Let's Talk About: Tinctures, Elixirs, and Cordials

Tincture corner of my herb shelf, A. Shehan

I love herbs, and I also enjoy alcohol. You dedicated readers know for sure that I adore honey...so I generally do my best to combine those three ingredients in as many forms as possible.

My cabinets are full of jars, and those jars are full of strange floating bits in colored liquid. It makes me feel my most witchy to open that cabinet and bring out strange brews to share with friends.  I have many jars that are medicine, and jars that are for fun, and jars that are a bit of both.

Tinctures are medicinal extracts of herbs in alcohol. Some folks use moonshine and other high-test likkers for their tinctures, but I tend to use a medium-brand, triple-distilled vodka so I don't have to dilute the tincture until it's ingested.  If you aren't into vodka, a nice brandy is a good alternative.

The process for making a tincture is simple:

Get an herb, fresh or dried.
Put said herb into a jar.
Pour alcohol to cover the herb.
Put a lid on it, and give it a good shake every now and again
Strain after 3-6 weeks and label clearly.

Now, tinctures are potent!  When you take tinctures, please do a lot of research if you are dosing yourself, or find a practiced herbalist to give you guidance.  Some tinctures, such as poke root or teasel, only need a couple of drops per day to be effective and more than that can cause you harm.

Elixirs are the sweetened version of those alcohol-expressed medicines.  I tend to make "sipping" elixirs out of the more tasty herb tinctures.  These can almost cross the line into cordials, which while they may have medicinal benefits, are mostly just for pleasure.  The sharp tang of elderberry cordial is lovely, but I try to save it for when I'm feeling sick.  To use an elixir, just pour a bit into your hot tea, or into a brandy snifter to sip on for a while.

Then there are the less-than-tasty herbal medicines...adding sweetener to the more bitter or astringent herb tinctures can make ingesting them a more palatable experience, especially with kids.  Valerian and Horehound are good examples of herbs that can use a splash of honey to cut their bitter strength!

Elixirs are easy to make:

You can start out with a tincture and add a simple syrup (recipe below).  Add the cooled syrup to tincture in small bits, then shake the mix to blend it, and then taste.  If it isn't right, add more and taste again!  Be careful, these are meant to be sipped as they are still potent medicine, and this sweetening and tasting process can get you loopy.

Simple Syrup:
Boil one cup of water.
Add two cups of sugar (or 1.5 cup of honey, or agave, or whatever you prefer!)
Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and remove from heat.
Allow to cool.

Otherwise, you can use the lazy method. Pour a dollop of honey into a strained tincture and give it a shake.  It works, but it ends up being super sticky and thick compared to the simple syrup process described above.

I hope that helps to demystify some of the process and allow you to play around with your Junior Alchemist kit in your kitchen, and have another way to use your herb harvest before the final frost takes it from you!

Cordials and Tinctures, 2011, Amber Shehan

Here are some cordials and tinctures that I have in the works.  All of these are in 40% vodka.

In the back, we have Cranberry cordial.  I buy cranberries when they go on sale every holiday season, and freeze them if I don't use them immediately.  This jar has been full for close to a year, and will remain there until the berries have lost a bit more color to the alcohol.  Then there will be a sugar syrup added (perhaps brown sugar this year) and it will sit and settle until Thanksgiving or Christmas.  

Clockwise, we next have goldenrod tincture.  Goldenrod will have his own post soon, so I'll move on to the next little jar.

Yarrow was a strong sister plant for me this year.  She sprang up tall and magnificent from the patch I prepared and transplanted her the first year I lived here.  The fronds on this plant were humongous, and her flowers plentiful! Yarrow tincture is good for keeping insects at bay when applied externally, and is an amazing wound cleaner as well.  She'll be handy to keep around for next spring.

Lemon Balm, Sweet Melissa, fills out the next jar with her flat, wide leaves.  I crushed them with my fingers as I put them in the jar, to release her lemony, sharp oils.  This plant is excellent for anxiety, depression, any emotional rollercoasters and overwhelming dizziness can be slowed down by a couple drops in water and a couple of deep breaths.

Lastly, we have valerian and mint.  Some folks can't stand the smell of Valerian, but I'm quite fond of it.  The mint is there to make it palatable, sure, but it also has it's own benefits in the realm of gas relief and relaxation.  In a couple of weeks, I'll strain that jar and add some honey to the tincture and shake it together for a tonic cordial.  My delicate-tummied love sometimes ends up unable to sleep at night with gut pains keeping him awake...but after one good slug of valerian and mint cordial, there's a couple of burps and then a symphony of snores!

