jdixon08

Over the last weekend, I got in trouble for putting on too many miles on my car, so I decided that visiting the farm was a bad idea for right now, and decided to stick to something more local. I reviewed one of my remedy books and made a list of ingredients I needed, and fortunately most of them were basic enough that I had no problems finding them in Ukrops. The things I didn't get were mostly the herbs that go bad quickly, and since I only plan on making one or two remedies a week, it would be silly to buy all those herbs now. I did get fresh sage though, and I experimented in preparing that remedy.

It was supposed to be a Sage and Nutmeg infused oil, which is good as an ingredient in soaps and lotions and things, but also as a massage oil for twitchy, overexcited people and for numb and paralyzed limbs. I cut the recipe down to one fourth of what it was supposed to be, because the recipe calls for large amounts of fresh herbs and frankly, that's a lot of money to spend on herbs for a first experiment. Anyway, it didn't work, because I didn't have the right containers. What was supposed to happen was this: The mixture was to sit in a container all sealed up, and float in a pot of water that was simmering on the stove for two hours, before I had to swap the old herbs out with the new ones. This is what happened in reality: The mixture floated in a plastic container in a pot of water, the heat made the cap pop off, the oil and the herbs spilled out into the water, and by the end of two hours I came back downstairs to greet a merry mess of bubbling charcoal. What I learned from this? For one, you shouldn't stray away from a simmering pot if you're a novice in herb making. I'm glad I only made a fourth of what the real recipe said because of that, since it was only a small mess versus a potentially huge one. I also know now not to use containers without completely solid lids, and that what kind of pot you're using, and the water level, matters greatly in remedy making.

I still have about half an ounce of chopped sage that I hadn't gotten to using in the remedy yet. I can either save that and use it as an additive in another remedy, or I can go get more sage and try this experiment again. I know I want to try an infused oil again... I'm disapointed my first try exploded on me, but I'm determined to get it right. I might even make two remedies over the next two weeks instead of just one.

I have a paper version of scrawled notes I took on the experiment while it was going on, and a list of herbs I might need later and the ones I have and don't have. I'm planning on getting those into my computer at some point. I've also been getting some requests from my friends to make them some remedies for colds and sinus infections. I told them it'd probably taste nasty, but the ones that asked said they were so sick of their illnesses that they didn't care. So I'm thinking I might try those kinds of remedies next. It is the cold and flu season, after all. And... that's what I've done thus far!