Herbal Lesson 11

Herbal Infused Oils
Daniel Blankley - Thursday, December 14, 2017

You have already made infusions (teas) in water and now we move to the more advanced infusing of herbal substances in oil.

Way back in ancient times it was discovered that the medicinal constituents of plants would be extracted (come-out) in oil better than in water and they would keep longer. They would adhere to the skin and not dry up when applied. A vinaigrette salad dressing was originally a medicinal preparation. Oil and vinegar or oil and wine were ancient remedies for wounds and are mentioned in the Bible in the story of “The Good Samaritan”.

Infused oils are easy to make. The key is in measuring properly and the old ‘folk’ rule of thumb was twice as much oil as finely chopped dried herb leaves, so 1 cup of herbs will go into 1 pint of oil. You can use any vegetable or even a mineral oil depending on the formulation (recipe), but Olive Oil is a popular oil and so is Almond Oil and both are used in this first oil infusion lesson.

Just as decoctions are necessary for hard roots and bark in water, heated infusions of oil are used for those hard parts. In this first oil lesson we will make a simple cold infusion of dried herbs, which will be used in the next Lesson to make a salve mand later still to make a ‘lip balm’. By ‘cold’ we mean at room temperature, or simply not heated, and not refrigerated.

I have tried to organize lessons this way to make it less wasteful and less expensive for you to do all the lessons with a minimum of herbal purchases. The herbal preparations you make are real medicines. They are useful and keep well a long time especially if you refrigerate them. Remember that for now, we are not adding any preservative to your remedies so the shelf life is limited.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: Comfrey Leaf (4oz)

Calendula Flowers (4oz)

4 ounces is smallest size pack at Mountain Rose Herbs

Almond Oil 16oz

Olive Oil 16oz

You can buy oils locally in Supermarkets or WalMart grocery section or order them.

2 wide mouth Pint Canning Jars with lids and rings

HERE IS THE HANDS-ON VIDEO



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