This is my last fresh-harvest hurrah for the season.  This week, I'll be making tasty treats using the elixir method with rum instead of vodka, and leftover apple peels that would otherwise be discarded.  Winter is nigh, and I'm set on having plenty of tasty, warming medicines to get me and my loved ones through!

A Pixies Pocket Honey Giveaway!

Image by Modern Scribe Photography

Thank You, dear readers!

As many of you may realize,  I have been moving my infused honey shop from it's longtime home at Etsy to it's very own webpage. 

I made a Facebook fan page for the new website.  I told my followers there that when I reached 100 "Likes," I would present the first ever giveaway on my little ole blog!

So, thank you...

You did it, and here we are!

The Pixies Pocket Honey Giveaway on Swamp Pixie Herbal!!!

The lucky winner will receive:

• 4oz jar of Pixie's Pocket infused honey, your choice!

• 1 oz dried yarrow flowers and leaf, harvested from my own chemical free, native yarrow plant.  For more info, visit my listing on Poppyswap.com.

• 1 oz dried spearmint from my chemical-free garden, strong and refreshing!  Click to read more about the joys of Mint.

• An assortment of fine teas: You need SOMETHING to put that honey into, right?

•  An exclusive coupon code for 20% off of your next purchase from PixiesPocket.com!

• Also? Surprises. And who doesn't love surprises?

How to enter:

Visit Pixies Pocket.com and check out the current product selection.  Return to this post, and leave me a comment telling me which honey flavor you want a chance to try! 

Earn extra chances to win by doing the following, and leave a comment for each to let me know you did so.  If you have already been following my social media, you can comment too. I appreciate you!

• Following me on Twitter

• Liking my Facebook page

• Signing up for my mailing list

I will choose a random winner to be announced on next Friday, September 9, 2011! 

Share! Repost! Retweet! Repeat!

May and June 2011 Growing Update...

Lavender in May, Image by MSP

Ok, so we put our tomatoes out way too early...but we were given leggy tomato starts early in the season, and they just couldn't make it indoors anymore!

Unfortunately, only the 2 Oregon Spring tomatoes look like they'll do anything - the 3 remaining are miserable, and we already lost one of the Cherokee Purples. *sigh*  Oh well, we have new tomato babies waiting to take their places!

Tomatoes:
1 Cherokee Purple
2 Oregon Spring
1 Anna Russian
1 Jeune Flaume

We also put into the dirt near the tomatoes an onion that had sprouted in our pantry, as well as fennel seeds that are sprouting beautifully...we've amended the clay with sand and some nice chunky soil, but it still hardens on the surface and pools the water. *also sigh*

In pots, we have:

Aci peppers - Capsicum annuum, 'Aci Sivri' is an old Turkish variety that can be mild to burning hot, can produce up to fifty 5-9 inch cayenne-shaped fruits per plant. They are currently bursting into flower...we are super excited!


Also in our front yard, we have a pallet that has been filled with good soil and we used as a sort of raised bed for herbs and shallow rooted plants like lettuces.  In this lovely garden grows:

Our lovely lettuces - Image by Modern Scribe Photography

Comfrey - she returned from last year! Huzzah! Poultices and oils and salves there shall be!

Lemon Balm - a lovely clump that is quickly spreading, oh, sweet Melissa, you are delicious.

Soapwort - she overwintered in the house, and is now growing merrily. I haven't played much with her yet, and will update when I do...we are new to each other.

Motherwort - given to me by a friend last year, she lived outside in a pot all winter. I assumed I had killed her, until spring began and small leaves broke the soil. She is now blooming!  I love Motherwort!

Spearmint - happy, vibrant, green and icy, sweet spearmint was purchased at the 2011 Asheville Herb Festival and has quickly taken hold of the soil and is an astoundingly healthy plant.

Corsican Mint - this tiny-leaved clump looks more like a moss. This mint is sweet and potent, and is the flavor used to make Creme De Menthe.  It makes a fabulous groundcover for scented walkways.

Lettuce - This has been a wonderful experiment for us...once we got rid of the groundhog, that is.

Another little sunny, dry plot in the center of our front yard has yielded some results from last year:

Lavender - she's up, happy, a lovely green, and spouting out a ton of new stems and starting to flower now that is it June! Yay!
 

Yarrow in May, Image by MSP

Marigolds - these spreading masses have returned and are bound to be lovely in summer and fall.

