Category Archives: Garden Advice

Herbal Tinctures: The Folk Method

November 8, 2022 Jordan Charbonneau Leave a comment

One easy way to start working with medicinal herbs is to create tinctures. A tincture is simply a liquid extract of a medicinal plant. They’re a great way to preserve herbal medicine in season. They also help concentrate the active ingredients in a plant, allowing you to use an herbal remedy conveniently. You can take a drop of tincture rather than a cup of tea, or for those who struggle with it, having to swallow capsules. Today, we’ll cover how to create your own tinctures using the folk method.

***None of the information in this post is intended to diagnose or treat any condition. Consult your physician for medical advice.***

***When using wild plants, always be 100% sure of their identification before employing it in any herbal or edible preparation.***

History of Tinctures

There is an incredibly long history of tinctures in medicine. The Al-Qanoon fi al Tibb (The Canon of Medicine), an encyclopedia of medicine in five books compiled by Persian physician-philosopher Avicenna and finished in 1025, includes instructions for making tinctures!

It’s likely that the use of tinctures dates back much further and probably started shortly after the invention of distillation. What’s now China, Egypt, Turkey, and Israel may have been distilling alcohol and creating tinctures as far back as 2000 BC.

Early distillation looked far different from what we know today. Writings from 4th century Greece credit the first modern distillation with an alembic to the western alchemist Maria the Jewess between AD 200 – 300.

Alcohol distillation didn’t occur in Europe until the 12th century, with alchemists primarily interested in creating elixirs. Slowly, the process became more widely used, as did tinctures and recreational alcohol. By the 1800s, tinctures were common in European medicine.

What’s the folk method?

The folk method is likely how the first tinctures were made and is still in use today. It’s an easy and effective way to create tinctures without a scale or measuring cup. To use the folk method, pack herbs into a glass jar or container and cover them with alcohol. It’s as simple as that!

Alternatively, as you become a more experienced herbalist, you may want to learn to create weight-to-volume tinctures. These types of tinctures combine macerated herbs by weight to alcohol by volume. Often, fresh herbs are tinctured at a ratio of 1:2 with alcohol, and dry herbs are tinctured at a ratio of 1:5. The ratio may also vary with the type of herb.

We’ll stick with the folk method for this blog, but The Herbal Academy has an excellent weight-to-volume tincture guide you can read here.

What do I need to make a folk tincture?

You can make a tincture from nearly any herb you have on hand. You can use fresh herbs you’ve grown or gathered or dried herbs from a trustworthy source like local farms or Mountain Rose Herbs. In the past, we’ve featured posts on holy basil and goldenrod tinctures.

You may also want to create a tinctures and select herbs with a specific goals in mind. Below are a few herbs that herbalists will commonly tincture:

Echinacea
Coltsfoot
Holy Basil
Valerian
Feverfew
Chicory Root
Chamomile
Raspberry Leaves
Lemon Balm
Goldenrod
Mint
Skullcap
Lovage

***Always thoroughly research an herb before using it and consult your physician. Some herbs are known to cause adverse reactions when combined with prescription medications. Herbs may also cause allergic reactions or other illnesses when used in inappropriate concentrations.***

Alcohol

You’ll also need 80-proof alcohol. Many people choose to use vodka as it doesn’t impart much flavor, but you can choose to use others like brandy or gin. Byron Ballard, Appalachian urban farmer, witch, and author of Roots, Branches, & Spirits: The Folkways and Witchery of Appalachia, says she prefers rum as it adds a bit of nicer flavor.

Other Supplies

Depending on the herb you’re working with, you may need a clean knife, scissors, or grater to prepare your herb. You also need a clean jar with a lid that seals well. An ill-fitting lid may let the alcohol slowly evaporate.

Later, you’ll need a strainer or cloth to filter your aged tincture. You also need a clean container to store the filtered tincture in. Depending on the container you choose, a funnel may also be helpful.

Making a Tincture with the Folk Method

Prepare your herbs. Roots should be scrubbed and chopped or grated, and it’s best to remove large stems from herbs. You may also want to chop up leaves and flowers to help speed up the process.
Place the herbs into a container. You may want to pack light, fluffy herbs down gently.
Cover your herbs with alcohol. Press the herbs down a bit so that the alcohol covers them completely.
Place a tight lid on the container and store it somewhere dark for a minimum of two to six weeks.
Check on and shake your container every few days, especially in the beginning. Press the herbs down or add alcohol as needed to keep them covered.
Strain the plant material out of your finished tincture. A wire strainer may do for larger pieces, but you may need a finer filter, like a clean bandana, for fine herbs.

