Johnny's has seeds of a few herb varieties that were developed to yield especially high amounts of essential oil, like their "Quedlinburger Niederliegende" variety of lemon balm. They have a few others: "Resina" calendula, "Superdukat" dill, "Aromata" summer savory, and "Extrakta" sage. I was wondering if folks knew of other herbs with varieties that have been especially developed for high eo content and where I might be able to get them.
Herb varieties developed for high essential oil content?
howdy~ No, I do not, but I would LOVE to find a Lavender with a higher EO content. I made a terrrific oil for cooking, out of Sage Leaves off a regular plant. I took and soaked new leaves every 3rd night changing them out in a base of olive oil. For the lavender I would have to do it differently as I would use it for antiseptic purposes. This is exciting, as I did not know there were cultivars that were being devoloped like this! Is the Johnnys you spoke of a seller available online, and if so, what.s the website, please??
~namaste~
fernman
Fenman, yep, Johnny's Selected Seeds is online:
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/category.aspx?category=205
I've been buying seeds from them for 20 years. They have good herb seeds, I think. They have the varieties I mentioned, but I sure would like to find some others. I'll be growing the supercharged lemon balm this summer.
If I may ask what do you do with your lemon balm.
I seem to have an abundance ,and haven't found a good use yet.
I am planning to make several alchemical extracts with it, including the Ens Melissae, spagyric essence, and hopefully, the Plant Stone. Lemon balm is one of the most important plants for alchemy that follows Paracelsus.
Since I know that lemon balm has such a low essential oil content naturally, it won't be bad to have tons of lemon balm around. I know how rampant it can be. I do intend to keep it in a separate patch away from all my other plants, though.
Paracelsus, check www.Richters.com for Anthos Valerian, lemonella lemon balm - I think this is lemonier than the Quedlinburger, Elixir St. John's wort, and black-stemmed peppermint is the most intense IMHO.
Wow, thanks, Herbalbetty!
To make e.o. requires a whole lot of plant material doesn't it? I've read about making a small distiller using a tea pot and tubing and ice. paracelsus, what do you use? how? I have a goodly amount of lemon balm but more lavender.
THANKS Both times Paracelsus~and as for running rampant, Gardengus, i am truly jealous, it is an excellent stomach remedy and in the heat in the deserts the little i can grow i treasure, and simply use with teas, like passionflower, and strangely i can get chamomile to reseed, and use it in tandem as well, a good before bed warm tonic. Also works for cooking, obviously...
Thanks again
~namaste~
fernman
Roybird, the Ens does not need any apparatus except maybe a pipette or dropper and a jar. I've heard of folks using a tea kettle and tubing to get an essential oil (and you are right--a large amount of plant material is needed), but I was planning on getting an alchemical apparatus from a glassware company. They call it an "old-fashioned distillation head." It's a "beak" that is over a flask. The beak is connected to another flask as a receiver. It's the ancestor of the modern distillation train. There is no thermometer used, so it is seat-of-the-pants, just like the old alchemists did, but has the advantage of being borosilicate glass. I have seen some pretty nice copper stills for making essential oil. I thought about getting one of those but decided I liked the glass beak better because it would allow me to see what was going on and because it was more traditional for alchemical use. The copper still is more traditional for perfumery and wine distillation, from what I know. They are beauties, though. If they weren't so expensive, I would get a copper still just for display.
Yes loads of plant material are needed, that is why the PURE essential oils (such as Tisserand) are pricey.
(Chamomile and Jasmine agreat examples foro that, smaller te flower, more is needded etc,.) Lavender is really high in content and you can use the leaves, as well as the unopened flowers i am sure. Paracelcus, sorry, but what is an Ens??~forgive my ignorance :)
fernman
An ens is a type of alchemical preparation made from plants.
If you're interested, this page has some pretty detailed info and some links to other pages on it:
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~panopus/lab/primumens.htm
That site has a lot of good herb info as well.
That's interesting information. I love lab-type glassware, just looks so beautiful. I've looked on the net at various types of stills, expensive. Curious about how one would make an ens and why, but I can probably research that myself. Good luck with it!
Oh, we must have been writing at the same time. I'll check out the link.