Spring Herbal & Soap Classes with Aquarian Bath in Daytona Beach and St. Augustine

April 9th 2011 at MaggiesHerbFarm.com Saturday 10-2 Herbal Medicine Making: Tinctures, and Syrups
Location: Maggies Herb Farm 11400 County Road 13, St. Augustine, FL call to register 904.829.0722 Learn the basic methods for herbal home medicine making for your family. This is a hands on class in which you gather herbs from the farm for making tinctures and a Thyme cough syrup. We will focus on methods for making preparations, properties, of herbs used during the class including Motherwort, Yarrow, Skullcap, Holy Basil and more. Fee $35. bring a sack lunch. A hands on workshop.

April 23rd, 2011 Bath & Body Easter Basket Workshop at Hobby Lobby in Daytona Beach 1-4 pm $20 In this workshop we will make a bath & body Easter Basket. You will make:
~ Aromatherapy Bath Salts
~ a Chocolate Easter Egg Lotion Bar made with Shea Butter and Cocoa Butter
~ 1 Chocolate lips balm
~ 1 Aromatherapy lip balm
Register online or call 310-919-0220

May 14th 2011 Soap Making For Sensitive and Problem Skin Types Saturday time 10:00
AM-2:00 PM Location: Maggies Herb Farm 11400 County Road 13, St. Augustine, FL call to
register 904.829.0722 Learn to make soap from scratch using the cold process method and the specialized hot process method for sea salt spa soaps. We focus on hypoallergenic formulations for those with sensitive skin and those well loved by persons with multiple problems, including acne. Specialty herbal additives for problem skin types in formulations will be discussed. Bring lunch, safety glasses and gloves, and a small cardboard box. Fee $35

May 21st 2011 Milled Soap Making for Sensitive and Problem Skin Types in Daytona Beach
at the Hobby Lobby 1-4:30 $30In this class we will be using the gentlest type of natural soap base: Castile soap which is made with 100% olive oil in the oil phase. You will take home two types of soap for sensitive and problem skin types as well as recipes for natural and gentle milled soaps. You will also learn about various natural additives for natural soap making including essential oils, clays, herbal powders and more. The soaps that we create in class will be chosen from a range of natural ingredients and will be determined by consensus among attendees. Register Online or call 310 919 0220

Winter Soap & Herbal Classes at Maggie's Herb Farm In St. Augustine 2011

Happy New Year's to you all. Hope 2011 is treating you right so far. I have some new classes coming up for the Winter Season at Maggie's Herb Farm in St. Augustine. Hope you can join us for some of them. Please call the farm to register in advance. 904-829-0722

Soap Making For Sensitive and Problem Skin Types February 5 Saturday time 10-2
Learn to make soap from scratch using the cold process method and the specialized hot process method for sea salt spa soaps. We focus on hypoallergenic formulations for those with sensitive skin and those well loved by persons with multiple problems including acne. Specialty herbal additives for problem skin types in formulations will be discussed. Bring lunch, safety glasses and gloves, and a small cardboard box. Fee $35

Herbal Powders For Body Care March 5 Saturday time 10-2
Learn to dry and process herbs for making body powders. We will used dried herbs from the farm as well as other clays and ingredients for creating your choice of body powders from among 5 basic recipes. We will cover face masks, deodorant powders, anti-heat rash powder, baby powder, and foot powders. Bring a sack lunch and a toothbrush. You will have a chance to sample and experiment with herbal tooth powders. Fee $35 Bring a sack lunch

Herbal Valentine's Day: Herbal Love Potions Saturday February 12:
Learn about various herbs used as aphrodisiacs and tonics. We will make a passion potion (herbal syrup), heart-shaped lotion bars with aphrodisiac and calming essential oils, and a rose body butter. $40 Bring a sack lunch

Herbal Events in Central Florida this Sunday November 14th

This Sunday is a great day for herb lovers in Central Florida. I have two events to share with you whether you are in the Daytona Beach or St. Augustine area.

The first is my Salves and Balm making class at Maggie's Herb farm in St. Augustine. From 10-2 I will be teaching how to make a black drawing salve like the one pictured below from my Etsy shop. I have called the farm to confirm also that their lovely pink rose bush is in full bloom and ready for us to make a beautiful salve with. I will also be demonstrating how I make lip balms with essential oils of Sweet orange and Peppermint. There are still 6 spots available in this class so round up your friends if you would like to get in on this herbal adventure. The fee is $35 and you can call the farm to register. 904 829 0722.



