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Garlic Aloe Pot Marigold Cayenne Pepper Rudbeckia St. John's Wort Lavender Lemon Balm Peppermint Basil Rose Sage Comfrey Rosemary Feverfew Thyme Red Clover Common Nettle Common Vervain Ginger Celery Great Burdock Cabbage Wild Strawberry Plantain Primula Self-heal Rhubarb Dandelion Coltsfoot Mullein Violet & Pansy
HARVESTING & DRYING HARVESTING & DRYING

The composition of the chemical constituents of plants and their healing properties, varies with the time of harvest. Always harvest in dry weather, when they are mature and that the concentration of active substances is highest. Dry quickly, never in direct sunlight to preserve the aromatic principles and prevent oxidation, but in a warm, dry and well ventilated (pure air – 20-32°C, 1 week). Then store away from direct sunlight in a glass container or smoked clay closed (indentify and date - will keep 12-18 months).

Flowers
Cut the head, clean and dry on tray on paper.

Seeds
Harvest the entire head keeping 15-20cm tail, when the seeds are almost ripe. Hanging upside down over a foil lined paper or in a paper bag tray, away from direct sunlight; seeds fall when they are ripe.

Sap and resin
Take on the trees in the fall when the sap down. Make a small incision deep in the bark or pierce a hole and collect the liquid in a vessel attached to the trunk.

Bark
Harvest in the fall when the sap begins to descend (reducing damage to the plant or tree). Never remove any bark or band circling the tree. Clean, do not wash, break into 2-5cm pieces. Arrange on a plater and allow to dry.
Aerial parts and leaves
To use all the aerial parts, the levy in full bloom for mixture (leaves, stems, flowers and seed head). Make a small bouquet, tied and hanging upside down (eg lavender cover with a paper bag to collect the small flowers).

Roots
Most roots are harvested in the fall, after the aerial parts of the plant died and before the ground gets too hard (exeption dandelion, harvest in spring). Not harvested soft roots. Wash, chop into small pieces for large roots, arrange on a platter on paper and dry in a sunny room.

Fruits
Harvest berries and other fruits when they are just ripe. Arrange on a platter and rotate to dry thoroughly. Discard if moldy.

Bulbs
Dig after the aerial parts have fallen.
PREPARATION OF REMEDIES PREPARATION OF REMEDIES

Infusion
Is prepared as tea. Cover during the infusion (3-7min).


Tincture
Is obtained by maceration (fresh or dried plant) in a mixture of 25% alcohol and water.

Standard quantities: 200g or 600g of dried plant fresh plant for 1 liter of mixture of 25% alcohol and 75% water. Utisiler alcohol Vodka.
1-Put the plant in a glass jar with vodka and water. Close. Refrigerate for 2 wk. Shaking occasionally.
2-Filter through muslin in a press.
3-Pour the filtered liquid in a bottle smoked glass. Keep the residue for your compost.


Infused oils (cold & hot)
For massage oil, ointment and cream. 1 year keeps cool in the absence of light; However, freshly prepared in small quantities, they are more active.

Hot infusion / ex. comfrey, rosemary.
Standard quantities: 250g or 750g of dried plant fresh plant for 500ml sunflower oil.
1-Heat gently in a double boiler or in a glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water for 3 hous.
2-Strain the mixture through a muslin in the press and collect the liquid and pour into a bottle smoked glass.

Cold Infusion / ex. marigold, St. John's wort.
Standard amounts: firmly pack flower heads to fill a jar, add enough oil to completely cover contents (cold pressed).
1-Firm the plant in the jar and cover with oil. Close the lid and leave on a sunny window sill or in a greenhouse for 2-3 weeks.
2-Filter through cheesecloth attached to the edge of a glass container holding the residue.
3-Press the muslin. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with another quantity of plant and oil infused once already after a few weeks, filter again and keep.


Powder & capsule
Medicinal plants sometimes take the form of powder dissolved in water or mixed with food or packaged in capsules. Use a flour mill hand not change the chemical composition of roots.

Standard Quantities: empty capsules may contain 200-500mg of powder or plant roots.
1-Fill the capsules with powder and close. Store in a jar of tinted glass.


Poultice
Even using the compress but with fresh whole plant boiled. Squeeze out the excess liquid and place it (stick with a gauze bandage) on the affected area, after having greased the skin with a little oil so it does not stick.
Decoction
More concentrated than the infusion. Heat over low heat 1 hour.


Syrup
Keeps with honey or unrefined sugar (also infusions and decoctions).

Standard quantities: 500ml infusion or decoction with 500g honey or unrefined sugar.
1-Heat in a saucepan. Add honey or sugar and stir until dissolved.
2-Cool. Pour into a bottle smoked glass. Close with cork (the syrup ferments do not use a metal cap).


Cream
Prepared at home, will keep for several months, and even longer if stored in a pantry or refrigerator and a few drops of tincture of benzoin, which acts as a preservative.

Standard quantities: 150g emulsifying base with 70ml of glycerin with 80ml water and 30g of dried plant.
1-Mix the fat and water in a bowl over a pan of boiling water or in a water bath, add the plant and boil gently for 3 hours.
2-Filter through cheesecloth attached to the edge of a mill over a bowl. Stir constantly until cool.
3-Using a small palette fill glass jars starting with tinted edges and ending with the center.


Ointment
An ointment contains only oils or butters, and the inverse of a cream, it does not fit in the skin, but remains in its surface layer.

Standard quantities: 500g oil/butter with 60g of dried plant.
1-Put the fat in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or in a water bath, add the plant stir and heat for 2 hours.
2-Filter through cheesecloth attached to the edge of a glass container holding the residue.
3-Put on rubber gloves and press firmly the hot mixture into the muslin. 4-Quickly pour the mixture filtered, still warm and soft in colored glass jars and refrigerate.


Compress
Used to accelerate the healing of wounds or muscle disease, a compress is simply a piece of cloth soaked in warm herbal extract (an infusion, decoction or tincture diluted in water) and applied to the affected area ; cold, it is sometimes used against headaches.


Massage Oil
Mix one or more essential oils with oil or sweet almond oil, wheat germ or sunflower (5-10 drops of essential oil to 20ml of base oil). Make in small quantities to the conserve properties.
EMERGENCY KIT EMERGENCY KIT

Lavender oil
Thyme oil
Oil Balsam Fir*
Marigold cream
Arnica cream**
Comfrey ointment
Garlic & Onions
Candied Ginger
Feverfew flowers
Verbena officinalis
Pepper mint (leaves)
Aloe (plant)
Tablet of Echinacea

*Infection of the respiratory tract, mucosal inflammation (flu, bronchitis), skin ulcers, cuts and burns, relieves rheumatism, nerve and muscle pain.
**Potent anti-inflammatory (sprain, strain, contusion).
Note: Although herbal remedies are harmless against light domestic conditions, it is recommended in cases of persistent or serious disorders, and pregnancy, consult a specialized practitioner: a herbalist. Like any excess has consequences, use medicinal plants in moderation.
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