St John’s Wort is blooming all over the Cascade Range valleys right now and it’s the perfect time to harvest some of this medicinal powerhouse herb!
I harvest fresh St John’s Wort blossoms every year and make infused oil and tincture for use throughout the next year. My last post described a few of the medicinal uses of St John’s Wort.
Making infused medicinal oils is deceptively simple and amazingly useful. Here is a short and sweet tutorial of how to make St John’s Wort infused oil:
Ingredients:
- clean glass jar
- organic olive oil
- freshly picked and wilted St John’s Wort blossoms
Harvest the blossoms (or flowering tops) of St John’s Wort and let them wilt for 6-24 hours. This allows some of the moisture to evaporate as well as any critters hiding in the petals to leave…
Place in a clean glass jar leaving some headspace. Pour olive oil over the petals until the oil covers the herb about an inch.
Place the lid on the jar tightly and set in a protected area in the sun, or a sunny windowsill for about 4 weeks. Open the lid every day or two and wipe out any condensation that forms.
Your oil will quickly turn blood red from the medicinal constituents of the herb infusing into the oil. After a month, you can strain out the herb and use the medicinal oil that is the result!
I love using St John’s Wort infused oil straight as a massage oil, or sunburn remedy. But I also like to use it in blends to make healing salves of all kinds, as well as in lotion and moisturizer recipes.
Have you ever infused St John’s Wort in oil? What is your favorite way to use it?