Making Remedies

Of such doth the apothecary make a confection; and of his works there is no end. — Ben Sira 38:8

The Herbalist’s Kitchen

You do not need a laboratory to make herbal medicine. Dr. Schulze says he learned nearly all of his first aid in the kitchen, and so did I. Almost everything in this chapter can be made with what you already own, plus a few inexpensive tools:

• Glass jars with tight lids (pint and quart canning jars are perfect)
• A stainless steel or enameled pot (not aluminum, which reacts with herbs) and a double boiler, or a heat-proof bowl that sits over a pot
• A fine strainer, cheesecloth or unbleached muslin, and a funnel
• Measuring cups and spoons, and a small kitchen scale
• A coffee or spice grinder kept only for herbs
• Dark glass bottles: dropper bottles for tinctures, larger bottles for oils and syrups
• Beeswax, a good oil (olive is the classic), raw honey, apple cider vinegar, vegetable glycerin, and 80- to 100-proof vodka or brandy
• Labels and a permanent marker

Label everything with the herb (common and Latin name), the part of the plant, the liquid used, the ratio, the date and what it is for. A jar of dark liquid with no label is a jar you will have to throw away.

Parts and Measures

Herbal recipes are often written in parts: “6 parts horsetail, 4 parts comfrey root.” A part is any unit you like, as long as you use the same unit for every ingredient: a teaspoon, a cup or a scoop. Unless a recipe says otherwise, parts are measured by volume, not by weight. This matters, because a cup of a light, fluffy leaf weighs far less than a cup of a dense root.

Tincture ratios are the exception. A 1:5 tincture means 1 part herb by weight to 5 parts liquid by volume: for example, 1 ounce of dried herb to 5 fluid ounces of alcohol, or 100 grams to 500 milliliters.

Handy equivalents:

Teas and Infusions

An infusion is a tea made by pouring hot water over the soft parts of a plant (leaves, flowers and aromatic seeds) and letting it steep. It is the oldest and simplest remedy, and for many herbs still the best, because a tea delivers the whole plant’s water-soluble goodness and is easy to give children.

Hot infusion. Pour one cup of boiling water over 1–2 teaspoons of dried herb (or about 1 tablespoon of fresh). Cover it so the aromatic oils stay in the cup rather than escaping with the steam, and steep 10–15 minutes; Dr. Christopher steeped his medicinal teas 15–30 minutes. Strain, and sweeten with a little honey if you like. Drink warm for colds and fevers, when you want the herb to bring on a sweat.

Nourishing (long) infusion. For mineral-rich herbs like nettle, oat straw, red raspberry leaf and horsetail, use about 1 ounce by weight (a large handful, about 1 cup) of dried herb in a quart jar, fill with boiling water, cap, and let it stand 4–8 hours or overnight. Strain and drink through the day. This long steep pulls far more minerals out of the plant than a quick cup of tea. It is how I make Arukah Herbal Calcium (Chapter 4).

Cold infusion. Some herbs give their best in cold water. Marshmallow root and slippery elm release their soothing mucilage in cold water, and delicate flowers keep their flavor. Put the herb in room-temperature water and let it stand 4–8 hours.

Sun tea. A jar of herbs and water set in the sun for a few hours makes a gentle tea, the way many grandmothers made peppermint and lemon balm tea in summer. Drink it the same day.

Decoctions

Roots, barks, hard seeds and berries are too tough for a quick steep. Their medicine has to be simmered out. That is a decoction.

Dr. Christopher’s method: cover the herb with water, using about 1 ounce of herb for every 1½ pints of water. Bring it to a boil, then turn it down and simmer gently, covered, for 20–30 minutes. Strain. Decoctions are strong: take them in measured doses, about ½ cup at a time. For a very strong decoction, simmer uncovered until the liquid is reduced by half.

When a formula mixes roots and leaves, decoct the roots first, then turn off the heat, add the leaves and flowers, cover and let them steep 15 minutes. This gives you the best of both.