The other great event that is happening on Sunday is the "A rose by any other name" fundraiser for the new Rose and Herb Garden in down town Daytona Beach. The event will be held at the corner of Orange Ave and Beach Street. My friend Ciana from Green Halloween Daytona is organzing this event. She and I had too much fun organizing and preparing for Green Halloween that we got our wires crossed and we doubled booked me for a workshop at the garden on Sunday as well. Hallogreen was great fun by the way. Here is Moira with Rae Rae, the enviropal.



Back to the Rose Garden: you are all extra lucky, because of the mix up I recruited Ralph from Deep Woods Herbal Research Inc in Daytona to come out in my place and give an herbal talk for my slot at 2 pm about herbs for cold & flu season. Ralph is a very knowlegable herbalist who learned from his father who was an herbalist as well. The fee for this workshop is only $5, it's a great deal. Or come earlier at 12 and for $5 you can also learn about quality Rose Gardening with expert Dana Venrick.

Saturday's Herb Farm Adventure

I had a lovely day Saturday at Magggie's Herb farm. The plants are coming along in the green house after a long freeze. I was happy to be able to pick up some new plants to replace the ones that I lost in January. Some of the herbs I took home included Calendula like the lovely flowering ones pictured here, Patchouli, True Rose Geranium, Tilo, and Lemon Balm.

Most of the mother plants were still recovering so we worked with dried herbs for making our tinctures during our Herbal Medicine Making class. My students chose dried Goldenrod, Motherwort, Lavender to make their tinctuers. Our honey cough and sore throat syrup came out nicely. We used a blend of thyme, yarrow, lemongrass, marjorum, and horehound for the decoction.


The big question was when are you coming back to teach? I am very happy these new students liked the class. I am not sure If I will be back there to teach there this summer, but I am hoping at latest to resume classes in the Fall. When Moira was a baby I never left her with others for long or took her out in the world with me to work as my students were suggesting. I love visiting and teaching at the farm too much to stay away though, so I'm sure we will find a good solution.

Pictures from my Saturday Stocking Stuffers Class

I had a very fun group of students in my class Saturday at Maggies Herb Farm in St. Augustine. I'm still recovering.



We started off making rose petal and comfrey infused oil and moved on to bath teas, herbal ornaments and corsages from fresh picked herbs from the green house. And finished up with some lip balms and a winter dry skin balm made with the rose and comfrey infused oil.



Some of the herbs we used for the corsages/ornaments included blooming pinapple sage, rosemary, vicks salve plant, pepper, yarrow, lavender and oregano. The one that I made is the second from the left.



Stay tuned I will post my upcoming classes for February and March.

Comparing Essential Oils with Chemical Fragrance Oils in Consumer Products: How and Why to Spot the Differences

Aromatherapy effects of dynamic natural plant essential oils cannot be duplicated by man-made chemical fragrance oils. Aromatherapy is a branch of plant medicine that has nothing to do with synthetic fragrances. However, because the health-promoting properties of true Aromatherapy are desirable, many companies use cheaper chemical fragrance oils that do NOT carry these benefits, but will mislead customers (knowingly or unknowingly) by using the terms aromatherapy or aroma to make it seem like they are the same thing. The most offensive promotion I have seen was an "herbal soap" made with chemical fragrance oils rather than herbal essential oils. In order for a product to have genuine aromatherapeutic properties is must be made with unadulterated plant essences, plant infused oils, or other plant based ingredients. Products labeled for example as "Lavender Fragrance Oil" you may assume are synthetic. A product made with Lavender essential oil will be labeled as such.

How can you tell if you are smelling a pure essential oil product or natural perfume? There are various ways to test an undiluted oil or essential oil for purity, but when it comes to diluted oils in body or or home fragrance products your nose is also a fine judge. When you smell a product made with pure essential oils you should feel drawn to inhale deeply. In contrast when smelling a chemical substitute you may feel like you want to immediately cease inhalation or even hold your breath. Just think of a trip down laundry or home fragrance aisle at the supermarket, which is often overwhelming for people even without chemical sensitivities. Using personal body products with chemical fragrances such as these may contribute to stress on the liver and development of chemical sensitivities over time.

In addition it is noteworthy that certain plant scents cannot be stabilized. Natural perfumery expert Mandy Aftel notes in her book Essence and Alchemy that following florals cannot be produced naturally: Freesia, Honeysuckle, Violet, Tulip, Lily, Gardenia, Heliotrope, Orchid, Lilac, and Lily of the Valley. Also you may find the following fruity 'flavor oils' in various lip balms, but I can assure you they are not essential oils. These are Cherry, Watermelon, Apple, Raspberry, etc. Citrus fruits flavors however can be condensed from collection of the essential oils from outer peel.



