Past to Present Apothecary

❓️What is the best way I found to dry my cayenne peppers 🌶?

✨️Hanging them up! There is always the option to dehydrate them, however I want to seal in all of that capsaicin and the other constituents.

There are 2 ways I utilize these after they are dry.
1.Grind to a powder for a kitchen spice.
2.Grind down and use in an oil infusion and then make a topical salve with it.

⛑️Cayenne is more than just something to season food with, it also acts as an analgesic. Helping with rheumatic limbs and areas affected by arthritis.

📸I will be showing how to process all of it in the near future- until then- here are some pictures of the cayenne peppers 🌶! So stunning 😍 ✨️

✍️Dear followers & supporters,

I appreciate you all! Thank you for always supporting my content and continuing to be a part of my little community.

🫠I struggle to keep up- with all of life's needs and wants. Who else feels like this?

🌿🤍This page is immensely important, and I will be putting more time into it. If you have any suggestions on things you want to learn more on comment them. 💬

✨️I know this isn't "herbal" content, but it is my life's content && proof I'm real 😂 so enjoy seeing me and my new puppy- along with our first dozen eggs and a cool looking cayenne 🌶.

💧🫖Water extraction

⏳️Sometimes you simply cannot wait for a tincture/glycerite to sit and extract. With water you have the ability to extract in a number of ways, and get faster results.

🌿Every herb is made up of different constituents. Some water soluble constituents include volatile oils, mucilages, flavonoids, alkaloids, and tannins. The way you decide on your extraction method is by understanding how the different constituents interact with water.

🔥💧Hot water infusion/Tea (10-15min steep): best for dried or fresh leaves/stems/flowers, and some roots. This method will extract alkaloids(caffeine), aromatic volatile oils, and tannins(antioxidants). Keep in mind that dried herbs tend to have a higher concentration of volatile oils than fresh herbs. To execute this you can use a covered tea pot, french press, or coffee mug with a cover of some kind. Steep, strain if needed, and enjoy. A few ideal plants include chamomile, cayenne, green tea, ginger, mints, lemon balm and more.

🫕Decoction (30-45min simmer): best for roots, barks, berries, and dense herbs. This method will extract tannins, saponins, minerals, and glycosides. To execute, coarsely grind up contents for more surface area coverage and add to a pot. Cover the contents with cold water and bring to a simmer over med-low. Let simmer per recipe or standard for herbs being used. Strain and discard left over plant materials. Drink decoction as you would tea, or you can go on to make a more potent tincture with it, known as a double or dual extraction. Most mushrooms work in decoctions as well as, blackberry roots, elderberries, echinacea root, willow bark and more.

❄️💧Cold water infusion (2-10 hours steep): best for fibrous plants, barks, and some flowers. Certain plant material/constituents will break down and dissolve in high temperatures. Antioxidants, crucial vitamins and minerals can all be lost in heat. Choice herbs to use for cold extraction are chamomile, crampbark, nettle, uva ursi and marshmallow root. To execute this method simply add the coarsely ground contents to cold water and let sit refrigerated for the needed time.

♨️🫙Hydrosols (20 min-3hr) best for aromatic herbs, leaves, and flowers. This method is used to capture the aromatic volatile oils of plants. A way to harness those powerful scents and combine them into cosmetics, culinary dishes, or use as is topically and internally. The process uses steam distillation for extraction. This is more complex than the others and requires more in depth explanation. I will make a separate post soon. The best plants to use in hydrosols are rosemary, rose petals, lavender, lemon balm, and orange blossoms.

⁉️All of these methods are great to learn and remember in a pinch. I love to make a warm cup of tea before bed to get relaxed. What is your favorite form of water extraction?

🪔Clove, Eugenia caryophyllata

🌿Clove is a dried unopened flower bud that comes from an evergreen tree. The tree grows up to 49ft in height and is highly aromatic. It originated in Indonesia and Southern Philippines. In today's world the tree is grown mostly in Tanzania and Madagascar. The unopened flower buds are picked twice a year and dried in the sun.

⏳️Clove was one of the original spices, with records of it dating back to the Han Dynasty in China, around 200 BCE. This incrediblely aromatic spice is used for culinary dishes as well as herbal remedies. I have seen an abundance of clove pictured in decorations, preparing food, and herbal remedies.

✨️Key constituents:
Volatile oil - eugenol (most active component)
Flavonoids
Tannins
Triterpenes

✨️Key actions:
Antiseptic
Stimulant
Analgesic
Prevents vomiting
Eliminate parasites

🫙You can utilize this spice in a few ways. Tinctures, tea infusions, and essential oil. In times of a toothache you can bite a whole clove and keep near the ache for about 30 min then spit out. In culinary dishes it can add a sweet & savory flavoring and is added to curries, pies, pies, drinks and in hams.

⛑️Cloves uses:
Toothache
Flatulence
Colic
Aphrodisiac
Skin ulcers
Styes
Relieves cough
Eases muscles spasms

✨ In tropical Asia cloves have been used to treat viral infections such as cholera, malaria, and some parasites like scabies. It has also been used in the past to help prepare women for childbirth by strengthening the uterine muscles.

🍊You can create a strong repellent for moths and mosquitoes. In the Indonesian islands oranges with cloves stabbed into them are used to keep insects away.

✨️Wellness Wednesday✨️

🌿Rosemary, Rosmarinus Officinalis

🍃Rosemary is a fantastic herb to keep on hand. For use in the kitchen as well as for medicinal reasons. This gorgeous aromatic shrub is one of my favorites! It was the first herb I learned about and the first one I trusted myself to try as a tincture.

📖A part of the Lamiaceae family, rosemary holds a long list of constituents. A study performed in 2017 showed that rosemary can be used to help boost memory, reduce anxiety/ depression, and improve sleep quality. It is also known to aid in recovery of chronic illness.

