Lesson 1 Theoretical Task

As part of the Theoretical Tasks for Lesson 1 we were asked to:
 Research the structure and function of skin. How does a bruise form? What other herbs can be used to help bruises?
The skin has three layers. The inner most layer is known as the lower dermis, the middle layer is called the dermis, and the outer layer is known as the epidermis.

The Lower Dermis contains oil and sweat glands  and help the skin to eliminate waste. It also acts as a cushion for the rest of the skin. It contains the finely distributed muscles of the skin which regulate body temperature.

 The dermis is the layer that lies underneath the epidermis. It consists of bundles of tough fibers which give your skin its elasticity, firmness and strength. The most important function of dermis is respiration. Tiny blood vessels, or capillaries  feed the outer skin layer. Dermis also determines the tone of the skin.

Epidermis is the top layer of skin and protects your body from invasion and infection and helps seal in moisture. Dead skin cells flake away and are replaced by new skin cells all the time. the epidermis holds the pigment of the skin.

   When someone gets a bruise it is being formed as the small capillaries under the skin that become broken by trauma or injury.

Blood oozes out until clotting stops the flow, and as the blood is broken down, it will turn from a purple color to an orange color from the remaining iron and hemoglobin.In other words, your vains break under the skin but your skin doesn't break, so it's kind of like bleeding on the inside.

Some Herbs that are especially helpful for bruises are arnica, lavender, St. johns wort, calendula, bilberry, comfrey, and of course in this lesson we used elderbark. Arnica is probably the most widely used herb for bruises, but when looking to treat an inflicted area it is wise to know of more than one possible treatment and make the best choice as to what is on hand at the moment.
In my research I was unable to come up with a clear answer as to why elderbark would be beneficial for bruises. It does aide in reducing inflamation and that is always helpful when there has been trauma to an area. It may not be the best choice for treatment of a bruise, but as I found out it was beneficial to my husband's bruised foot.

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Lesson 1 Assignment

Practical Task: Recognising winter trees and harvesting bark.

Year 1: Find and map all the hawthorn, elder trees and wild rose bushes in a one mile radius from where you live. Notice the shape of the tree/bush and any different colorations/lichen growth on different sides of the tree/bush. Identify whether the rose bush is a dog rose, briar rose or rosa rugosa. Cut some elder twigs and peel off the bark. Use this bark to make a double infused bruise salve.

If you have time and inclination, sandpaper the white elder twigs until smooth, then cut into 1cm/1/2” sections, remove the pith and thread on ribbon, string or elastic to make a necklace or bracelet. You could also make a hawthorn wand/meditation stick if you have time. (See http://kitchenherbwife.blogspot.com/2011/11/working-with-wood.html for instructions)

Elder Tree Branches in January. I have visited this tree many times but this is the first time in winter. The Elder is honoring me tonight with offering me one of her branches so that I can make plant medicine.

At the base of the Elder tree it pushes through the ground in a bush like feature. I took a branch that was approximatly 2 foot in length. As part of Lesson 1 we are to take the branch and remove the bark to make a double infused decoction.

My husband is holding the branch while I am taking a picture of the inner view of the branch. You can see the inner pith there in the center. Next to remove the bark in preparation to make the decoction.

I removed the bark from the Elder branch. I divided it into two equal piles and placed half the bark into a pot and covered it with olive oil so that the bark was completly sumersed.

Since I do not have a double boiler, I improvised and placed the pot with the bark and oil inside another pot that was half filled with water. I made sure to have a lid on the bark and oil, and brought the water to a soft boil. Set the timer for 2 hrs. and make sure that the water does not boil off............

I forgot to take a picture of the next step. Actually once it has boiled for 2 hrs you strain the oil from the first half of the  bark and place the the 2nd pile of bark into the pan and pour the strained oil over the bark. I had to add just a tad more olive oil to make sure the bark was completely covered. Now you do the same process  all over and bring the water to a boil and set the timer for 2 more hrs. ( It pays to be a good multi- tasker during this process otherwise 4 hrs will feel like forever!- Just don't let the pot got dry!) The picture above shows the straining of the oil after the second infusion. The first straining I did not use  a coffee filter, but with the second straining I did. This helped with trapping the more minute particles.

Once strained I had approximately 12 oz. of double infused Elderbark oil. It has a pleasant smell. At this point I have not decided how I want to use this oil- as a massage oil, or if I want to make a salve. So for now....

