During the latest herbal drugs workshop I attended, the primary herb the instructor discussed was Bee Balm. Monarda Didyma (crimson flowering) and Monarda Fistulosa (lavender flowering) bee balm, saponin extract or wild bergamot, she stated, is an invaluable addition to a medicinal herb backyard. She started her discuss holding her single sheet of typed notes at arm’s size, she had forgotten her studying glasses… a member of the class loaned her a pair and she laughingly remarked, “Oh, I DID write this in English!”
Bee balm is great for herbal extract treating systemic candida (yeast infections, thrush, impetigo, mouth ulcers, sore throat, diaper rash) and can also be good for shortly treating burns (by adding saliva and using as a compress on the burned space).
Lavender flowering bee balm (Monarda Fistulosa)
To make a tincture of bee balm, saponin extract she really helpful utilizing the top third of the plant and to tincture it in brandy rather than vodka or EverClear… why? as a result of bee balm would not need a big percentage of alcohol to acquire the medicinal tincture (though if all you have is vodka, it is perfectly acceptable to use), the top product is better tasting utilizing brandy.
In herbal terminology “tincturing” is the method of constructing an herbal extract by steeping floor herb in a liquid “menstruum” (the “solvent” or “liquid” portion of a tincture, often alcohol)… usually at a 1:5 ratio (one part dried herb to 5 elements menstruum, contemporary herb tinctures are extra difficult because of the differing quantities of water in numerous herbs)… an incredible e book with “recipes” for herbal tinctures is Making Plant Medicine by Richo Cech.
When you get the bottom herb combined with the menstruum (a canning jar is perfect for mixing tinctures) you merely set it in a cool, dark place and give it a shake as soon as a day for a number of weeks, strain it out and decant into amber glass bottles, preferably with a dropper lid on high.
Robin McGee (herbalist instructor) beneficial (with a huge grin on her face and a mischievous twinkle in her eyes) shaking the mixture daily and singing to it… she calls it PFM… (Pure Freakin’ Magic)
For making salves for topical use, the herb is steeped in an excellent quality oil (olive is great) for several weeks, then beeswax is added to thicken.
Red flowering bee balm (Monarda Didyma)
Bee balm also has the added advantage of attracting bees to your garden, serving to with pollination… and we all know that good pollination makes for larger, higher, extra considerable crops!
Bee balm, of course, makes me consider bees… which takes me down one other department of my memory lanes…
When I used to be growing up, I was the oldest grandchild on my Mama’s facet (Mama was the oldest baby in her household)… so I had the enviable activity of watching out for all of the little cousins who descended on our house in the summer time when Mama and the aunts bought collectively to can, cook, paint rooms, or just go to. My two brothers and i were older than the little cousins by several years (we taught the little ones things, like how one can trip a bike, we pushed them on the massive tire swing, helped them catch crawdads in the creek or lightning bugs at dusk, watched out for them, teased them)… there was at all times a bunch of toddlers round and we seemed to have cornered the market on girls… one little boy cousin (my cousin Brad) amongst that gaggle of little ladies… they spent their time playing within the yard, riding Big Wheels, tricycles, bikes with coaching wheels… working, jumping, climbing… all people dressed in shorts and sleeveless tops, Nobody carrying sneakers… it was a cheerful, barefoot world… and there was all the time the possibility Somebody would step on a honeybee and the tears would begin… the one stung would cry, then some of the others would start in sympathy for the injured toddler…
The “medicine” available for bee stings? Well, if chewing tobacco was to be had, a giant wad of wet tobacco can be utilized to take the sting away…
