Making your own Dandelion Tincture

You can make your own medicinal tincture with a plant that lives naturally in your backyard.  Unless you have no weeds growing on your lawn.  Dandelions are typically viewed as pesky weeds; let's dig a little deeper and discover their hidden potential.

Interesting dandelion facts:

• The milk inside the dandelion's flower stalk contains a type of latex also found in rubber trees.
• Dandelions can help gardeners by bringing up nutrients from the ground.  
• Dandelions also attract bees which then pollinate plants.
• Dandelion seeds can travel up to 5 miles!

What can dandelions be used for?

• Dandelions can be cultivated as a food source.  This practice occurs today primarily in Eurasia.
• The entire plant except for the flower stalks can be consumed.  Consider sauteing dandelion or using the leaves in a salad.  The flowers, in my opinion, taste the best and are only slightly bitter and surprisingly, slightly sweet.  The leaves are very bitter and are similar to mustard greens.
• Two years ago, we made dandelion wine.  It was dry and slightly bitter but drinkable and refreshing.
• Historically, dandelions have been used in medicine to treat infections, as well as liver and bile illnesses due to its pharmaceutical compounds.

In this post, I will explain one way dandelions can be used medicinally in a tincture.  

First of all ... What is an herbal tincture?

An herbal tincture refers to extracting pharmaceutical compounds from an herb by soaking it in alcohol.   Due to the fact that tinctures are alcohol-based they can be stored for years depending on the herb/alcohol and container, etc.  Most tinctures are made from 100 proof spirits (50% alcohol) or 80 proof (40%) and are the best method for extracting medicinal compounds.  Vodka or grain spirits work the best.  Spirits with more distinct flavors such as brandy, whiskey or rum can be used but will impart their inherit flavors.  They are very easy to prepare and typically involve harvesting the herb, selecting the proper plant part, cutting it to the right size, placing it in a glass jar and then pouring alcohol over it.   Tinctures are then stored for the amount of time based on the preparation ... usually 6 weeks.  Once ready, the solution is strained and then, most commonly, stored in an amber-colored glass jar in a cool, dark place.

One thing to keep in mind, when preparing herbal medicine, is to never let the preparation come in contact with metal.  

What can a dandelion tincture be used for?

The better question may be what can't it be used for.  Here are just some of the benefits of dandelion tincture:

• To treat skin conditions like: acne, psoriasis and eczema by removing toxins from the body
• To help fight against PMS, depression and fatigue
• To help eliminate age spots
• To help regulate blood sugar
• To help fight cancer according to some research
• To be used as a diuretic
• To help treat: tonsillitis, pneumonia, bronchitis, osteoporosis, warts and more
• As a detoxifying tonic to help with illnesses with the liver, spleen and gall bladder
• To stimulate the appetite

The cost of making a dandelion tincture at home versus buying it at a store:

The cost of making the tincture at home involves using a 100 or 80 proof spirit and just enough to fill the glass jar or container.  Look online for prepared dandelion root tinctures and you will see that you can pay around $20 for 2 ounces.  The instructions below will show you how to make your own tincture for a fraction of the cost.  The recipe below will ,on average, produce 8 to 10 ounces.  So, if you do the math, 8 ounces at a retail store would cost around $80.  It is definitely more cost-effective to make your own. Our total cost for the recipe below is about $10.

Instructions on how to make a dandelion tincture:

(Disclaimer:  Always use extreme caution when harvesting any plant to be used internally or externally.  Be sure you are correctly identifying the plant and use the correct parts of the plant.  Also, consult your doctor before taking any herbal remedies.)

Step 1:  Harvest the entire plant including the root.  The root is the most important part in the dandelion tincture.



Step 2:  Remove the flower stalks completely (they contain a milky latex substance) and discard.  Also discard any rotten or dry leaves or flowers.  Keep the other plant parts including fresh leaves, flowers, and root.

Step 3:  Wash the plant parts mentioned above in cool water and lightly pat with a lint free towel to dry.

 

Step 4:  Finely chop all of the clean plant parts and place in a clean, quart-sized mason jar.  Place plant material into a clean, glass jar or container.

Step 5:  Pour the 100 or 80 proof spirit into the jar all the way up until you reach the band area.

Step 6:  Cut a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap large enough to completely cover the band area of the glass jar.  Then screw on the band and the lid and store the tincture in a cool, dark place.  A cool pantry is the best option.

Step 7:  For the next 6 weeks, check your tincture every so often by lighting shaking the jar and adding alcohol as needed.

