourishing, often anti-inflammatory, and healing on their own. Oil is a wonderful menstruum to extract the properties in fresh plants, and then eaten with food or applied externally. Herbal infused oils are great for external applications of plants. The oil helps to preserve the fresh plant material, and extracts many compounds that can be healing when applied externally. The body will absorb many compounds in an herbal oil, such as volatile oils and alkaloids. Many medicinal compounds in plants will enter the bloodstream through the skin, so be careful how much of a strong plant you apply to your body!
 

VIDEO ON WATER EXTRACTIONS

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Tea/Nourishing/decoction

Herbal Juices

You all know how much I love herbal juices. They are like free green juices, but with a higher nutrient content than our cultivated vegetables. You can add fruit into them for extra yummy flavor. Have fun experimenting! They are really strong, so make sure that you dilute them with water until they taste very mild and easy to drink.

Juicing fresh plants is my favorite way to use fresh plants in a water extraction (vs. a hot decoction or sun tea).

Blend 1-2 handfuls of fresh chopped herbs with 2-3 quarts water in a blender. Strain through a nut milk bag and drink. Add water to dilute as needed to make sure it’s mild and not too strong. *** Some plants are stronger than others, and only 1 handful per blender of water is needed. Make sure to listen to your body and water it down! 

Freshly harvested plants I love to juice! ~ Chickweed, violet, plantain, thistle, cleavers, dandelion, mugwort, yarrow young leaves, nettles, burdock root, linden leaf, mullein, basil, peppermint, lemon balm, red clover, thistle, chicory, calendula, rose, bee balm… and many others.

Herbal Tinctures

Tinctures are alcohol extracts made with grain alcohol, vodka, brandy, run, or any other alcohol of your choice. Vodka or other grain alcohols (such as Everclear with a 95% alcohol percentage) are the most often used to make tinctures. Tinctures are the strongest (or most intense and possibly poisonous) form of plant extracts we can make in terms of what compounds are extracted. With most medicinal plant, the higher the alcohol content , the more some of the stronger medicinal compounds come out, and they are generally poisonous in high doses.

Alcohol tinctures are high in alkaloids, essential oils and resins, saponins, glycosides, flavonoids, acids, and bitter principles. You can make your alcohol tinctures safer by using a lower alcohol content, but you need at least 30% alcohol to preserve your extract and safely know the tincture is not going to go bad over time. Many herbalists use Everclear with their fresh plant material, which makes a very high percentage alcohol tincture, and you would take a much lower dose of these (such as 15-30 drops).

Since alcohol does not extract minerals and mucilage well, tinctures aren’t the best when you are wanting a high nutrient extraction (water and vinegar are best for nourishing herbs!), and they don’t extract polysaccharides well (a type of plant sugar/carbohydrate), which is done best through water. Tinctures are great for some plants, which are listed below. Fungi need a double extraction method mixing equal parts strong decoction with a finished tincture of the mushrooms in grain alcohol - I’ll go over double extractions in the future.

Freshly harvested plant material is best for tincture making!

I make tinctures with a low alcohol content generally, so I can take a higher dose of my tinctures (2-3 droppersfull in water). I want less of the poisonous compounds alcohol extracts, and more of the 10o’s of other compounds in a plant. For this reason I often prefer water extractions to tinctures actually!

To make these alcohol tinctures I use either 80 or 100 proof Vodka. You can also blend grain alcohol such as Everclear (which is 95% alcohol) with water.

Fresh plants have more water in them, so you need a higher percentage of alcohol as a menstruum or the alcohol will be too diluted by the water in the fresh plant material. 

For dried herbs - 80 proof vodka = 40% alcohol
For fresh wilted herbs - 100 proof vodka = 50% alcohol

Tincture Using Fresh Herbs ~ Fill your container full of cut up fresh plant material. If it is a plant with high water content (squish the leaves and see), you can wilt the leaves for 1-3 days first. Pack down the plant material well, and cover with alcohol - 100 proof vodka (50% alcohol content).

Leave about an inch of space at the top so the alcohol doesn’t touch the metal lid, causing corrosion. Use a stainless steel lid to avoid leaching metal or plastics into your tincture. You can also blend your tincture after a few days to get a better extraction, and put it back in the jar for steeping.