Can I make a tinctures without alcohol?

While a tincture is technically defined as an ingredient dissolved in alcohol, other ways exist. Increasingly, herbalists are using the word tincture to refer to herbs in vinegar or glycerin for those who need or want an alcohol-free option. Learn how to make herbal glycerites from The Herbal Academy.

Storing Tinctures

After you strain your tincture, you want to store it somewhere cool and dark. If available, brown glass bottles are ideal for tinctures as they block some of the light. Small bottles with droppers can be handy, especially if you want to take your tincture regularly.

Generally, I use and then replace tinctures within two years. However, tinctures may keep for up to 3 to 5 years.

Using Your Tincture

How you use your tincture largely depends on what it is. Herbalists generally may make recommendations by the drop or dropper full, referring to those small bottles with droppers.

Tincture recommendations vary widely by herb and purpose, from taking a dropper full when you’re feeling anxious to taking 30 drops up to three times a day when you’re experiencing cold and flu symptoms. Again, appropriate research and consulting a physician can help you determine what’s best.

Folk tinctures are a great way to get started with herbalism and connect with new plants. Whether you’ve grown and gathered herbs this season or are ordering them online, this guide will help you create your own tinctures using the folk method.

Garden Advice, Seed Saving

Beginners Guide to Seed Saving

November 3, 2022 Jordan Charbonneau Leave a comment

Southern Exposure strives to promote everyone’s right to save seed. We know that many backyard gardeners don’t have the time, space, or desire to save all of their own seeds, but we love seeing gardeners try to tend a variety or two. The pandemic further reinforced just how important seed saving is. We saw a surge in sales, especially of staple crops like corn and beans. Seed saving is easier than you think! Follow this beginner’s guide to seed saving to get started saving your favorite varieties.

Selecting Varieties

If you’re going to save seed, it’s essential to save it from the right plants! Hybrid plants are the first-generation crosses of two different parents. If you try to save seed from these crops, it probably won’t be true to type, meaning that the plants may be different in appearance, flavor, or other characteristics than that hybrid you grew.

Open-pollinated

Open-pollinated varieties are the crops you want for seed saving. These stable varieties have been bred to produce the same crop year after year reliably. You may notice that some open-pollinated seeds are listed as heirlooms.

Heirloom

The word ‘heirloom’ does not have a strict definition, but it’s generally used to reference open-pollinated varieties that have been passed down from generation to generation. Southern Exposure considers varieties to be heirlooms if they were bred before 1940.

Planning Your Garden

If you’re a small gardener hoping to save a few seeds this fall, you don’t necessarily need to have done any special planning. However, planning a garden for seed saving will improve your success.

Isolation Distances

When preserving varieties, you need to prevent them from crossing. You probably know that an Amish Paste Tomato could cross with a Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter Tomato, but there’s more to it than that. Plants in the same family can also cross. Cabbages for instance, could cross with broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, and other crops in the brassica family.

Crops need to be isolated to maintain varieties. Isolation can be achieved by distance or succession planting so that the crops aren’t blooming simultaneously. You can find isolation distances for different crops here.

Seed growers may also achieve isolation by covering blooms with bags and hand pollinating or growing in high tunnels.

Population Size

Diversity is key! To maintain genetic vigor, you need a large enough population to preserve genetic diversity. Saving seed from a single pepper plant may be fine for a year or two, but it isn’t a good long-term idea.

Learn more about garden planning for seed saving with this fantastic post from SESE seed grower Debbie Piesen of Living Energy Farm.

Garden Planning for Seed Saving

What to Look for When Saving Seed

When you save seed, you’re determining the next generations of that crop’s characteristics to an extent. Generally, if you’re trying to maintain a variety, you want to save seeds from those plants that display the typical characteristics of that variety or are true-to-type.

However, you may also want to select for certain characteristics. For example, you may want to save seed from tomato plants that displayed the highest resistance to late blight.

There are several characteristics you can select for, including:

Trueness-to-Type
Earliness
Vigor
Cold Hardiness
Color
Stockiness
Drought Tolerance
Disease or Pest Resistance
Lateness to Bolt
Flavor
Uniformity or Lack of It
Size & Shape
Storage Ability
Productivity

Consider marking certain plants you know have some of the desired characteristics. That way, you can be sure you’re gathering from the correct plants when it’s time to harvest seed.

