Herbal Medicine Kit

This week I had the opportunity to spend time with two of my favorite girls sharing some of the herbal remedies I have been learning about recently!  
We spent a few hours each morning adding elements to our herbal medicine kits for winter.
On Monday we made herb infused oils with St John’s Wort, Calendula and Comfrey that we put in olive oil  on low heat in the crock pot for a few hours.  The girls also made  a jar of the same herbs and oil to take home and keep for 6 weeks until it is ready.  That way they learned  both the "folk" method and the quick method using heat.

On Tuesday we used the oil to make a healing salve. We added lavender essential oil for a wonderful scent to a useful medicine!

 I had calendula in almond oil already made that we  used to make some lip balm -- you can never have too much of that in the winter! This project begins with beeswax...which came in a huge slab and it was quite a challenge to chisel off just the  right amount.

The beeswax was melted in a double boiler, then we added our oil.  After removing from heat, the girls put in some bergamot (orange) essential oil.  It smelled wonderful and made some amazing lip balm!

I was able to order chapstick tubes in bulk from a vendor on ebay that worked out perfectly.

 Today we tackled two projects...elderberry syrup  and horehound candy.  We were really please with the way everything came out!  Elderberry syrup is wonderful for the immune system and because it has warming herbs in it like ginger, cinnamon and cloves, it is also really soothing when you have a cold.  I take a teaspoon a day and it is very tasty too!

 The horehound candy had to be boiled much like any hard candy.  We poured it into the pan and actually set it on the picnic table to cool.  The weather was pleasant today -- temperatures in the 40's and no wind...which is highly unusual  at this time of year...so we took full advantage.  Our candy hardened quickly and I used a pizza cutter to get some lines into it.  We then broke it apart by hand.  and e ended up with a good amount.  I filled some altoids tins and small containers I had so that I can carry a bit in my purse and send some to work with my husband..

The girls were also to take a bag home with them to share with the rest of the family.  It has been a productive week!  Thanks for coming to hang out gals!