Tincture Using Dried Herbs – Fill your container 1/2 full of dried herb material, and then fill the jar full of 80 proof vodka. This leaves you with a tincture that has 40% alcohol content.

Steep your tinctures 4-8 weeks or more, shaking often, store in a cool dark place. Strain using a nut milk bag or apple cider press, and put in amber bottles to protect tinctures from sunlight. The standard dose for a low alcohol tincture is 2-3 droppers full in water for an adult. If you have a high alcohol tincture (say using fresh plants in pure everclear) the dose would be more like 15-30 drops.

*** Alcohol tinctures are safe for babies, kids, and pregnant woman, though for kids the dosage would be lower based on body weight. Tinctures are safe for those who have had addiction to alcohol. Add tincture to water, or evaporate the alcohol off but dropping the tincture onto the surface of a cup of hot water.

Understanding Alcohol Percentages
& Tincture Concentrations

I like tinctures that have a lower alcohol content, and a mid range concentration of plant material to liquid menstruum. The higher the alcohol content, the more certain compounds will be extracted into your tincture that are toxic in high doses… including alkaloids, volatile oils, bitter compounds, acids, glycosides etc. Many plant compounds such as nutrients, carbs (polysaccharides) etc. are water soluble, and generally I’m just as interested in water soluble compounds.

With a lower alcohol percentage tincture, I may just have to take an extra dropperfull to get the level of alkaloids for example that I would get in a higher percentage alcohol tincture. One exception is that when you are making a tincture of resins like pine sap, or mushrooms like reishi with a tough fiber, it helps to have a high proof alcohol (95%) to extract much at all from the material. You then balance the tincture out with either straight water or water decoction to end up with a tincture around 50% alcohol. This process of adding a decoction to your tincture is called a double extraction, which is done with mushroom tinctures especially, and I’ll go over this in our live class.

GAIA BRAND TINCTURE LABEL

For an alcohol tincture, the liquid used to make the extract (menstruum) is a combination of water and alcohol. The water content is either from the water in fresh plant material, or water added to grain alcohol. In the case of 100 proof vodka, you have 50% water and 50% alcohol. If you were using Everclear, you are either watering it down with water, or the water already in the fresh plants.

When you see a tincture in the store, you are going to see a few things in the ingredient label. One is the percentage of alcohol, which is usually around 30-50%. You need about 25% alcohol to preserve your tinctures, and I generally like to have a lower alcohol percentage in my tinctures personally. This works well with the folk method we are doing here in preparing tinctures, where you are not weighing out the plant material and measuring the menstruum.

Generally with the water content in fresh plants, you end up with a tincture having around 30-35% alcohol if you use fresh wilted plants in your tincture, and 100 proof vodka (50% alcohol). I often use 80 proof if my local store doesn’t carry 100, which means my alcohol percentage then starts at 40% before being watered down with the water in the plants. I really recommend wilting your plant material after you chop it up, so you will get more concentrated tinctures similar to what you would buy in the store.

On many tincture labels you will also see a ratio given that looks like 1:2, 1:4, 1:5, 1:8. The first number is the weight of the plant material in ounces, and the second is the volume of the menstruum in ounces. (In the US we use ounces, but any unit of measurement works the same since it’s just about ratios). This says how much plant material they used to the amount of liquid. With a lot of plant material, and less liquid, you’ll have a more concentrated extract (such as 1:2). With less plant material and a lot of liquid, you’ll get a less concentrated extract (such as 1:5). As you have learned in brewing teas, more concentrated extracts are not always better! They are just more concentrated and have less water or liquid in them. I like my plant compounds watered down, which is more natural for our bodies!

When you make a folk method tincture, you are generally ending up with a 1:4 or 1:5 tincture ratio. The amount of plant material you can get in your jar depends on how much you pack down your cut up herb, or how much you have wilted it beforehand to reduce its size and be able to get more of it in the jar. Here is a quick video you might find helpful made by Jim McDonald on creating a 1:2 tincture (the strongest concentration we can make at home), using fresh plants. As he rightly points out, you do not need to create highly concentrated tinctures. If you make a lower concentrated tincture, you’ll just have to take a little more of it possibly! No big deal… I also like ending up with more tincture personally! It’s a bummer when you press out your tincture and not a whole lot of liquid comes out. Less to bottle up and use, while a ton of plant material was used.

