Thread: Herb talk

Morning ladies!!!! Just a quick stop by...........gotta run off to work. I'm researching making lotion on the net but so far it's a lot of chemical mumbo jumbo. I will run to my local HFS and see if they have beeswax. I have coconut oil too. I have to do some experimenting.

I keep meaning to post about St. Johnswort..................did you know........they used that wonderful herb during the Crusades to heal wounds. It knits lacerations nicely. Several years ago, we had some friends drop their daughter off on us while they were passing through from MT on their way to VA for a wedding. She stayed with us for a couple of days. She and my DD were out with the riding mower one day with the cart attached. My DD was driving it and went to stop it. The daughter of the friends had her hand on the cart and as my DD stopped it, it lurched forward and cut the girl's fingers. She walked into my kitchen dripping blood. I got out the cayenne pepper and st. johnswort and my herbal salve. I put the cayenne on to stop the bleeding, rinsed it off (the water made it sting not the pepper) and then sprinkled SJW opened from a capsule and poured it on the wounds. I added salve to the bandaging and wrapped her up. I called her folks and said she might need stitches. They trusted my herbal healing techniques and let me take care of her. They left the day after and when they had gotten back home, they called and said there weren't even any scars on her fingers!!!!!!! I love telling that story. Just a really good testament to the powers of herbs!!!!!

Sharon, Rosemary a wonderful herb, if you have wild game - deer, etc. rosemary, tho strong on most meats for me, blends well with the wild gaminess of deer, (we have used it on moose, elk, musk ok, etc)
Also good for bath, put it in a cheese cloth and put in hot bath water to infuse the water with the scent....
wonderful...
c

Trina:

We go through a ton of foot cream...I am dying to make my own. I know I will feel stupid for asking...what's EPCO? I am coming up with some humorous ideas of what it means, but I thought I better just ask.

Thanks!

No, Renee, that's not a stupid question at all. It's coconut oil, and you buy it in the health food store, or online.
There are two kinds of coconut oil, EPCO (or expeller pressed) and VCO (virgin). The EPCO is cheaper, has fewer health benefits 'cause it has less of the good stuff, but still works very well for many things. It has less of a coconut smell and taste, so it is good for cooking stuff you don't want to taste "coconutty".
I use EPCO for my foot cream mostly 'cause it's cheaper. I get it in the natural food section of my grocery store in a little jar...Spectrum Naturals for about 6 bucks for 14 oz. The VCO I use is Garden of Life, and it's 16 bucks for 16 oz. So you see why I use the EPCO; I love my feet and all, but hey...
I put about 6 drops of each esential oil into about a cup of melted coconut oil, pour it into a little travel jar I bought at the drug store, and let it cool. At room temperature it is semi-solid. I spend about 8-10 hours a day on my feet, and this stuff makes 'em feel great! Smells good, too.

HEY Carolyn and Renee, welcome to our herb chat!!!!!! More minds............more interesting input!!!!!!!

Alice, the cayenne was to stop the bleeding. It actually cauterizes the tiny capillaries.

I have never made Essential Oils and have no idea what the process is. It must be complicated because EO's are very expensive. To make a tincture, I believe you warm alcohol or glycerin and add your herb to it and let it steep for a good month or so, away from sunlight. Not sure of the proportions. I probably have something in one of my books about how to make them, and that would take me a long time to find it. But I'll try. Perhaps Susan Weed's books tell how to.........or maybe in Nourishing Traditions??? I still have your book Alice!!!! I found nothing in the index there on making tinctures.

I suppose you could even do it with hot water, much the same as making a tea, just use less water than you would for tea making. And then leave the whole herbs in the water, let it sit for at least a month, strain it and keep it in brown bottles. Not sure how sterile they would stay this way. But I would water process the bottles as though I was canning.

I found this website on how to make tinctures. It's in Adobe so if you have that you should be able to open it. I gave it a cursory glance and looks very promising. Tinture Site

HTH

Alice, lavender eo is good for fibromyalgia? Who knew?! I bought some 'cause I loved the smell. I put it on a little lightbulb defuser thingy and it smells wonderful when it warms up.
Thanks for the info! You guys are a regular herb book yourselves!!

Sharron, rubbing alcohol is isopropyl alcohol, and, no, you can't drink it. Grain alcohol is fermented from grain, is drinkable, VERY powerful stuff (something like 190 proof!) and is illegal in some states. On the other hand, denatured alcohol is grain alcohol that has toxic stuff added to it, so that it can be sold and not considered a beverage and taxed as such. It's used commercially in solvents, cleaners, etc.