Wild about herbs

Great intentions over the summer to write my Substack blog weekly, but we were gifted with such fabulous weather who could be sitting at a computer? Okay, enough with the excuses and it is time to get going and share my latest contribution with you.

Conquer the nighttime nibbles Part one

This is just insane. On the one hand restricting small crafters and small businesses, on the other hand reducing supplements levels to "harmonize" across the EU. Makes absolutely no sense at all.

EU’s War on Creators! I’m Done! Colette O'Neill is a published author and passionate environmentali...

Nettle seed time, wish my phone camera could do justice to the vibrancy of the deep green colour

Step by step Scutellaria lateriflora glycerite.
Harvest the herb, chop into small pieces to increase surface area. Place the fresh herbs in to a glass container. Pour over your liquid menstruum, in this case it is a blend of 60% vegetable glycerine and 40% a strong water infusion (tea). Put the jar into a water bath. I like using this old crock pot as it has a very low setting. Allow to gently warm for about 3 hours. I then left it overnight. Strain and bottle and label. It is good to warm it a little before straining as it will make it easier. To be a bit more precise, this was a 1:5 extract. For every one gram of plant material 5ml of menstruum (solvent). I used 500ml of menstruum and was surprised to get 600ml of the glycerite out of it, an indication of how much water was also extracted from the plant. Why glycerine? It is not as effective as alcohol and will not preserve as long, but it tastes sweet and is alcohol free. Children under 3 cannot metabolise glycerine well and it may cause stomach issues, but for over 3 years it is an alternative to alcohol based tinctures. Scutellaria lateriflora is one of my favourite herbs for anxiety, overthinking and spasms. This little blog is for information purposes only.