Secular Charlotte Mason

Do you have a child who loves honey? Does anyone in your family have asthma or allergies? If so, then here is a fairly easy activity to do with children or as an SOS (Saving Our Sanity) activity for yourself. I find making herbals to be quite relaxing and sooting to the spirit during stressful times. Since there is no cooking this is even good with young children---as long as you have a high tolerance for sticky messes.  The following video, from LearningHerbs dot com, gives a good overview of the process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFVKJl_0evA

The Process:

1. Place the herbs or flowers into a small glass jar. I used a pint canning jar. 

2. Pour local honey over the herb. Yes, you really do want to use local honey rather than national brands. If using it to help prevent asthma and allergy attacks using local honey is vital as it contains pollen from local plants. 

3. Using a thin utensil, mix the honey and herbs thoroughly.

4. Top off with more honey and stir again. Repeat until the jar is full of mixed honey and herb. 

5. Close with a tight lid.

6. The first week you need to restir the herbal honey daily. For less mess, you can also flip the jar daily to mix the herb and honey.

7. Let steep for 2 to 5 more weeks.

8. Strain the herbs out if you want. Delicate flowers like roses and violets can be left in. 

How to Use:

*Spread or drizzle on favorite foods.

*Take a teaspoon to a tablespoon daily for medicinal purposes (asthma, allergies, digestive problems, etc.).

*Stir a tablespoon into hot water and drink as a tea.

*Add to your favorite tea or hot beverage.

Notes:

*If using dried herb or flowers fill the jar only 1/4 of the way full.

*If using fresh herb or flowers fill the jar upto 3/4 of the way full

*If making for asthma/allergy prevention I add a tablespoon of bee pollen (and strain the honey only if absolutely necessary to make it edible).

*DO NOT USE WITH INFANTS UNDER 1 YEAR OLD.

*Always use local honey. For the more medicinal honeys I add in some Manuka honey, although I find it too thick and expensive to use alone. 

*If your child does not like traditional homemade cough syrup you can use the same herbs in an herbal honey and use it to soothe sore throats. 

*In general, I try not to heat the honey I am using but if your honey is too thick go ahead and heat it just enough to make it thin enough to get into the jar and able to mix with the herb. 

*The range of what flowers or herbs you can use seems fairly wide. I can't wait to try rose and violet honeys once these plants start blooming. In the fall you can make rose hip or garlic honey. You can also use spices such as cinnamon. 

Herbal Honeys We Made This Week:

Tummy Remedy Honey: use fennel seeds and chamomile flowers

Lavender Honey: I love anything lavender scented or flavored. Can be used for upset or anxious children. 

Dandelion Flower Honey: this one is a pure experiment

First Aide Honey: we use this instead of products like Neosporin, I like to use equal parts comfrey leaf, comfrey root, lavender, plantain. THIS IS NOT EDIBLE due to the comfrey root. Great for cuts, scrapes and minor burns.

Fennel Seed, Star Anise & Licorice Root Honey: my family loves anything fennel or black licorice flavored. This is another one of our experiments.