Seed Saving from Annuals

Many of the crops we save seed from are annuals. Their life cycle takes place during a single season. They start as a seed in the spring and produce seed by fall.

These are excellent choices for beginner seed savers. They include squash, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, peas, basil, and more.

Harvesting

When harvesting for seed saving, remember that some crops will need to mature beyond what you would typically allow for eating. For example, cucumbers should be fat and yellow, jalapeños should be red, and sweet corn should be dry and hard.

Fermenting Seed

Some seeds have a gelatinous coating that you’ll need to remove before drying and storage. In the wild, this coating will help preserve the seed and temporarily inhibits germination as it lies on the ground until the following spring. In a garden setting, we want this coating gone before planting. Crops with this coating include:

Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Squash

To remove this coating, place your seeds into a jar or container and cover them with water. The containers need airflow, so don’t put a lid on. However, you can cover them with a cloth or coffee filter and a rubber band to keep out fruit flies.

Let this mixture ferment for three days, stirring it once a day. It’s okay if you notice some mold growing on top. After three days, add more water and stir the mixture again. The viable seeds will sink while the pulp and bad seeds will float, and you can pour them off the top. Drain your viable seeds.

Drying Seed

No matter what type of seed you harvest, you want to ensure it’s fully dry before storing it. The seed should be dry and brittle. Larger seeds, like pumpkin seeds, should snap when you bend them, not flex. Smaller seeds should crush under pressure instead of flexing.

After adding your seeds to a container, check it regularly for the first week or two. If you notice any condensation inside the jar or other signs of moisture, remove your seeds and dry them further.

Biennials

Biennial crops require two growing seasons to reach maturity and produce seed. They need to go through a cold period called vernalization to produce seed. These include beets, Swiss chard, bulb onions, cabbage, collards, Brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, carrots, turnips, and others.

Many biennial crops can survive temperatures into the 20°Fs. In parts of the south, you can easily overwinter them. However, further north or in the mountains, they may need heavy mulch or season extension like high tunnels or row cover. In the far north, you may need to pull plants once they go dormant and bring them into a cool space like a root cellar before replanting them in spring. Read more about saving seed from biennials here.

Storing Seed

Ideally, it would be best if you stored seed somewhere cool (about 50°F), dark, and dry. You can use seed packets that you’ve made or like those we offer on the website. You can also use mason jars or other containers you have on hand.

Label everything with the variety and date you stored or last tested your seed.

Testing Seed

You can do a simple germination test at home to ensure your seeds are still good before planting time. Take ten seeds and place them folded into a damp paper towel in a container or bag (to help hold in moisture). Set your container in a warm place.

The amount of time you’ll need to leave them will, of course, depend on how long whatever type of seed your testing requires to germinate. Be sure to keep the paper towel damp. You may have to sprinkle water on it if it begins to dry out.

The number of seeds that germinate will give you a rough idea about their germination rate, and you can plant accordingly. If you have a lot of seeds, testing more than ten will give you a more accurate percentage. Even if only half germinate, you still use your seed; just be sure to plant thickly in the case of direct seeding or multiple seeds per cell when starting indoors.

Saving seed from even a single variety can help you become more self-reliant, expand your knowledge of plants, and deepen your relationship with your land. We firmly believe that seed saving should be available to all. Follow this guide to become a seed steward.

Garden Advice

5 Unusual Medicinal Herbs

October 25, 2022 Jordan Charbonneau Leave a comment

Herbalism is a wonderful way to explore cultural traditions and history. It can also help you support a healthy lifestyle and improve your knowledge of plants. Maybe this year you started your first herb garden, planting some easy-to-grow herbs, or perhaps you’ve been practicing herbalist for years crafting teas, tinctures, and other natural products to promote wellness. Wherever you are on your journey, adding a few unusual medicinal herbs to your herb garden can be fun. While most of these plants have been used in herbal medicine for a long time, they tend to be less common in modern gardens.

Astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus)

Also known as Chinese Milk Vetch or Huang Qi, Astragalus is a traditional Chinese herb that herbalists have used since ancient times to increase and tonify qi. Herbalists believe the plant to be an adaptogen and deep immune system activator.

