I decided to put my class information into a digital guide by posting it to my blog. My class first began with how to make lip balms, so we will start there.
PS, check out other neat tutorials in the blog hop :)
You can use the methods we learn here to create all kinds of
balms, ointments, and salves. It doesn’t take many ingredients, and the process
is really simple. In medieval times, herbs weren’t just for cooking. They also used some herbs for household
purposes. These types of items were used medicinally. Creating these
preparations would help to keep the herbs preserved longer. This allowed them to
use herbs year round when fresh ones weren’t available for picking. Plus it’s
convenient because it’s already prepared and ready to use this way.
I took a class on making these lip balms at the Fall
Coronation from William Ismead and he was happy to share his handout for my
class. As did William, I also found some very helpful information from another
SCA member’s class notes, Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, used here with her permission as
well. With some information from the
internet to show you some common plants and how they were used both then and
now, this guide should give you a start on the process.
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A Brief Outline on the Use of Herbs in Medieval Period
Culinary plants and herbs were grown for use during the summer and were preserved to add to winter fare. Herbs and vegetables had to be harvested in quantity and preserved, usually by drying, to last through the long and arduous winter months. Some herbs were able to withstand winter in the ground and provided a yearlong bounty.
Winter savory, some oreganos, garlic, and chives are often able to grow through all but the harshest winter conditions. Other plants, such as basil, curry, lavender, coriander, tarragon, sage, and rosemary had to be harvested and dried. Herbs were usually dried in bundles hung in a cool place with good airflow for 2-3 weeks.
Meats were heavily seasoned with herbs, not because the food was going bad (although this certainly helped if the meat was towards the end of its keeping time…) they were heavily seasoned because that’s what the popular thing to do was. The wealthy were typically able to support an herb garden capable of handling heavily spiced food at every meal and if the wealthy were doing it, well, the rest of the population would want to follow suit, of course.
Household herbs included lavender, rosemary, sage, citron,
pennyroyal, peppermint, and parsley, as well as many others. Such herbs were
used to sweeten the air and to alleviate pests. Lavender, citron, and rosemary
are still used today to deter fleas and moths.
Herbs were a wonderful way to
not only sweeten the air, but it was also a great way to deter pests.
Interestingly enough, some of their herbs used to prevent fleas and other
irritating bugs are still used today, like citrus (think citronella) and
lavender. These herbs were placed in the rushes that stuffed beds to
prevent bed bugs and thrown about the floors where rushes were spread as a
means of preventing cockroaches and other disgusting things.
Medicinal
herbs, such as
all heal, feverfew, lavender, sage, peppermint, goose grass, tansy, dandelion,
and boneset, were grown and dried for use during the winter. Herbs could be
preserved dried for up to a year without losing their potency, or they could be
powdered or added to fats to create ointments and pastes.Willow bark, garlic, and some other medicinal herbs and plants could be harvested throughout the year. All heal, feverfew, and willow were used to break as well as prevent fevers. Lavender, sage, and peppermint were considered digestive aids. Goose grass and boneset were believed to be good for healing breaks and well as cuts and lesions. Dandelion was considered a purgative and diuretic.
The most important reason for the herb garden was for its medicinal purposes. A bad harvesting season with herbs could be the difference of life and death for some people. Herbs were used in many ways: putting the powder in broths and stews to consume, steeping them into a tea, leaving the leaves whole and placing them on affected areas, combining them with animal fat to create a salve to apply to the affected area, etc. We use a lot of the herbs they used today like using lemon, chamomile and honey for sore throats and coughs, peppermint used in digestive aids and calendula (marigold) to be used for bruises, rashes and abrasions - you’ll find a lot of very high end baby products on the market today include calendula oil in their ingredients (especially the “natural” products). These herbs made for health were also used as preventatives. It was believed then that illness traveled through bad smells.
To combat the spread of
illness, it was not uncommon for nobles to have small nosegays, or bundled
herbs, made up for them to carry around. When they were around something
that reeked, they held it to their nose to inhale. They served the dual
purpose of deodorant during winter months when bathing was all but
impossible.
As you can see, harvesting
herbs and plants for winter use was very important for the castle, as well as
the simple villager’s hut. In poorer and
middle class homes, these gardens were tended to by the wives and daughters of
the family. Obviously, then wealthy had servants who tended their gardens
for them. Some herbs were harvested at certain times of the year and then
dried in cool, dark places that had good ventilation, other herbs never went
out of season and could be used on a regular basis and replenish itself.
Of the herbs that were dried, they were good to use for up to a year before
their potency would diminish.
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/herb/the-medieval-herb-garden.htm
http://www.medievalsociety.org/2008/03/03/the-importance-of-herbs/
http://www.medievalsociety.org/2008/03/03/the-importance-of-herbs/
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Some Herbs Used in Medieval Times
The below information came directly from http://herbvideos.com/medi.htm - See page for more.