Yarrow - there's a bit here that I got last year, mislabeled as Chamomile! Ah well, yarrow is my new best friend and I can't get enough of her. Which is good. Keep reading.

The Iris -  My husband's mother sent us a box of bulbs last fall whose lineage can be traced back to three or four greats on the matrilineal side. Only one bulb made it, and it's foliage is gorgeous, but it hasn't bloomed yet. I can't wait to see what color she is!

In the kitchen window:

Basil - crazy, hasty, excited, healthy basil. I foresee pesto in our future....

Parsley - a couple made it through the basil, and will likely have to live outside before long.

Thyme - fought past the basil and parsley, and we are excited!

We've got seedlings started:

Cucumbers - going into their new big home tomorrow (container gardening)
Golden Watermelon - they are gorgeous, and getting bigger!
Pimiento Peppers - FAILURE!  They just didn't come up!

We've put dirt into tubs in the yard.  Inside that dirt lay some seeds:

Golden Beets - all died after too much sun and heat when their lid got left on. *sigh*
Black Radishes - they are struggling, but coming up! We should have three radishes if we are lucky!
Bunching Onions - again...this heat surprised us. We fried these guys too...

On our lower lot, there is a strip of nice dirt along our stone wall which is home to:

Yarrow - this one was transplanted from elsewhere in our yard.  It grows here as a native, it is strong, resilient, and higher than my knees!  I will likely be selling/trading a lot of yarrow this year as I have more than our household's needs require.

Violets - as I mentioned earlier this spring, I received violet rhizomes from freecycle. These beauties have taken over their patch of dirt, and I have violet flower tincture and have been consuming flowers and leaves all spring. *happy sigh*

Wormwood - Artemisia is new to my garden, although I am familiar with her shady history. I have three lovely plants that are big and hearty and will make flea powder and maybe even some infused vodka in the style of absinthe (true Absinthe is distilled, and I don't have a copper kettle OR coil).

In the wilds of our yard, the hillside is pushing up the baby Evening Primrose.  The blackberry brambles have dropped their flowers and are rich with green berry-babies.  Yarrow, burdock, red clover, and other useful nummy plants are weaving up through the warming soil.

Gosh, but I love Spring!  Summer, here we come!

Circle and Circle and Circles again...

Candler in Spring, by Modern Scribe Photography

What a month it has been...camping, festivals, dear friends visiting my home and looking to put down roots in these sweet mountains.  There's been patterns woven, and circles coming 'round to completion. It makes me feel grounded, centered, and in tune with the world around me.

A part of being in tune with your world means walking in a balance between life and death.  There is never one without the other; life feeds on life feeds on life, and all life feeds on death to continue...you cannot have one without the other, and it is not something to be feared, in my book.

Life is beautiful:  I will be putting seeds into the earth tomorrow.  Peas and carrots, an onion that sprouted in my cabinets, some potatoes that decided to grow in my pantry.  I will watch these sprout, but will bring a difficult part for me...

Death is certain:  Of those seedlings that grow, some will die by my own hands as I thin the eventual green haze of fresh sprouts. I will be squashing bugs whose crime is only that they live, and want to consume the same leafy goodness that I wish to consume, and my only right is that I am larger. 

Life is astounding: My yard is bringing up it's own bounty: Yarrow, Violets, Dandelions, Sorrels, Heal-all, Clover, Plantain...last year's green friends are coming back: Chamomile, Comfrey, Marigolds, Lavender, and my Shehan Family Iris!

Death is sustaining: Our neighbor's yard is full of chickens, and a trio of goats who love to visit us at the fence to beg for scratch corn or tender honeysuckle vines.  The chickens there will soon have a coop, but until then, are relatively at the mercy of local foxes, and we often find a mostly fox-consumed chicken carcass being pecked at by the other chickens. Never forget, these egg-givers are tiny, feathered dinosaurs! 

Life is sweet:  And so is a yard full of clover and sweet green grass for our own two chickens to nibble on.  As of late, we've been letting them out of the pen to wander the yard for a bit while we clean out the coop and tend to our plants on the lower lot.  They have been having delicious dust baths and scratching through our compost, turning it and eating bugs and clucking merrily!

Death is merciful:  But the other day, as I stumbled down the hill to feed the chickens, feverish and barely awake, I noticed only one chicken freaking out as usual over her pending dinner.  I let her out, and peered into the coop to find the other biddie standing, puffed up and panting.  She wouldn't come out, but let me lift her out.  I could tell she wasn't in a good way, but wasn't sure what was wrong until I looked at her behind...without going into details, I can say that I knew quickly that the only cure I could give my poor egg-providing friend was a quick death.

