In this video I share some of the properties that make the Echinacea family worthy of medicinal use as well as how to turn it into a tincture for use at home.
It was a pleasure to see a fellow male herbalist. Just wanted to add that beside covering your herbs, you should also use a bit more, so at least 1-2 inches of solvent above the plant material. You see, when you shake the tincture (what you actually should do every day for a better extraction), you gotta see that it moves inside and that the solvent can penetrate the plant. It will make a more potent tincture.
Good video , I've being growing Echinacea in pots now I wanna start growing more plants in my garden . Be careful with dishwashers as the surfactant from detergent can still be present . Rinsing after dishwasher then sterilize the jar with boiled water .
14:41 and dark! A dark place is very important, since the heat and light from the sun or any other light/heat source can destroy the medicinal properties. Also, you can speed the process up a few weeks by shaking the bottle about once a day or so, or just whenever you remember, so that it takes maybe 2-3 weeks
Oh yeah, also, after you combine the plant matter and alcohol you should give it a good shake for a couple minutes just to agitate the plant matter into releasing more of the alkylamides, polysaccharides, and all that good shiz
Great info! I have lots of these plants and they reseed themselves and spread every year. I just wish you would have ended with telling us how much of the tincture to take at a time for protection..
Great content man. One suggestion to help you grow in the face of RU-vid censorship and demonetization. Be wary of the labels you present in your videos, this leads to less people being able to see your stuff. Tape over the names of stuff and such. Your success in educating via this media outlet wholly depends upon algorithms unfriendly to most content creators. Good luck my friend. ps. Maybe include a unique intro and outro for the hook. Your freestyle is pretty good, maybe that would work for you.
I 2nd Kimbrely's request for a follow-up video. It would be nice to see the mature colour of it & consistency of the liquid as it pours out. It would be informative to see how you dose it for yourself. Thank you for taking the time to make and share your video.
Great video thank you for sharing. I have the white and purple plants but it would have been nice unless I missed it as far as how much you consume at a time and how often.
It you got with the flowers it is a once in a while harvest depending on how much you consume. The better way is to use the roots, more powerful that way, but you kill the plant. So let your plants seed and grow and then take one after a few years and do it that way.
That's right. Both types of Purpreas are used for medical use. But the root is also added for the tincture. the root is the strongest, and is harvested only in the third year. The tincture is made by first putting the leaves and stems in the bottle, then the flower of the plant, and then in the fall the echinacea root is put in the same bottle. The tincture must be left in 70% alcohol for a total of 6 months. With echinacea, some other specific plants are added to the tincture of up to 2% of other plants.
Interesting. Would be willing to share any texts you use? My references didn’t mention the detail you did and I would like to expand my knowledge on all these things I do. You signs like you really know what you stew talking about.
@@pathrst It’s an original recipe for Echinacea tincture, what they sell very expensive in pharmacies, only I haven’t discovered exactly which other herbs go into the echinacea tincture, probably lemon balm... (In pharmacies, no alcoholic tincture ever contains just one herb. For example, hawthorn for the heart contains hot pepper and lemon balm).
Since the seeds inside the pod of the echinacea flower can you make a paste or a cream out of the seeds? I know if you chew on the seeds it will make your mouth numb so would it possibly work to make sore areas numb just curious and could you mix it with a pepper for a little heat, heat and numbness would be pretty awesome if this is possible. What do you think. I'm going to try it I will let you know if it works. But I will tell you if you have a sore or a bad tooth don't chew more than one seed it will leave your mouth numb for hours
I used Tanqueray because it is very strong, I mixed a full packed jar and mixed it with a hand blender, after cutting it. I hope that I didn't use too much. It looks gross and fibrous because of blending it. I hope that it still turns out good. Thank you for this video, I wouldn't have known what to do without it ♥
I’m sure it will be fine. And you’re welcome. And on another note. If you use the roots you can have a stronger medicine. I don’t cover that because it means sacrificing a plant.
@@pathrst Thanks, I don't want to sacrifice my plants. I was thinking about getting a juicer that I saw at Goodwill for $30 and running the whole mixture through. What do you think of that? Would I just be wasting time and money? Thanks for answering me, I subbed ♥
Thank you for the great video! I have a lot of enchinacea growing and soon will be harvesting. I could probably fill up 10 mason bottles. I do not want to buy 10 bottles of vodka to do this. To save money, could I try the following? 1- Do everything you have done with one mason jar filled with the plants and strain it out after 6+ weeks. 2- Next, fill up another mason jar with new plant matter. And then instead of using another bottle of alcohol, ...use the newly made alcohol tincture over the new plant matter. 3- When that is ready after 6+ weeks, and when using it as medicine, take about half the dose since it will be about twice as strong.
