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If the "covid crisis" should have taught us anything it should be that at some point in time, those of us who think for themselves, who aren't willing to subjugate ourselves WILL BE LOCKED OUT OF CONVENTIONAL medicine. "Take this experimental clot shot or granny will die!" guilt trip became "take this experimental clot shot or LOSE YOUR JOB" or lose access to conventional medical facilities.
Now more than ever, being able to do everything you can to take care of yourself is important. I've always been interested in more natural healing methods but honestly had not put a lot of serious effort into learning some of this. As a survivalist there is always something more to learn, something more to study and try to develop actual knowledge and experience with. Don't tell nobody but that's the real reason I'm a survivalist... the love of knowledge! But I might get my survivalist man card pulled for saying I'm not expecting the world to end every fifteen minutes.
The thing with herbal medicines is that it's a little different than conventional medicine i.e, "I have X symptom and doc gave me Y pill so the symptoms would subside." It's different than that. The body is looked at as a whole system and (usually) treated as such. For example- hitting this Elderberry tincture once a day won't honestly do a boatload for me if I'm eating garbage, sitting on my butt not getting any movement or sunshine in, etc.
Last year or so I've been starting to eat better, buying less crap, expanding garden areas, starting a greenhouse, etc. These two are essential parts of the approach. To date, we have to yet to experience the "food recall of the week" situation because our eggs are clean, our arugula, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc. have not experienced a recall involving a migrant picker wiping his butt then picking our food- it's odd I know in this day of "food recall of the week" situations.
Herbal tinctures are a way to extract the medicinal qualities out of a specific herb. For this post example I took some pics of some Elderberry tincture I started recently. Elderberry has long been prized for fighting flu and in general for it's immune boosting abilities. It's also very easy to grow and found fairly easily in this area of the Southeast. We had a very thick Elderberry growing up in the midst of some figs we planted back around 2008 or so- we harvested a ton of elderberries from it this year. Remember to be careful WHERE you pick Elderberries from- the side of the road might be abundant with them, but do you really want plants from the side of the road where they are living in gas and diesel fumes and exhaust? Yeah, I would check elsewhere. And of course like any foraging, be sure you know what your getting. At the very minimum snap a pic and upload the pic to a google search to confirm, then try just a smidge of it first.
You can buy live plants of Elderberry most likely at a decent nursery as well as online. I started four this year in a dedicated herb patch in one of the garden areas. Other herbs that liked some shade were planted under these as the Elderberries will shade them as they grow up. I opted for the grown your own route to know for 100% certain what the plant was, as well as having some always "near by" which is an advantage. Since the herbs are in one of the garden areas, as I'm picking a few vegetables for lunch and getting some eggs, I grab a few ready to go herbs
Along with the omelet for lunch ingredients, there are some elderberries upfront near the bell peppers, then some catnip for the kids and in the back some Echinacea flowers.
The fresh berries are edible but there are cautions about not eating too many fresh ones, evidently some folks get the poopies from that, not puppies, pooopies :) We add a few of the fresh berries in with homemade bread we make 3X a week, adding some additional nutrition and medicine into our normal food. This little amount baked into bread has never been an issue for us.
You can also buy already dried elderberries from sources on Amazon or online.
Tinctures are relatively easy to make. You'll need some vodka, a mason jar or two with a lid and the dried (or fresh) herb. Dried is easiest to start out with.
The Svedka vodka shown is probably the lowest cost I would do for normal tinctures. I've seen people talk about cheaper ones in plastic bottles, stick to glass if you can- your doing this for your health after all right?
So you can get all "science tistic" with the measurement or not so much- easiest method is just to fill the jar to near the top with the dried herb, then pour the vodka in to the top also. Cap it, shake it a whole bunch, then you'll probably find the liquid level is a bit low- take the top off and add a little more vodka. I've noticed depending on the type of herb, some seem to "soak up" the Vodka more than others- like Ginger, peppermint. I guess they are lushes :)
So cap the now mixed contents, make a quick label with today's date and what herb it is and set it to the side for 4-6 weeks. TRY to remember to shake it a little bit every day or three to further mix the contents although I admit most people tell you they forget sometimes and I know I have...
At the end of 4-6 weeks you could if you were so inclined simply drink it in small sips from the jar. Kinda like "cowboy coffee" i.e, campfire coffee where you get the little bits of coffee grounds in your teeth therefore you kinda keep your teeth a little closed... Or you can buy some dropper bottles and bottle it. Also super simple, I show that in the next post.
