when I was growing up I worked for a lady who knew a considerable amount about herbs. As we worked together, she often told me of their history and uses. Even after work hours, one of my favorite activities was to check herbal books out of the library and jot down the various uses on notecards. I was on my way to learning a lot, but fell away from my studies. I think it’s time to step it up again. Although I’m grateful to have fantastic physicians in our area, I prefer to use natural remedies as the first line of defense. The plants offer a tremendous amount of benefits to us; it’s a matter of becoming familiar with them.
Thankfully, I met Jennephyr Reiche-Sterling, a fabulous herbalist who lives near here. She’s been immersed in how herbs can help us for decades and is a wonderful teacher with a heart to making people well. Since I’ve been running at 50,000 miles per hour for many years, I had her over last spring to recommend herbs I could take to help support my adrenals and even-out my frazzled system. We talked for a while about what was going on in my life, then she recommended specific herbs to use in a tea for me to drink during the day and another one for the evening since I typically don’t sleep without help. Benadryl is my friend, although I’m trying to change that (and have actually gone nights without it).
In our discussions, she also taught me about tinctures. She recommended one with licorice, eleuthero (Siberian ginseng) and vitex (chaste tree berry) to smooth out my hormones that have been giving me fits lately, and to help my body better deal with everyday stress. This fall I decided to make that one, as well as one to help me fend off colds and flus.
I only have dried herbs to work with this year so for my cold kicker I used roughly 4 ounces of elderberries and 4 ounces of echinacea root in a quart of brandy. Then the hard part: I had to let it sit. I would shake it when I remembered, but for the most part, I left it alone for 8 weeks. I did the same with the licorice, eleuthero and vitex, although each one was in smaller amounts. I think it was roughly 3 ounces a piece. After enough time passed - I joked when it tasted awful – I strained it through a strainer, then poured it through cheesecloth to remove the smaller particulates. Once that’s done, it’s a matter of bottling it in dark bottles and keeping it handy. When I feel a cold coming on, I’ll put a dropper full of the tincture in warm water 2-3 times per day. And I’ll take the other one a couple of times a day just to try to snap my hormones back in shape.
It’s very good to be able to create simple remedies to maintain your health. My next project is a figure out how to do a glycerin tincture. It doesn’t last as long as alcohol based tinctures, which will last practically indefinitely, but I like to have options. The good thing is Jennephyr is teaching classes and hold herb walks in our area again this year, and with the boys being older, I’m confident I’ll be able to attend some of them. Plus, the Montana Herb Gathering, an annual event packed with world-class herbalists, is scheduled to be held in Augusta this year, which is only about an hour from us. I’m going to have to check it out. There’s so much to learn!
Tags: echinacea, elderberry, tincture
Good to hear you are embracing the herbs again, Amy. It is a lifelong learning experience. Funny, I wrote something similar today on Scoop from the Coop. (Great minds, and all that!) I have enjoyed reading about your ventures. Happy New Year!
I read your post. That’s funny that it’s we’re both thinking along the same lines. Here’s to a wonderful 2012!
There’s a lot to be said for herbal remedies. Modern medicine certainly has it’s place, like you said, natural ways are a good first line of defense.
I think if the sleep stuff works for you then Ill be game!
Let me know!