Guest guest Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 sell alot of chickweed products and that is how I extract. However I warn you to keep an eye on that chickweed. It has quite alot of moisture and it can go rancid fast. I typically pick clean stands adn try not to wash since it si so fragile of a plant. Then I dry it for a couple hours or until it is wilty. Then I put into a glass jar with Extra virgin Olive Oil and let infuse for as long as it can. It can go bad fast in that time so you gotta check it on occassion. Like twice a week. Honestly there are plenty of herbs that dont need a full 6 weeks to extract their chemical consituents and this is one of them. You will know if it has gone bad. It smells like vomit-no kidding. So to keep that from happening, let it wilt and check on it. I saw Stephen Foster lecture a few years ago and he stated that plants only need a few days to macerate...quite a different way to look at it from traditional herbalism. Good luck. That is the best oil for skin issues by far! Blessings -Love and Light- Ray and Kristena Roder http://www.dreamseeds.org Blessings -Love and Light- Ray and Kristena Roder http://www.dreamseeds.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 Is there a reason you don't dry it completely before infusing? , " dreamseeds " <dreamseeds wrote: > > sell alot of chickweed products and that is how I extract. However I warn you to keep an eye on that chickweed. It has quite alot of moisture and it can go rancid fast. I typically pick clean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 10, 2006 Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Well you dont have to dry herbs completely in most c ases to infuse them. In all the years have been in herb school it has always been implicated to use as fresh as possible. I was sharing with another list member off list that I can have strong chickweed oil in jsut a few days. The tips to remember, find a clean stand. You wont want to wash it after picking becuase it is fragile, unlike say plantain. Then let wilt to get rid of much moisture and use XVOO and let sit as long as it needs to. I have a deep green oil within a few days that works magically. But leave to long and the plant matter breaks down and goes bad adn it smells like vomit, literally. So I check often my oil of chickweed and make a kick butt salve when it is ready:) Keep that in mind with any fresh herb-you gotta let most dry out some to release the water content, then macerate. And once your infused oil is done, strain 3 days, You will get out the sludge left by the plant that way. I strain through a flour sack. Strain -let sit. Next day strain, let sit, next day strain, let sit. Your oil will last a long time that way. Although mine never lasts but a couple months.... Blessings -Love and Light- Ray and Kristena Roder http://www.dreamseeds.org Blessings -Love and Light- Ray and Kristena Roder http://www.dreamseeds.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 Dear Kristena, Sorry I hadn't responded to you earlier in the day but this has been a day of Christmas parties for some of the groups I belong to locally. We all got together for lunch this afternoon. It was fun. Question, what type of base carrier oil are you using for your infusions? I have infusions that I have had setting for over 15 years with no rancidity problems. You mentioned that you could only use your infusions for a few months and they went rancid so I thought about it and wondered why and then I came to the conclusion it might have something to do with the base carrier oil. I use a lot of coconut, sesame, canola, vegetable oil, sunflower and other base carrier oils with a long shelf life along with putting some alcohol on the top of the infusion to eat up the excess moisture to keep it from going rancid. I tend not to use grapeseed, sweet almond and other short-lived base carrier oils because they do go bad quickly. I like your short-term method but I don't think that it would work well with the melissa, helichrysum, or rose. It would work nicely with the yarrow and the chaste berries. I will play with it next year when I have some extra time and more herbs to work with. I like my long-term infusions because of the strength and the colors that they give. Yes, they take more time and space to house them but the results have been worth the wait. Talk with you soon, Rhavda Original Message: ----------------- dreamseeds dreamseeds Sun, 10 Dec 2006 08:18:07 -0600 re:chickweed Well you dont have to dry herbs completely in most c ases to infuse them. In all the years have been in herb school it has always been implicated to use as fresh as possible. I was sharing with another list member off list that I can have strong chickweed oil in jsut a few days. The tips to remember, find a clean stand. You wont want to wash it after picking becuase it is fragile, unlike say plantain. Then let wilt to get rid of much moisture and use XVOO and let sit as long as it needs to. I have a deep green oil within a few days that works magically. But leave to long and the plant matter breaks down and goes bad adn it smells like vomit, literally. So I check often my oil of chickweed and make a kick butt salve when it is ready:) Keep that in mind with any fresh herb-you gotta let most dry out some to release the water content, then macerate. And once your infused oil is done, strain 3 days, You will get out the sludge left by the plant that way. I strain through a flour sack. Strain -let sit. Next day strain, let sit, next day strain, let sit. Your oil will last a long time that way. Although mine never lasts but a couple months.... Blessings -Love and Light- Ray and Kristena Roder http://www.dreamseeds.org Blessings -Love and Light- Ray and Kristena Roder http://www.dreamseeds.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Aromatherapy, herbs, natural living, etcRhavda, The funny thing about chickweed is in some other places it can be found year round. The herbalist, Susun Weed states she can find it year round . Must be nice! She is in New York Lucky you with roses. For soem reason they dont grow much up here in the ozarks. The helichrysum...I use it and honestly dont know much. I tincture my yarrow in alcohol and use for fevers and such. Do you use your yarrow ol for bug repellant? I'd love to know what you use for:) Blessings -Love and Light- Ray and Kristena Roder http://www.dreamseeds.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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