Hello herbalists!
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the never ending tasks before you?
I certainly do! Often.
Harvesting herbs and formulating teas is the most fun a homesteading herbalist like myself can have. Back when I was selling my products in town I was really on top of the organization and cleanliness of my herbal apothecary. In the past year or so I have scaled back and focused on my own health and making remedies for my family & close friends. As a result my apothecary has been a bit neglected. Still, that is no reason to let my apothecary go from sacred to messy. Time for a change!
In this video, I take you along in the journey of cleaning up my apothecary, bottling tinctures, making herbal lotion, and brewing a cup of ginkgo tea.
Speaking of herbal lotion, here is my preferred lavender lotion recipe, measured by grams as I alluded to in the video:
- Using a base oil of sweet almond, I filled a jar which I had sterilized by boiling it for 10 minutes along with the lid, 1/4 of the way with dried lavender flowers (leaves could also be included, in my opinion). Then I poured over the almond oil until nearly full leaving about an inch of space in case the lavender soaks up the oil and rises, then screw in the lid on tight. This oil should macerate in a dark, cool place for a month
After a month has passed it is time to separate the lavender from the oil with a strainer of a cloth bag. I happened to have lavender oil already on hand so I went straight to this recipe which yields one jar and can be double, tripled, or multiplied as needed.
I slowly melted 15 grams of beeswax in a bowl which was heated using a double boiler method.
Then I added 30 grams of distilled water and 10 grams of the lavender infused oil.
I turned off the flame so that that whole preparation stayed warm but wasn't getting any hotter and took out hand mixer. Only the lowest setting is slowly dipped the mixer into the bowl and was amazed at how the previously separate wax, oil, and water started to form a cream within seconds!
While the lotion was still slightly warm I scooped it out and filled my sterilized jar.
Because there are no preservatives and the lotion is mostly water, this should last 6 months in a cool, dark cupboard.
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