Merry meet all,
I know I haven’t posted much here lately. I sprained my wrist, the hand I write with – so that would have been a challenge. I had to rest and that was hard for someone with my strong spirit. Now I’m still healing but more rested. I am back at blogging!
Prior to my injury, I was in the midst of conjuring witch’s herbal potions. I did complete the herbal tea I had made earlier. I bought a cool jar to keep the herbs in at Michael’s arts and crafts, a local craft shop that sells art and craft supplies. I love that store. I made about 4 cups of herbal tea. The ingredients include lemongrass, dried ginger, dried lemon, roman and German chamomile, mugwort ( a pinch), rose petals, red clover, lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena, and mint. The scent is divine. I dried the herbs on my own DIY herb drying rack I made myself. I will post about that project below. The herbs are not crumbled. They keep their flavour and oils that way. I think they are drying and crumbling to the bottom of the jar. The scent is divine.
The herbs are bone dry and the jar was bone dry when I added the herbs. The herbs need to be that dry for the herbal tea because otherwise it causes mold. When I was back home with the jar, I washed it thoroughly and let it air dry. When the herbs were truly dry, I added them. I can’t tell you just how good it felt to mix the herbs together in the jar. It looks romantic too. I enjoyed a cup of my own homemade brew yesterday! The flavour brought a taste of summer and a little bittersweet at the same time.
My second project is more involved than the tea. I am brewing a jar of herbs in oils for my Mom. The ingredients for making the salve are as follows:
Pine Salve
pine needles, pine bark, peppermint, comfrey, turmeric, ginger, grapeseed oil, beeswax, tea tree oil + peppermint essential oil
This pine salve aids in the reduction of pain inflammation and sore joints. Pine helps with inflammation, reduces pain and swelling, and is antimicrobial. It increases blood flow, helps with localized pain, and chronic inflammation. The other ingredients aid in reducing pain inflammation. Peppermint is a natural anti-inflammatory, a natural pain killer, and a muscle relaxer. Ginger reduces pain and inflammation. Comfrey contains allantoin which helps new skin cells grow and helps reduce pain inflammation. Turmeric contains curcumin which is a natural anti-inflammatory compound. The salve also contains 2 drops of tea tree oil and twenty drops of peppermint essential oil.
I dried the herbs on my air drying rack. Once I was sure they were dry enough, I added the herbs to a clean dry sanitized jar. I poured the oils over them and closed the lid. Now I wait six weeks for the oils to extract the herbs’ essences. I already bought beeswax and tins for the salves. I will strain out the herbs over a strainer lined with cheesecloth and a bowl. Once I have strained out every drop of herbal goodness from the oils and herbs, I will add it to a pot with beeswax and make the salve. I have to wait a few weeks. I shake the jar a little a few times a day.
I made jar labels too. I printed out the labels – one, listing the salve ingredients, and the other is a salve label for the jar. I collared them with a beige colour so the labels have that apothecary appearance. I love it. Then I printed out the ingredients and what each ingredients does in the salve. The ingredients all reduce pain and inflammation. I hole punched the ingredients list and what function each ingredient has and tied them together with a bow. I am so eager to make the salve but if I wait, the result will be amazing! My Mom gets the salve with the white lid and I am using the tin with the black lid.
When the time comes, I will strain out the herbs from the oils. I have a large strainer I can fit over my stainless steel bowl. I also have cheesecloth. I will have to sanitize everything. I will strain out every last drop. I will melt the beeswax over a double boiler and add the herbal oil mixture. I can’t wait.
I harvested the mugwort from my garden. 2 of my mugwort plants stood six feet high! The mugwort is now drying in my kitchen.
Air drying Herb Rack
I bought a large 12 – 14 inch embroidery hoop from a local fabric store and cheesecloth. I opened the hoop. I tied 3 long strings to the embroidery hoop and to a loop. I used a curtain hook. Then I laid cheesecloth over the smaller hoop. I fastened the embroidery hoop back together. Now the cheesecloth was caught between the hoops. I trimmed the excess cheesecloth and tightened it. Then I knotted several strings to hang down from the hoop. This project is so easy to do and affordable. I have included a photo of the herb rack below. I needed to lay paper towel down on the surface to catch all the falling petals and seeds. The cheesecloth is porous and so is the paper towel. It takes 2 weeks or so for the herbs to dry. Now I am drying chamomile and mugwort. I keep the screen door closed with Penny’s queenly scratching post at the back door. This allows for good air circulation for my drying herbs.
I love my air drying herb rack. It didn’t cost a lot of money. I already had the string and scissors. I have other herbs to dry and store for the coming cold season. We all don’t like to think about that.I bought several new jars at Canadian Tire. I washed the jars and let them air dry. That is a great way to purify your jars. It costs nothing to air dry jars. It is also better than drying them with a towel since the towel may contain germs. I always prefer air drying my jars. I will store my bee pollinated sun loving herbs in the jars.
I own a few new cool herb cutting tools now. One, the triangle herb chopper and two, my herb snipping scissors. Although I find for snipping herbs from my garden, I much prefer my scissors or boline. I’m also reading a fascinating book The Witching Herbs by Harold Roth.
Happy potion making!
Blessings, Spiderwitch
