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This may be in the lessons somewhere as I have been skipping around. I haven’t found anything on creating an actual formula. I see the created formulas. For example on the insomnia video, Doc lists all the goodies you can take. Well if I have a lot of those, do I just add them all to a tea/tincture or is that too much? How do I know to add 2 parts valerian and 1 part chamomile? If this is a thing, please attach a link to the lesson. If not, maybe someone can help answer this question. Thanks!
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You could definitely make the formula as described. So if you have everything, go ahead and make the tea or the tincture.
As far as creating your own formula though, if that’s what you’re asking, then it just comes down to knowing the actions of the herb and deciding on what you want in your formula. If your question is on what constitutes a “part” when you mentioned 2 parts valerian 1 part chamomile, the “part” just refers to your method of measurement. So 2 parts valerian could be 2 teaspoons of valerian, 2 ounces, 2 cups, etc…
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Thanks for replying. Not exactly what I am asking. I understand the parts. But choosing the parts is what I am asking. Why 5 parts of something and only 2 parts of another? How do we come up with the amounts in the formulas? How do we make our own “Insomnia support” blend? Do we add all the ingredients that support sleep and which one gets 3 parts and which gets 1? I hope that makes my question more clear.
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For making your own formulas, I wouldn’t let the different parts keep you back from trying out your own. For me, I almost always use equal parts for everything. The only time I might differ from that is if I have something really strong or really weak. Take for instance, Cayenne pepper. Let’s say I’m going to make an immunity support formula with 1 part Echinacea and 1 part Elderberry. Well, to really get the Echinacea to perform well, I’ll need to add in Cayenne, but I only really want Cayenne for it’s catalyst properties (and I don’t want to burn myself up when I take it!). So for this formula I would do 1 part Echinacea, 1 part Elderberry, and .25 part Cayenne. Peppermint is also a good catalyst herb but because it isn’t as strong as Cayenne, I would do an equal part.
Another time I might do more of one herb in a formula than another is if I really want the herbal actions of the larger part to shine. So for a healing (wound) formula, I might do 2 parts Comfrey to really get the wound healing going, and 1 part Lavender for it’s nervine relaxing properties, and 1 part Calendula because Calendula is my miracle herb and I put it in everything (and I would put it in specifically because of it’s antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties to kill anything bad). Since my main goal is wound healing, I want lots of comfrey and some of the rest.4 users thanked author for this post.
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I have a question about Calendula, do you make infused oil or a tincture, or both? If you do make both which one do you tend to use the most? Also, I am very new to herbalism and I purchased some dried calendula, so any recipe suggestions would be welcome and appreciated. Thank you so much in advance.
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I’ve actually never done either with Calendula. I’m really only sticking to using what I grow myself, and since my stock on calendula is running low, I’m not willing to put what little I have left into a tincture. Since I just have my dried flowers, I just eat them. Doc always says the herb is the medicine, so just get it in you! So I’ll throw them in a tea that I’m making if I want a lot of different herbs, or if I just want the benefits of calendula, I just eat a few flowers. I know it sounds super weird haha, but hey, it helps.
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On this subject, something I may have missed as well, when creating formula’s to make into a tincture, I grasp the 1 part is whatever measurement you want, so say I am doing the joint formula, and want to use the 5 to 1 ratio, that is where I am getting stuck, so 1 ounce of this powder, 1 ounce of this powder etc, then what? I feel like this should be simple and my brain is just failing me but how much vodka are we using then? OR am I mixing all those herbs together, then using 1 ounce of those mixed herbs to 5 ounces of vodka. Did I just answer myself 😉
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I have a question on this topic! I have done single herb tinctures and herbs together in the jar with the vodka, I tend to use equal parts (at least until I understand the measurement better) Is it best to put the herbs in a jar together with the vodka and sit or seperate each herb then combine them when the tincture is done? I am taking the July class and plant walk this year! I am super excited to get hands on as this is how I learn!
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I think the best thing to do is to tincture them together, as there are certain qualities of some herbs that don’t like to mix well when you add them together as single tinctures such as alkaloids and tannens can make a glue like substance slide 24. That being said, to my knowledge the only things that do that are the alkaloids and tannens, so if your herbs are low in those then you should be fine to mix and match
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