Hydrosols & Floral Waters

What is a Hydrosol?

A hydrosol, also known as a plant water, hydrolat, essential water, and herbal distillate is the liquid byproduct of steam distilling an essential oil. Hydrosols have many of the same therapeutic benefits as essential oils, but are much gentler and have a softer aroma than essential oils.

In other words, it is the water that is distilled with essential oils. When the steam from the distilled water passes through the plant material, it takes with it the volatile oils from the plant. The two travel through the tube at the top of the steam vessel (typically copper) and down through the condensing tube. Once the water and oil have separated, the essential oil is siphoned off the top and what you have left is the hydrosol.

Hydrosols are moisturizing, anti-inflammatory, mildly antiseptic, and are a wonderfully fragrant addition to skin care. Due to their benevolent nature, hydrosols offer a myriad of treatment possibilities when essential oils might be too strong.

Our Hydrosol's are currently available in Rose & Lavender 2oz Spray, 2oz Refill, 4oz Refill & 8oz Refill.

Can be used as the liquid in any of our Clay Masks!

Come see us at:

Crafter's Mega Show

March 6-8, 2020 St Albans, WV

Daffodil Festival

April 4 & 5, 2020 Gloucester, VA

       

  ©Copyright 2015-2020 J&J Farm; JnJFarmKY; JnJFarmVA

Natural Disinfectant Spray

Here at J&J Farm we use AB Protection Blend but here is another recipe

Natural Disinfectant Spray Recipe

1oz Vodka or Witch Hazel
1oz Water
1 drops Rosemary Essential Oil
3 drops Sweet Orange Essential Oil
1 drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil
1 drops Lavender Essential Oil

OR 6 drops AB Protection Blend

Mix all ingredients together and add to a spray bottle. Shake the spray bottle frequently while cleaning.

2019 copyright J&J Farm; JnJFarmKY; JnJFarmVA

Air Freshener Spray Ideas

Basic
1 cup witch hazel
8-10 drops Essential Oil
OR for each ounce witch hazel use 1-2 drops Essential Oil

Deodorizing
6 drops Bergamot
1 drop Eucalyptus
2 drops Lemon

Pet Deodorizing
6 drops Cedarwood
3 drops Tea Tree

Apple Pie Spice
6 drops Cinnamon
3 drops Clove

Orange Spice
5 drops Sweet Orange
2 drops Cinnamon

Mood Lifter
4 drops French Lavender
3 drops Orange (Sweet or Blood)
2 drops Ylang Ylang

Stress Reliever
1 drops French Lavender
2 drops Rose
2 drops Clary Sage

Poo Chase (spray before bathroom use)
4 drops Eucalyptus
4 drops Peppermint

Pour into spray bottle, add drops of Essential Oil, shake VERY well before each use.

Remember these Essential Oils  can stain, so be careful where you spray.

2019 copyright J&J Farm; JnJFarmKY and JnJFarmVA

Plantain - A Unexpected Benefit

With this year’s flu season off to a deadly start (and we’ve caught it ourselves!) we wanted to offer alternatives to pharmaceutical medicines to holistic ones.  Other than achy joints, weakness and body-wracking cough it was our lungs filling with fluid that caused coughing fits every time we laid down.  We made a large pot of plantain tea to naturally help dry up the mucus in our lungs.  It helped they symptoms!

Plantain Leaf

Common Name

Standardized: plantain
Other: broad-leaf plantain, greater plantain

Botanical Name

Plantago lanceolata L.
Plant Family: Plantaginaceae

Overview

The common plantain is of Eurasian descent, but has since been naturalized around the world with particular prominence in the United States.
Plantain has been used by many cultures the world over, and the Saxons considered it one of their nine sacred herbs. It was considered an early Christian. Despite its usefulness, plantain is considered a noxious weed in some regions outside of its native range.
Plantains have wide-ranging antimicrobial properties including anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. It not only soothes insect bites and superficial wounds but prevent infections and accelerate healing. An active biochemical aucubin is mainly responsible for the antimicrobial action of the herb. Another substance allantoin in the herb helps with skin tissue regeneration.  This is why we use plantain as one of the herbs in our Herbal Salve and Bengal Balm.
Plantains have an astringent property that helps dry up excess secretions in your respiratory tract and the digestive system, it is useful in treating colds and diarrhea. The astringency is moderated by the demulcent effect of the mucilage in the herb, so this herbal remedy is much gentler than other commonly used astringents.
The edible leaves of broadleaf plantain are rich in calcium and other minerals and vitamins, including Vitamin K. This vitamin helps stem bleeding from cuts and wounds. Tender leaves can be eaten fresh in salads, but older leaves have to be cooked.  

