Making Medicine, Part 4 of 5: Equipment for Pressing and Filtering Tinctures

This is the fourth post in a series in which I am using the process of wild harvesting and making a fresh herb tincture of blue vervain (Verbena hastata) as an example to explain in detail the process of making herbal tinctures.

Part 1 of this series was posted on July 9th, Part 2 on July 15th, and Part 3 on August 22nd of 2012. After that I got busy and forgot about it, except periodically when someone reminded me about it. The truth is, every time it came up I thought about having to find and drag some old equipment out of storage and set up and take a bunch of photos and I put it off and forgot about it. Well, here is the next installment at last!

This was supposed to be the last post in this series, but it keeps growing! Every time I've worked on it I've realized that there is so much info to cover I keep extending it. However, I am confident that the fifth part will be the last.Taken as a whole, this series is one of the three most viewed offerings that I have posted so far. My apologies to those of you who have been patiently waiting for the conclusion.

In the first three posts we got up to the point where we have prepared the maceration of fresh blue vervain herb and it is being stored in the dark for a minimum of three months. As I stated previously, we don't want to press the maceration until we actually need it because the greatest amount of degradation of the active constituents occurs during the pressing process and afterwards. Once we know that we will be needing the tincture of a particular herb that we are macerating, starting about a week before we press it, it's a good idea to shake it vigorously once per day for about 30-60 seconds and then again immediately before we press it. This helps break up the plant material further now that it is much softer from having soaked for awhile and to get some more of the constituents out of the herb and into solution.

In order to prepare our tincture, the final step requires that the maceration be pressed and filtered. Let's begin by discussing pressing. The purpose of pressing the tincture is to squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the macerating plant material, which is technically called the marc. The more intensely we are able to press the plant material, not only do we get more tincture as an end result, we also get a somewhat stronger tincture because the fluid that is deep in the herb will tend to contain the highest concentration of its constituents. There are different kinds of pressing equipment that work to varying degrees. Unfortunately, as we might expect, the better the press the more expensive it is going to be. This means that we need to strike a balance between wanting to use the best equipment that will produce the largest volume and most potent tincture with the cost. In the long run, if we are serious about making tinctures it is preferable to use the best equipment that we can afford.

There are essentially four ways to press a tincture. Many books recommend the simplest method which is to pour the maceration through a few layers of cheese cloth and then wring out as much liquid as possible by hand. This process is so inefficient that, personally, I consider it a waste of time (and herbs). The simplest and most inexpensive method for pressing your maceration is to use a potato ricer. However, the standard cylinder type ricers are not recommended. They are not strong enough for pressing herbs and will break pretty quick. Although they are more expensive, the best ricer is what is usually marketed as a "professional" potato ricer. These have a triangular shape (see photo) and the part that takes most of the pressure is much stronger. Not only will they allow you to use more pressure, they will last much longer.

The standard cylinder ricer (left) is not strong enough for the kind of pressure necessary to press tinctures. The older professional ricer (middle) demonstrates what happens after many years of use. Note how the point with the wire is wrapped around it is bent out of shape. This is the point that takes the stress from all of the pressure. Wrapping wire around this point will increase the life of the ricer by helping to prevent the parts attached to the handle from slipping over the corners of the bar. The newer model with the more solid handle (right) is better because it isn't as hard on our hands when applying pressure. I used to have to use a towel wrapped around the handle of the old one. This isn't necessary with the design of the newer one.

The next best press is the screw press. There are many types available. They are usually used for pressing grapes to make wine or apples for cider. Wooden presses do not work for tinctures. Only stainless steel presses will do. Most of the better ones are made in Italy. However, there are some flaws in the design of many models that I will address. The more of these features that a press has, the better the quality.

Firstly, it is important that the design has an inner straining cylinder with holes that will contain the herb material while allowing the fluid to pass through, and a slightly larger solid outer cylinder with a hole and spout that allows the fluid to flow out. Ideally, the hole should be flush with the bottom of the container. Although most designs don't have it, it is best if the part of the press that the container sits on has some kind of brace that the spout fits into to hold it in position. Otherwise, when the pressure gets fairly high while we are pressing the tincture, the container and the position of the spout will spin. Another important point is that it is not recommended to just let the tincture flow out of the spout into a beaker or other container. It is best to attach a hose so that we can better direct the flow. Most presses don't come with a hose and it is necessary to purchase one. It's important that it fit snugly on the spout. If it isn't tight enough we can add a hose clamp. The material that the hose is made of is also important. We don't want to use PVC or other materials that will leach toxic chemicals into our tincture. A low-density polyethylene hose (LDPE) is probably the only material that is relatively non-toxic.

Another aspect of the design of a screw press that is important is how the metal disc that presses the herb material is attached to the screw on which it is mounted. Because of the tight fit between the disc and the inner cylinder, many companies do not weld the disc to the screw, but attach it loosely so that it can move. This makes it less likely to get jammed in the cylinder during the pressing process if it is slightly misaligned. The problem with this design is that, as the pressure on the herb increases, some of the tincture will seep up through the space between the disc and the screw and come in contact with the screw. This will allow some of the lubricant on the screw, which will be some kind of rancid oil that also contains fine metal dust from friction between the metal parts, to get into our tincture. This can even be a problem with presses for which the disc is attached to the screw because when the herb material is under a relatively high pressure the tincture will often flow out faster than it can seep through the holes in the inner cylinder. When this happens it will flow through the space between the disc and cylinder and over the top of the disc. Once more it could potentially come in contact with the screw unless the part of the disc that is mounted to the screw is relatively deep so that the level of tincture on top of the disc isn't higher than the point at which the disc is attached to the screw. Unfortunately, most screw presses have one or both of these flaws in their design. There is, however, a way around it and that is to insert a wooden disc between the metal disc and the herb. To do this it will be necessary to cut a round disc that fits fairly snugly into the inner cylinder of the press. It should be at least 2 cm (3/4 inch) thick and made from a relatively hard wood with a tight grain. I have found the best choices of wood to be (in descending order) sugar (hard) maple (Acer saccharum), white ash (Fraxinus americana) or American beech (Fagus grandifolia). There are even harder woods from tropical trees, but as these are usually harvested in an unsustainable manner that has a negative impact on tropical rain forests, I don't recommend them.

The purpose of the wooden disc is not only to prevent the metal disc (and the end of the screw if it is loosely attached) from coming in contact with our herb material, but also to help prevent the tincture from coming in contact with the screw by flowing up over the outer edge of the metal disc. The thickness of the wooden disk allows the tincture extra space where it can flow unimpeded through some additional holes in the inner cylinder. A 2 cm disc will usually be adequate, but up to twice that thickness might be a good idea for an extra margin of safety. For presses for which the metal disc is loosely attached to the screw, if we use a wooden disc between the metal disc and the herb material it is necessary to always position it so that the same side of the wooden disc is facing upwards. This is because inevitably the grease and metal dust from the screw will come in contact with the wooden disc and we don't want that side of the disc coming in contact with our herbs or tincture.