Now, I've fished, and I've hunted squirrel. I've insisted upon knowing what it is to kill in order to consume - again, that balance of life and death.  But never before had I caused a creature to die by my own hands that I did not intend to consume, or for the sake of mercy.  It is far more difficult than one might imagine. 

Angel the Goat by MSP

Life is Changing:  More and more people are turning to the earth to provide for them, tilling their yards for garden space, picketing their city to allow urban chickens, and lacking that, supporting local farm markets.  I applaud the effort, and want to remind people about rain barrels, and compost bins, and container gardening, and encourage folks to jump in and TRY new things...it's the only way to learn.

Death is Change:  Next time you throw something into your compost bin, think about HOW it breaks down...your useless, discarded food bits and lawn clippings feed the happy little bacteria that consume, defecate, and thereby create fertilizer for the food that you will eat.  I will watch the plot of earth that covers the buried body of my chicken friend and see how bright the grass grows, and watch her death feed the earth.  I will throw squished bugs to the other chicken as I tend my plants, and watch her grow strong from their death.

We are all part of life, and all part of death. 

The greater circle encompasses us all, man, woman, fish, fowl, hooved, winged, whatever...

find your place and your center and grow from there. 

What's Coming Up in my Garden?

Spring is close...everyone that I see is big-footed and falling over themselves in a state of twitterpation. We had a lovely, loud rolling thunderstorm last week that must have woke up the snakes, and the goats who live next door reek of rut.  There was snow and rain all at the same time yesterday, and the roosters are losing their ever-loving minds...Spring must be near with all of those signs...

Last week was warm and lovely, a tease to make me cringe these ice-coated mornings of late. I woke on Wednesday and was go, go, going all day!  My housemate and I went down to our lower lot to do some maintenance to the area ignored during winter weather nastiness.

Biddy, June 2010, Modern Scribe Photography

The lower lot is where the chickens live, and since their pen and coop needed a serious raking and cleaning, we let the biddies run around the yard on their own for the first time since we've had them.  I get nervous because there are foxes and hawks, but I am glad that we let them free for a while. They were overjoyed, just a-scratching merrily, trimming grass and bug-hunting. We added new straw to their coop after dumping the old litter into the compost and turning it over for the first time this year - oh lovely, tumbling black dirt! It does my heart good to see such simple beauty.

While the hens kept themselves entertained, Sarah and I raked out the planting bed from last year.  The old dead grass gave way without a struggle in the damp earth, and the baby plants there were easily removed to give room to the clumps of yarrow bursting forth like vivid, ferny fireworks.  I transplanted some wild yarrow from elsewhere in the yard last spring, and now that it's had a year to settle, she sure has taken happy root in that well-draining spot!  I look forward to the smoke blends, the tea, and the tinctures that sweet and potent yarrow will be sharing with me this next season's turn.

There's also a new friend who will be sharing space with the yarrow this year.  Since I've left the swamp, I've missed the giant violets that filled my yard near the creek (read: drainage ditch).  On the local FreeCycle, someone posted about free violet rhizomes, and I jumped at the chance!  I picked up the plastic potato bag full of rhizomes and root clumps and skeedaddled back home like a kid with candy...so when we cleared the garden bed and turned over the soil, we planted the violet rhizomes under the sweet-smelling earth and after only a couple of days, I see heart shaped little leaves lifting up towards the sun, and there is one bud just waiting for a bit of warmth to bust!

It's the strange clock dance of Daylight Savings Time this weekend coming up...all I care about is playing in the widening expanse of sunlight in these warming days. Blessings and warm rain to you all!

October marches in...

Photo by Modern Scribe Photography

Cold and windy, dark and ominous, October is marching in, leaving muddy tracks on my carpet to mix with the windblown leaves.

I've been away from this blog and my shop for much of the warm months. I've been delving into gardening, raising chickens, working full time hours outside of the home, drumming, socializing, and altogether being a happy and busy bee.

Now the cold is returning, and bringing with it my nesting instincts. I'm ready to clean and create. So far this fall, I've put away some applesauce and pie filling after picking at Stepp Orchard in Hendersonville, NC. I have one jar of peelings soaking in rum, and another in vodka, for making cordials. I have a jar of spiced vodka infusing in my cupboard as well.

