How to make Shepherd's Purse Tincture to stop bleeding.

What is Shepherd's Purse?:

Shepherd's Purse is an herb that is used to stop bleeding. Unlike most flowering plants it actually flowers all year long. The plant starts out as a rosette or basal type leafing at the ground, then it sends up one single stem that branches off and has other smaller flowering "heads". In between the flowers and the leaves are little triangular/heart shaped pods that hold the seeds. 

Things to know:

• Tinctures are usually made from the fresh plant.

• Even when dried and infused herbalists say it is one of the best herbs for stopping hemorrhages such as lung, stomach, uterus, and more especially for bleeding kidneys.

• It was used in the Great War when people had to have their limbs amputated to stop hemorrhages. 

What Web-MD says:

Shepherd's purse is used for heart and circulatory problems including mild heart failure, low blood pressure, and nervous heart complaints. It is also used for headache, vomiting-blood, blood in the urine, diarrhea, and bladder infections.

Women use shepherd's purse for premenstrual problems, long periods, and menstrual cramps.

Shepherd's purse is sometimes applied directly to the skin for nosebleeds, superficial burns, and bleeding skin injuries.

Possible Drug interactions:

 

Sedative medications (CNS depressants) interacts with SHEPHERD'S PURSE

Large amounts of shepherd's purse might cause sleepiness and drowsiness. Medications that cause sleepiness are called sedatives. Taking shepherd's purse along with sedative medications might cause too much sleepiness.
Some sedative medications include clonazepam (Klonopin), lorazepam (Ativan), phenobarbital (Donnatal), zolpidem (Ambien), and others.

Thyroid hormone interacts with SHEPHERD'S PURSE

The body naturally produces thyroid hormone. Shepherd's purse might decrease how much thyroid hormone the body produces. Taking shepherd's purse along with thyroid hormone might decrease the effectiveness of thyroid hormone.

~ Also from Web-MD

HOW TO MAKE A TINCTURE WITH SHEPHERD'S PURSE

1. Identify and harvest Shepherd's Purse. Look for the rosette by the ground, and the triangular seed pods. 

2. Gather supplies. 

• glass jar with lid
• scissors
• vodka or grain alcohol
• shepherd's purse.

3. Be sure to shake out your harvest very well. I did not do it so good and there is a little caterpillar who decided to stick around for the ride. (Gross, don't worry I removed him once I noticed he was in there.)

4. Start chopping up your Shepherd's purse directly into the jar. 

5. Fill jar with alcohol. ( I am a Latter-Day Saint and kind of freaked out about this when I first started my herbal journey. The amount of alcohol in one 1/2 teaspoon dose is the same that is in one regular glass of orange juice. And the medicine you get from the doctor or over the counter like cough syrup has alcohol in it as well. This is one of those times I follow the spirit of the law vs the letter of the law. 

6. Apply lid and store in a dark place for six weeks. You can use after the first week but it will not be as potent. 

7.  After six weeks strain tincture and put into dropper bottles. Make sure to label with an expiration date of one year. For some reason shepherds purse tincture does not last long, so consider making it an annual project. 

P.S. I learned the medical practitioners will not recommend Shepherd's purse to patients, because it has not been tested on humans, only on animals or in the laboratory. So use at your own risk. 

Also please note the disclaimer at the bottom of the page.

Review Thursday- Proctor Silex E160BY Coffee Grinder

Most of you know I don't drink coffee, so one may wonder why I have a coffee grinder. Well you see in that picture over there >>>>>>  behind the pic of the grinder is a circle with a picture of herbs. Yep. This is my go to grinder (the Proctor Silex E160BY Coffee Grinder) when I am mixing incense, making powders or just trying to crunch up barks. I love this. It is inexpensive and does the job. Sometimes depending on the herb I can't  get it to be a complete powder depending on the type of herb I am using. But if I need it to be a completely smooth powder it is usually for my commercial products so it would be a bigger quantity.

I actually used this when I made my spice rub for the Turkey today. It is the best for the price. You obviously have to use common sense and not just hold the button down but pulse. This is good for the herbs too, not just the grinder. When you grind an herb constantly it heats up, therefore breaking down the vital  nutrients and healing properties.

The only complaint I have is that the compartment size a little small. But if you are going to be doing a lot more that what size is provided you should probably have a larger grinder. If you need to do two or 3 times more than the cup size it is really simple to remove the cup and empty the contents, load it with fresh herb and grind away again.

One of the best features of this is the build in cord retraction. IT IS SO COOL! All you do is twist the bottom of the grinder and watch the cord wind in or out. depending on what you need. It is really great to keep the cord out of the way when you are not using it. I actually wish all the appliances we had this.

I would definitely recommend this product to any herbalist, chef, etc.