Another thing to look for in a screw press is the design of the frame that holds the screw. With most presses the part that holds the screw is attached to the base at two points. If we don't use the press too much this isn't an issue. However, if we use it a lot and really crank it to squeeze as much tincture out of our herbs as possible, I have found that this design isn't strong enough. Eventually it becomes loose at the points where it attaches to the base. The best designs are those where the part that holds the screw attaches to the base at three points. This is far more stable and more durable in the long run.

This older screw press is the standard design. You can see that the upper part of the frame that holds the screw is tilted from long-term use. The handles aren't long enough to easily apply sufficient torque for pressing tinctures. The metal disc isn't securely fastened to the screw so that it can rotate and tilt slightly, but it leaves enough space to allow tincture to flow up between the screw and the disc and come in contact with the grease on the screw. We eventually welded the disc to the screw with one of these, but due to the thinness of the attachment point, tincture was still able to flow around the edges and up over the top of disc and come in contact with the screw. Adding a wooden disc between the metal disc and the herbs was necessary to prevent this.

There are two more aspects of the design of a screw press that are important. The first relates to the handle that we use to turn the screw and put pressure on the herbs. Most of these presses have handles that are too short. The longer the handle the better. Not only is it easier to grip, but it allows us to put more torque on the screw and therefore more pressure on the herbs. The last issue is that it is best if the inner cylinder has a bottom. Some designs have inner cylinders without a full bottom.

In summary, I only recommend stainless steel screw presses with a two cylinder design and a spout on the outer cylinder. It is best to get one that has a capacity of 1-2 litres (approximately 1-2 quarts). In terms of the design issues I mentioned, the first (metal disc attached to screw with a deep attachment point) is the most important, however, it can be compensated for by using a wooden disc between the metal disc and the herbs. The second (three attachment points) is slightly less important, but it becomes more important the more we use the press. The third (long handles) is even less important, but this little detail can make a big difference in terms of ease and efficiency of use. The fourth (inner cylinder has a bottom) isn't that important, but it does make the press a bit easier to work with.

This is the best designed screw press that I have come across. It has three attachment points for greater stability, strength and durability; larger handles making it easier to turn the screw and apply more torque; a brace in the base that holds the spout in position; and a superior design for the disc attachment (see below). Although parts of the frame are made of aluminum, all of the parts that come in contact with the tincture and herbs are stainless steel. It even has holes in the feet so that it can be secured to a counter or piece of wood for greater stability. However, it is important to be able to tilt the press forward to drain the last bit of tincture out of the cylinder. It could be attached to a piece of wood as long as it is not too large, the front is straight, and doesn't extend too far beyond the feet so that it will still be easy to tilt the press forward. The only disadvantage of this design is that the inner cylinder doesn't have a bottom (see the photo of inner cylinders in the discussion of hydraulic presses below). However, this is only a minor issue; the least important of the various design issues that I have discussed.

Here is a closer look at the disc attachment. It allows the disc to spin so that it is less likely to get jammed in the inner cylinder. It also is fairly deep at the attachment point so that any tincture that flows over the surface of the disc will not come in contact with the grease on the screw. If we press the herbs relatively slowly towards the end, the amount of tincture that seeps up between the outer edge of the disc and the inner cylinder is minimal.

There is one modification to the screw press that I highly recommend. I have found that it is best if the herb material doesn't sit in a pool of tincture. This is because when we apply pressure, after a bit of time the herb material seems to settle a bit which causes a slight reduction in the pressure. When that happens, if the herbs are sitting in the tincture they will reabsorb some of it. Therefore it is best if the tincture is able to efficiently flow away from the herbs as soon as it is pressed out. This is one of the reasons why a press design with a spout is absolutely essential. However, because the bottom of the cylinder is horizontal, the last bit of tincture doesn't flow out very fast. To avoid the herb material sitting in a pool of tincture, what I have found works best is to use a wooden disc as described above. This disc is placed inside the outer cylinder before we insert the inner cylinder so that the inner cylinder is resting on the disc and elevated above the bottom of the outer cylinder.

The third major type of press is the hydraulic press. The best hydraulic presses are the electric ones because they can apply the most pressure. However, these tend to have three limitations. Firstly, they tend to be designed for a larger capacity and are not suitable for small quantities of tincture. Secondly, many designs don't have an outer cylinder. This might be OK for pressing grapes, but for many herbs the tincture will spray out in a way that needs to be contained by an outer cylinder. The third limitation of electric hydraulic presses is that they are extremely expensive. I would only recommend an electric hydraulic press for the production of tinctures on a very large scale requiring the pressing of 4-5 litres or more at a time. Even for an herbalist who has a busy practice and produces all of their own tinctures this is not likely to be economical.

As an alternative, there are a number of designs out there that use a manual hydraulic mechanism. Basically they attach an hydraulic bottle jack (which is typically used as a car jack) to some kind of frame. I have seen a number of designs and most of them are examples of enthusiasm more than efficiency. The typical design is to use an hydraulic bottle jack to squeeze herbs between two stainless steel bowls and then pour off the tincture by tilting the "press" (no holes, no spout). I don't recommend any of these. There is only one that I have come across that I recommend and it is the press that I use myself. Although it's not perfect, it is the best press I've ever worked with. I am always experimenting with different kinds of equipment for making tinctures. I have to say that of all of the equipment that I have acquired, the two most important things in terms of efficiency are my mezzaluna (see Part 2) and my hydraulic press.

This is the best manual hydraulic press that I have come across so far. It works very well but has two design flaws. Firstly, it is too top heavy and awkward to work with. I have a lot of experience working with presses and I don't find it too difficult to use, but most of my students have difficulty working with it on their own and need to work in pairs when using this press. The second design flaw is that there are too few holes in the inner cylinder (see below).

 Note the significant difference in the number of holes between the inner cylinder of the hydraulic press (left) and the screw press (right). Even if it had additional columns of holes in between the existing columns with the spacing of the holes half way between the existing holes it would be a significant improvement. I will probably drill them myself at some point. The cylinder on the left includes a cotton filter which is flared at the top so that it easily folds over the top edge when the maceration is being poured in. The wooden disc (centre) is positioned between the outer and inner cylinders so that the inner cylinder sits on top of it. The filter and the disc are both very stained from the tannins in herbs. Note that the inner cylinder of the screw press doesn't have a complete bottom. It is the only design flaw with that particular press, and a minor one at that.

There is one more trick that will significantly improve the efficiency of pressing and filtering. It is best to use a filter inside the press. This allows the maceration to be filtered under pressure. It eliminates the need for a separate filtration step and significantly decreases the amount of time of the whole pressing and filtering process. This is very important, not only in terms of saving time, but because the less time that elapses between when we open the jars containing our maceration and when we seal the finished tincture in a bottle, the less degradation of the active constituents that will occur. That means a better quality tincture. It is best to custom make filters that fit inside the inner cylinder. They should be a little taller than the cylinder and flared at the top so that they can easily be folded over the top of the cylinder when we pour our maceration into the press. Otherwise the filter will collapse as we pour the maceration into it. The filter should be made out of unbleached cotton or some other natural fibre, preferably certified organic. Use a coarse weave because it will filter easier and we actually want the thicker sediments and latexes of the herbs in our tincture. Before making the filters, it is important to wash the fabric several times with natural detergent because fabrics these days tend to be coated in all kinds of toxic chemicals (see Toxic Threads for more information). It is best to add some vinegar to the water as well.