If you do ANYTHING with herbals, I would recommend at least make up some elderberry tincture as well as some Echinacea tincture- both immune boosters, both good for flu and other issues.
Next post I'll do some bottling and post some pics of that, also super simple thankfully.
Now more than ever, being able to do everything you can to take care of yourself is important. I've always been interested in more natural healing methods but honestly had not put a lot of serious effort into learning some of this. As a survivalist there is always something more to learn, something more to study and try to develop actual knowledge and experience with. Don't tell nobody but that's the real reason I'm a survivalist... the love of knowledge! But I might get my survivalist man card pulled for saying I'm not expecting the world to end every fifteen minutes.
The thing with herbal medicines is that it's a little different than conventional medicine i.e, "I have X symptom and doc gave me Y pill so the symptoms would subside." It's different than that. The body is looked at as a whole system and (usually) treated as such. For example- hitting this Elderberry tincture once a day won't honestly do a boatload for me if I'm eating garbage, sitting on my butt not getting any movement or sunshine in, etc.
Last year or so I've been starting to eat better, buying less crap, expanding garden areas, starting a greenhouse, etc. These two are essential parts of the approach. To date, we have to yet to experience the "food recall of the week" situation because our eggs are clean, our arugula, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc. have not experienced a recall involving a migrant picker wiping his butt then picking our food- it's odd I know in this day of "food recall of the week" situations.
Herbal tinctures are a way to extract the medicinal qualities out of a specific herb. For this post example I took some pics of some Elderberry tincture I started recently. Elderberry has long been prized for fighting flu and in general for it's immune boosting abilities. It's also very easy to grow and found fairly easily in this area of the Southeast. We had a very thick Elderberry growing up in the midst of some figs we planted back around 2008 or so- we harvested a ton of elderberries from it this year. Remember to be careful WHERE you pick Elderberries from- the side of the road might be abundant with them, but do you really want plants from the side of the road where they are living in gas and diesel fumes and exhaust? Yeah, I would check elsewhere. And of course like any foraging, be sure you know what your getting. At the very minimum snap a pic and upload the pic to a google search to confirm, then try just a smidge of it first.
You can buy live plants of Elderberry most likely at a decent nursery as well as online. I started four this year in a dedicated herb patch in one of the garden areas. Other herbs that liked some shade were planted under these as the Elderberries will shade them as they grow up. I opted for the grown your own route to know for 100% certain what the plant was, as well as having some always "near by" which is an advantage. Since the herbs are in one of the garden areas, as I'm picking a few vegetables for lunch and getting some eggs, I grab a few ready to go herbs
Along with the omelet for lunch ingredients, there are some elderberries upfront near the bell peppers, then some catnip for the kids and in the back some Echinacea flowers.
The fresh berries are edible but there are cautions about not eating too many fresh ones, evidently some folks get the poopies from that, not puppies, pooopies :) We add a few of the fresh berries in with homemade bread we make 3X a week, adding some additional nutrition and medicine into our normal food. This little amount baked into bread has never been an issue for us.
You can also buy already dried elderberries from sources on Amazon or online.
Tinctures are relatively easy to make. You'll need some vodka, a mason jar or two with a lid and the dried (or fresh) herb. Dried is easiest to start out with.
The Svedka vodka shown is probably the lowest cost I would do for normal tinctures. I've seen people talk about cheaper ones in plastic bottles, stick to glass if you can- your doing this for your health after all right?
So you can get all "science tistic" with the measurement or not so much- easiest method is just to fill the jar to near the top with the dried herb, then pour the vodka in to the top also. Cap it, shake it a whole bunch, then you'll probably find the liquid level is a bit low- take the top off and add a little more vodka. I've noticed depending on the type of herb, some seem to "soak up" the Vodka more than others- like Ginger, peppermint. I guess they are lushes :)
So cap the now mixed contents, make a quick label with today's date and what herb it is and set it to the side for 4-6 weeks. TRY to remember to shake it a little bit every day or three to further mix the contents although I admit most people tell you they forget sometimes and I know I have...
At the end of 4-6 weeks you could if you were so inclined simply drink it in small sips from the jar. Kinda like "cowboy coffee" i.e, campfire coffee where you get the little bits of coffee grounds in your teeth therefore you kinda keep your teeth a little closed... Or you can buy some dropper bottles and bottle it. Also super simple, I show that in the next post.
If you do ANYTHING with herbals, I would recommend at least make up some elderberry tincture as well as some Echinacea tincture- both immune boosters, both good for flu and other issues.
Next post I'll do some bottling and post some pics of that, also super simple thankfully.