Steep fresh herbs in an airtight jar for at least 2 weeks to start making this toning tincture.
Photo Courtesy Gaia
With “Homegrown Remedies,” you can learn how to grow herbs in pots and use your plants to create natural remedies to treat a variety of health complaints and common ailments.
Cover Courtesy Gaia
The herbs in this Toning Tincture recipe help relieve stomach pain and diarrhea. This recipe is excerpted from Homegrown Remedies (Gaia, 2011), a guide to growing all the herbs you need to make natural, inexpensive remedies. For more information on herbal remedies and a sample of recipes, check out 4 Herbal Remedies Everyone Should Know.
You can purchase this book from the Mother Earth Living store: Homegrown Remedies.
Tincture to Relieve Diarrhea
Agrimony is an astringent herb, firming up stools and with analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral properties. Thyme is excellent for relieving diarrhea and marshmallow soothes gut lining, while peppermint, lemon balm, dill and chamomile reduce spasm and pain.
Ingredients
• 9 ounces each fresh herbs or 3 1/2 ounces dried dill, peppermint, thyme, agrimony, marshmallow and lemon balm
• 17 ounces alcohol (vodka, gin or brandy)
Makes a 14-ounce tincture
How to make
1. Place the herbs in a large jar and pour over the alcohol.
2. Place an airtight lid on the jar and leave to macerate, away from direct sunlight, for at least 2 weeks and shake the jar, once daily.
3. Then squeeze the mixture through a wire sieve, muslin or a wine press to extract the maximum amount of fluid, and discard the herbs.
4. Transfer the tincture to dark bottles and store in a cool place.
How to use
Take 1 teaspoon in a little warm water 3 to 6 times daily.
Growing
Cover the bottom of a wooden planter with drainage material and fill with a multipurpose compost. Plant the marshmallow in the center of the pot. Then in one corner place the thyme, another the agrimony, another the three dills and in the last corner the peppermint and lemon balm. Water regularly and feed weekly.
Plants you will need:
• 1 Althaea officinalis (marshmallow)
• 1 Thymus vulgaris (thyme)
• 1 Agrimonia eupatoria (agrimony)
• 3 Anethum graveolens (dill)
• 1 Mentha piperita (peppermint)
• 1 Melissa officinalis (lemon balm)
This excerpt has been reprinted with permission from Homegrown Remedies, by Anne McIntyre, published by Gaia, an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group, 2011. Buy this book from our store: Homegrown Remedies.