The oil was placed in a jar and I labled the jar "Elderbark w/ olive oil, double infused with todays date.
I did save the debarked branch and while I am thinking how I want to use this, I think I am going to work on sanding that branch......

Later....After thinking about Elder bark salve being good for bruises, I wanted to experiment with different essential oils that would enhance the salves effectiveness to treat bruises, so I decided to make a few differnt salves with the oil to see which I might like best.

First I measured out 8 oz. of the Elder bark oil and 1 oz of grated beeswax.

Again I improvised on the double boiler, and places a pyrex glass  inside a pan of water and brought it to a slow boil.  I then combined the Elder oil and the beeswax. The next time I make salve I will make sure to use a slightly bigger pyrex glass, as I needed to be very carful not to get it boiling to hard and get water into the mixture of oil and wax.

Once the beeswax was completely melted I took a spoon and dropped a few drops onto my glass cutting board to see if the salve would be the consistency that I wanted.

If it would not have been hard enough I could  have added a little more beeswax, if too hard, just add a little bit more oil. I find that with most salves I have made that the combination of 8 oz of oil to 1 oz of beeswax works well to get the salve to the consistency that I like. But you decide what works best for you.

At this point I poured the mixture into my containers. The two containers to the left of the picture I made Elder salve plain. To the right starting at the top, I added Lavender essential oil, as Lavender is antisceptic and has an analgesic effect. The middle one I added Lemongrass essential oil. Lemongrass is a good pain reliever and I have to admit that I just love the smell. The bottom right I added Geranium essential oil. I had not worked with geranium essential oil before when making salve. However when I looked in my reference guide for essential oils, geranium oil was listed as being beneficial for bruises. So the combination felt right. I let the salve set up and cool completely and then placed the lid on it and labeled each kind. Now to find someone with a bruise. With all of the house renovation we have been doing here at Three Moons I am sure a bump or bruise will be coming along soon. But for the moment my house smells heavenly...........

Twenty Herbs of study for my apprenticeship

Sarah had us choose  20 herbs that we wanted to learn about in this apprenticeship, and to identify 1 as our herbal ally. The following list are the 20 herbs that I have chosen. We were asked to give their common name along with their latin names so that we could better learn down the road, as some people refer to an herb in one way or the other.

Common name                    Scientific name

1. dandelion                                        Taraxacum officinale ( herbal ally)

                             

2. motherwort                                      Leonurus cardiaca

                               

3. marshmallow                                  Althea officinalis

                          

4. calendula                                        Calendula officinalis

                      

5. violet                                              Viola odorata

                                                                                                 

6. saint john's wort                             Hypericum perforatum

                                          

7. rose                                                Rosa damascena, Rosa gallica, Rosa rugosa

                                                   

8. self heal                                         Prunella vulgaris

                                       

9. lavender                                        Lavandula angustifolia

                     

10. evening of primrose                   Oenothera biennis

                           

11. elder                                           Sambucus nigra

                   

12. rosemary                                    Rosmarinus officinalis

                          

13. bergomont                                  Monarda didyma

                                                 

14. yarrow                                       Achillea millefolium

                                         

15. burdock                                     Arctium lappa

                                                           

16. mullein                                     Verbascum thapsus

                                         

17. nettle                                         Urtica dioica

                                                 
                                             

18. milkthistle                                Carduus marianus

                                

19. oatstraw                                   Avena sativa
                                             

20. coneflower                               Echinacea purpurea

                                             

Making Vanilla Extract

Being the first day of the Year I decided I needed to do some thing productive and had been wanting to make some Vanilla extract. Recipe calls for 12 vanilla beans and 2 cups of vodka. Of course I did not have 12 beans- only half that much. So I ended up making a half batch. But for anyone wanting to make a nice batch of vanilla extract- especially for gift giving, this is what you need:

12 vanilla beans
2 cups of Vodka
1 pint jar

Take the beans and cut them open lengthwise and scrape the insides out. Place the inside of the bean scrapings inside the jar and then cut the vanilla beans in half and place them all inside the jar. Pour the vodka overtop of the beans making sure they are fully submerged in the vodka. Place a label on the jar with todays date and also the ready for use date which will be in 6 weeks! Easy Peasy!
I will definitely have to stock up on more vanilla beans to make more extract later.