After having pneumonia several times during each of the previous 4 winters, I used Dr. Christopher's lung and bronchial product daily along with super garlic immune, cayenne, and x-ceptic as a preventative. Each morning I drank a warm drink with lemon, lung and bronchial, lower bowel, kidney, liver/gallbladder, and bloodstream. It was tasty, lemony, and warmed me up. Super garlic, cayenne, and x-ceptic were yucky but way better than getting sick. Anyway, after drinking my morning drink, I coughed up lots of old junk. I didn't get pneumonia this winter. Dr. Christopher was right, body clogging junk causes disease. To use these products and not ingest alcohol, simply put the tinctures in a cup and add boiling water half way up. This evaporates the alcohol. Then add room temp water and lemon. Yum! There is no way to make sgi, c, and xc taste good. So add boiling water, then cool water, and slam it down.
Now that I know it works, I'll get busy making a couple quarts. It is more convenient to buy DC's tinctures, but it really adds up if you take them regularly. I already have Mullein leaves, Chickweed, Marshmallow root, Pleurisy root and Lobelia, so I'll go to the liquor store to buy Everclear. This is probably the most difficult part about herbal medicine. I feel like a sinner just walking into the place. After I get home, I'll put the herbs and Everclear into a labelled 1/2 gallon jar and set in on the counter out of the sun. For about a month, I'll shake the jar a couple times a day. Then I'll strain it and store it in cobalt pint bottles.
I've decided to design a cute label for my medicine. Logically, I should put something with a ginger theme on it. I don't want to use a ginger flower, but maybe I'll put a gingerbread lady on my label. Not sure yet, but whimsey and vintage looks are favorites.
I plan to focus on chickweed (Stellaria media from the Caryophyllaceae or pink family) as my herb for the month of May. It is a dainty little plant with star-shaped, white, five petaled flowers. The stems have single rows of hairs that switch to the other side each time it reaches a branch or leaf pair. The leaves ore smooth and ovate, coming to a point at the tips. While many hate it and look at is as an irritating herb, I plan to grow some in a pot. Apparently, it is wonderful and highly nutritious as a salad herb, called poor man's spinach. It makes great fresh poultices for wounds and pink eye. Adding a couple quarts of infusion to bath water, is said to alleviate muscle aches and rashes. Salve of chickweed is good for any itchy skin condition and warts.
