It
might sound unbelievable, but in the midst of this craziness things
haven't changed too much for us. Yes, we're staying in, but it seems all
the losses in the past years forced us to contract most of our
activities to our Home Base. We feel blessed to still have the land we
lease available, but we're husseling spring chores like every year.
Greenhouse start up, planting, chores around the house before we don't
have time when the field work starts, and of course Medicine making.
This is something that happens every year this time of the year when
the plants wake up. Now is the time for roots, buds, bark and bud
preparations. The first Dandelions, Nettles, Motherwort, Mullein, Ground
Ivy and many more are already present.
Roots are harvested after the frost when the life force receded into the roots, or in the spring. I feel (literally) that the medicine is far stronger when roots are harvested in early spring, when the life force is strongest, bursting with energy and ready and able to grow its plant. At this point you can even harvest the bigger biennials, which would be too tough in just a few months like Burdock for example. If you have Burdock seeds still around, you can harvest these as well, even though fall would be more perfect for those.
A note to harvesting roots, I carefully clip the longer roots and re-plant the crown. This way you will not kill the plant.
What do you have in your Backyard? It's time to make medicine, and now is definitely a great time. If you don't have consumable alcohol, dry the plants on warm in the oven. That works just fine, to later make teas and decoctions. If you have alcohol, make tinctures. This gives you stronger medicine, you need a lot less for dosage, taste is more tolerable (you can hide it in juice too if you must) and of course it is more convenient, as well as it lasts nearly forever if you store it properly.
And if you ask about making tinctures, I found you a good description that goes into a lot of detail if you're interested. If not, fill a jar 1/2 - 3/4 with herb, cover with alcohol, minimum 40% alcohol, which is Vodka, Brandy and such. Shake and top off a little as needed and let soak for at least 2 weeks, I prefer several months and found I don't neeed to strain. I can just take tincture out for a dropper bottle and the tincture only gets better. You can, however, take out some tincture sooner if you need it for medicine. It just will not be too strong. Just take what you need, and leave the rest. As always, you're welcome to ask me if you need to. Have fun.
https://oldwaysherbal.com/…/making-weight-to-volume-tinctu…/
Roots are harvested after the frost when the life force receded into the roots, or in the spring. I feel (literally) that the medicine is far stronger when roots are harvested in early spring, when the life force is strongest, bursting with energy and ready and able to grow its plant. At this point you can even harvest the bigger biennials, which would be too tough in just a few months like Burdock for example. If you have Burdock seeds still around, you can harvest these as well, even though fall would be more perfect for those.
A note to harvesting roots, I carefully clip the longer roots and re-plant the crown. This way you will not kill the plant.
What do you have in your Backyard? It's time to make medicine, and now is definitely a great time. If you don't have consumable alcohol, dry the plants on warm in the oven. That works just fine, to later make teas and decoctions. If you have alcohol, make tinctures. This gives you stronger medicine, you need a lot less for dosage, taste is more tolerable (you can hide it in juice too if you must) and of course it is more convenient, as well as it lasts nearly forever if you store it properly.
And if you ask about making tinctures, I found you a good description that goes into a lot of detail if you're interested. If not, fill a jar 1/2 - 3/4 with herb, cover with alcohol, minimum 40% alcohol, which is Vodka, Brandy and such. Shake and top off a little as needed and let soak for at least 2 weeks, I prefer several months and found I don't neeed to strain. I can just take tincture out for a dropper bottle and the tincture only gets better. You can, however, take out some tincture sooner if you need it for medicine. It just will not be too strong. Just take what you need, and leave the rest. As always, you're welcome to ask me if you need to. Have fun.
https://oldwaysherbal.com/…/making-weight-to-volume-tinctu…/
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