If we don't use a filter in the press, it is necessary to filter the tincture after pressing it. In this case we allow gravity to filter it through a cotton filter placed inside a funnel over a beaker or other receiving container. We position the hose to allow the tincture to flow into the filter from the press. It is necessary to press the maceration more slowly when using this method so we don't overflow the filter.

There are other designs of equipment that can be used for pressing tinctures. Although I would love to, unfortunately it isn't possible for me to purchase and try them all. Most of the presses I have seen online aren't very good, but I suspect there are a few out there that are worth checking out.

This ends my discussion of pressing and filtering equipment. In Part 5, the final post in this series, I will cover the actual process of pressing and filtering our maceration.

Making Medicine, Part 3 of 5: Making a Fresh Blue Vervain Maceration

This is the third in a series of five posts in which I am using the process of wild harvesting and making a fresh herb tincture of blue vervain (Verbena hastata) as an example to explain in detail the process of making medicine. Part 1 of this series was posted on July 9th, Part 2 on July 15th. This series started as a single post, then became two, then three, then four, now five. As it progresses I realize that there is a lot that needs explaining. I have decided to do that thoroughly so that I can reference it from future posts rather than having to repeat information.

In the second post in this series we got up to the point where the blue vervain had been chopped up and was ready for making a fresh herb tincture. Now we are going to discuss making a tincture in detail. This is essentially a two part process. The first part of this process involves macerating the herbs. Maceration is the technical term for soaking the herbs in our extraction medium or menstruum. This will be the focus of this post. I will address pressing and filtering the maceration to make the tincture itself in the last post.

I discussed the important issues concerning wild harvesting and preparing blue vervain for macerating in the first two parts of this series. The next step is to put the chopped herb into a jar. This requires two things, a funnel and a jar.

The kind of jar that we use is very important. Firstly, it needs to have a wide opening so that it is easy to get the herbs into it and out again when it is finished macerating. Secondly, it is preferable that the jar is made of dark coloured glass. Amber seems to work best and it is less expensive than cobalt, which is the other major choice for dark coloured glass. Amber jars reduce exposure to light, which is one of the most important causes of degradation of the constituents of herbs. It is therefore important that we minimize the amount of light that our herbs and our maceration are exposed to. To accomplish this during the initial preparation, the herbs are chopped, put into a jar, covered with menstruum, and sealed as quickly as possible.

I know many herbalists who use Mason jars for macerating tinctures. This is probably because they are cheap and readily available. Some don't realize the importance of minimizing exposure to light. Others claim that the minimum light exposure that occurs while preparing and shaking their maceration is not significant as long as the jars are stored in the dark. It is very important to me to ensure that the medicines I prepare are of the highest quality and I am always experimenting with ways to improve this process. I have prepared two macerations of the same herb at the same time in the same way, one in an amber jar and the other in a Mason jar. Both were stored in the dark in the same location. I allowed them to macerate for the same amount of time and pressed them the same way on the same day. When I pressed the two macerations, the one that was prepared in the Mason jar was already significantly oxidized and the one that was in the amber jar had oxidized very little. You can tell that a tincture is oxidized because it is darker (usually more brown) in colour.

Once we press a tincture (which I'll discuss in the fourth and final post in this series), the constituents begin to rapidly degrade. There are a couple of ways we can slow this process down, but we can't prevent it. It is much easier to minimize this degradation during the initial preparation and maceration process. We can maximize the quality and potency of our tincture by minimizing the degradation of its chemical constituents up to the point of pressing it. This will also maximize its shelf life once it is pressed.

The final point that I would like to make about Mason jars is that, in order to prevent the lid from rusting, it is coated with plastic that contains bisphenol A (BPA), a hormone disruptor that readily dissolves into our maceration and accumulates in our body tissues. BPA has many known and probably many more unknown negative health effects. There are numerous sources of this environmental toxin and most people have significant levels in their body tissues and fluids. It's not something that we want in our tinctures! There are Mason jars out there that have a plastic lining that is "BPA Free", however, the BPA has been replaced by bisphenol S. BPS has similar hormone disrupting properties as BPA.

That brings us to the discussion of lids. Our wide-mouthed amber jars need a lid. Metal lids are not recommended because they either have a plastic coating that contains BPA or similar chemicals, or they have no coating and will rust. As a result, although I'm not a big fan of plastic, it is the best option as long as it's the right kind of plastic. The two options for lids that I recommend are high-density polyethylene (HDPE, ♴) and polypropylene (PP, ♷). Neither of these plastics leach BPA, pthalates or other known hormone disruptors. That doesn't mean that other toxins won't be discovered in the future that leach from these plastics, but at this point these are the safest plastic lids. If our lids don't have a liner, the softness of the plastic helps the jar seal when the lid is tightly screwed on, but occasionally it doesn't seal perfectly and our jar could leak a tiny amount. That also means fresh air (and more oxygen) getting into our maceration and increased oxidation of the chemical constituents. If we want the best seal, we need to use lids with a liner. Paper liners are not recommended because they will dissolve, and other liners such as polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride are toxic. The best liner is one made of low-density polyethylene foam (LDPE, ♶), also called an F217 liner. This is another plastic that is not yet know to leach any toxic chemicals. The last point on lids is that the liner must be loose, not glued in place, because the glue will also dissolve in our tincture. This also allows us to remove the liner for more thorough cleaning between uses. So to summarize, I recommend using a HDPE or PP lid either without a liner, or ideally with a loose (unglued) F217 liner.

The jars that I use are called amber round packers. These jars have a shoulder, which means that although they have a wide opening, it is not as wide as the full width of the jar like Mason jars. The volume of these jars is usually measured to the top of the shoulder and doesn't include the neck. Since when we macerate tinctures we need to fill the jar almost to the top, this kind of jar actually holds more liquid than the stated volume of the jar. The sizes that I use are 250 ml (8.5 oz), 500 ml (16.9 oz) and 950 ml (32.1 oz). However, when we fill these jars to 1/2 cm (3/16 inch) from the top, they actually contain 270 ml (9.1 oz), 540 ml (18.3 oz) and 990 ml (33.5 oz), respectively. I use the largest size for the herbs that I use the most and the middle size for the herbs I use less. The smallest size I only use for herbs that I haven't worked with. I will initially make a smaller amount of tincture that I use to do some preliminary research on the properties of the herb. Keep in mind that I am making tinctures for use in my practice and school. Anyone who is making tinctures for personal use will not require such large quantities. For personal use or for a family, making approximately 250 ml of tincture will be sufficient for a one year supply of most herbs. Rarely you might need 500 ml, but only for herbs that you use a lot. The amber packers also come in a 120 ml (4.1 oz) size, which actually contains 130 ml (4.4 oz) when filled correctly for a maceration. I recommend to my students to use the 120 ml and 250 ml sizes for most herbs for personal or family use, and only rarely the 500 ml size. Also, it is better to macerate a tincture in several smaller jars than in one large one. This is because, assuming that we make our initial maceration in a conscientious way, the greatest amount of degradation of the active constituents will occur after we press the tincture. So we don't want to press our tinctures in quantities that will require a long time to use. I recommend macerating tinctures in a jar size that will produce enough tincture to last about three to six months. I will discuss this a bit more in the fourth post in this series.