Astragalus is a perennial legume with a spreading, reclining growth habit. It does best in a sunny location with well-drained, fairly dry soil. The foliage dies back each fall and regrows in the spring. For best results, soak your Astragalus seeds overnight before planting.

Typically herbalists harvest a portion of the roots when the plant is well established and at least four or five years old. Wash, cut up, and dry your roots for use in teas, tinctures, and other preparations. Dried roots may also be powdered.

Spilanthes (Acmella oleracea)

This unique, vibrant flower is widely used and known by many names. You may have heard it called eyeball plant, buzz buttons, or toothache plant. When eaten raw, edible leaves and flowers cause a tingling sensation in the mouth. Practitioners of Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, and western folk medicine have used Spilanthes for various ailments, including upper respiratory illnesses, minor pain, and various mouth and dental issues.

Spilanthes is a beautiful, low-growing, spreading plant. The cone or hive-shaped flowers are composed of hundreds of tiny yellow, red, and orange-hued flowers. These cones are often compared to eyeballs giving the plant one of its common names. Here in Virginia and farther north, it is grown as an annual but is a tender perennial in warm climates. It prefers areas with full sun, and the seeds require light to germinate.

This exciting plant adds a unique flavor to soups, sauces, sorbets, cocktails, and salads. You may use it fresh or dried in teas and external applications.

Unusual Medicinal Herbs Echinacea pallida — Photo by H. Zell

Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea Pallida)

Echinacea or coneflower, is one of the more commonly known medicinal plants today. You can probably even find it in immune-boosting teas and supplements at your local grocery store. However, most of these are one species, Echinacea purpurea. While I love Echinacea purpurea, it is just one of the ten species of Echinacea, all of which are medicinally important.

All species of Echinacea are frequently used to boost the immune system. Several pharmacological studies have demonstrated immuno-stimulant, bacteriostatic, and anti-viral activity.

Native to open woods and rocky prairies from northeastern Texas to central Illinois, Echinacea pallida flowers typically feature rosy purple long, dropping petals and a purple-brown flower disc. Occasionally, flowers may be pink, purple, or white. This drought-tolerant plant has long, narrow leaves and grows 18 to 36 inches tall.

Echinacea pallida can be a bit more tricky to start from seed than its more common counterpart, Echinacea purpurea. You need to stratify the seed for 60 days at 40°F. Then you can start it indoors and transplant or direct seed it in an area that receives full sun. It’s perennial in zones 3 through 9.

All parts of the echinacea plant can be used in herbal preparations. Wait until the plant is well-established before harvesting leaves. Wait until the plant is at least three years old to harvest roots.

Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis)

Soapwort is a non-native herb brought from Europe and is naturalized in much of the United States. It’s a valuable herb because the plant contains natural saponins and produces a lather when soaked or heated in water. It’s terrific for making a non-irritating skin cleanser, shampoo, or soap for delicate fabrics.

More tolerant than some herbs, soapwort will thrive in full sun to partial shade with moist to slightly dry soil. The seeds require light to germinate and can be transplanted or direct seeded. Soapwort is perennial in zones 3 through 10 and may spread.

Wait to harvest soapwort until it’s at least a year old and you have an established patch. For the highest saponin content, harvest the leaves and blooms when the plants are in full flower. They may regrow and bloom again that season. Harvest roots in the fall.

Lovage (Levisticum officinale)

While not widely used today in the US, lovage would’ve been common in many medicinal and kitchen gardens of medieval Europe. The ancient Greeks were probably the first herbalists to employ lovage, chewing the leaves to relieve gas and aid digestion. Throughout time it became more popular for its medicinal and culinary uses. In the kitchen, it’s used as a salad green or in the same fashion as celery. In modern herbalism, tea is often made from lovage for its carminative or diuretic effects.

Lovage doesn’t always germinate well, so be sure to sow extra. Start your lovage indoors. The seeds require darkness to germinate. It will tolerate full sun to partial shade and is perennial in zones 3 through 10.

The leaves, stems, roots, and seeds of lovage are all useful. Once lovage is established, you can pinch off the leaves and stems and use them as needed. Harvest seeds in the fall when they mature, and harvest some of the roots in the fall from plants that are two to three years old.

An herb garden should be as unique as the gardener. When you’re planning your garden this winter, consider your goals and your needs, and always consider trying something new. Hopefully, one of these unusual medicinal herbs will find a place in your garden and bring you wellness and joy in the coming season!

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange