My Favorite Herbal Remedies

Marvelous Mint Tea

The most successful herbal remedy I have made so far has been mint tea. First I harvested the Spearmint, and then I put it into my dehydrator. I watched it carefully to prevent it from overcooking (turning black). When it was dried I picked the leaves off and put them into a blender. When the leaves were pulverized and the tea was ready, I placed the tea in a tin container and gave it to my doctor. He maintains that it is the best mint tea he has ever tasted, and he is a tea connoisseur. The challenge with tea making is that it is very labour intensive. It is a lot of work to pick each leaf off of the stems. I thought about making my own line of specialty teas, but I don’t think that I could make enough tea. To make one small tin of tea requires a huge bunch of herbs, so I just make enough for private use.

 

Hypoallergenic Herbal Soap

Another successful herbal adventure has been making soap with herbs in it. I am allergic to nearly all soaps so I make my own by melting down block of “melt and pour” glycerine soap. After the soap has been melted I chop up herbs like mint or lemon balm and pour all this into pretty moulds. The soap is hypoallergenic and the herbs are good for the skin and act as exfoliating agents. This soap is easy to make, but the herbs have to go in at the last minute or they get shrivelled up.

Catnip Tincture

A good remedy that I made last year was Catnip tincture. I took Catnip and stuffed it into a brown bottle and covered it with Vodka. This mixture stayed in the dark closet for two weeks and I shook it once a day. After the 14 days I strained the plant material out and placed the tincture in a smaller, dark bottle. After that, I labelled it with the date and name of the remedy. I have tried this Catnip tincture and it is very calming. It would be good for an elderly person who isn’t used to medication or someone who needs a gentle remedy instead of taking an elephant gun like a drug. The only downside of making Catnip tincture is the high cost of Vodka.