Amber round packers: 120 ml, 250 ml, 500 ml and 950 ml sizes.

Note wide-bottom funnel in the 250 ml jar.

Enough about jars, the last thing we need is a funnel. We need a funnel with a large opening at the bottom so that our chopped herbs can easily pass through it. The opening should be as large as possible, but narrow enough that the bottom of the funnel will insert at least two to three centimetres (one inch) into the neck of the jar so that it doesn't fall out easily. You can usually get a funnel with a wide bottom in a kitchen or automotive store, or department of a larger store. They are used for funnelling solids or highly viscous liquids like motor oil. If you can't find one you can always cut a regular funnel or make your own by making a cone from a piece of blank paper (no ink on it) or thin cardboard. Make sure you tape or staple it so it holds its shape and doesn't unravel while you are pouring something through it.

Glass funnels are best, but they are expensive and easily broken. Metal funnels aren't recommended because metal acts as a catalyst for oxidation reactions, which is problematic for chopped herbs because their inner tissues are exposed. Using a metal funnel will increase the rate of oxidation of the chopped herb material as it passes through. Once more, that leaves us with plastic. As with our jar lids, it is best to use HDPE (♴) or PP (♷). Polyvinyl chloride (PVC, ♵), polystyrene (PS, ♸) and other (O, ♹) miscellaneous plastics are not recommended because they are know to leach BPA, pthalates and other hormone disrupting toxins. Nothing that is made of these plastics should be allowed to come in contact with our herbs, maceration or tinctures.

At this point our blue vervain herb has been weighed to determine the correct amount that we need to make a 1:5 fresh herb tincture in a jar that holds 990 ml. It has been chopped to the appropriate level of fineness. Now we pour it through a funnel into a jar. If this is done too quickly, sometimes the herb will get stuck in the funnel. Tapping the funnel on the rim of the jar (with the end still inside the jar) will usually remedy this. If that doesn't work I will use the handle of a wooden spoon or a chopstick as a plunger to force the herb through.

Most herbs, if they have been chopped fine enough, will easily fit in our jar. However, some herbs are less dense because they have a lot of air spaces in their tissues. This is particularly true of many herbs from the Mint family (Lamiaceae). For herbs that don't easily fit in our jar, once more I will use the handle of a wooden spoon or a chopstick to compress the herb material in the jar so that it will all fit.

Once all of the herb is in the jar we need to fill up the jar with our menstruum. Traditionally, tinctures are macerated using a solution of ethanol (grain alcohol) and water. I'm going to begin this discussion by looking at alcohol. Back in the 80's, when the diagnosis of overgrowth of yeast (Candida albicans) became popular among many natural health practitioners and health food advocates, many people were promoting various anti-Candida diets that were based on a few common themes. One of the themes that emerged out of the general Candida concern was an anti-alcohol element. The basic idea is that consumption of any amount of alcohol will promote the overgrowth of yeast in our body. This led to some practitioners and authors of books on natural healing to claim that tinctures are not a good way to use herbs because of their alcohol content. This notion was further exacerbated by herbal manufacturers who, in attempting to capitalize on this trend, promoted the idea in their literature in an attempt to gain more market share by marketing the supposed alternative: glycerites or "glycerin tinctures". These are herb extractions that use some percentage of glycerin and water as a menstruum instead of alcohol and water. These concerns are unfounded. Firstly, because glycerin is actually a kind of alcohol. In fact, mold can grow in glycerin, but not in ethanol. Secondly, because glycerites are not a suitable alternative to tinctures. Glycerin is not as good an extraction medium or preservative for most of the chemical constituents of herbs. And finally, because the amount of alcohol consumed in a typical dosage of tincture is not in the least bit harmful, nor does it promote the growth of yeast. It is true that over-consumption of alcohol has a lot of potential negative health consequences, but the amount of alcohol consumed by taking tinctures, even at acute doses, is completely acceptable. The difference in the quality of tinctures versus glycerites is many times more significant than any potential negative consequences from consuming such tiny amounts of alcohol.

Other forms of liquid extractions of herbs such as acetics or "vinegar tinctures", which are extracted using some percentage of vinegar and water, have also been suggested as alternatives to tinctures. Although solvents such as glycerin and vinegar are good at extracting some of the chemical constituents of herbs, for the majority of constituents alcohol is better. Alcohol is also by far the best preservative for liquid extractions (not including toxic solvents such as methanol and benzene).

Before I go any further on this, I want to clarify two points that I just made. Firstly, the notion that yeast and other "parasites" are the primary cause of most health imbalances that people suffer from has been around a long time. It is called "germ theory" and it was initially developed by Louis Pasteur, a 19th century microbiologist. It is also one of the major limiting assumptions of modern medicine. As a result of the acceptance of Pasteur's theory into the reductionistic medical paradigm, medical researchers in the late 1800s and early 1900s looked for microbial causes of just about every illness and attempted to develop vaccines to treat them (this was before antibiotics). I am not suggesting that this approach hasn't resulted in useful medical treatments that have helped many people. However, the limitation of this theory is that it doesn't get to the root of the problem. In most instances, infectious diseases are caused by organisms that are in our immediate environment and often in or on our body all of the time. The major cause of illness is not the organism in and of itself, it is the lack of health and vitality of the person affected by it. This is directly the result of the dietary and lifestyle choices that we make every day.

Now lets fast-forward to the 1980s when Candida became a popular concern. Since that time many practitioners of natural healing disciplines have jumped on the germ theory bandwagon. It's the same old superficial approach, looking for an easy scapegoat instead of getting to the root of the problem. It is true that whenever there is an over proliferation of any microorganism, the presence of the organism will put additional stress on a person. Sometimes (but not always) it may be necessary to use treatment methods that directly affect the organism to help reduce the stress load on their body. However, using herbs to support the person's overall health and vitality and educating them about how the way they live affects their health and how they can improve on it is the essence of the treatment. And, for the record, in situations where it is necessary to directly address the "parasite", if herbs are our modality of choice, tinctures are usually the preparation of choice - and that means alcohol!

The whole issue of "parasites" is quite complex and maybe I'll do a post on it at some point in the future. For those who are interested, here is a link to an article that I wrote for the summer 2000 issue of Vitality Magazine (Dealing With Parasites). This one is too old to be archived on the Vitality website, so I have posted it on the Herbal Resources page of the Living Earth website.

The final point that I would like to clarify concerning this aspect of the alcohol issue is that, although it is true that the amount of alcohol in a typical dose of tincture isn't going to be harmful to most people or aggravate some condition that they have, I am not suggesting that the alcohol in tinctures isn't going to negatively affect anyone. There are people who have allergy-like reactions to alcohol. Also, some people who have a history of alcoholism are so sensitive to alcohol that the taste or smell of even a very dilute amount affects them in a negative way. However, collectively these groups make up a very small minority of the population. Although for them it will be necessary to use herbs in some other form, even though from a therapeutic point of view it may be somewhat less effective, for the vast majority of people tinctures are the preparation of choice for using herbs in most situations.

Now I am going to discuss the menstruum that I use to make tinctures. This is also going to require a bit of explanation as I do not follow the traditional method of determining the menstruum for making tinctures. Traditionally, tinctures were made using some percentage of alcohol and water. The percentage of alcohol used varied depending on the herb. These percentages have been recorded in various herbal pharmacopoeias. However, it is my experience that using these prescribed alcohol percentages is less than ideal. Firstly, these percentages were determined at a time when herbalism, alchemy, chemistry and reductionistic medicine had been in the process of diverging from their common roots. The reductionistic scientific model was beginning to coalesce into its current form. At that time, like today, some herbalists in the West practiced according to a more traditional, holistic model, others according to a more reductionistic model, and still others fell somewhere in between. The growing influence of the materialistic, reductionistic scientific paradigm led many to believe that the therapeutic actions of plants were due exclusively to their chemical constituents. In addition, those who subscribed to this model believed that the actions of medicinal herbs could be reduced primarily to the properties of a single constituent or a few chemically-related constituents. As a result, the recommended menstruum for macerating tinctures was determined by figuring out the best percentage of alcohol for extracting the single or a few related constituents that were believed to be responsible for the therapeutic actions of the plant. The recommended alcohol percentages for extracting individual herbs that are recorded in the various pharmacopoeias were derived in this way.

From the perspective of an holistic paradigm, the therapeutic actions of an herb are understood to be the result of synergistic interactions of all of its chemical constituents. As a result, using a particular alcohol percentage intended to produce the best extraction of an individual constituent is not ideal because that alcohol percentage might not work well or even be detrimental to the extraction of other chemical constituents. Therefore the ideal menstruum will be one that gets the best extraction of the largest number of the chemical constituents of the herb. Here's a somewhat extreme example of what that might look like. Myrrh resin (Commiphora myrrha) is usually extracted using a very high alcohol percentage, typically 80-100%. This is because many of the components of the resin are very poorly soluble in water but very soluble in high alcohol concentrations. However, myrrh also contains polysaccharides. Until the last couple of decades, polysaccharides were completely ignored by researchers because there were no known mechanisms by which they could be absorbed or have any systemic therapeutic action from the digestive tract. The conventional belief was that they are either broken down into their component sugar units, absorbed and used as fuel by our body, or they are "fibre" and just pass through the digestive tract without doing much of anything (except making it easier to have a bowel movement). In addition, reductionistic researchers were always looking for relatively unique, strong, drug-like constituents to explain the actions of medicinal herbs. This is partly due to their philosophical orientation, and also partly because much of the research was oriented towards finding chemicals that could be used as the basis for developing new drugs. Ubiquitous constituents like polysaccharides, organic acids and polyphenols were considered uninteresting. How could something that is found in most or all plants be important when considering the unique therapeutic actions of individual herbs? In fact, any herbs that weren't known to contain very strong constituents such as alkaloids, saponins or cardioactive glycosides were considered useless and their traditional use irrational. Researchers have fairly recently changed their tune on this one, but that was the conventional belief of the time. So, getting back to myrrh, no one would have considered polysaccharides important when determining an alcohol percentage to extract the resin. However, the polysaccharides are very important, particularly for the immune stimulating properties of myrrh. Unfortunately, polysaccharides aren't soluble in alcohol. In general, their solubility tends to start dropping off at around 20% alcohol and by 40% they are virtually insoluble. So they are more or less absent from myrrh resin tincture when it is extracted using very high alcohol percentages.

Another issue is that the alcohol percentages recorded in many of the pharmacopoeias for extracting individual herbs were usually developed by practitioners and researchers who used herbs as simples (single herbs). At present, most Western herbal traditions use herbs in formulations. This is problematic because when we mix different tinctures that are extracted using different alcohol percentages, the alcohol percentage of the mixture is going to be different than the alcohol percentages of the individual tinctures. This means that chemical constituents that don't extract well at the alcohol percentage of the mixture will precipitate out of solution to varying degrees and either deposit on the surface of the bottle or settle out in a less absorbable form.

In considering all of this, I came to the following conclusions:

1. That I needed to determine the best menstruum for extracting the largest number of constituents of herbs; and,
2. For the system of herbalism that I practice, in which herbs are almost always used in formulations, it is best to use the same menstruum for all of the tinctures that I prepare. That means that I am looking for a menstruum that will extract the largest number of constituents in all herbs, not just an individual herb that I am macerating at any given time.

After doing some research on the solubility of various constituents and experimenting with various concentrations of possible solvents, the menstruum that I finally settled on is 60% water, 30% alcohol and 10% glycerin for tinctures made from dried herbs, and 56% water, 33% alcohol and 11% glycerin for tinctures made from fresh herbs in order to compensate a bit for the water content of the fresh herbs. Since I make almost all of my tinctures from fresh herbs, it is the latter menstruum that I normally use. I have used this menstruum for all of my tinctures for the last ten years and found it to be superior to using alcohol alone and in different (and usually higher) concentrations for different herbs.

The beauty of this menstruum is that, although glycerin doesn't extract constituents that are highly alcohol soluble as well as alcohol, it seems to work better for these constituents when combined with alcohol as long as the alcohol is in a higher proportion. On the other hand, glycerin is very good at extracting constituents that that aren't very soluble in alcohol, like polysaccharides, and helps to stabilize them in solution. So the net result is that this menstruum extracts constituents that are very soluble in alcohol more like a 35-40% alcohol solution, whereas it extracts constituents that are poorly soluble in alcohol more like a 20-25% alcohol solution. One easy way to demonstrate this is to make two tinctures of marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis), one using 40% alcohol and the other using 30% alcohol and 10% glycerin. When we press these tinctures, the latter one will be much thicker and more mucilaginous. This is because the mucilage content of the herb is primarily made up of polysaccharides which extract much better in this menstruum.

Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis).

On the other hand, if I repeat this experiment and make two different macerations of a very aromatic plant that contains a significant amount of essential oil such as wild bergamot herb (Monarda fistulosa), or a plant that contains bitter alkaloids such as celandine (Chelidonium majus), I can not detect any noticeable difference between the aroma and flavour (except for the sweetness of the glycerin) of the two different versions of the tincture, indicating that the essential oil and alkaloid constituents are extracting at a similar level in both cases.

Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa).

This process of assessing the quality or identity of an herbal preparation on the basis of properties that are accessible to our physical senses, such as flavour, aroma, appearance, etc., is called organoleptic analysis. Our senses, when suitably trained, are incredibly adapted to this kind of analysis, as in the case of people who can detect the subtleties of a fine wine. The same applies to herbal tinctures. To me, the ultimate test of the quality of a tincture is how closely its flavour and aroma resemble that of the fresh, living herb.

