DIY Herbal Medicine: How To Make An Herbal Tincture | Monarda fistulosa
Hello friends,
Join me today as I make a fresh plant tincture from Monarda fistulosa also known as Bee Balm or Wild Oregano from our land.
Monarda fistulosa, a native on our land. You may be familiar with this perennial in your gardens in a vast array of colors! They’re medicinal too!
Monardas are in the mint family and are known for their warming and spicy antibacterial and digestive calming properties. This plant in fact was one that helped heal my sinuses last week after my flu virus.
In this video, I walk you through the basics of making a tincture using fresh plant parts, including when to tincture, what to look for, how much herb to put in and how much to take from the plant.
Never take more than 10-20% of a plant you’re harvesting. Plants are our allies and must be respected, not exploited. Always pick in morning after the sun has burned off the dew and when the plant is at the peak of its vigor.
For a fresh plant tincture using leaves make a 1:1 ratio (fresh leaf to alcohol). I usually fill the jar full to achieve this and use over 60% alcohol solution (it varies based on plants, but this is a good guideline).
Making herbal medicine is a joyous process and one that always brings me pleasure and nourishment and reminds me why I love working with herbs for healing!!
Making your own medicine is one of the most empowering acts that we can do and I hope to equip many with these skills!
It’s really quite easy and I hope this video will convey that message.
Monarda fistulosa tincture on the left and two other tinctures I made today: raspberry leaf and a combo one for relaxation including holy basil, lemon balm, chamomile, St. John’s wort, skullcap and catnip.
Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to ask questions.
My video is also at YouTube.
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LOVE this post!
I just made my VERY first tincture last week. I did Motherwort and I am anxious for the next few days to countdown so I can finish the process and use some of it in my teas.
I first learned about tinctures from you two! THANK YOU for that new skill and knowledge.
Awesome!!! That so exciting isn't it. Tinctures are such a great way to intake the many plant medicine around us. Happy to be sharing and building skills together.
Awesome how to video. What % alcohol was the tincture you prepared? 60%? Are there guides for what percentage alcohol to use with different herbs or is it usually the same? So much to learn :)
Great questions. I’ll address this in greater detail in future vids. My organic grain alcohol is 95% (190 proof). Unless it’s a root or other “harder” plant part or even resin, etc, I dilute it to about 60-80%. There’s a chart I reference in Stephen Harrod Buhner’s Herbal Antibiotics book for the specs on ratios and alcohol percentages for each plant; it’s very handy. For leaves you can go a bit lower. And this vid was for fresh leaf- dry also has different considerations.
This is really great information. I love learning quick, easy new tricks!
Yay! Happy to hear this. Thanks 💚🌿!
Lucky you that it is a native plant for you. I had never heard that Monarda was the wild oregano. Would that be the plant that is used in the oil of oregano that is commonly sold at health stores etc?
Yes. It’s common in many places- where are you located?
Oil of oregano is from the common Origanum vulgare but is picked where it grows wild, hence wild oregano. Wild plants usually contain much more vigor than cultivated varieties- hence why they’d prioritize and market “wild oregano”.
Common names can be so tricky and multiple plants can be known by the same one- that’s why Latin naming is so helpful for reference. Thanks for your great questions! 💚
I live in the Boreal forest in Saskatchewan Canada. There is an abundance of wild foods and medicines you can gather here. I love learning all the different qualities and uses of the plants around me.
Yeah sounds like an amazing area! Look forward to hearing more about them should you feel inspired to post ☺️
I'm glad I came across your posts. They are all so informative and I've been learning so much from them.
Blessed be
💚🌿 so happy to hear that. Thanks so much.
it's fantastic! In view of the lack of medicine in my country, when I go to the countryside, my mom always prepares her teas from a medicinal plant, she knows several! and actually my mother stays very well ... this is true
That's great! There are always plants to be used as medicine, wherever we look. It's like meeting new friends.
This post has been featured in the @offgrid-online Weekly Review #7. Thanks for sharing your video experience with making bee balm tincture :)
thank you dear!!
Many thanks have shared tips how to make herbal medicine because lately, public awareness of the benefits of herbal medicine is already more open. In fact, the use of herbal ingredients have been used as a contemporary lifestyle. Back to nature. yes, that is the slogan that is often hailed by urban society now.
Actually, since thousands of years ago, nature has been providing various types of basic ingredients of drugs that have been used by humans for generations. However, again, man himself who then ignore the grace of nature.
along with the increasing awareness of the importance of herbal medicine, the more scientific research in this field. Now, not infrequently encountered various types of herbal medicines, such as herbal medicine, which is processed more modern with the support of scientific research.
therefore, it is fitting for you to recognize the advantages of herbal medicines rather than chemical drugs. Here is a breakdown of some of the advantages of herbal medicine. restufujia10
Yes definitely, our connection with nature is such a blessing to us.
Yes I agree, because nature is school for us
Sure wish DTube would play on my computer... I appreciate you put some info into text!
Bummer.. Dtube has a few kinks that are being working out. We value having text for those such as you how can't watch. Our internet is so slow we miss out on some vids too. The info were sharing should be accessible to all!
also, we may put a few of these up on youtube as well. we'll keep ya posted!
That would be cool! Thanks for making the info as available as you can.
here it is! :)
Yay! Thank you so much!
Nice!! Great information to learn
thanks! glad you found it useful :)