Hops, Skullcap, Lemonbalm and Borage Tincture

Labor day weekend: the last chance to celebrate the joys of summer, and an opportunity to prepare for a busy work season ahead during fall and winter.

I am getting ready by making some tincture with fresh plants from the garden, which I will strain and use in 1-2 months.

Hops (Humulus lupulus) is a sun loving, climbing, perennial vine and an important ingredient in beer brewing. The variety I grow is a called ‘Taff’s variegated’. The yellow markings on the leaves, and light green/yellow vertical stripes on the hop bracts make it a highly ornamental plant for the garden landscape, and produces attractive dried hop botanicals. A few drops of the bitter tincture, taken with hot herbal tea, may help me go to sleep at night.

Scutellaria lateriflora, commonly called Skullcap, is non-showy perennial, at home in part shade, moist places of North American forests.  It is one of my favorite central nervous system tonics. 1-2 dropper full of this tincture with tea or other liquid will help me go to sleep.  I also hope it will provide me some pain relief from a  herniated cervical disk sac, which presses onto a nerve. Because it is anti-spasmodic, it can  be employed for menstrual cramping,or to relieve coughing fits from bronchitis. It is a very useful remedy when life requires instant adaption, so I  always have an emergency supply on hand.

Lemonbalm (Melissa officinalis) is a perennial, which thrives in moist soils, and part shade to full sun exposure. I cultivate a variety called ‘Gold Melisse’, which has particularly lemony aroma, and a beautiful lemon yellow/lime green variation on the leaves. I will use 1-2 glass droppers of tincture, together with tea, for fevers, because Melissa is an Anti-Viral. I will also use it as a general tonic for my compromised nervous system. Combined with Skullcap, Melissa might bring relief to those suffering from Shingles. The tincture can also be applied externally to Herpes Simplex sores.

 Borage (Borago officinalis), a sun loving, easy annual plant, has ‘busy’ written all over. It draws huge crowds of hungry bees, who feast on the abundance of flowers which emerge daily anew. Flowers and leaves taste of cucumber and can be used for culinary dishes. The oil contained in Borage seeds is high in Essential Fatty Acids, which reduce inflammation. I made a tincture of leaves and flower stalks, and will take 1 dropper with tea, as an adrenal support, to aid my endocrine system, which is compromised due to Hypothyroidism.