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Sharon
My plants are first year plants, thus no flowers on them yet. Is the leaf as good as the flower (especially for the formulas)? If it needs to be flowers, I’ll just have to buy some or wait till mid summer for my flowers. I’m trying to get all my ingredients gathered and tinctures made during this “slightly slower” time of the year. Thanks in advance.
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Greg Boggs
St Johns Wort is a perennial so you’ll be able to harvest the flowers this year, however everything in my books say that only the flowers are used.
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One never knows with the internet these days, but I’ve found several sites that say all parts above ground are medicinal, though I suppose the leaves might not be quite as strong. I had to go hunting because I would have sworn that Doc said somewhere that the leaves were good, but of course I cannot find it now. Anyway, I am hopeful since I want to use the cold weather to make up a bunch of tinctures before the garden gets going in May/June (and for SJW flowers, likely more like August)! Thanks for taking time to answer me! I see you answering a lot of questions, are you actually a student or on staff? You must have many years of experience for your age with herbs – I am not brave enough to answer many things – life keeps getting in the way of my herbal education!
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Well Doc might come in and give some clarification on if the aerial parts of the flower are medicinal as well. Thank you so much for the compliments! I am just a student as well (although if you see this Doc, I am not opposed to that changing 😉 haha) I actually just got started in herbalism last year after hearing Doc lecture in the summer, there were so many people I knew that could be helped by what he had talked about I knew that I had to learn more. And you will be amazed at how much progress you make just by showing up each day to learn. Small consistent work adds up over a long time and you’ll be a pro before you know it
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Sydnia Ginger Anady
looking forward to seeing the next steps, as i too want to go further and as DOC says hang my shingle out
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Anyone know what strength alcohol we need for fresh (but wilted from shipping) St John’s Wort? I was thinking everclear, but maybe it doesn’t need to be that strong? Thanks.
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Judy Miller
Sharon, you were right about Doc Jones’ saying the leaves were good, In the Lessons, Under Individual Plant Lessons, page 7, under St. John’s Wort, (Hypericum perforatum), slideshow: 1) page 4: Parts Used: flowering tops, and 2) page 8: “…entire 1/3 of the top is the medicine.” In his book “The HomeGrown Herbalist.” under the St. John’s Wort section, page 159: 1) Parts Used: Flowering tops, and in first paragraph, same page: “The flowering upper plant is the medicine.”
I just spent about 2 hours yesterday harvesting just the flowers. It was a time of no distractions, very peaceful, and the plants were in bloom. I used little snipper scissors, because just under the flower, 1/16th of an inch lower, were double flower buds which I didn’t want to harm, as I wanted them to also bloom so I can harvest more later. (There aren’t many plants available to me, so if I can get a few harvests, it will be best.) I plan to harvest some of the upper 1/3 leaves to be added with the dried flowers. My reasoning was that the drying times my be different, as the flowers are very delicate, so I’ll use separate trays for leaves and flowers.
Save yourself some time. If you just harvest the top 1/3 of the plant with the flowers and leaves, and dry together, the flowers will never be over-dried while waiting for the leaves to dry completely.
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FYI, I just took a look at my plants, and the St. John’s Wort are in bloom again, so I should be able to harvest as many flowers today as yesterday, plus there’s more buds to bloom in the future. I think the flowers might be very strong, as the plant is focusing on the flowers at this time, so the more flowers, the better!(Remember, I’m new at all this.)
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Doc, I had ordered some fresh SJW, and the package arrived today and they are as dry as if I put them in a dehydrator! I know that many say they need to be fresh to be good medicine. The question is whether it’s worth using up the alcohol on them since they are dry. I want to use them, but don’t know if they are viable/good now. Stupid post office – they just keep raising rates and lowering the quality of service but increasing the time it takes to receive packages now. Thank you again KIND SIR! Please let me know what you think about using the dried SJW since fresh is now out of the question.
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faithnchrist@live.com
Doc Jones posted a monograph on St. John’s Wort that you can find in the “What’s New” part of the school links. It is found near the top and is one of the listed monographs. As well, I believe he has a monograph on his YouTube channel. I hope this helps.
Faith
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Faith – I watched his monograph again on SJW, but didn’t find anything about DRIED SJW. I know that the fresh is amazing, and generally it’s recommended to use only fresh and not dry – but due to the postal service being what it is these days, I now have a box of very dry SJW that I need to figure out how best to use it. Maybe it’s edible and I can add it to my smoothies LOL!
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Dr. Patrick Jones
My plants are first year plants, thus no flowers on them yet. Is the leaf as good as the flower (especially for the formulas)? If it needs to be flowers, I’ll just have to buy some or wait till mid summer for my flowers. I’m trying to get all my ingredients gathered and tinctures made during this “slightly slower” time of the year. Thanks in advance.
Harvest when in full bloom but take the top 25% or so of the plant.
See slide 8
Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.
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