Juniper berry tea, which Dr. Schulze uses for the kidneys, is a gentle decoction: crush ⅓ cup of juniper berries, add 2 quarts of water, and keep it just below a simmer for an hour.

Tinctures

A tincture is an herb extracted in alcohol. Alcohol pulls out compounds water cannot, preserves the remedy for years, and carries the medicine into the bloodstream within minutes. That is why Dr. Schulze fills his first aid kit with tinctures: they never spoil, they are concentrated, and they work fast.

The Folk Method (Maceration)

This is the method I use most, and the one Mountain Rose Herbs demonstrates in its video on the folk (maceration) method.

1. Prepare the herb. Chop fresh herbs finely; crush or coarsely grind dried ones.
2. Fill a clean glass jar. Fresh herb: fill the jar loosely to the top. Dried herb: fill it about one-half to two-thirds full, because dried herbs swell.
3. Cover with alcohol. Use 80- to 100-proof (40–50% alcohol) vodka or brandy for most herbs. Pour until the herb is covered by at least an inch, and stir out the air bubbles.
4. Cap, label and shake. Store in a cool, dark place and shake it every day. Dr. Christopher let his tinctures steep about two weeks, shaking several times a day; most herbalists today allow 4–6 weeks. An old tradition starts a tincture at the new moon and strains it at the full moon.
5. Strain and press. Pour through cheesecloth, then squeeze the herb hard to get every drop. Bottle in dark glass and label.

The folk method’s measured version uses ratios: fresh herb 1:2 (1 part herb by weight to 2 parts alcohol by volume) and dried herb 1:5.

Different herbs want different strengths of alcohol. Watery fresh plants and most dried herbs do well in 80–100 proof. Resins like myrrh and gums, and very juicy fresh plants, need higher proof (150–190 proof grain alcohol, diluted as the recipe directs). Roots like lobelia seed and cayenne extract well in 100 proof.

Percolation

Percolation drips the alcohol slowly through a column of powdered herb, like a coffee drip, and makes a strong tincture in a day or two instead of weeks. It takes more practice and a cone-shaped percolator. The longer Mountain Rose Herbs video shows it step by step.

Vinegar Tinctures

Dr. Christopher often made tinctures with apple cider vinegar instead of alcohol: cover the herb with a quart of vinegar and steep about two weeks, shaking a few times a day. Vinegar extracts minerals well and is free of alcohol, but it is weaker than alcohol for many herbs and keeps only about a year. It is excellent for lobelia, which Christopher made both ways.

Glycerites: Alcohol-Free Extracts

Vegetable glycerin is sweet, safe for children and free of alcohol. Use about 3 parts glycerin to 1 part water, cover the herb, and steep 4–6 weeks as for a tincture. Glycerites are milder than alcohol tinctures and keep 1–2 years. They are ideal for children’s remedies like chamomile, catnip, lemon balm and elderberry.

To reduce the alcohol in a tincture, put the dose into a quarter cup of very hot water and let it stand a few minutes; most of the alcohol evaporates.

Double Extraction

Some remedies, especially medicinal mushrooms like reishi and chaga, have compounds that need water and compounds that need alcohol. For these, make an alcohol tincture, then decoct the strained herb in water for an hour or more, and combine the two liquids, keeping at least 25% alcohol in the final blend so it keeps.

Infused Oils

An infused oil carries an herb’s oil-soluble medicine into the skin. Infused oils are used for massage, earaches (mullein and garlic), sore muscles (arnica, St. John’s wort, cayenne), dry and damaged skin (calendula, plantain, comfrey) and as the base of salves. Olive oil is the classic; sunflower, sweet almond and jojoba also work. Use dried herbs, or wilt fresh herbs for a day first: water in fresh plants can grow mold or bacteria in oil.