The folk method of tincturing is easy and powerful!

The only difference in making your tinctures and extracts in the folk method I’m teaching, vs. weighing out your plant material and measuring exact alcohol content in your tinctures, is that you end up with less concentrated tinctures at times than what you would buy in the store. Less concentrated just means you have more water in there… That’s the only difference, other than what powerful machine presses can do to press the liquid from the plant material when the tincture is being strained (Verses my hands pressing the liquid through a nut milk bag, or using an apple cider press). Remember that your tinctures also have freshly harvested amazing quality plant material, your love, and your prayers…

When I dose tinctures I make, I take about 60-90 drops (about 2-3 droppersful). Because my tinctures using the folk method may be less concentrated than store bought tinctures, I take a higher dose. This is because I’m using freshly harvested plants instead of dried that are increasing the liquid content in the tincture. I’m also using a lower percentage of alcohol in my tincture, so they are gentler on the body. One of my tincture doses might be 60-90 drops (2-3 droppers full), while a store bought tincture might be 30-40 drops (1-2 droppers full). I always add the tinctures to a glass of water anyway to dilute them down, and make it easier for my body to receive the medicine. Your liver and kidneys will thank you for not taking your tinctures straight. Do them a favor and always add your tinctures to water, so your body is receiving the compounds in the plants as it would naturally! The compounds brought out by alcohol are strong, and often they are created by the plant to protect itself in the wild… so make sure you are gentle with your body. Just think of the folk method of tincture making as a gentle approach!

Extended Video ~ Making Alcohol Tinctures

Glycerites are like dessert medicine!

I love glycerites for sweet tasting plants like hibiscus, linden, damiana, lemon balm, hawthorn, rose, raspberry, and cacao.  Hibiscus glycerite will seduce you. Cacao glycerite will have you rolling on the floor. Glycerites are very sweet, which I love, and they do not spike blood sugar levels (which alcohol does), so they can be used by diabetics. Glycerites are also really nice for kids, during pregnancy, and while breast feeding. You can even put them in your pet’s food! You will need at least 55% glycerin in your finished extract so that it doesn’t go bad. Sometimes I blend both alcohol and glycerine together if I want a sweet extract that is more shelf stable. Glycerine is absorbed by the digestive tract 30% slower than alcohol, so the effects will hit your more slowly. They extract less alkaloids than tinctures, so they are safer for children or during pregnancy/breastfeeding.

Buy food grade organic Vegetable Glycerine!

Glycerite Using Fresh Herbs ~ Fill your container full of fresh plant material, and cover the plant material in a mix of 3/4 glycerine, 1/4 water. (There is more water present in fresh plant material than in dried.) If you'd like you can blend after 1 week. 

Glycerite Using Dried Herbs ~ Fill your container 1/2 full of dried herb material, and fill the jar full of 2/3 glycerine, 1/3 water. 

Let steep 6-8 weeks or more, shaking often, strain through a nut milk bag (make sure to have fun licking your hands after), and put in amber bottles to protect from sunlight. Standard dose is 3-4 droppers full in water. 

Favorite Plants to infuse in glycerine ~ Rose, Motherwort, Blue vervain, Peppermint, Holy basil, Hibiscus, Cacao, Linden, Peach, Passionflower, Calamus root, California poppy, Cardamom, Catnip, Chamomile, Chicory root, Damiana, Elderflower, Elderberry, Heather, Hops, Lavender, Lemongrass, Violet, Red clover, Lemon balm, Ginger, Turmeric, Lemon verbena, Bitter Orange, Sweet Orange, Lemon, Maca, Mugwort, Mullein, Raspberry, Rhodiola, Rosemary, Sassafras root or leaf, Sage, Skullcap, Vanilla, Violet, Wild lettuce, Black cherry. leaf/bark, Peach bark, Yarrow

Herbal Infused oils 

For massage, baths, skin, and body care…

I fell in love with herbal oils when I moved to a piece of land covered in evergreens. Evergreen infused oils are like heaven… they smell strong like the scent of the tree’s needles and citrus. Massaging my body with evergreen oil is one of my greatest pleasures. You can make amazing scented oils from infusing leaves and flowers in oil. If you work with essential oils you can add them to create fantastic massage oil blends. My favorite herbs to use are all aromatic, vulnerary (tissue healing like comfrey), anti-inflammatory, or circulatory stimulating.