The final issue with regard to the menstruum that I use is that some people might argue that, even if this menstruum can extract constituents the are highly soluble in alcohol similar to a 40% alcohol solution, that is not enough alcohol to extract them efficiently. However, most herbal constituents are somewhere in the middle with regard to their degree of water and alcohol solubility and extract in the equivalent of a 30-40% alcohol solution very well. In addition, constituents that extract best in a high alcohol solution, like monoterpenes, alkaloids and resins, extract fairly well in this menstruum and are also very potent constituents that still have a strong therapeutic action even in a slightly lower concentration than is obtainable using higher alcohol concentrations. The fact that I am preparing 1:5 fresh herb tinctures is also a factor. They will dissolve in a 1:5 maceration better than a 1:2 or 1:1 maceration because there is more menstruum for them to dissolve into in a 1:5 extraction. It is also doubtful that our body can absorb these constituents efficiently in higher concentrations anyway. Since my goal is to create tinctures in which the constituents are in a similar proportion relative to each other as in the living herb, using this menstruum makes more sense. I am not extracting an essential oil, I am extracting an herb!

Another consideration is whether or not we might get an even better extraction if we maintain the alcohol at 30% and increase the amount of glycerin. This might be a bit better for some constituents, however, from my experience it seems to be important that the alcohol percentage is a fair bit higher than that of glycerin. In addition, I find that using more than 10% glycerin makes the tincture too sweet and many people find higher concentrations of glycerin somewhat irritating in their throat. Although the slight sweetness of this menstruum is useful in terms of making some herbs more palatable, if it's too sweet it masks the flavour of the herbs too much. Some of the therapeutic properties of herbs are enhanced by tasting the herb, presumably by reflex actions from the taste receptors in our mouth. For instance, there are many therapeutic properties that are related to the bitterness of an herb. Tinctures that contain more than 10% glycerin mask the bitterness too much and reduce the effectiveness of these properties.

The last point on glycerin is that we always use food grade vegetable glycerin. There is lower grade glycerin that is used for other purposes, but it is not suitable for making tinctures.

OK, so now we've made it through another long explanation and we can finally get back to our blue vervain herb that is chopped up sitting in our jar. To summarize, the herb is in a 950 ml amber round packer that will actually hold 990 ml when filled to the appropriate level. It has a polypropylene lid with a loose low density polyethylene liner. Now we want to fill up the jar with our menstruum, which contains 56% water, 33% alcohol and 11% glycerin. We want to minimize the amount of air space in the jar once it is filled because the more air that is present, the more oxidation that will occur while the herbs are macerating. However, we must have some air inside because we need to be able to shake the maceration to help the constituents dissolve. This only works if there is a bit of air inside because it is the movement of the air bubble that shakes up the contents of the jar. I have found that the maximum amount that we can fill the jar and still allow the contents to be shaken efficiently is about 1/2 cm (3/16 inch) from the top. Once we fill the jar to 1/2 cm from the top, the lid must be screwed on tight enough that it doesn't leak, but not so tight that we split the lid (which is possible with plastic lids if we get over zealous).

It is important to rinse the outside of the jar once it is sealed so that there is no residue from the plant juices or glycerin (from the menstruum). Otherwise it is possible that mold will grow on the jar while it is macerating.

The final thing we need to do is put a label on the jar. I store my macerations in boxes, so I put the label on the lid. It needs to contain the following information:

1. The name of the herb and part used.
2. The concentration of the maceration.
3. Whether its a fresh or dried herb extraction.
4. The date it was made.

For the blue vervain tincture that I made I wrote the following on the label:

Verbena hastata herb

1:5 Fresh

July 1, 2012

Now that our maceration is sealed and labeled, it is necessary to shake it regularly for awhile. This helps to get the constituents into solution and to break up the plant tissues a bit as they soak and soften, which facilitates the release of the constituents from the plant. I usually shake a new maceration vigorously for about 20-30 seconds twice a day for the first week, then once a day for another week or two. After that I shake them once or twice a year until I am ready to press them. Once I've decided to press a maceration to make the tincture, I will shake the jar once a day for a week immediately prior to pressing it.

The last little complication in this process is that plant tissues contain air spaces. Some more than others. As the plant material is soaking, the air spaces in the macerating herb will gradually fill with menstruum. This process takes a week or two and the shaking of the maceration helps to facilitate this process. Once the plant tissues are fully saturated with our menstruum, the size of the air space in our bottle will have grown. At about the two week point, just before I stop shaking the jars regularly, I will open them and top them up with additional menstruum back to 1/2 cm below the top. When we do this, it is important that we carefully clean the outer rim of the jar and the inner surface of the lid that comes in contact with the rim. A very small piece of paper towel or a section of toilet paper works well for this. There are two reasons why this is necessary. These surfaces will get coated with tincture and bits of plant material. If we don't clean it, the lid might not seal properly when we screw it back on. Also, if there is any tincture present on the rim, once the alcohol evaporates the remaining residue is a suitable medium on which mold can grow. Mold can't grow right into the tincture, but if it is on the rim it could contaminate our tincture when we pour the maceration out of the jar when it is finished.

Herbal macerations need to be stored in the dark at all times. I store mine in boxes with dividers. When I don't have boxes with dividers I make the dividers.

I have found that the ideal amount of time to macerate tinctures is three months or more. The absolute minimum amount of time is one month, but three months is preferable. Prior to three months the macerating herbs haven't had the opportunity to soften enough to be able to efficiently extract their constituents. After three months most of the constituents of the herb are either in solution or extractable when we press it because the macerating herb material will have softened sufficiently. Additional time macerating will only slightly increase the potency of the tincture. That being said, we don't want to press a tincture until we are ready to use it. As I've stated earlier, the greatest amount of degradation of the constituents of an herb occurs once the tincture is pressed. So it is best not to press a tincture until we need it and to macerate it in quantities that we will be able to completely use within three to six months of pressing it.

One of the great things about macerating herbs is that as long as we prepare our herbs and maceration in a conscientious way to maximize the quality and potency of our tincture, and the macerations are sealed well, stored in the dark and not opened, macerating tinctures will maintain their quality and potency for a very long time. I have tinctures that macerated for 10 years or more before I pressed them and they are just as good as those that were pressed within a few months. The one exception to this is herbs with a lot of aromatic sulfur-containing compounds, such as those from the Onion (Alliaceae) and Mustard (Brassicaceae) families. These kinds of constituents tend to be less stable in solution. It is best to press tinctures of herbs from these families within a year or two and use them within three to four months once they are pressed.

This is the end of Part 3 of this series. In Part 4 I'll discuss the different kinds of equipment that are available for pressing and filtering the maceration.

Making Medicine, Part 1 of 5: Wild Harvesting Blue Vervain

This is the first of a series of five posts in which I am going to use the process of wild harvesting and making a fresh herb tincture of blue vervain (Verbena hastata) as an example to explain in detail the process of making medicine. You'll have to excuse me for having changed the title a few times. As I've been writing these posts, they've become longer and more detailed and less about blue vervain and more about making medicine in general. There are a lot of aspects of this process that I realized needed to be explained in detail. So this has been an evolving process.

A week ago, Monika (Monika Ghent, my partner and the Living Earth online course supervisor) and I went harvesting blue vervain. I decided that this would be a good herb to feature in in this series because the process is pretty typical for an herb for which we harvest the aerial parts. Also, being a wetland species, it allows me to address a couple of issues that are particular to harvesting in wetlands.