Hey there! Okay- just watched this and I have some questions, please. I have 5 year old echinacea purpurea and I’ve never harvested them until now (I read falsely to let them establish at least 3-5 years so mine are very mature). I’m now ready to harvest. 1. What’s the best time of year? I’m done 7b. 2. Do you strain your tincture? 3. Do you add or combine the tincture with anything? Thanks loads! You’re whole presentation was very informative. 🌱
I have not worked with them directly. But I know that you can pick the chamomile flowers to make a tea with them that has calming effects and is good for sleep. I know eucalyptus makes an essential oil, but I am not familiar with its uses.
Thank you for a great video! One question, what do you suggest as an alternative to alcohol? Some have suggested Apple cider vinegar or other vinegars.I do realize this gives it a shorter shelf life but that's not really an issue if we're taking it regularly. And if we went that route how long should we steep it for compared to the vodka? Thank you so much for your time.
AWESOME! How much of the tincture would you recommend taking as when extra daily immune support is needed? Most of the store bought tinctures have a tiny dose of like one dropper full, would this be about the same? Would you recommend straining out the plant matter after the 5 week infusion?
@@pathrst can we use plants we already have bought this past spring if it is all we have ad also can we use ones that are not purple? It was marked echinacea but.... they are different colors....... or should i just pick purple ones.....
@@denisebilby4947 you should be ok to use the dried flowers. It may be a little less potent but still good. As for the different colored ones. I must admit ignorance. I just don’t know.
@@denisebilby4947 I believe all types of echinacea are good for medicine, but augustifolia and purpurea are the best with some debate as of to which is better. And the vibrancy of the colors typically indicates high levels of alkaloids and other good stuff when freshly picked, but the method of preservation definitely can affect the potency. It also depends on the herb, since some lose important constituents when dried, so it's always a good idea to double check. Your best bet for medicinal (if you plan on dealing with lots of herbs) purposes would be a dehumidifier. They work relatively quick and mostly keep the good stuff in the plants in tact, but they're expensive. Other than that they're amazing. Alternatively you can go the time-tested, ancient way of making a little drying rack with a wooden frame and some wire mesh. Place the herbs on top of your drying rack then put all that inside a warm (not hot), dark, dry, and well ventilated area. Wait for a few weeks until they're bone dry and your done! If you want the seeds then place some paper bags under to catch any that might fall, and when it's all dry just give em a little shake over the bags. Finally, if you're in a rush, you can use a microwave oven if you have it, but it's not the best. Put the parts on a paper towel or kitchen paper then dry according to your manufacturer's settings
@@denisebilby4947 oh shoot, forgot to mention: while some people are a little superstitious about drying herbs, it generally does make tinctures, Decoctions, infusions, or whatever, stronger, because when drying the herbs it removes the water and all the weight/volume that comes with it. So, you end up being able to fit more herbs in your tincture/infusion/whatever. Hope this helps and wasn't too late, lol
How much do you typically take per day? Like a teaspoon or tablespoon? I realize this can vary slightly from person to person but an approximate guess…or even how much you take personally would be a good starting point for me to make an educated guess for myself and fam! Thanks for sharing. I just went foraging for these 😊
You might be able to find some use for the already used plant, but you should definitely strain the plant matter out of the tincture. You should also try to squeeze any liquid out of the plant parts because that's the good stuff
When cutting the plant do you have a measure of how far down the stem from the top to cut it or is it just by feel? Also, have you found one type of alcohol working better over another? Thanks in advance
hi! Cuple questions how long does it last? My expirience with lavender was after 3 years i can see a white trasparent thing so my guess is that it;s time to trow it away. ok my other question is, the doses a day and also is the tincture a topical also, would that be enogh for a rash?
Mine has gone for a couple years before I thought it was done. The dose a day I use is 40drops a day. That’s about a full squeeze from your standard pipet that comes with the little bottles. I do not think this would have an effect topically.
Excellent presentation and explaining. Want to add one note. When using fresh vegetation there should be no part of the plant above liquids per air could cause mold. Is this true with liquor? And should the mental or plastic lids be lined with wax paper to keep from extract chemicals from it? I usually use dry herbs for the process so curious for your opinion.