• Solar (cold) method. Fill a jar about halfway with dried herb, cover well with oil, stir out the bubbles, cap and set in a warm, sunny window for 4–6 weeks, shaking every day or two. Strain through cheesecloth, squeeze, and bottle in dark glass.
• Warm method. Put herb and oil (about 1 part herb to 2–4 parts oil; Dr. Christopher used about 1 to 4) in a double boiler or a slow cooker on its lowest setting and keep it warm, not hot, at about 95–120°F (35–50°C), for 4–8 hours. Never let it boil or fry: high heat destroys the medicine. Strain while warm.
• Alcohol intermediary method. Herbalist Maria Noël Groves teaches this in the Mountain Rose Herbs videos. Moisten powdered dried herb with a little high-proof alcohol, let it stand overnight, then blend it with warm oil and strain. The alcohol opens the plant, and the oil comes out stronger and more shelf-stable.

Infused oils keep about a year in a cool, dark place; a few drops of vitamin E oil help them keep longer.

A warning about garlic oil. Fresh garlic, onion or other fresh roots covered in oil and left at room temperature can grow the bacteria that cause botulism. Make garlic oil in small batches, keep it in the refrigerator, and use it within a week.

Salves and Ointments

A salve (or ointment) is an infused oil thickened with beeswax so it stays where you put it. It is one of the most useful things you can make.

• The ratio: about 1 ounce of beeswax to 1 cup of infused oil (about 4 tablespoons of grated beeswax, Dr. Christopher’s measure). Use more wax for a firmer salve or a lip balm, less for a softer one.
• Method: gently warm the oil and beeswax together in a double boiler until the wax melts. Test by putting a spoonful in the freezer for a minute: if it is too soft, add wax; too hard, add oil. Pour into tins or small jars and let cool before capping. Add essential oils (about 10–20 drops per ounce) just before pouring, once the oil has cooled slightly.
• Classic salves: calendula (cuts, scrapes, rashes, diaper rash), comfrey (bruises, sprains, broken bones), plantain (bites, stings, splinters), St. John’s wort and arnica (bruises and nerve pain; arnica only on unbroken skin), and the black drawing salve of the old herbalists for splinters and boils.

A salve keeps about a year. Store it away from heat.

Syrups

A syrup is a strong decoction or infusion preserved with honey. Syrups taste good, which makes them the best way to give herbs to children, and they coat and soothe the throat.

Elderberry syrup, as Dr. Tieraona Low Dog makes it in the Mountain Rose Herbs video, is the best known: simmer about ½ cup of dried elderberries (with a little ginger and cinnamon if you like) in 2 cups of water until reduced by about half, strain and press, and when the liquid has cooled to warm, stir in about 1 cup of raw honey. Keep it in the refrigerator and use within 2–3 months. Adults take a tablespoon, children a teaspoon, several times a day at the start of a cold or flu.

Never give honey syrups to a baby under one year old. For babies, use maple syrup or a glycerite instead.

Infused Honey and Oxymels

Infused honey is honey that has drawn the medicine out of an herb: thyme or sage honey for coughs and sore throats, ginger honey for nausea, garlic honey for colds, rose honey for the heart. Use dried herbs (fresh ones add water and the honey can ferment), cover with raw honey, and let stand 2–4 weeks, or warm gently in a water bath for a few hours as Maria Noël Groves shows. Strain while warm and runny. Raw honey is itself a wound dressing; Egyptian healers used it 3,500 years ago.

An oxymel is an old remedy of honey and vinegar together, usually about 1 part honey to 1–3 parts herbal vinegar. Hippocrates prescribed oxymels for coughs.

Vinegars and Fire Cider

Apple cider vinegar draws minerals out of plants. An herbal vinegar of nettle, horsetail, dandelion leaf, parsley or oat straw is a mineral tonic you can pour on salads or take by the spoonful. Fill a jar with herbs, cover with vinegar (use a plastic lid or put waxed paper under a metal one, because vinegar corrodes metal), steep 4–6 weeks and strain.