The home of blue vervain (Verbena hastata).

Back in the early 80s when I first started exploring wild spaces and eventually herbs in the rural areas beyond the boarders of Toronto where I lived, I used to look at detailed maps of the surrounding area to look for wild spaces where there weren't any roads and hopefully no development (that was before the Internet and Google Maps). When I found something that looked promising, my friends and I would drive around the area to get a sense of the landscape and determine if there were any trails accessing the area. In the winter I used to hike along the course of a creek near where I lived by walking on the ice. One winter day when we were exploring a new area I suggested that it would be easier and more interesting to access the area by walking on the ice along a river that flowed through. We didn't get as far following the meandering course of the river, but we didn't care. I have always preferred quality over quantity. After that day doing this became a regular activity for me. Sadly, for the last decade or more the winters in my area have been much warmer and the rivers rarely freeze. Occasionally when they do the ice is usually too thin to walk on.

The summer following our first river ice excursion we were heading out to explore a provincial park not too far away. We wanted to avoid most of the people and explore areas that weren't easily accessible by trails. I suggested that we walk up the river. So we put on old running shoes without socks and walked up through the river. We called it "water walking" and I've done it ever since. In the early days the only drag about it was the water sloshing around for awhile in our running shoes when we left the river. For a couple of years in the early 90s I took a bunch of workshops in New Jersey with Tom Brown. The first time I was down there a few people were wearing these really cool sandals that had adjustable Velcro straps. They were Tevas of course! They weren't very common yet and I had never seen them before. I realized at once that these were the perfect all-terrain footwear for use in warmer weather, and in particular for water walking. They were the one piece that was missing from water walking. I bought my first pair 20 years ago. I'm still on my second pair. That's pretty amazing considering they are about the only footwear I use (when I'm not barefoot) during the warmer months of the year. I wear them through just about everything when I'm harvesting, hiking, canoeing or camping.

So now let's get back to wild harvesting. Wetland plants often live in areas that are not easily accessible. The plant growth can be very thick and difficult to get through. There can also be deep muck that is hard to walk in. There is also a particular kind of grass that grows in wetlands that we call "sticky grass". I don't know what species it is. Grasses can be difficult to identify and I haven't devoted any energy to learning the many grasses because I don't use any of them. What is particular about sticky grass is that it has a row of tiny barbs along the mid vein of the blade that slices your flesh. If you walk through it with exposed skin you will get numerous cuts that are like paper cuts. It's not very pleasant. With these challenges in mind, in the early years when I first started wild harvesting the medicines I realized that the best way to access wetland plants is by water walking along the course of a creek or river, or along the shore of a lake. Of course it only works when the water isn't too deep. Another concern is that we have to be very careful not to step on any flat rocks because there are often fish, crayfish or other aquatic animals living underneath them.

Monika water walking while we were harvesting blue vervain.

So on July 1st Monika and I headed off water walking down a river that is not too far from where I live. Monika needed to harvest blue vervain and yarrow (Achillea millefolium), both of which are common along the banks of the river. That day I only needed blue vervain.

Whenever I pass through wild spaces I am always keeping track of lots of information: How healthy is the ecosystem? Which plants are growing there? At what stage are they in their life cycle on that particular date of that particular year? Do any of the medicines I use grow there and, if so, what is the maximum sustainable amount that can be harvested? What mammal, bird and other animal species live there? When I get home I record all of this information in a data base and update it every time I'm in the area. In this way whenever I need to harvest a particular herb, I have a quick reference to locations where it grows and approximately how much I can harvest at each location.

While I'm moving through the landscape I keep my mind quiet and tend to use my peripheral vision most of the time so that I can be aware of as much of what is going on around me as possible. Fairly soon after we started down the river last week I noticed a flash of red way off to my right in a clearing between some cedars. To my surprise I noticed some Oswego tea (Monarda didyma) that was just starting to bloom. It was early for these parts, but most species are blooming two to three weeks early this year because of the heat and the drought we have been experiencing. Oswego tea isn't very common in southern Ontario. It is much more common south of the Great Lakes. It only grows in a couple of the areas that I frequent and this was only the second time that I had seen it in bloom. Luckily I had my camera with me that day. In our area wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) is fairly common and that is the species that I use. When I first started using wild bergamot there was almost no information on it in the literature. There was a bit of information on Oswego tea and the few references to wild bergamot usually just said that it was very similar to Oswego tea. It is not uncommon for plants in the same genus to have very similar properties. Because several sources had made this comparison, I had assumed that they probably taste very similar. Then one day a few years ago Monika and I were walking along a deer trail on the bank of the same river further upstream from where we were last weekend. As we were walking I picked up a strong scent of wild mint (Mentha arvensis). I looked around where we had been walking and all I saw were some baby wild bergamot plants. I tasted a leaf and sure enough that was where the smell was coming from. I then realized that they weren't wild bergamot (although at that stage they looked almost identical) but rather Oswego tea. So it turns out that although Oswego tea is very closely related to wild bergamot, it tastes almost identical to wild mint. That means that the components of its essential oil are more similar to wild mint and therefore its medicinal properties are also probably closer to wild mint than wild bergamot. It seems that the information I had read was based on an assumption, not on experience.

Oswego tea (Monarda didyma), one of the friends I met that day.

Blue vervain grows along the edges of wetlands, rivers and lakes. In my area it rarely grows in large groups. It tends to grow singly or in groups of a few plants along the edge of the water or a bit further back in areas where it is wet in the spring and the soil remains fairly moist through the summer. As a result, it is necessary to travel some distance along the edge of the water to get a decent amount, especially since we don't harvest all of the plants.

A group of blue vervain plants growing along the bank of the river.

Blue vervain can tolerate a wide range of light conditions. It prefers to grow in locations where it will get direct sunlight 20-100% of the day, although 40-80% is ideal. In very hot dry years when the water level where the plant is growing is very low, it is best to harvest it in areas where it gets direct sunlight 20-40% of the day. On the other hand, in cool wet years it is best to harvest this herb in areas where it gets direct sunlight 80-100% of the day.

On this trip we were able to harvest a larger percentage of the plants that were ready because it hadn't been flowering for very long and only about a third of the plants were blooming. This year I only needed to harvest enough to make 2 litres of tincture because I made extra last year. I had already prepared 1 litre a couple of days earlier from a different location. Monika needed to make 2 litres as well. We had to water walk about 2 km along the river to get enough for both of us. In years when I need a fair bit I usually have to harvest at two or three locations to get what I need.

A closer look at the flowering spikes.

Blue vervain is harvested at the beginning of it's flowering period. The best time is from a few days to a week after it goes into flower. However, since all of the plants don't go into flower at the same time, generally the best time is one to two weeks after the first plants go into flower. In the area where I live, that is usually the second week of July. It was earlier this year because of the very hot, dry weather. It can be harvested a bit later, but like most plants the internodes (the sections of stalk between the nodes, the points where the leaves are attached to the stalk) get longer. This results in a higher stalk to leaf and flowering spike ratio and therefore a greater amount of stalk that needs to be discarded when we separate the usable from unusable portions of the herb. Also, the later we harvest it, the less time the plant has to produce more flowering stalks and reproduce. Typically we harvest the terminal 30-40% of the herb because this is the most potent part and it minimizes the amount of stress on each plant to regrow.