I thought this page was especially nice because it shows some gardens that STILL exist to this day where herbs were grown and used way back then, in Medieval Europe.
MEDIEVAL EUROPE'S PRINCIPAL MEDICINAL PLANTS
The following plants were the principle herbs used by the villagers of Villandry, France in Medieval Europe. They are still grown at Villandry in the traditional medicine garden on the grounds.  |  |  |
Medieval gardens, Villandry, Loire river.
|
Garden of love, Villandry, France
| Medicinal Garden of the Middle Ages |
Click hyperlinked text for more detail.
- Angelica: Phytosterols, No. 1 herb for women, PMS, expectorant, antispasmodic.
- Chamomile: Abrasions, carminative, anti-ulcer, anti-arthritis, anti-acne, respiratory.
- Fennel: Carminative, lactagogue, mild menstrual stimulant, treat diarrhea, cramps.
- Feverfew: To treat migraine headaches (prophylactic), treat arthritis, psoriasis.
- Garlic: Is anti-cancer, antibiotic, anti-microbial, heart disease protection.
- Hollyhock: Immunity, fevers, dysentery, diarrhea, laxative, sore throats.
- Lavender: Anti-stress, brain stimulant, vasodilator, antiseptic, spasms, sleep aid, headache
- Lemon balm: Cooling, relaxing, anti-stress, vasodilator, colds, flu.
- Lovage: Sedative, warms, diuretic, expectorant, spasms, anti-microbe, calcium sparer preventing kidney stones and PMS.
- Mint: Carminative, antiseptic, muscle spasms, warming, cooling, stimulating.
- Mullein: Upper respiratory infections, bronchitis, congestion.
- Rose: Bark and floral tea stimulating tonic to treat dysentery, kill worms, eye wash.
- Rosemary: Anti-inflammatory, improve brain circulation, hypertensive, headaches.
- Spiderwort: Root: laxative, kidneys. Aerial: insect repellent, bites, stings, wounds.
- Wormwood: Bitters, anti-inflammatory, stimulant, antidepressant, worms, insecticide.
- Yarrow: Warming, hypotensive, anti-inflammatory, diarrhea, styptic, immunity.
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The next page contains a guide to the oil to wax ratio you can use when making your own balms and salves. You can test your balm by dipping something in and taking out a drop, and placing the drop on a surface for just a moment to cool. Now you can sample the drop to check the thickness of your final product. Add more wax if it's too lose, and more oil if it's too hard for your liking. Remember too that the solidness, or lack thereof, determines in some cases what you call it. For example a salve or ointment might be looser, whereas a balm needs to be more stiff.
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The next page tells a bit about the type of oils you can use to make your balm. Now, a very basic balm is just oil plus wax. But you'll want to make something with herbs to add benefits to the product. While a really basic balm would protect dry skin, herbs add additional properties including healing and soothing, not to mention flavor/scent.
It's important to know and understand the difference in what is meant by oils, when talking about making these preparations. You can make a cold infusion, a warm infusion, or you can use Essential Oils in your balm (*not* fragrance oils! Only real essential oils). I usually use EOs in addition to infused oil. Infused oil contains the extracted botanical constituents drawn out from herbs. EOs are are different. Take care when dealing with them because they are highly concentrated oils. A cold or hot infusion also draws the same oils from plants and puts them in a nice oil base you can use in your products, but it is more diluted. Making an herbal infusion is a way that you can utilize herbs you might ordinarily not be able to buy in an EO. Putting EOs directly into a carrier oil works too.
Baking and candy flavorings are also tasty to use in lip balms! While they're certainly not period, there's nothing wrong with making your own personal balm taste good with these. Herbs and olive oil are great for the skin, but they may not always taste delicious. Peppermint EO is my favorite for lip balm. Citrus EOs are tasty too but beware that some are photosensitive meaning they magnify the effects of sun. (Just don't put it on then go out extensively in the sun or you'll burn your lips.) Not all EOs are period but some are. "Oils of: Roses, Cinnamon, Cloves, Mace, Nutmeg, Lavender (Spike), Lemons, Benzoin, and Thyme are mentioned in recipes." Also violet (but it is too expensive these days) http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/oil&water.html
In regards to the base oil, or carrier oil, to use in your infusion (and ultimately, in your salve/balm/etc product) -- Olive oil is the most typical ingredient to make your infused oils with. It's also period to use. There are many other oils you might choose to use, as well. Some of them are period and some aren't. This really doesn't matter for the purpose of practice and personal products unless you wanted to enter it in an A&S faire; the method use will still be same with each oil base.
"Sunflower, safflower, olive, almond, avocado, jojoba, and coconut are only a few examples of what is available."If olive oil is too expensive, either shop at a wholesale store like Sam's/Costco, or try looking for pomace oil. It's the last press of olive oil (virgin is first press and more potent) so it's thought of as lesser quality, but it still works wonderfully for salves and balms! You can sometimes find this at restaurant wholesalers.
