folksy | the owl tree presents what i did today :)

today i mixed my first tincture, dried chamomile flowers with vodka.
it will take a month to mature and then it will be ready.

Peter Rabbit's mother gave him a cup of chamomile tea after he returned from his day of danger in Mr. MacGregor's garden to settle his stomach, calm him down, and make him sleepy. But the medicinal use of chamomile starts way before the story of Peter Rabbit. Ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks used chamomile flowers to relieve sunstroke, fevers, and colic. Germans use a phrase to describe chamomile, "alles zutraut," which means that chamomile can cure anything.

If you take German chamomile as a tea or liquid extract, it can help stop pains from gas, heartburn, and ulcers. If you use it as a cream or ointment on your skin, it can help reduce symptoms of psoriasis, eczema, or radiation burns from cancer therapies. As an ointment, chamomile may also help heal wounds that have taken a long time to get better. You can put steeped chamomile flowers, or tinctures (solutions made from herb and alcohol, or herb, alcohol, and water), into bathwater and soak in it; this can help heal a number of skin problems, including hemorrhoids. Inhale the steam from a pot of chamomile tea or a few drops of chamomile oil in boiling water when you have a cold. When the tea cools, you can use it as a mouthwash or gargle to help reduce pain from gum disease or mouth sores.
from alternative dr.

i also made my first sweet herbal oil using cardamom and anise
in grapeseed oil. that will also take a month so i am looking forward
to september fourth when they both will be ready.

i took some photos but have yet to upload them but i will do so soon. very excited!

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From:

sophiawestern

I love the smell of cardamom. I bought whole cardamom when I was in Zanzibar, just because I loved smelling it so so much.

folksy

that's awesome. well, speaking of cardamom, a friend just sent me a bunch of bagged, finely chopped herbs and one of them was cardamom. i made a little tea i am drinking right now with some of it..