It's been an incredibly busy year! Heavy Spring rains created flooding but also created an amazing abundance of early summer plants to harvest. The late summer drought has not been helpful but there are plants such as pleurisy root that don't care a whit about dry conditions. Unfortunately, if it is hot and dry enough essential oils can evaporate out of plants, making their effects less potent in some cases, and their scent less enjoyable. Mugwort (pictured) is an interesting paradox. The sleepy-time tea made from mugwort is effective because of its alkaloids, not its essential oils. The essential oils, however, give mugwort its strongly herbaceous scent enjoyed by many. You may assume the less aromatic plant is less effective, but I have found that is not the case.
Some of my harvest is now available in tincture form. Stinging nettle, wild oregano, yarrow, St John's wort, black cohosh, ginger root, hibiscus, sweetgum, black cherry, licorice, and more coming each month. I have just made a large batch of comfrey/olive oil/castor oil salve for your aches, pains, and fractures! I have finally gotten my hands on some nice Adirondack Mountains willow bracket so that tincture will be coming along in December!