Dandelion Tincture

Step 8:  To finalize the tincture for storage and medicinal use: find a strainer, a bowl and cheese cloth.  As a reminder, do not let  your solution come in contact with metal.  Place your strainer over a bowl, then place cheesecloth on top of the strainer.  Now, pick up the cheesecloth and squeeze out the excess liquid directly into the bowl.  The solution in the bowl is now ready to pour into a clean, amber or cobalt glass jar.  The best jar to use is one that has a plastic or glass dropper top so that it can be easily administered. 

The plant material in the cheesecloth can be composted.

Our tincture has been resting for about 2 weeks now.  I will update this post once we have strained and stored our solution.  Updates will include:

• Picture of the final product
• Suggested dosage and administration
• Reviews after using the tincture for some of the medicinal effects & affects listed in this post
  

A New Project in 2014: Medicinal Herb Garden

When did pharmacies start to surface?  According to Wikipedia, pharmacies started to appear as early as the first third of the 19th century. However, people have been creating medicine for much longer than that.  "Archaeological evidence indicates that the use of medicinal plants dates at least to the Paleolithic, approximately 60,000 years ago." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbal_medicine)

Picture from Emerald Hills Pharmacy:  http://emeraldhillspharmacy.com/compounding/

In years past, many people understood how herbs could be used medicinally.  Many of the prescriptions we use today were created using our knowledge of naturally - occurring chemicals in plants.  The concept of growing herbs for culinary use is not a new one to us.  We have been doing this for years.  What a joy it is to go out to our herb garden to pluck fresh rosemary, oregano and thyme for a pasta sauce!  Also,growing your own herbs is a great way to save money.  Store-bought herbs are so much more expensive than the herbs grown  in your backyard.

So, we started watching videos about growing medicinal herbs and how to use them to prepare tinctures, decoctions, salves and more.  This made us think about how fun it would be to create our own supply of home-grown and prepared medicine.  I started to visualize iconic old pharmacies with all those intriguing glass bottles.  Bottom line, we were hooked and on to our next homesteading endeavor.

Picture from: http://historicindianapolis.com/revisited-indianapolis-then-and-now-better-babies-building-and-hooks-drug-store-museum-indiana-state-fairgrounds/

Step 1:  Planning the herb garden: Plots

Our garden will take up about 1/2 of our backyard so, the herb garden consists of several plots in the yard.  Out we went into the backyard with pen and paper, measuring available spaces and taking notes.

Step 2:  The spreadsheet:  Planning what goes where

Nick told me this was my project because he is in charge of planning the garden.  At first I was a little overwhelmed but then I remembered how Nick goes about planning where he will put what in the garden:  a spreadsheet.  So, I created three tabs:  Medicinal Herbs, Plots and Plant Placement, and went to work.  Result - I know what I plant and where I will plant it. 

Here are the herbs we have selected:


Step 3:  Preparing the ground

We  bumped into a wonderful man that owns a small, commercial farm that tills gardens on the side.  We will have him come out early March to till our garden and the 2 large herb plots.  Then we will mix in our home made compost and other materials based on the herb's soil requirements (You guessed it, soil preference is a column under my medicinal herb tab in my spreadsheet.)

Step 4:  Learning how to prepare medicinal herbs

This is the best part!  Check back here often to see updates as we further explore uses of medicinal herbs, how to prepare them and store them.  We will also document our progress growing the herbs so we can track our successes and where we need to improve next year.

Homesteading Update

We can't believe it but it has been 2 years since we have made a post.  The good thing is we are able to reflect back on our original homesteading goals with pride.  We have accomplished a lot and have truly enjoyed every second of it.

Here's where we are today:

Goal 1:  We are still recycling!

Goal 2:  We had a successful garden last year and are planning our garden for spring 2014 which includes almost doubling the garden.  Also, we are planning a medicinal herb garden (posts to come on that.)

Check out our Pinterest Board to see what we are growing this year:  2014 Garden

Black Beauty Bell Peppers

Eggplant

Zucchini

Goal 3:  Yeah, we got those chickens in December 2011.  My husband and I built a coop and purchased 4 sex link chickens and fell in love with how easy they were to keep AND the eggs! 

  

We lost a few due to chicken hawks, added new ones to the peck and recently butchered all the remaining 5 hens.  We have had a couple meals with our chickens.  Our chicken and dumplings being the first.  We all agreed that we had NEVER had a better meal.  In the spring we will purchase 4-6 new pullets.  We will butcher a couple and keep the rest for laying.

Goal 4:  We have made progress with basic housekeeping in regards to consuming healthier food.  Our garden was very productive and allowed us to can: tomato sauce, tomato soup, green beans, pepper jellies, sauerkraut, salsa, and pickles.  We have a long way to go and plan to eat less processed foods in 2014.

 

We still use a majority of store-bought housekeeping products.  We are focusing more on what goes into our bodies vs. what we use to clean the house right now.  But, this needs to be a secondary priority in 2014.