I'm eying the plants outside to prioritize the autumnal harvest...the burdock is dying back and after the first frost, can dig up his root for eating and pickling, oh, and the chicory, too.  The primrose is bright with flowers, and I've been pulling leaves of yarrow for drying.  We have a big jar of dried shitake mushrooms, and I'll soon be getting some pumpkins for carving, roasting seeds, and making pumpkin butter and pies.

We have recently used an extra bit of canvas to create a wind block for the chicken coop. The biddies are all fluffy and feathered out as the days get colder. They are happy, healthy, and producing well! Our first winter in caring for them is coming, and I'm confident we'll all make it through with all of our toes.


Enjoy this crisp season of woodsmoke, chill wind, and rustling leaves. I'll be in better touch with all you folks out there.

Learning about Native Appalachian Plants and Herbs

Amber by Modern Scribe Photography

Howdy, everyone...I hope Spring's been keeping you as joyfully busy as it's been keeping me! Between building the chicken coop, filling honey orders, and jumping on the trampoline, I've been keeping the growing things tended.

Oh, yes...I've been exploring and cultivating my yard like a thing possessed... since I last checked in:

~We've succeeded in moving decorative boxwoods from the only flat, sunny, well-draining spot in the front yard up to the top of a ridge to help combat the erosion there. Sarah and I got all scratched up and dirty and sweaty and happy while accomplishing that task.

~We broke up the soil in the newly cleared spot (about 4x5) and added some composted cow manure and sand, and worked it into the clay. While pulling out weeds and roots and rock, we saw more worms than I could count! They are certainly welcome guests. May they continue to grow and prosper here!

~We transplanted our tomato starts into that new place - a Cherokee Purple, a Jeune Flame, and two Oregon Spring tomato plants. We made cages for the bushy plants and stakes for the climbers. They all seem to be doing well, but the Oregon Spring tomatoes are a little slower than the Cherokee Purple and the Jeune Flame, who are flowering to beat the band.

In the House of Herbs Greenhouse by Modern Scribe Photo.

~We got a Crookneck Squash, an Old Timey Kentucky Pumpkin, and a Pickling Cucumber vine from House of Herbs here in Candler, North Carolina. They are thriving and we already have a squash starting to swell! I did the happy dance when I saw it, and ran inside to tell the whole household. They know I'm a dork and love me anyways!

~The other side of our front porch also has good drainage, and gets mostly dappled sunlight and shade due to the ornamental cherry trees that shield that side of the house.  This is where I've decided to relocate our pallet-bed...the spot where I put it initially was too sunny and wind-blown. One quadrant of the bed has some struggling spinach coming up, and one little lettuce sprout. I think they've been too warm and dry, but they may do better in their new home.

~In the second quadrant of the pallet-bed, we have some freshly transplanted Basil seedlings, and a healthy and happy Oregano plant. I've also planted a Comfrey plant that I got from House of Herbs.

~Also on the herbal front, there are some happily growing peppermint plants and soapwort plants in pots on the porch, as they are both rather invasive. I've planted a native Elderberry bush and it is thriving on the hill under the Oak tree's dappled shade, and we have a German Chamomile and White Lavender plants in full sun alongside the Chrysanthemum that I thought had died last fall, but is now starting to make quite a show.

Pisgah Waterfall by Modern Scribe Photography

~Wildcrafting: So far this spring, I've learned quite a bit about native plants of the Appalachians. I've correctly identified Trillium, Mayapple, Wild Ginger, and Umbrella tree while slipping and sliding and busting my butt climbing around the wild slopes and waterfalls of the Pisgah National Forest. I think that I also saw Solomon's Seal and Bloodroot, but I'm not 100% and will bring a book next time!

Bee, Closeup - by Modern Scribe Photography

~Even just while wandering our yard, I've identified:
Cinquefoil (Rough-fruited or Sulfur Cinquefoil, another "noxious weed" with medicinal uses. Stay Tuned for more.)
Red Clover (stay tuned for more)
Ox-eye Daisy
Dock, both Curly Leafed and otherwise
Wild Yarrow (Milfoil)
Bittersweet Nightshade
Plantain (stay tuned for more)
Japanese Honeysuckle (Invasive! I've trimmed it back quite a bit, and plan to use the flowers to flavor a wine) 
Dandelion (which is now a mead brewing)
Wild Blackberries (smells so sweet!)

So if I'm too muddy, tired, and sunbaked to blog about it as often as I did before, bear with me...I'll keep you posted as often I can!