Parts Used

The whole leaf and some stem is acceptable.

Typical Preparations

Eaten raw and fresh in salads, as a tea, in tincture form and as an external compress.

Precautions

Specific: No known precautions.
General: We recommend that you consult with a qualified healthcare practitioner before using herbal products, particularly if you are pregnant, nursing, or on any medications.

For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Here are several links which shows the anti-inflammatory action in upper respiratory tract infections].

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10483683?dopt=Abstract
Plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) is used for the therapy of infections of the upper respiratory airways. While only few clinical data are available, results of experimental research confirm e.g. antiinflammatory, spasmolytic and immunostimulatory actions. A positive benefit-risk-ratio allows the recommendation of plantain in moderate chronic irritative cough, also especially for children.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874100002129

A tea from the plantain leaves is used as a highly effective cough medicine. In the traditional Austrian medicine Plantago lanceolata leaves have been used internally (as syrup or tea) or externally (fresh leaves) for treatment of disorders of the respiratory tract, skin, insect bites, and infections.

http://www.koop-phyto.org/en/medicinal-plants/ribwort-plantain.php
NOTE: Plantain is generally considered a safe herb but as with anything, consult your doctor before using if you have any kind of medical condition. It should not be used in place of medical attention when needed.

Hide Your Stuff in Plain Sight and a Burglar Will Be Baffled

I stumbled across this article right after a co-worker's house was broken into.  It reminded me of an old boyfriend who kept his Savings Bonds and other important papers in the bottom of his fridge under the veggie drawer.  

He kept it between two pieces of cardboard, wrapped in paper towels then sealed in two ziploc baggies; THEN taped down to bottom.  When I inquired he said a firefighter friend told him the fridge and freezers are the LAST things to burn in a house fire.  WOW! Great idea!

I am reposting it because I thought there were many good ideas and it made me come up with some new ones myself!

~~~~~~~~

Hide and seek was a great game for some of us as kids. As adults, some of us apparently did not learn much from that childhood game because we continue to hide cash and other valuables in places so obvious that anyone could find them.

Let's take a look at some of those lousy hiding places before we examine some good ones:

• Sock drawers
• Back of a wardrobe closet
• Inside a shoebox
• Inside a laptop
• Medicine cabinet, clothes pockets, briefcase and underneath a mattress

OK, enough of the not-so-good places to hide valuables. If you want to hide something in your home and increase the likelihood that it will not be found by a burglar, hide it where you think they won't look!

Whether it's cash, important documents, weapons, jewelry or anything else you value most in your home, hide it so well that an invader might be looking directly at the container in which it's hidden and not even consider trying to find it there. Here are some examples:

Kitchen Capers

One of my favorite places to hide small items such as cash and jewelry is in a can of soup. Open the can from the bottom, enjoy the soup, rinse out the can thoroughly, put your items in the can, replace the can bottom, and place the can at the bottom of a stack of other canned goods. Even if the burglar goes to the trouble of looking at the cans, he'll notice that the top is still on that particular can.

Above many kitchen cabinets is a walled-in area called a bulkhead. If you remove one or more of the wall cabinets, you can cut an opening and hide items in an area that's likely to be about 12 inches high, 10 inches deep and as long as the cabinets.

Put two pieces of Styrofoam around it (such as what steaks are packaged in) and then wrap the whole thing in aluminum foil and place it in your freezer.


**(I was thinking that dead space under cabinets, called toe space or toe kick; there are drawers you can install just under sink with a tiny shelf for sponges and the like.  Why not pull a piece of it an put a drawer in; but one you can kick with your toe and it pushes out like the old stereo cabinet drawers.  Here is a link to my idea: Under Cabinet)**

Family Room Fun

Sandwich your cash or another thin valuable between two pieces of cardboard backing within a difficult-to-reach picture frame. Even if the thief pulls the frame from the wall and looks at the back of it, he's unlikely to rip out the cardboard to examine it further.

Select the one or two heaviest objects in your house, such as an entertainment center or a piano, and place cash in an envelope under it. It's unlikely a burglar will expend enough energy to try to move those huge items.



**(There are so many products now like a fake book or can of tennis balls..make sure you HAVE these items already. If you have ONE classical book in your house and only magazines, it's a no brainer!)**

Think Outside the House

Another option for hiding your valuables from would-be thieves is by burying them in your backyard. This might be especially true for weapons beyond any that you want to keep inside your house. Guns, for instance, can be hidden in large-diameter PVC pipes, along with grease to prevent rust and coffee to keep residual moisture off them.

To your survival,

Frank Bates