Many people make herbal oils from dried plants and don’t end up with very strong extracts. There are different methods to make strong extracts, and you’ll find what works well for you by how strong your oils are (you can tell by the strong change in color and scent). If you melt beeswax into your herbal oils warming in a crock pot, your oils can be made into salves!

Infused Oils using Fresh Herbs - Wilt fresh chopped herbs for a couple days until they have released their water – (unless plant has low water content such as evergreen needles). Fill your clean, dry, jar 3/4 to 100% full with freshly wilted chopped plant material, packed down to be like a gentle mattress, and cover with olive oil (or another carrier oil). Don’t pack it down too much or the oil will trap air in the jar where it hasn’t soaked all of the plant material. Fill the jar so the oil rises above the plant material by an inch. Poke with a knife to the bottom to release any air bubbles, and allow to sit with the lid off while any air releases. Steep in the sunlight for the first 1-2 weeks if you can, then a few weeks more. Strain and put in amber bottles to protect from sunlight (which will degrade your oil over time). Enjoy it!

Infused Oils using Dried Herbs -
Fill your dry, clean container 1/2 full of ground up or powdered dried herb material, and add enough vodka to very lightly coat your herbs. I like to put vodka in a spray bottle, and spray the dried herb material until it’s coated. Don’t use too much, just enough to lightly coat the plant material. Let the plant material rehydrate overnight or 24 hours. Then cover your plant material in oil, filling your jar with oil and shake well. perfer olive oil, because it’s fairly shelf stable and medicinal on its own. Steep your oil on a sunny windowsill for a few weeks, or on a shelf for 4 weeks. If you want a stronger oil prepared quickly, heat it in a crock pot for a day or two. Pour the contents of your jar into a crock pot set to warm, and stir every couple hours. Make sure your oil never gets too hot to touch comfortably, or it will fry your plants. Once the color and smell has really changed, strain it through a nut milk bag, and then pour into an amber jar.

Finished and strained herbal oils can easily mold when you have air in the jar, so be careful how you store your oil. All oil tends to go rancid with exposure to air and moisture over time. Some oils are more shelf stable, such as olive oil, which I recommend the most. You will know an oil has gone bad because it will smell rancid and not as it smelled when it was first bottled.

Adding 1 tbsp. vodka per quart of herbal oil keeps the oil shelf stable.

To preserve your oils, you can put them in the freezer, add vitamin E, melt in beeswax, or a tbsp. alcohol per quart of oil. *** I preserve all my oils in a freezer just for them! Frozen oils are also very nice when you need a little extra cooling on your skin.

COMFREY OIL IN CROCK POT

Making Herbal Oils in a Crock Pot from Fresh Plants ~

Warming oils on a crock pot are a great way to produce stronger extractions, and kill any bacteria that might cause your oils to mold. For plants with a high water content and high nutrient value, like nourishing herbs and weeks, they will mold easily - think of having a bowl of olive oil covered basil sitting out for a month.

Fill a jar with fresh or freshly wilted chopped plant material, and cover with your oil of choice. Pour the contents into crock pot and set on warm setting, with LID OFF for the water in the plant material to evaporate out. Stir the plant material occassionally. Do not use a crock pot with only a low and hot setting, both will be too hot… Steep on warm setting for 2 days (turning off at night or you have a fire hazard). If oil gets too hot to touch, it’s too hot for the plant material. If you need to cool it, turn it off, and then turn it on again for another couple hours. Stir often to help the water release. After two days steeping, strain and bottle oil, it’s ready to use!

Solar Infused Oils

The sun extracts the compounds of plants into oil like a very gentle crock pot. The sun brings extra healing energy that gets infused into your oil, kills of bacteria that might cause it to mold, and speeds up your extraction. St. John’s Wort flower oil will turn blood red color when placed in the sun. Put your oil filled with plant material on a sunny windowsill. Make sure there is no air in the jar, and fill the oil to the lid. Let the oil steep in the sun daily for a 1-2 weeks, shaking occasionally. Strain and bottle when it is finished.