"Sunflower, safflower, olive, almond, avocado, jojoba, and coconut are only a few examples of what is available."If olive oil is too expensive, either shop at a wholesale store like Sam's/Costco, or try looking for pomace oil. It's the last press of olive oil (virgin is first press and more potent) so it's thought of as lesser quality, but it still works wonderfully for salves and balms! You can sometimes find this at restaurant wholesalers.
"Other kinds of carrier oils, such as sweet almond, canola, linseed, hempseed, poppyseed, were probably also used in period depending on availability and budget." http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/preparations.html
Safety First! First and foremost, know and understand the herb you are going to be including in your infusion. If you're not sure, use herbs known to generally be safe, like calendula, plantain, mint, rose, and lavendar. Always label your products because of allergies that others may have. When using unknown herbs, introduce a very small amount at a time and wait to ensure no reaction will occur.
EOs are concentrated so they need to be diluted properly. An allergy could become exponentiated when handling straight oil. Hypersensitivity can also from the long term direct handling of an oil.
Infused Oils
Making a cold infusion
You'll want to put dried herbs into a container of oil, covering the material completely, and leave for about a month. Longer is OK if you forget or can't get to it after 3-4 weeks. Setting the jar in a sunny windowsill or a warm place can help the material to release the oil.
Fresh herbs can be used, but in my studies I have learned about the risks of botulism, so especially for anything being ingested I would recommend never using fresh herbs. When making salves you're not going to be eating the end product but moldy oil is still not something you'll want to be putting on skin. That being said, medieval practice often included the use of fresh plant material, and it's something we still do today. I have safely done this many times. But I also tested dried versus fresh and found that the fresh material didn't yield a better end result. So why risk it? Just let your herbs wilt and dry out for at least a day or two before you put them in your oil, and you practically eliminate the risk potential, because you've eliminated the water, which is the breeding ground for harmful bacteria. Air touching herbs from the surface is how they enter the oil. If you ever spot fuzzy growth, DUMP IT! It's a good idea to shake your infusion up periodically (daily if you like) just to help be sure no air pockets have formed inside, and helps you keep an eye on the surface.
One herbalist posts that she only infuses one type of herb fresh and that's St. John's Wort. This is because the flowers are very delicate. She also notes that sunflower oil is great to pair with this herb. http://kitchenherbwife.blogspot.com/2011/05/revising-basics-infused-oils.html
Steps: Obtain your dried herbs. Crumble them up into a jar. Cover the herbs in oil, and wait.
When a few weeks have passed, just strain the herbs out of the oil, and that's it!
If you want to make a hot infusion,
First you'll need a heat source. Then you'll put your oil and herbs in a double boiler or maybe in a crock pot for several hours and warm over low, indirect heat. When done, strain herbs from oil. This method is faster than making a cold infusion, and by using indirect heat you will not destroy the healing properties of your herbs. The risk here is in overheating the oil though, which would of course ruin the constituents. Here you can use fresh or dried herbs and it won't matter. 2-3 hours of simmer time is sufficient.
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Finally, make your balm. Combine infused herbal oil with wax, add in any other additives you want, and pour into a container to cool. Essential oils must be added at the very end - I usually remove from heat first, then add, then pour. The heat will cause EOs to evaporate out rapidly. Some people will suggest that you use vitamin E oil in you products. While this is not "period" it is an antioxident. You may hear that it is a "preservative." Please do not be mistaken: while it can help the product to remain fresh for longer, it is not actually a preservative.
You only need to add true preservatives to herbal products if you are including fresh material, like oatmeal or pieces fruit. But adding something to help keep your product fresh is never a bad idea. It can extend the shelf life a bit. Usually your balms and salves will be good for the next year. They will begin to have a certain smell that you'll recognize as "not fresh" after this length of time. If it smells stale, it is - throw it out. Then you get to make more! ;-)
You can put your balms and salves in round plastic containers, tins, or my favorite is actual lip balm tubes. Here are some shopping links for you.
Containers
- http://www.sciplus.com/
- http://www.usplastic.com
- http://www.sks-bottle.com
Herbs
- Mountain Rose Herbs http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/
- Bramble Berry http://www.brambleberry.com
Essential oils
- Bulk Apothecary http://www.bulkapothecary.com
- From Nature With Love http://fromnaturewithlove.com
- Essential Wholesale http://www.essentialwholesale.com/
Pomace & Olive Oil
- http://www.webstaurantstore.com/search/pomace.html
- Sam's Club (in store only) I like the 3-liter size for best price!
- You could also check Costco. I only have a Sam's card so I don't know what Costco carries.
- Check too to see if you have a local restaurant wholesale store you could shop at.
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