Fire cider, popularized by herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, is the hot, pungent cousin: chopped horseradish, garlic, onion, ginger and hot peppers covered in apple cider vinegar for about a month, strained and sweetened with honey. It warms the body and clears the sinuses at the first sign of a cold.

Dr. Schulze’s SuperTonic is the same idea, made strong: hot peppers, a big handful of fresh ginger root, fifty or more cloves of garlic, onions and a horseradish root, blended and covered with apple cider vinegar, traditionally started at the new moon and strained at the full moon. A dropperful or a spoonful at the first sign of infection is fierce medicine.

Capsules and Powders

Some herbs taste too bitter or too hot to drink. Capsules solve that, and they are easy to carry and measure.

• Powder the herb in a clean coffee or spice grinder (or buy powders, and use them within a few months, since powders lose strength fastest).
• Choose capsules. Size “00” is the common adult size and holds roughly 500–650 mg of a medium-weight powder; size “0” holds about 400 mg. Many gelatin capsules are made from pork. Arukah uses vegetable capsules (made from plant cellulose, labeled HPMC or “vegetarian”), or gelatin capsules certified kosher.
• Fill them with a capsule machine, available from suppliers such as Capsule Connection. Separate the halves, set the long bodies in the machine, spread the powder over them, tamp, add more, and press the caps on. Herbalist Thomas Easley shows the whole process in the Mountain Rose Herbs video.
• Store in a dark glass jar. Take capsules with plenty of water.

Powders can also be stirred into water, juice, applesauce or honey, sprinkled on food (cayenne, turmeric) or packed into wounds (cayenne, yarrow, goldenseal, as Chapter 3 teaches).

Poultices and Plasters

A poultice is an herb applied directly to the skin. It draws out infection, splinters and venom, soothes inflammation, and helps wounds, bruises and broken bones knit.

• Fresh herb: bruise, chop or mash the leaves (a mortar and pestle works, or chew them, which is the “spit poultice” every survivalist knows for plantain on a bee sting), lay them on the skin, and cover with a clean cloth.
• Dried herb: mix the powder or cut herb with just enough hot water (or slippery elm and water, to make it stick) to form a paste. Spread it on the skin or between layers of cloth.
• Keep it moist and change it every few hours.

Favorites: plantain for stings, bites and splinters; comfrey for bruises, sprains and fractures; chickweed for itching; onion for earaches and chest congestion (warm, not hot); cabbage leaf for engorged breasts; slippery elm with a little goldenseal for infected wounds; black walnut hull and charcoal for drawing. A mustard plaster (mustard powder and flour in a paste, between layers of cloth) warms a congested chest, but check the skin every few minutes, because mustard can blister; never leave it on more than 15–20 minutes, and use it only with older children and adults.

A field poultice, as Nicole Apelian teaches, is made on the spot from whatever healing plant is at hand: a leaf of plantain or yarrow chewed and pressed to a wound, held on with another large leaf and a strip of cloth. You will learn the plants in Chapter 6.

Fomentations and Compresses

A fomentation is a cloth soaked in a hot, strong tea and laid on the body. Dr. Christopher used fomentations of mullein and lobelia for swollen glands, and sometimes hot apple cider vinegar. Cool the cloth until it is just bearable, lay it on, cover it with a dry towel or plastic to hold the heat, and change it as it cools. A compress is the same thing, often cool: a chamomile compress for sore eyes, a witch hazel compress for a bruise.

A castor oil pack, the favorite of Edgar Cayce and many naturopaths, is a flannel cloth soaked in castor oil, laid over the liver or abdomen, covered with plastic and a hot water bottle for an hour. It is used to move congestion and stagnation.

Liniments

A liniment is a tincture for the outside of the body only, rubbed into sore muscles, sprains and bruises. Herbs are extracted in rubbing alcohol, witch hazel or vinegar. Jethro Kloss’s famous liniment in Back to Eden used myrrh, goldenseal and cayenne. The Mountain Rose Herbs video shows an East Asian liniment of warming, blood-moving herbs.

