Tincture of Yarrow - My Bug Spray

Recently I was asked if I had a bug spray for sale, especially one that deters ticks. I do, and it's a simple tincture of Achillea millefolium, commonly called wild yarrow. I learned about this use of yarrow from herbalist and wise woman, Susun Weed in one of her articles or radio shows ~ I can't remember ~ but I've been using it and it does seem to help with May flies, ticks and mosquitos. And it enabled me to replace an old formula and reduce my essential oil use, which is a strategy to which I'm dedicated. Of course, the "best" practice for protecting oneself from tick bites (and the potential for tick borne dis-eases) is A) Conscious Body Awareness and B) Careful Body Checking. I've had one bite so far this year, and have picked two crawlies off my person. Not bad, given the time and space I spend in their territory.

But back to the yarrow tincture: All I could find was my own bottle from last season, because of course, I've been using it. I could have sworn I had made a fresh batch last summer. You see, I keep my dried herb shelves organized in alphabetic order by common name, and my prepared herbals are organized in the dispensary in alphabetic order by botanical name. It seems that my brain played a trick on me when putting away the bottle of tincture, for I discovered it (quite by "accident") in the Y section of my dispensary.

I knew I had made a batch!

I prefer teaching folks to make their own medicinals and will be offering such a workshop when the yarrow starts blooming. But there's always those folks who either don't want to make it themselves, or want it now, so I bottled some up in spray bottles to have on hand for the kind requester, as well as for the Whiting Mills Open Studios & Block Party coming up the first weekend in June in sunny Winsted, Connecticut.

There's a list of dispensary herbals I'm preparing. More on those in upcoming posts. Once I get them made!

Peace.