St Joan's Wort Tincture

I made some beautiful St Joan's Wort (St John's Wort) Tincture in the sun the other day, and it is so red! I put the wilted leaves and flowers in a mason jar with 100 proof Vodka and put in the sun. I went into the house for a few minutes to get the laundry and by the time I was outside again it was bright pink! A few hours later it was red (looking like a true herbal potion should!). I put it inside on a window sill to receive both sunlight and moonlight, and will strain it and bottle it in about a month. I still have a bunch of herb drying in the loft, and will infuse it in olive oil as soon as it is dry.
I have been "finding" St Joan's Wort all over now that I know what it looks like - I saw it in the median of the Mercer St roadway during the Livestrong walk; on the side of the highway by Federal Way; on a street in Georgetown; in a corner of my farm; and several empty lots in West Seattle... pretty cool! The one way to tell for sure you have the right herb is to wait for it to bloom (it is now) and squeeze the flower between your fingers- if it looks like you cut yourself and there is dark red on your fingers, you have it! Make sure to dry it before you infuse it in oil, but the fresh herb can be put into any type of alcohol to infuse- Brandy  is nice to use.

Beautiful Harvest Day!

We had a great day at the farm this Saturday, without a cloud in the sky we weeded and then harvested lots of herbs. I spent the night on the farm Friday and the full moon was shining a spotlight down through the rows- the beauty was amazing. (So were the mosquitoes!) Tied up the tomatoes we have growing in the hoop house, and weeded the Basil patch which is growing so slowly this year. The grass certainly is not having a problem growing this year....
The harvest this month consisted of Hyssop, Calendula, Clover, Chamomile, Catnip, Motherwort, Wood Betony, Comfrey, Chickweed and Sorrel.
Marc's Aunt and Uncle brought their friends for a tour, and my friend Jacob Acier, stopped by to see how we were doing, pick up some fresh vegetables, and tell my intern all about how special the farm is to him and the other "Lost Boys" that have worked there.  I have written about him before on this blog, but he is a former "Lost Boy" from Sudan, and he is working on getting enough money together for his dowery for his finacee in Kenya. She is Sudanese, but living in Kenya now, and apparently he needs to purchase 300 cows... so far he has 20, and sent them to the desert to meet the bulls and will soon have at least 40... it is a long road to marriage I guess. I am going to try to have a fundraiser for him at some point this Fall. He is also managing to work full time (starting at 5:30 AM) and go to school 4 nights per week! If you would like to donate to his cause, let me know- jayne@sistersageherbs.com.