Creating Your Own Herbal Medicine

 

By Jo Francks MH

Handout for Herb Class

Infusion:  Made with leaves and flowers.  Use a teaspoon of herb to a cup of boiling distilled water, or an ounce of herb to a pint of boiling water.  Boil the water and add the herbs, cover and steep for 15 minutes or more, strain.

                Why distilled water?  Distilled water is H2O only and therefore it is a hungry water.  It will absorb more of the medicinal qualities of the herb and make a tea up to 30% more efficient than hard water.

Decoction:  Made with barks and roots.  Use a teaspoon of dried herb or a tablespoon of fresh to a cup of distilled water or an ounce of herb to a pint of water.  Add the herb to the water and bring to a low simmer.  Simmer for 20 minutes and let steep for 20 minutes or longer, strain.

Concentrate:  Use the infusion or decoction and simmer to half its volume and you have a 3 power concentrate.  If you simmer to ¼ its original volume you have a 7 power concentrate.  You may add ¼  the amount of vegetable glycerin to help preserve it.  Store in the refrigerator.

Fomentation:  Use one of the above preparations for a fomentation.  Use a natural fiber cloth dip it in the tea and apply to an affected area of the body.  Cover this with plastic and secure with an ace type bandage.

Poultice:  A poultice is made with dried or fresh herbs and applied directly to the skin.  For dried herbs, add  enough  water to make a paste.  If the herbs don’t hold together mix them with slippery elm.  Bruise fresh herbs by chewing a few times or blending with water or smashing with a rock or hammer and apply to skin and secure.  A poultice used quite often is the plantain poultice applied to a bee sting.  Pick a plantain leaf, chew it quickly and apply.  This has never failed to bring relief to a bee or wasp sting that I know of.  It has kept people from going to the emergency room from allergic reactions to bee stings.

Extract: Any time you add liquid to herb you are making an extract.  I will cover alcohol, apple cider vinegar, glycerin, and oil extracts.  The herb is called the Mark and the liquid is the Menstrum.

Tincture:  An alcohol extract is usually referred to as a tincture.  There is a lot of information available on making tinctures.  I use fresh or dried herb and 100 proof vodka or ever clear which is 190 proof.  Proof means that ½ of the proof is the percentage of alcohol.  So 100 proof would be 50% alcohol.  This is fine for most dried herbs and some fresh herbs.  If made properly, tinctures will last many years.  They are good for long term storage and for emergencies.  Alcohol tinctures are absorbed by the body much  faster  than capsules.  Use a clean glass jar, fill the jar ½ to ¾ full with dried herb or to the top with fresh herb.  The dried herb will absorb some of the liquid.  Fill the jar to the top with your menstrum of choice, alcohol, glycerin/water, or vinegar.  Cap tightly, label, and shake 2 or 3 times a day for 2 to 6 weeks.  Strain through cheese cloth or muslin and store in dark glass bottles with plastic lids (metal lids corrode). Don’t forget to label.  Many herbalists prefer to start their tinctures on a new moon and pour it off on the full moon.  The moon has a pushing and pulling effect, pushing on the new moon and pulling on the full moon.

                Vegetable Glycerin:  Good for those who don’t want to ingest alcohol and for children.  It is sweet, and is easier to get children to take if they can’t swallow capsules.  Lasts 3 to 4 years.  Dilute with distilled water by 50% when using dried herbs.  The last 2 or 3 days I add some low heat to the glycerin extract to help get more out of the herb.

                Apple Cider Vinegar:  Is a good preservative for an extract but won’t last as long as alcohol tinctures.  Use the kind from a health food store.  Read the label carefully because some are apple cider flavored distilled vinegar.  You want the kind with the mother floating around in it.

Oil:  An herbal oil is made to be used topically on the skin.  Olive oil is used most often. Other vegetable  oils may also be used.  Heat is applied when making an oil extract.  Fill a clean, glass jar ½ to ¾ with your herb and fill the jar to the top with oil.  Use a chopstick to help get the oil to the bottom of the jar.  Cap tightly.  Oils can be made in as little time as a few hours or as long as 6 weeks or more.  I like to put the jar outside in the sun for 2 weeks and shake or swirl it a couple of times a day.  Another way is to put the oil and herb in a double boiler or crock pot at a low heat.  Stir it often and watch for the color of the herb to darken and the oil to take on a darker color.  Or you can keep it in an oven at a very low temperature.  I turn my oven on to the very lowest setting and let it set for 2 or 3 days.  Sometimes I combine methods when making an oil extract.  When you feel your oil is ready to strain, pour it through several layers of cheese cloth, muslin cloth or some other natural fiber cloth.  Store in a dark glass container and label.

Ointment:  To make an ointment, use an herbal oil and add beeswax to it until the right consistency is obtained.  One ounce beeswax to 7 ounces of oil will make a soft ointment.  Add more beeswax for a harder ointment.  Add the beeswax to the oil in a double boiler.  Heat until the wax is melted.  Let cool slightly and pour into ointment jars and label.

Bolus:  An herbal bolus is used when herbs need to be inserted into an orifice of the body.  Make by using powdered herbs and adding melted coconut oil to the herbs to make a paste.  Shape them an inch long about the width of your little finger.  Store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.

Labeling:  Labeling is very important.  I have a bottle of herbal extract in my cupboard that says Mystery Stuff because I forgot to label it when I made it.  I leave it there to remind myself to label everything.  When starting a tincture write on the label what herb is used and how much, the menstrum and how much and the percentage of alcohol, or if you use glycerin, how much water to glycerin is used,  date started, and any other information that would be helpful.  You might want to include the date you plan on pouring it off.