HERBAL SALVES

Creating Salves from your Oils ~ Turning your herbal oils into salves is one way to preserve them since beeswax acts as a preservative. In a crock pot, melt shaved beeswax into your herbal oil, adding one handful of beeswax shavings at a time and allowing it to melt fully. A general ratio is 1 oz beezwax to 4-6 ounces of herbal infused oil. Test with a cool metal spoon, dipping into oil and blowing on spoon until cool and solidified. Keep adding and melting in beeswax until desired consistency is reached. Pour into jars and store in a cool dry place or freezer. 

Plants to infuse in olive oil ~

Fast Crock Pot method ~ Comfrey, calendula, plantain, violet, chickweed, mullein, solomon’s seal, nettles, self-heal, wild lettuce, dandelion flower, basil, lemon balm, any any other edible/food plant that might mold.
1-2 month regular steeping ~ St. john’s wort, sweet annie, mugwort, arnica, yarrow, chamomile, lavender, calendula, evergreens such as spruce, fir, pine, cedar, and juniper my favorite!! There are many more great herbs to infuse in oil, so experiment!

Video ~ Making Herbal Oils

Herbal Vinegars, Oxymels, & Shrubs

Herbal vinegars are delicious! I’m obsessed with them. Specifically oxymels, which are herbal infused vinegars with honey added. If you add fruit, then you have a shrub, which is the next best thing! I love sours, and I love having medicine I can put on food! Herbal vinegars, oxymels, and shrubs all make excellent salad dressing and marinade for veggies… and they make your salads quite fancy. YUM. I’ve used them on top of good sourdough and fresh heirloom tomatoes… on strawberries and other fruit… mixed with seltzer… in a mixed drink… there is so much you can do with them. They are sour, sweet, and delicious.

Vinegar pulls out the minerals in plants, so herbal vinegars are very nourishing. They are wonderful made from edible plants, nourishing herbs or any tasty plants like the mints. Strawberry holy basil oxymel… Juniper lemon balm plum shrub… Mango ginger shrub… the list goes on. They are sexy and sweet and sour and sticky (at least the ones you add honey to). HAVE FUN with these. They are fabulous.

If you use raw vinegar with the ‘mother’ in it, once you add the plants and/or honey, the vinegar will keep fermenting since it is raw, with the fungus consuming the plant sugars, and it will turn more sour. To prevent this, blend your vinegar once the fresh plants are in it, and put it in the fridge to steep. The cold will slow down any continued fermentation.

Video ~ Making Vinegars, Oxymels & Shrubs

Herbal Vinegar using Fresh Herbs ~

If you want to eat it as a salad dressing, fill your jar 1/5 - 1/2 full of fresh herb material depending on the strength of the plant material, and fill the jar full of apple cider vinegar. If you'd like you can blend it after 1 week to get a stronger extraction. Use a stainless steel lid, or the metal lid will corrode from the acid in the vinegar. Let steep for 1-4 weeks, strain, and then use. Put the herbal vinegar in amber bottles to protect from sunlight. If you are using a nourishing herb that is like a food already, you can fill the whole jar with plant material and it will be safe to pour onto food as a salad dressing. Standard dose is 2 tbsp or more, used on food in cooking, or taken mixed in water.

Using Dried Herbs ~

If you want to eat it as a salad dressing, fill your jar 1/5 - 1/4 full of dried herb material, and then fill the jar full of apple cider vinegar. If you are using nourishing herbs, you can fill your jar 1/2 full, since they are food like and able to be consumed in higher concentrations than other medicinal plants. Use a stainless steel lid, or the metal lid will corrode from the acid in the vinegar. Let steep for 1-4 weeks, strain, and then pour onto your food! Delicious.

If you want to make a stronger vinegar tincture, fill your jar 1/2 full with dried plant material, and then fill the jar full of apple cider vinegar. Let steep for 4 weeks, strain, and bottle. Dose is 1-2 spoonfuls in water if it is a nourishing herb or edible plant, or 1-3 droppers full if it is a stronger medicinal plant that is not a food plant.

To make an Oxymel ~ Add 1/2 cup - 1 cup honey to your quart jar when you are making your herbal vinegar. The honey will help to keep the herbal vinegar preserved.

To make a Shrub ~ Add 1-2 cups of fruit and 1/2 cup - 1 cup honey to your quart jar when you are making your herbal vinegar. Because of the water content in the fruit watering down your vinegar, you’ll want to keep shrubs in the fridge.

