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Echinacea - growing and preparing
Mother is growing Echinacea in her garden and would like to use them as a remedy but is not sure which part of the plant to use or how to prepare it. Can you help?
Few people realise how easy it is to grow your own echinacea, which is not only hardy enough to survive our climate, but is also an attractive addition to the border - thanks to the flower’s disctinctive purple petals and spiky orange centre, which has earned it the name of hedgehog plant.
Although herbal tinctures are made using the whole plant, including the flowers, the active agents for serious immune-boosting lie in the roots which is the part she will need to use.
Traditionally, herbalists process the harder parts of plants – the stems, the roots and the bark – via a technique called decoction. The measurements do not need to be exact but roughly, she needs to soak the equivalent of 30g of the root in 500ml of cold water for 10 minutes before pouring this mixture into a saucepan to bring to the boil. She should then cover and simmer the liquid for another 15 minutes, remove from the heat, keep covered and leave to stand for 15 minutes more. She then needs to strain and drink this as a tea which she can reheat.