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Plantain Tincture

Plantain tincture is very useful and simple to make. Plantain grows wild and plentiful in many areas. I wrote about plantain previously and its many uses in a post here at My Useful Ideas.

Plantain tincture is very easy to make. First pick the leaves of plantain as shown in this picture. Just look around your driveway or lawn and you will probably spot some. I picked some green, healthy leaves to make a small batch of plantain tincture as shown in the photo below.

I gently rinsed off the plantain leaves and ripped them up to fill this small glass jar.

Plantain Tincture

Next fill the jar to the top with some grain alcohol such as Vodka. This is some cheap 80 proof Vodka that I purchased and have on hand for such projects. Cover tight with a lid and put it in a dark closet or basement. You can wrap a newspaper or paper towel around it to help keep the light out. You want to leave it in a dark place for about 5-6 weeks. I did gently shake the jar a few times during the soaking period.

Here is a photo of the plantain after the soaking period and before I stained out the leaves. Continue Reading →

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Homemade Hand Sanitizer

As you may have heard and seen, buying hand sanitizer is getting harder and more expensive with the Coronavirus outbreak. Some reports say businesses are price gouging as much as $80-$100 a bottle. With that in mind, we are reminded that handwashing with warm water and soap is the best method for keeping our hands clean and preventing the spread of germs. But when you can’t wash your hands, the use of hand sanitizer is necessary especially with the concerns of Coronavirus looming.

Homemade Hand Sanitizer

So what do you do when all the hand sanitizer is gone? Well you might follow my innovative niece’s advice and make your own. Here is her photo of travel size bottles filled with her handmade hand sanitizer. Her recipe and ingredients shown are simple as follows: Continue Reading →

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Cruical Catch

October is breast cancer awareness month.
Pink Cancer Ribbon
The NFL is promoting Crucial Catch and intercepting cancer. I can’t think of a better theme to write about to bring awareness to cancer. Early detection is so very crucial in as they say Make a Crucial Catch by having that mammograph, schedule that doctor’s appointment, have that required screening, and do those self-exams. Early detection is so vital. I should know, I found my own lump and had it scanned and biopsied right away. It probably saved my life as my lump was cancer. But early detection and immediate treatment, did make a difference. I am happy to report that for over 10 years now, I am cancer free.

So let me make a very useful suggestion for the most helpful idea I can share, make that crucial catch and intercept cancer. Battle this beast, and be strong. God willing that we can all share this vital information and above all, be diligent and don’t wait.

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Harvesting Aloe Vera Gel

Here is my guide to harvesting Aloe gel from an Aloe Vera plant. I used my healthy large Aloe Vera plant to obtain some gel from its wide leaves.

Using a sharp knife, I cut off a leaf near the base of the plant.

Slice open gently the top skin of the leaf to expose the gel.

Then slice off the bottom outer skin on the other side of the leaf.

What remains is a nice strip of pure Aloe Vera gel.

Next scrap off any remaining Aloe Vera gel Continue Reading →

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Yarrow Tincture

This post is part 2 of my harvesting of wild yarrow. In this post I will show how I made yarrow tincture. In my original wild yarrow post, I showed the wild yarrow that I harvested around my wooded property. I shared that a herbal tincture could be made from the wild plant. Now I will go one step further and show you exactly how I made my yarrow tincture.

Once the yarrow flowers and stems were harvested, I rinsed them off gently and chopped them up on a cutting board. Next I added my wild yarrow flowers and stems to an alcohol solution. I used some 80 proof cheap vodka and covered my cut up flowers and stems. I placed it all in a small recycled glass jar as shown and put the lid on the jar. I shook the jar at least once daily and kept it in a dark cupboard for 6 weeks. Add more alcohol as needed to keep the mix covered well in the jar.

After 6 weeks I strained out the yarrow pieces from the liquid. I used a jelly canning straining sock but you can use cheesecloth also. Squeeze out any remaining liquid from the plant pieces Continue Reading →

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Wild Yarrow

Yarrow is a useful healing herb that grows wild. It is know as Soldier’s Woundwort and Knight’s Milfoil as it was used on the battlefield to stop bleeding and encourage healing. The scientific name for the herb is Achillea millefolium named after Achilles from the ancient Greek Trojan war legend.

The herb has been used for everything from controlling bleeding of wounds and nosebleeds to chewing it for toothaches. Tea can be made from the wild herb to help with sleeplessness and is a helpful fever reducer.

A tincture can be made from the plant by chopping up the flowers and leaves. Continue Reading →

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