Yes. You want it to be submerged. Mold can still grow. Less likely with the liquor than say, oil for a salve, but still possible. I don’t seal it any more since these are already food vessels. I assume they are safe and non-reactive enough. Though, perhaps I should. It assume that.
You could, but it isn’t recommended. The reason is that the more powerful alcohol can degrade the plant and the constituents your after too far thus making the medicine useless. There are some plants that you need to use higher proof on because the they have tougher cell walls or resins that need to be broken down. Many roots can be that way like the Arrow Leaf Balsam Root tap root.
Yep. They will stay viable for a maybe a year, but at a slightly lower potency. Some of the compounds we are after evaporate a little. But it will still be perfectly good.
Fresh is best but dry is not that much worse. Still effective. For a cup of an infusion consider a tablespoon or less. Or wherever you can fit into your infusing vessel. Or whatever tastes good. Toxicity is not really a concern.
You can use vegetable glycerin to make an infusion. But it needs to be used in a year. Alcohol lasts at least five years. Alcohol evaporates if you use it in hot tea.
I harvested roots from my mother plant, but harvested more than needed. I repotted the roots for a new plant…my question is- is that now considered a new plant, with the need for me to wait 2 years before harvesting, or is it the same age as the mother plant?
You could make a tea with boiling water and just store dried flowers. The shelf life of those isn’t as long. The tincture will have a longer shelf life and extract more of the molecules that are helpful, but you can get a benefit from the teas as well
There echinacea species with yellow and orange flowers. I don’t know if there is a change in their medicinal properties, however. I feel like there isn’t , but that is an educated guess.
You can dry the flowers and they will keep for about 6 months and then make a tea with them. The alcohol is really just to help make the medicine keep for the longest time possible.
I have tried to grow echinacea quite a few times, from seed and bareroot. I am a moderately experienced gardener, but can not figure out this plant. Wish I could
I was blessed our Walmart this year was selling the echinacea plants and mine are doing well. Prayerfully the root system will spread out. I will not be digging them up this year at all because I'm not sure how old the plants are. Of course Walmart is clueless.
Learn how to cold stratify your seeds prior to planting. This should solve your problem with germination. There are plenty of videos teaching how and why to cold stratify seeds.
It is not a direct antibiotic. It’s compounds help the immune system with nutrients that aid in building white blood cells and other immunity related hormones. It supports the immune system instead of doing the work for it.
Yes. But don’t strip the plant. Take part of the blooms, save seeds and plant them. Ask permission from the plant and consider your intention of healing people. Subtle but real.
Rain Country channel has a few videos that address this condition. She was able to get off pharmaceuticals using herbs and diet choices. Of course, discuss with your doctor.
Do one really have to use alcohol to make this medicine drink?? I think you can use the leaves in water as a drink, or not. Do to not everyone can against alcohol.
Alcohol? You should mention that in title. I don't drink and don't have hooch on hand. Maybe I'll dry it and put it on cereal or salad ... Btw, "right out of dishwasher" is not proper sterilization for medicine.
You're only talking about taking 20 drops. You won't get intoxicated from that small amount. I've never tried using vegetable glycerin as @Lily Gazou suggests, but if you're that averse to it then give it a go.
Have you ever gargled with listerine or taken cough syrup or used hair spray or sprayed insect repellent on your self? So many products we use are alcohol based. Go read the ingredients in your medicine cabinet items. Cleaning a wound with alcohol that absorbs into your skin is getting more alcohol into your body than a few drops in a tinture.
I am 8 minutes into this video and have encountered FIVE (5) commercials, all a minimum of 10 minutes long. I’m done with this video, and this channel. It was a great video, but I cannot tolerate this mountain of ads. No.
I’m sorry about. RU-vid must have beefed up their algorithms. It’s a challenge, because I want to be able to profit off of the content I create but I also don’t want there to be barriers to learning. Perhaps I can go through and change the settings on the videos so there is at least fewer ads. Thanks for the heads up, I don’t know what this experience is like for the watcher.
Why U is V there in page 127? The voice of the bird on the fence is loud and annoying. Annoy|ing = men|+jeng-kel+|kan MAY 17, 2007 ISSUE. I bought at airport K. L. I. A. Shy = ma-lu
So food process it into mush. Do the same thing with less alcohol. Rinse the processor with alcohol and drain it into your tincture. I see a lot of potential for a better product while using less alcohol. Why dont you show after 6 weeks how you then consume the product? I cant like or sub an obviously incomplete video.