*** Herbal vinegars and oxymels have a shelf life of 1-3 years. Shrubs have a shelf life of 1 year, and best if kept refrigerated.

Favorite plants to make into herbal vinegars ~ Bee balm, nettles, holy basil, mint, chickweed, dandelion, evergreen tips, lemon balm, sarsaparilla, burdock, raspberry, mugwort, rosemary, ginger, turmeric, orange, hibiscus, burdock, garlic, hot peppers, schisandra, hawthorn berries, rose, and many more you’ll discover!

Herbal Infused Wines & Cordials

Oh these are treat… Oxymels, shrubs, herbal wines, and cordials make a party!!! They are also super yummy and can be made with fruit. You can add ice, seltzer, or fruit juice… so many choices and ideas! Who is going to open the herbal bar!?? Anyway, let me know what you create, because I’m coming over.

Herbal Cordials

Cordials are mild herbal extracts using alcohol, water, and honey... very yummy! The are drunk as a very small glass or shot. If you don’t drink any alcohol, I would stick with oxymels, which are just as good. (And they won’t get you loopy). PS - Once I ran into an ex girlfriend I wasn’t expecting to see, and I was so shaken I drank almost a full quart of lavender cordial. I’m not a drinker, but I will say I felt GREAT.

Cordials Using Dried or Fresh Herbs ~ Fill your quart jar with 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup dried herb material or 1-2 cups chopped fresh plant material. Fill the jar with half vodka (alternatives are rum or brandy) and half water, leaving room to add honey. Add 1⁄4 -1 cup honey to sweeten and preserve. Let steep 1-4 weeks - Standard dose is one very shot or small cup of cordial. 

Herbal Infused Wine

I’m going to guess you are pretty excited about this… as I always have been! Herbal infused wines make such an incredible gift. I often infuse wines with aphrodisiacs and love herbs, and then gift them to folks for their wedding. These are magickal, sexy, dreamy, wild, fun herbal extracts to make.

Herbal Infused Wine Using Fresh or Dried Plants ~ Fill your quart jar with 1-3 handfuls dried or fresh (crushed) herb material, and fill the jar full of your wine of choice. Let steep 30 minutes to 1 week. Keep refrigerated if you want it to be preserved longer than 2-3 weeks. Standard dose is one cup of wine. 

Favorite herbs to infuse in wine ~ Damiana, Jasmine, Linden, Mugwort, Egyptian blue lotus, Passionflower, Rose, Hawthorn, Hibiscus, Wild lettuce, Lemon balm, Holy basil, Sweet orange, Elder flower, Ginger, Tilo. You can also add fruit, and a little honey… it’s yummy!

Video ~ Quick Herbal Infused Wine Instructions

Herbal Baths

Herbal baths are heavenly… and I am a big fan of baths in general. I think water is one of the best ways to receive the energy of plants, and I love creating a healing ritual out of herbal baths. They feel like a sacred act of self love… and bring us back to ancient memories of ritual baths.

You can add a very strong tea or decoction to your bath after straining out the plant material (I have clogged too many drains). You can also pour a couple spoonfuls of an herbal infused oil into a bath, which is so lovely. I prefer this to adding essential oils to a bath. If you do like essential oils, I recommend adding them to salt first (so they don’t float on the surface of the water when you drop the essential oils directly into the water).

Herbal Bath Salts ~ 3 cups epsom salt, 1 cup sea salt, 20 drops essential oil. Optional 3-4 tbsp. infused herbal oil or dried flowers.

Poultices & Compresses

Poultices or compresses are used for when there is a wound, sprain, broken bone, or injury of some kind to your body. A poultice is when there is the ground up plant material like a paste applied to the skin. A compress is when a liquid extract, like a tea or a tincture, is applied to the skin with a warm cloth.

Compress using Infusions

Soak a cloth in a strong herbal tea or decoction, and place on the skin or head for 15-30 minutes. The tea used may be hot or cold, depending on need and purpose of compress. You can also soak a cloth in hot water, and sprinkle an herbal tincture onto the compress, to use externally on the skin.