✨️Key constituents:
-Rosmarnic acid
-Tannins
-Volatile oils (camphene, cineole & more)
-Diterpenes (canosol, carnosic acid)
-Flavonoids (apigenin, diosmin)

✨️Key actions:
-Anti-aging
-Anti-inflammatory
-Antidepressant
-Circulatory support
-Neuroprotective
-Antiseptic

🗒It helps with your circulatory system which in turn helps your memory and focus. Rosemary has also been known to alleviate asthma, allergies, ease agitation, and can possibly aid in nerve repair. Used in the UK as a warming tonic which aids in blood flow. This can relieve headaches/migraines and raise low blood pressure.

🪔The list of benefits is long and worth giving this beautiful herb a try. Used in tinctures, infusions, hair oil, food flavoring and more.

⚠️Check with your physician if you take prescription medications. Especially blood pressure medications and blood thinners.

🍶Tincture Tuesday:

📝By definition a tincture is, “a medicine made by dissolving a drug in alcohol”. An herbal tincture is a concentrated form of medicinal constituents extracted from the herbs in alcohol. Many people mention making a tincture with vinegar or glycerine, however these are not the same. Glycerine makes glycerites and vinegar makes vinegar infusions or herbal tonics. Both of these have a substantially shorter shelf life and are a lot less potent than tinctures.

🍷Requiring at least 80-proof for proper extracting abilities, vodka, brandy, or grain alcohol are most commonly used. Some fresh herbs, roots, or stems may require a higher proof to fully extract the constituents. If you are looking for something stronger, grain alcohol (everclear) is available and comes in 120, 151, and 190 proof. Some people prefer to get the highest proof and dilute down. This requires complex math, and is not just a basic ratio. If you are doing this, make sure you research it thoroughly.

🧼When you are creating your tinctures ensure that your glass mason jars are clean and dry. You can use either fresh or dried herbs. Fresh herbs require a 1:2 ratio (1 part fresh herbs, 2 parts alcohol). Dried herbs require a 1:5 ratio (1 part dried herbs, 5 parts alcohol). For the fresh herbs you may seek out grain alcohol at least 120-151 proof and for dried herbs 80-100 proof brandy or vodka will be suitable.

⏳️Once you have combined your herbs and alcohol, shake well. Set this jar in a cool, dark area in your home. Set a reminder on your phone to shake it daily. Record the information in a detailed fashion in a notebook. Make sure to list the date you started. This will sit for 4-6 weeks. The longer you let it soak, the more potent it becomes. After 6 weeks you will strain the tincture through cheesecloth or another fine mesh strainer. Fill up amber tincture dropper bottles and record the date bottled on them along with herb and alcohol used.

Tinctures can be shelf stable for several years.

⚠️Always research herbs you are using. Ensure they work together, and what parts are good for tinctures. Not all parts of plants should be used in tinctures. Some herbs when ingested are toxic. Research is vital to herbal medicine. If you are struggling to find answers, reach out and we will find them together! 🤍

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Comfrey & Calendula oil infusion

🌿Ingredients:

¼ cup dried comfrey leaves

¼ cup dried calendula flowers

1 cup carrier oil of choice (I used jojoba for this)

8 oz mason jar

📜☀️Directions for solar infusion:

-Add your herbs to the mason jar.

-Pour in carrier oil of choice- ensure you cover herbs and fill the jar up leaving ¼ in. space between the lid and oil. (You may have to agitate the mixture and add more oil).

-Ensure herbs are completely submerged. Close jar hand tight, and mix lightly.

-Place on a cool shelf outside of direct sunlight. Let soak for 2-4 weeks, and mix daily.

-Once done infusing strain oil and store in a clean amber glass jar or add to salve/lotion/ointment recipe.

📜🔥Directions for heat infusion:

-You will need a double boiler for this. If you don't have one, look up how to create one from a sauce pan and glass bowl.

-Put enough water in the base pan, but not so much that it touches the top pan.

- Add your herbs and oil in the top pan.

-Turn heat on medium-low until you have a slow boil and cover to simmer for 2-3 hrs.

-You will add water if it gets too low.

-Once done remove from heat and allow to cool.

-Strain oil from herbs and store oil in a clean amber glass jar, or go on to use in a salve/lotion/ointment recipe.

✨ ️ Depending on the carrier oil you choose, and the infusion method determines shelf life. These are the main factors that go into proper storage, but other things contribute as well. If you aren't sure, feel free to ask! I go on to use oil infusions in topical salves. This is a fantastic topical salve for dry, itchy, irritated skin. If you are struggling with bug bites, minor burns, sun burns, rashes, minor cuts/scrapes this is the perfect salve to you! Comfrey and calendula together are a powerhouse!

🍃💜Comfrey & Lavender Salve:

A soothing salve that is meant to help heal.

🍃Comfrey- also referred to as bone knit it is a timeless herb used to help mend broken bones, sprains, small cuts/wounds, ease bruising, sunburns and scarring.

💜Lavender- is wonderful to ease inflammation&redness, sooth itching/irritated skin, ease sunburns, and reduce aches in joints and muscles.

⛑️These dried herbs combined with sweet almond oil, lavender essential oils and beeswax create a powerful salve that is good for a wide scope of ailments.

Sunburns
Bug bites
Eczema
Strained muscles
Sprains
Scars
Arthritis
Cuts/scrapes/rashes

⚠️If being used for wound healing- be sure to apply only to closed wounds only. This should not be applied to freshly open wounds of any kind. Wait until there is a scab formed before lightly applying.

Topical use only! Do not ingest

🎥I have posted a video of the creating process for those interested in watching.

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