Lavender photo by Photo by Heron 15:46, 11 Jul 2004 (UTC). This photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Thyme Cough Syrup Recipe

Thyme can be used as a primary ingredient in cough syrup. Thyme likes well drained soil and can be killed easily from being inundated by daily rain storms that here occur here in Central Florida July through September. Thyme is an expectorant herb which relieves bronchial spasms to stop coughs. You can use Thyme to calm the cough and throat in cases of Bronchitis, sore throat, inflamed mucus membranes, whooping cough (Purtussis), and gas and bloating.

Mint is another helpful ingredient for cough. It can calm inflammation in the head, throat and eyes. It needs to be added towards the end of the recipe and brewed only for a short time to prevent the fragile aromatic essential oils from dissipating.

Thyme Cough Syrup Recipe:
1 oz dried thyme
1 oz dried mint
4 cups water
sugar or honey

Boil dried Thyme down to about 2.5 cups of water, then strain. Add Mint and let boil for 5-10 minutes. Strain the decoction and add it back to the pot noting the final volume. Add 2 times the volume of the strained decoction in sugar or honey. If using sugar, dissolve it into the decoction.

The suggested amount of syrup to take is 1 tablespoon up to 5 times a day for adults. For children 4-10 years the dosage is 1.5 - 2 tsp up to 5 times day depending on weight.

Old City Remedies & The Oldest Drug Store

There are plenty of reasons to visit St. Augustine if you are in Florida, but if you are an herb-lover then you won't want to miss "The Oldest Drug Store." For those of you who are not familiar with St. Augustine, it is the oldest city founded by Europeans in North America. St. Augustine's most famous land mark is the Castillo de San Marcos built by the Spanish in 1672. Interestingly the castle never fell, but only changed hands via treaties to French or English. The city of St. Augustine is full of old world charm with narrow alley ways, art galleries, pubs, coffee shops, and restaurants. Last week I discovered a new attraction, "The Old Drugstore", which is a free museum and also houses a modern herbal gift shop, Old City Remedies owned by Myra Schafeffer.

The Old Drugstore sits at the corner of Orange and Cordova Street where it has been since 1739, built by Antonio Gomaas. The Gomaas family sold liquor, tobacco, medicine and Native American remedies until 1872, when the building was purchased by T.W. Speissegger, pharmacist. Speissegger had previously established his pharmacy in St. Augustine in 1872 in a different location. The Oldest Drugstore is now Owned by the Harris Foundation, which preserves and maintains its collection of medications & tools from the 1700's an onward. In the museum collection you will find countless bottles of castor oil, lavender preparations, a suppository mold maker, old time soaps, tincture bottles, and much more. One interesting item which is pictured to the left was tincture of Asafoetida. That was a new one for me. The Physiomedical Dispensatory, by William Cook, M.D., indicates the preparation and usage for tincture of Asafoetida, a member of the family Umbelliferae "Four ounces of asafoetida macerated for two weeks in a quart of alcohol, and then filtered, forms the officinal tincture. It is sometimes used by the stomach in urgent cases, when a very quick action is needed; but is oftener employed by enema. Dose, a fluid drachm or more." Another purgative! It was near the castor oil, so maybe that was a laxative section! Also near the soap.. another coincidence?


Fortunately for modern herbal shoppers, the Oldest Drug Store now is the home for more than a collection of odd purgatives and antiquarian pharmaceutical preparations. Old City Remedies, a modern herbal shop, is housed within the museum. In this lovely little herb shop you will find a collection of beautiful herbs and teas including simples like the antimicrobial, antiviral flower buds of Lonicera japonica (AKA honeysuckle or jin yin hua) and nourishing, anticancer flowers of Trifolium pratens (AKA Red clover), as well as a variety of interesting formulations. On such formula is called "Happy Man," which includes the following organic herbs: Siberian Ginseng, Dandelion root, Nettle, Marshmallow root, Burdock rook, Hawthorn berry, Saw Palmetto, Fennel, Oatsraw, and Stevia. The herbs that I looked closely at were high quality, organic and dried in a way such that the natural colors were retained, for example bright yellow honeysuckle and bright pink clover.
I'm sure I will be returning to the Old Drug Store as often as I have a chance to visit St. Augustine. If you love herbs, then I hope you will have a chance to do the same.