Healing Poultices

Fresh plant material is ground up or chewed, and placed directly on the skin. I recommend using a blender or food processor, mixing the fresh plant material with water to make a paste. If you have dried plant material you will need to use a powder added to warm water, mixed into a paste. Poultices are used for wounds, swellings, infections, fevers, rashes, burns, and stings. After applying the herbal paste to the skin, wrap in seran wrap to keep it in place. Replace the plant material with fresh herbal paste every few hours for acute treatments.

Favorite Vulnerary (Wound Healing) Herbs for Poultices ~ Plantain, Violet, Comfrey (not to be used on a deep cut), Blue vervain, Chickweed, Calendula, Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris), Yarrow, Burdock leaf, St. John’s Wort, Elecampane, and others such as antibiotic herbs like Turmeric.

Wound Healing Poultice ~ 1 handful fresh comfrey flowers (Calendula officinalis), 1 handful fresh violet leaves (Viola sororia and V. odorata), 1 heaping handful fresh plantain leaves (Plantago spp.), 1 handful fresh calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis), 2 cups hot water. If you only have dried plants, I recommend using powdered plants, and cut the amount of each by 1/3. Optional ~ 10 drops of an essential oil like an evergreen, ginger (to move stagnant blood), or lavender. Using a food processor or a blender, blend plants and water until you get a good pulp. You can add clay to get a paste. Store in the fridge, and use 2-3x a day.

Anti-inflammatory Arthritis Poultice ~ 1 handful fresh burdock leaves (Arctium lappa), 1 handful fresh violet leaves (Viola sororia and V. odorata), 1 handful mugwort leaves (Artemisia vulgaris), 2 cups hot water. Optional ~ 10 drops evergreen, birch, or ginger essential oil. Follow instructions for the poultice above.

Making Herbal Syrups ~

A good general recipe for syrups is 1-2 cups herb material (depending on the herb strength) to 3-4 cups hot water. If it was a food-like plant I can use more herb material, such as 2 cups herb to 4 cups water. You’ll have to play with the ratios for each plant, using more water for less food like plants. Steep for 30 minutes for leaves and flowers. For hard plant parts like roots, barks, or berries, simmer on the stove for 15 minutes on low, and then strain out the strong tea into your jar. Add 1-2 cups honey (herbal infused honey is even better). You can also then add any tinctures that you like to make the syrup more shelf stable. Store in the fridge, and use within 3-4 months. The breakdown of the recipe is 1-2 parts herb, 4 parts water, 2 parts honey. If you add in 1 part tincture it will often stay good for up to a year. *** If you make the syrup weaker than you’d like, you can always re-steep it for a second time in new plant material. For example, steep 1 new cup of plant material in your finished syrup to make it stronger. Strain after a day of infusing, and add as much honey as you like.

If your syrup is made from edible plants, you can pour it over pancakes or waffles! Add it to spritzer for a refreshing drink.
Like ginger, lemon, cardamom syrup. Yum…

Another great recipe for a shelf stable herbal syrup is 1/3 herbal decoction, 1/3 herbal tincture, and 1/3 herbal honey. There are many other recipes for syrups like the one Alessandra uses in her video, and most of them need to be refrigerated if they are made just with honey and concentrated herbal tea. Syrups are delicious concentrated medicine, add a couple spoonfuls to your tea or chase with water!

Amazing Herbal Honeys ~

I’m a big fan of herbal honeys, as most of my students are because they taste like heaven. My favorite herbs to infuse in honey are ginger, turmeric, fresh rose hips, sage, garlic, mint, rose petals, lavender, thyme, bee balm, elecampane, lemon balm, orange peel, lemon, cardamom, ashwagandha, cinnamon, cacao, vanilla, ground schisandra, blue lotus, ground hibiscus, and various fruits like mango, strawberry, and citrus. There are so many AMAZING combinations you can make! I prefer using fresh herbs to infuse in honey, but dried herbal powders or finely ground up dried herbs are great mixed into honey. If you are using powders, you generally don’t strain them out. I try to use herbs I can consume so that I don’t have to strain the honeys, and instead just keep the plant material in. You can decide how much honey you want with the plant material based on consistency, herb strength, and how much you want to consume. Use less plant material if you are using stronger plants and wish to spread your honey on toast or eat with food. I like my honey to spread well, and often add spoonfuls of herbal honey to my teas! After you’ve added plant material to honey, let it steep for a day to a month depending on how quickly you want to enjoy it.