Pantry Power—Plant Infusions That Heal and Help

Many enthusiasts enjoy several cups a day of their favorite herbal infusion, which is a large portion of herb brewed for at least four hours and perhaps as long as ten. I recommend placing one cup of the dried herb into a quart canning jar and filling it with freshly boiled water. After the steeping, strain with a nonmetallic type of strainer such as cheesecloth or bamboo. Herbal infusions can be made with the leaves and fruits, which provide the healing aspects of this type of comforting brew. Many favorite herbs from your kitchen garden contain minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals, including the list herein.

What do you need to attend in your life now? This list of herbs and associations can be your guide; one of the smartest ways to approach this methodology is to brew right before bedtime so you will awaken to a freshly infused herb. Some of the most popular herbs and fruits used to create infusions are as follows:

• Anise Seeds & Leaves: soothe cramps and aches
• Caraway Seeds: aid in romantic issues, help with colic
• Catnip Leaves: make women even more attractive
• Chamomile Flowers: help with sleep, good for abundance
• Dandelion Leaves: make wishes come true
• Echinacea: makes the body strong
• Ginseng Root: increases men’s vigor
• Nettle Leaves: lung function, hex breaking
• Peppermint Leaves: clearing tummy discomfort, cleansing
• Pine Needles: increase skin health as well as financial health
• Rose Hip Fruit: packed with vitamin C and can halt colds and flu
• Sage Leaves: purify energy, antibiotic
• Skullcap Leaves: prevent insomnia and soothe nerves
• St. John’s Wort Flowers: antidepressant
• Thyme Leaves: antiseptic, protectant
• Yarrow Flowers: reduce fever, bring courage and good luck

Make Your Own Herbal Vinegar

If you love everything about lavender, you may well want to create your own lavender vinegar. Many herbs make excellent vinegars, so pay attention to which ones especially appeal to you as you go about your gardening. The more herbs you pack into the jar, the higher the mineral content in your vinegar, which makes it more flavorful and healthful. Once you have your own apple cider vinegar or a premade organic variety you and your family love, pick an herb you know works for you and pack a quart canning jar as full of that herb as you can. Pour room temperature apple cider vinegar to cover, then cover it with paper and rubber bands and pop on a dark corner shelf for six weeks, giving the jar a shake once a week. At the end of the infusion period, strain out any remaining compostable twigs or stems. Store your herb vinegar in a colored bottle and add a pretty label. These make wonderful gifts, so I recommend you either create or acquire a set of labels for all your herbal brews.

Lavender Love Massage Bars

Massage bars should look, smell, and feel luxurious. Cocoa butter is beloved for its delicious chocolate scent. I also recommend shea butter or mango butter as other options, for they are also sumptuous. You will need:

• 3 ounces cocoa butter
• 3 ounces beeswax
• 3 ounces almond oil
• 1 teaspoon of lavender essential oil
• soap bar molds (available at all craft stores)

Slowly heat the beeswax, almond oil, and cocoa butter in a double boiler over low heat until just melted, then remove from heat. Add essential oil when mixture has cooled slightly and stir it in well. Pour into soap molds and cool until hardened, approximately two hours. Place in freezer for a few minutes before popping the bars out of the molds. To use, rub massage bar on the skin—the warmth of the skin immediately melts the bar. Package your handmade massage bar in a pretty lined basket and give it as a thoughtful gift.

Blissful Blend: Basil-Infused Oil

Infusions have regained popularity as a way of getting as much of the herb into oil as possible. This is a method of preparation that brings the flavors of one food, in this case, fresh herbs, to another, such as oil. Basil oil is unbelievably easy to make. You’ll need:

• 2 ounces fresh basil
• ¾ cup virgin olive oil (or you can use safflower oil or canola)

Ideally, you will gather your fresh herbs in your own kitchen garden, but any farmers market or organic grocery will have green herbs. For the best and purest flavor, use fresh herbs at their peak. Rinse thoroughly in cold water. Gently pat dry with paper towels and give the basil a coarse chop. Place into a metal colander and dip into boiling water for ten seconds. 

Rinse in an ice water bath and drain well. Gently pat dry and add the basil to the oil. After three to five days in a cool dark place, the flavor will have infused into the oil, adding the fresh bright green note of the herbs. Use liberally on roasts, stir-frys, or salads, and drizzle on top of cooked vegetables and soups. Basil not only confers much palatability, but it also brings prosperity. Enjoy!

These herbs also make fantastic infused oils: rosemary. tarragon, parsley, chives, and cilantro.

Aloe: Skin-Soothing Solution

One of Mother Nature’s most effective healers is aloe. When I lived in colder areas with frost and snow, I grew aloe in a wide pot with good drainage and placed it in the sunniest spot in the kitchen, where it thrived with very little water. I am truly fortunate to live where it never gets below freezing, so I have a towering aloe in the left garden corner that is growing to tree-like proportions. When anyone in the household gets a burn, a bug bite, a rash, a scratch, an itch, or a sunburn, I march back and grab a piece, slice parallel with its flat side, and apply the juice liberally. We use it as a medicine as well as a beauty application for facials, hair gel, and skin massage and feel so blessed that all this heavenly healing is utterly free of cost. Aloe propagates through baby plants sprouting off the sides; you can repot the “babies” into little clay containers and give them as gifts to your circle to share the healing energy as well as protection and luck.

Pisces: Pink Yarrow

While our favorite fish are deeply empathetic to the point of being psychic, their big issue can be boundaries. When you begin to feel other people’s feelings too much, this causes emotional muddles, sadness, depression, anxiety, and ongoing overwhelm. Sensitivity and compassion are beautiful as long as you can draw and maintain clear boundaries between yourself and others. Pink Yarrow helps Pisces maintain mental clarity, good self-esteem, and healthy relationships.

Sagittarius: Vervain Gives Vivacity

Sagittarians often feel like Energizer bunnies. While sharing your ideals with others fuels your spirit of joie de vivre, your ardent enthusiasm can sometimes have you setting overly optimistic goals. If you need support in balancing impassioned pursuits with a pragmatic perspective, try vervain flower essence.

Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis)

While it may seem like this is another “candy as medicine,” marshmallow is a time-tested plant long employed in field medicine rather than a sugary pillow. It is highly valued as it contains a lot of mucilage, the same substance which coats our mouth and throat as well as the stomach and gut. Minced fresh, dried root, or the leaves are equally healing in quarter cup quantities; an infusion of the leaves may be drunk after it has steeped for four hours covered. Strain out the stems and drink hot, cool, sweetened, or however you like this gentle herb. If you choose marshmallow root, simmer low covered for twenty minutes, then let cool; the brew may be taken at any temperature you prefer.

Kava (Piper methysticum)

This root is also said to be highly effective as a muscle relaxer and for reducing anxiety. Kava can be handled the same as ginger, with one tablespoon of minced root or dried root simmered low and taken as tea. I recommend seeing how it affects you before you raise the dose to two or three cups of tea per day, which is recommended. If you take it as a supplement, when considering taking more than 250 mg. per day (a fraction of the weight of a US penny) or for longer than a week, make sure you are under the care of a qualified health professional. As with many, many powerful remedies, if you take it all the time without breaks, it won’t work anymore right when you need it most.

Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa)

Beloved for the heavenly sweet perfume of its flowers, hibiscus is also a powerful diuretic and can lower blood pressure. As if that is not enough, it can also help sore throats and colds. Similarly to other herbal applications, steeping a tablespoon of the dried flowers in a cup of freshly boiled water for ten minutes and drinking this infusion twice a day is the desired treatment.