Herbal Remedies

Here are a few concoctions that I make for my medicine cabinet. If you are going to follow any of these, please make sure that you are not allergic to any of the ingredients. Everyone is different and common sense must prevail. These are some of the things that have worked for me but I use them as a prevention rather than an ultimate cure. That's what your GP is for.
You won't find most of the ingredients growing wild but you will certainly find some of them. Things like Lavender, Chamomile and Calendula, I have growing in my garden. Rose hips and Elderberries are all over the place in the wilds so you wont run out of them as long as you pick and make your potions whilst they are in season. Aloe Vera, I have two plants in my house and they continue to grow even though I nip bits off to extract the juice. You can take cuttings just the same as any other plant and grow new ones.
It's easy enough to mix your potions and stock your medicine cupboard at the same time as you are cooking with them.
Some of these potions are probably just placebo's but they have the desired effect on me so I don't care. If I can trigger my mind into healing me by using the odd herb, well that's all good by me.


For the lip balms I save empty lip salve tubes. My niece buys cherry flavour and all sorts of sweet versions so I get them from her once she has eaten the contents.

Aloe Vera Lip Salve
1 tsp Aloe Vera gel
1/2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp Vaseline

Put the ingredients in a container and warm them until they melt. Stir them all together and then put into the empty container to set. Sometimes they stick to the side but generally not.

Chamomile and Honey Lip Balm
4 tbsp of Almond oil
1 tbsp beeswax
1 tsp honey
5 drops of chamomile essential oil
10 drops of neroli essential oil

Warm the almond oil and beeswax until it melts, add the honey and stir it in. Add the chamomile and neroli and stir well. Leave to cool but go back and stir it now again otherwise it splits.
Before it sets completely, fill one of your lip salve tubes to pop in your handbag and the rest of it goes into an old hand or face cream jar. I use my empty Atrixo tubs.

Calendula For Itchy or Tired Eyes
This one came from my early days of hay fever suffering. The district nurse used to come round every morning before school and give me injections and tablets before I was allowed out of the house. My Auntie Em used to simply put her Calendula mix on my eyes and rub my head :)

250ml of boiling water
2 tablespoons of dried calendula
If you don't have any calendula growing in your garden you can just use calendula tea

Let it cool a bit and whilst still warm dip a cotton ball in the tea. squeeze it out a little and plonk it over your eyes. (eyes closed of course)

Elderberry Cordial
Great for fighting off colds and it keeps for ever.Well, a long long time anyway.

1. Put your Elderberries in a pan with enough water to just cover them.
2. Simmer for 20 minutes.
3. When its ready, strain it through muslin. You don't have to be as finicky as when you make apple jelly so squeeze squeeze squeeze and get all the juice out. Waste not want not.
4. For each pint of juice you get, add a pound sugar and 6 or 7 cloves.
5. Put it back into the pan and boil for 10 minutes.
6. Once it has cooled pour the mixture into bottles and store ready for when you feel a cold coming on

Rose hip Syrup
This is another cold and flu recipe. My recipe is a bit adhoc because I have never weighed the ingredients but here's how I do it. It all depends on how many hips I collect.

1. Chop all the rose hips in half. (if you want to pop them in the food processor go ahead but don't turn them to mush and make sure that you get all the hairs out of the blender when you have finished or you will be finding the damn things in your pastry for weeks after.)
2. Put them in a pan, bring slowly to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. As I mentioned I don't have measurements. Basically if the rose hips come halfway up the pan I add water to 3/4 of the way up the pan.
3. When they break down and start to turn mushy, strain the juice into a bowl and put to one side.
4. Put the rose hips back into the pan, pour on just enough boiling water to cover them
5. Strain them again and then add the juice to the first lot that you strained and pour into a clean pan
6. Boil gently until it reduces to a syrup. It's down to personal choice how syrupy you want it.
7. If you want it sweet, add a handful of sugar whilst you are boiling it or add a spoonful of honey and stir that in
8. And that's it. Bottle it and store away

Candied Ginger
I thought I would add this one because I am making candied citrus peel this weekend and I will do the Ginger remedy whilst I am at it. Other than being good to suck on when you feel sick, it does actually taste nice.

1. Take one finger of ginger root, peel and then slice into pieces around 2" long 1/4" wide and the same thickness as orange peel.
2. Put 4 cups of water in a pan and bring to the boil
3. Add 2 cups of sugar and stir in until it has dissolved, boil for another 5 minutes or so and then add the ginger
4. Turn the heat right down until you have bubbles, just breaking the surface. Give it a final stir and then leave it for around an hour and a half to two hours
5. The liquid needs to reduce right down to the point that you worry that if you leave it any longer you will need a new pan. Be brave little one. be brave. hee hee
6. Turn your oven onto max, put a baking tray in and heat it up for 10 minutes
7. Tip the contents of the pan into a sieve and drain.
8. Get a bowl of sugar, drop the ginger into it and coat with sugar.
9. Next, spread the ginger pieces out onto your baking tray, turn the oven off and close the door.
10. Leave the ginger in the oven until they are dry but keep checking every so often to make sure that they don't cook. You just want to dry them out.
11. When they are ready, leave them to cool thoroughly and then put them in a sealed jar ready for use.