Recently I talked about gathering Jewelweed….hopefully some of you were able to find this wonderful plant. Now…what do we do with it? Come with me as I work up the Jewelweed that we gathered! In this post I will cover making a tincture and soon we will talk about oils and salves.
The first thing I did was to spread half of the Jewelweed out as thinly as possible. It took up 2 tables in our home. I used the other half to make a tincture, which we will talk about shortly.
Because I am using half of the Jewelweed to make an oil, my goal is to let it wilt a little so that we don’t have excess moisture in our plant when we work with it. This is imperative if you are going to be making an oil or salve with the plant. Jewelweed wilts very quickly so this won’t take long. Excess moisture in your plant material can cause mold to occur in your oil or salve.
Let’s go over how to make is a tincture. You can do this immediately after harvesting most plants (there are a few exceptions). We will need the plant material, glass jars, lids and 100 proof vodka. We can work up a tincture quicker than the oil – it will need to be a bit drier before we work with oil. Next step is to chop the plant material and put it into the canning jars. I use 1/2 gallon jars. Most people will not need that much but then you don’t have to deal with my son who gets poison ivy every time he goes outside….all year long! I usually try to tincture a gallon each summer. I also make enough so that I am able to give some of this away…invariably I will be at church or a meeting and there will be someone suffering terribly with poison ivy. I pour out a small bottle for them and send them on their way – they are always amazed at how quickly this works!
You want to fill your jars almost to the top but don’t pack the plant material down…just fill them loosely. I add Jewelweed until the plant material is just below the neck of the jar. Notice that the entire plant is in there….leaves, stems and flowers…this is important. Remember to take the top 15 inches of the plant (often called the aerial parts).
The next step is to cover the herbs with the vodka. I fill them until the vodka is just a hair below the rim of the jar. Then cap them with a lid and ring…you want an air tight top!
As you can see – the jar is loosely filled with Jewelweed and covered with vodka. Once I set this down (so I don’t spill it) I will add more vodka until it is at the very top of the jar.
Now…MAKE A LABEL!! Do not stop…do not pass go….do not sneeze….stop and make a label RIGHT NOW!!! If you don’t you will not know what you have and this tincture is poisonous if you ingest it….make a label! The label should contain the following information….name of herb, date, where gathered and your medium (100 proof vodka) and in the case of Jewelweed please remember to add that this is toxic and for external use only! So my label will read:
“Jewelweed, 100 proof vodka, 8/20/14, Gap Creek, DO NOT TAKE INTERNALLY!! POISONOUS!!”
The date is also vitally important because you don’t want to use this for 30 days.
The liquid in this tincture is going to turn a lovely red after 30 days….I have taken a picture (in the sunlight) of a finished tincture to show you, however, do not store your herbs, or herbal products, in the sunlight!
Isn’t it beautiful?
Now, you are going to put your tincture away in a dark cupboard or pantry for 30 days. If you are in the pantry for something else, give the jar a good shake. I tip mine over and back up a couple of times. If you forget to do this the world will not end…I promise!
You can begin using this in 30 days. I usually wait until I need it….then I pour out enough to fill a small brown bottle, which I also keep in my pantry. Label the small bottle just as you labeled the large jar! Once you have poured off enough from the large jar that it leaves part of the plant material showing, it is time to strain. You don’t want it to mold on you and ruin your product.
Take a stainless steel or ceramic strainer (no aluminum or plastic please!), line it with sterilized cheesecloth and place it in a stainless steel or ceramic bowl. Pour the entire contents into the strainer. Let the liquid flow through until all that is left in the cheesecloth is the plant material. Now, gather up that cloth and squeeze every drop of liquid you can from the plant…I often have one of my older boys come do this after I have had a go at it. Their hands are much larger and stronger than mine and I am amazed at how much more liquid they can squeeze out of something that I thought was dry!
Then you will place this wonderful liquid into a dark brown bottle. You can find these at Mountain Rose Herbs…there is a link in my sidebar. If you are making huge amounts, keep the extra liquid in large canning jars and place them where they aren’t exposed to light. However, you should still have a brown (or blue) bottle in which to keep the portion of tincture that you are currently using. REMEMBER TO LABEL ALL THE BOTTLES!!!
Congratulations…you just made the strongest form of herbal medicine there is…a tincture! Now…you may be asking…how do I use this? Remember….we do NOT ingest this tincture….we wash with it. If you have been out and even think you might have been in poison ivy….come home and wash all exposed skin with this….it helps break the bond of the urisol oil from your skin. If you break out with poison ivy, wash with this frequently during the day. For really stubborn patches, or large patches, I have soaked a cotton cloth with this and then placed it on Elijah’s arm and bandaged it into place. When it dries out I re-apply as necessary.
It has greatly shortened the length of an outbreak and the severity. What used to take weeks to resolve…now takes a week or less…sometimes just a few days for Elijah.
Let me know if ya’ll have any questions….soon we’ll talk about making a salve for poison ivy!
The Essential Herbalist 
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