Me demonstrating how much of the plant to harvest. I am standing in shallow water in the river

and the plant is on the bank, so it looks about 6-8 inches taller than it actually is.

We had a great time water walking that day. It was quite warm, but a few degrees cooler than it had been. The sun was very strong, but travelling through the river there was a fair bit of shade. Water walking is great on hot days because walking through the water helps to cool us down. We also enjoyed the songs of many bird species and met a few friends along the way, both in and out of the water.

Some of the other visitors to the river on that day were

Canadian tiger swallowtail butterflies (Papilio canadensis) and...

...white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We didn't see any deer but we heard them

bounding off as we approached. I usually only see them when I'm harvesting alone.

This is the end of Part 1 of this series. Later this week I'll post Part 2, in which I will be discussing preparing the blue vervain that I harvested in order to make a fresh herb tincture. In the third post I will discuss making the maceration; in the fourth, different kinds of equipment that are available for pressing and filtering tinctures; and in the fifth, the actual process of pressing and filtering the maceration to make the tincture. In the last post I will also provide information on the properties and uses of blue vervain.

Cultivated Vs. Wild Harvested Herbs

Here comes another one of the "background" posts that I mentioned. I took some photos when Monika and I were harvesting on Sunday and am going to do a post on harvesting blue vervain (Verbena hastata) soon, but I have a couple more background posts to do first. I'm doing a series of posts this week to kick this thing off. After that it will have to find its place in my schedule and the posts will be less frequent.

As I mentioned previously, the way I do herbalism necessitates that I make all of my own medicines. I also have a preference for using tinctures made from fresh herbs. That means that the group of herbs I work with are those that are native, naturalized or can be grown in northeastern North America, southern Ontario more specifically.

I don't grow many herbs. I've always primarily wild harvested them. When I tried growing them it was not very successful. I spend so much time wild harvesting that my garden tended to be neglected. I anticipated that and only planted hardy perennials, but over time my garden became over-run with plants such as goldenrods (Solidago spp.), asters (Symphyotrichum spp.) and tansy (Tanacetum vulgare). Although I planted hardy species, most of them couldn't handle being shaded by these taller plants. I just don't have much time for "weeding" and don't use the roots or rhizomes of these species, so digging them up isn't useful for me.

As a compromise, I have introduced some native and naturalized species onto the land where I live. In some cases they don't proliferate to a degree that I will be able to harvest them here, but they are good friends and I like having them around. In other cases plants that I have introduced have expanded quite a bit, some of them enough that I can harvest part or all of what I need right here. The key is to understand the kind of soil, moisture and light conditions that each species prefers. This is something that is easily learned by spending a lot of time with them in places where they grow naturally.

Musk mallow (Malva moschata) is one of the plants that I
introduced and now grows wild on my property.

Another thing that I do is pay close attention to what is growing on my lawn. Knowing how to recognize plants when they are very small and being attentive when I am mowing allows me to mow around the species of herbs that I use when they arrive here. By selectively mowing around these species it gives them a competitive advantage over the grass and other plants by allowing them to grow to full size and reproduce. Some of them multiply very fast. I have about 3/4 acre of mowed space around my house with many trees and shrubs, so there is a variety of amounts of light and moisture available. This is important if we want to encourage a large number of species to grow. It's amazing how many species arrive on their own. After mowing my lawn this way for about 12 years, there are now 96 species of plants that weren't there before I started mowing in this way. Of these, 22 were introduced. About half of the introduced species escaped out of my garden, whereas I introduced the other half directly onto my lawn. There are 38 species that arrived naturally, and 10 that I introduced that are either plants that I don't use, or herbs that I use but are not growing in sufficient quantity for me to harvest them. On the other hand, there are 36 species that arrived naturally and 12 that I introduced that are growing in sufficient quantity that I can harvest directly from my lawn some or all of what I need of each of these species to prepare tinctures for my clinic from year to year. Regardless of how plentiful they are, I use all of them as teaching tools as I run my classes and clinics out of my house. My lawn is my herb garden!

The view from my front door. Things are not as lush as

they should be in early July. We've had the driest

and hottest spring that I can remember.

Some of the herbs that are now growing

wild in my back yard.

Many herbalists, including myself, recognize the superiority of wild over cultivated herbs. However, it doesn't have to be that way. Assuming that herbs are grown organically (I'm not going to get into the numerous issues associated with the use of commercially grown herbs), there are essentially four reasons why cultivated herbs are inferior:

1. Cultivated herbs often aren't grown in conditions that each species prefers. Again this includes soil type and levels of moisture and light.
2. Cultivated herbs are grown in monoculture on bare soil. Plants need to be interspersed with other species. This reduces diseases and insect damage, and provides a bit of competition. Bare soil doesn't exist in nature except after a major disturbance. It increases erosion and loss of moisture from the soil and is an invitation for any plant that likes disturbed soil to grow there.
3. Cultivated herbs are babied. They are watered too much and "weeded" excessively. This may make them grow more lush and faster, but it doesn't make them stronger. In order to be strong and healthy, all living things need to struggle. When life is too easy they get weak. If there is a prolonged dry period, it's OK to water them. Too much stress will also weaken them. But we don't want to overdo it. We also want to take into account the amount of moisture that each plant requires. If it is a wetland plant and we can't plant it by a wetland, it will need more watering and probably some shade. Similarly, plants need competition. There are no "weeds", only opportunistic plants that take advantage when we screw up the balance of things or create habitats that they like. It's a good idea to keep out the invasive species or any plants that are large and will overshadow the herbs that we are growing. We also don't want to let our herbs get too overcrowded. Most of the "weed" species are medicinal anyway. We can harvest them as well. We just need to make sure that they aren't too competitive or plants that when harvested will result in too much disturbance of the herbs we are growing.
4. Cultivated herbs are usually harvested incorrectly. They harvest too much of the plant at the wrong time of day and the wrong stage in the plants life-cycle. This is because the scale necessitates it, both in terms of when and how much of the plant is harvested. They need to harvest herbs in a way that results in the greatest yield, and when growing a very large number of plants that need to be harvested, it isn't possible to be very picky about when they are harvested.

If we take these things into consideration when we grow herbs (or vegetables), the herbs we grow will approximate the level of potency and vitality of wild harvested plants. There's also the option of wild gardening: introducing plants where we live (as long as they are not invasive species). Once established, we can encourage them along in various ways.

This discussion is very important to the issue of wild harvesting. Although wild harvesting is a very healing and empowering activity, as more people become interested in it there is a very great potential that we can seriously impact wild populations in a negative way. This can happen even if everyone does their best to wild harvest in an ethical way. It is inevitable because there are just too many people living on this planet. So learning from the wild plants what their needs are and applying it by wild gardening or organic gardening that takes into account the specific needs of each species is a very important alternative to wild harvesting. It will become even more important as more people become interested in making their own medicines.