Guest guest Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 OK . . . elderberries are coming on big time here and I am gearing myself up to prepare some juice to fight winter flu bug. Is there anything I can do with the leaves, bark or root? You know how elders are, plant one and a few years later ya have 10! I also have lemon balm, comfrey, coneflowers (mass producing) . . . vitex . . . any suggestions for these? I infuse comfrey in olive oil to add to a salve for healing. Just infused fresh St. Johns and have a beautiful deep deep red oil to add to that cream. I need infusing/tincture suggestions!! -Helen Steven Allensworth worth249 EarthLink Revolves Around You. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Wow! You do have some wonderful infusions coming up. All the herbs you wrote of can also be dried and used singly or together in teas during the coming winter. Personally, I'd probably tincture some, and dry some of each. Vitex berries are the part you want to use of that plant. Coneflower, you can use all parts of the plant - flowers, leaves, and roots. The elderberry, you should only use the flowers or berries. The rest of the plant has some toxic properties. Tina _The Essential Herbal Magazine_ (http://www.essentialherbal.com/) _Essential Herbal Blog_ (http://theessentialherbal.blogspot.com/) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 13, 2006 Report Share Posted July 13, 2006 Thanks, Tina. I have always " assumed " the dry herb is as good as fresh. Of course I discovered recently in this groups posts that St. Johns was not in that category. Any others? I have often gone to Wild Oats and purchased some dried herbs for infusing . . . what about calendula? Marshmallow root? I also have soapwort . . . . Dry it? Use it fresh?? What book do I need? LOL!! -Helen Wow! You do have some wonderful infusions coming up. All the herbs you wrote of can also be dried and used singly or together in teas during the coming winter. Personally, I'd probably tincture some, and dry some of each. Vitex berries are the part you want to use of that plant. Coneflower, you can use all parts of the plant - flowers, leaves, and roots. The elderberry, you should only use the flowers or berries. The rest of the plant has some toxic properties. Tina _. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 13, 2006 Report Share Posted July 13, 2006 Dear Helen, I make 3 types of vitex/chaste berry oils. One is berries only, one is leaves only, and one is a mixture of both. The essential oil is generally made from the leaves rather than the berries but the berry oil use has been growing in recent years. Now some of the distillers are distilling the berries and leaves together and getting an oil that is still to be worked with to see how well it works. I have been making the chaste berry oils now for about 7 years and using coconut as my base carrier oil. An interesting aside to note that when working with the berries only, that the berries will divide in half in the bottle. Some will go to the top and some to the bottom. To me that is saying that the berries are working on two levels physically, the female organs/ovaries and the brain. It is interesting to also note that if you shake the berries up, they will all mix and then divide again as they settle in the jar. I hope that this helps. Rhavda Original Message: ----------------- Steven Allensworth worth249 Thu, 13 Jul 2006 06:28:56 -0500 RE: Re: Time for infusing! Thanks, Tina. I have always " assumed " the dry herb is as good as fresh. Of course I discovered recently in this groups posts that St. Johns was not in that category. Any others? I have often gone to Wild Oats and purchased some dried herbs for infusing . . . what about calendula? Marshmallow root? I also have soapwort . . . . Dry it? Use it fresh?? What book do I need? LOL!! -Helen Wow! You do have some wonderful infusions coming up. All the herbs you wrote of can also be dried and used singly or together in teas during the coming winter. Personally, I'd probably tincture some, and dry some of each. Vitex berries are the part you want to use of that plant. Coneflower, you can use all parts of the plant - flowers, leaves, and roots. The elderberry, you should only use the flowers or berries. The rest of the plant has some toxic properties. Tina _. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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