Label every liniment “External use only.” Rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) is poisonous if swallowed. Keep liniments away from children, eyes and broken skin.

Steams, Baths and Footbaths

An herbal steam opens the sinuses and lungs. Pour boiling water over a handful of chamomile, thyme, sage, peppermint or eucalyptus leaves in a bowl, drape a towel over your head and the bowl, close your eyes, and breathe for 5–10 minutes, keeping a safe distance from the water. Supervise children closely: scalds from steam bowls are a common injury. Do not use steams for babies.

Herbal baths soak the whole body in a large, strong tea: chamomile and lavender for a restless child, ginger to warm and bring on a sweat, oatmeal or chickweed for itchy skin, Epsom salt for sore muscles. A hot footbath with mustard powder or ginger draws blood down from a congested head at the start of a cold.

Pastilles and Lozenges

Pastilles are little herbal “candies” made by mixing powdered herbs with honey (and often marshmallow or slippery elm powder) into a dough, rolling it into small balls or a log, and letting them dry. Herbalist Rosalee de la Forêt shows them in the Mountain Rose Herbs video. They are a pleasant way to take slippery elm and licorice for a sore throat, or ginger for travel sickness.

Eyewashes and Ear Oils

Eyewash: make a weak tea of eyebright, chamomile or goldenseal, strain it through a coffee filter so no particles remain, let it cool, and use an eyecup. Make it fresh each day. A red, painful eye with blurry vision, or an injury to the eye, needs a doctor.

Ear oil: a few warm drops of mullein flower and garlic oil soothe an earache. Test the temperature on your wrist first. Never put anything into an ear that is draining fluid or pus, or after a blow to the head, because the eardrum may be broken.

Boluses and Suppositories

Dr. Christopher made boluses, herbal suppositories, by mixing powdered herbs into melted cocoa butter or coconut oil, shaping them into finger-sized pieces, and refrigerating them until firm. His vaginal bolus formula was used for infections and cysts. Boluses deliver herbs straight to the tissues that need them.

How Long Remedies Keep

Throw out anything that smells off, grows mold, or has changed color or texture.

Watch It Made

Reading about a remedy is one thing; seeing it made is another. The herbalists of Mountain Rose Herbs have made short videos of nearly every preparation in this chapter: teas and infusions, tinctures (folk method and percolation), glycerites, infused oils, salves, elderberry syrup, infused honey, herbal vinegar and fire cider, capsules, pastilles, liniments and steams. If you are an Arukah Herbalism student, they are gathered by preparation on your course’s Herbal How-To Videos page. If not, you will find them on the Mountain Rose Herbs channel on YouTube. There is no video for decoctions or poultices; this chapter teaches them.

Then make something. Start with a tea, a tincture and a salve. Your kitchen is your first apothecary.

Sources and further reading

• Christopher, J. R. School of Natural Healing. Christopher Publications, 1976 (preparation methods: decoction, fomentation, infusion, oil, ointment, tincture, bolus).
• Christopher, D. An Herbal Legacy of Courage (the formulas and preparations of Dr. John R. Christopher).
• Schulze, R. Family First Aid and Home Trauma Care (video and transcript); Curing with Cayenne (Juniper Berry Tea, SuperTonic).
• Apelian, N., and Davis, C. The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies. Global Brother, 2019 (harvesting, encapsulating, infusions, decoctions, oil infusions, salves, tinctures, double extractions, syrups, poultices, field poultice).
• Gladstar, R. Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide. Storey, 2012 (fire cider).
• Groves, M. N. Body into Balance. Storey, 2016 (alcohol intermediary oils, infused honey).
• Low Dog, T. Elderberry syrup (Mountain Rose Herbs video).
• de la Forêt, R. Alchemy of Herbs. Hay House, 2017 (pastilles).
• Kloss, J. Back to Eden. 1939 (liniment).