**Note: For external use only!**
**Also note: I am still in the learning phase of all of this -- Follow this at your own risk.**
This week has been a fun one. This is going to be a step by step tutorial on how to make a water and oil concentration of this specimen. Jewelweed grows wild around here (Northern New Hampshire) and we have a good amount of it growing in our yard. We want to extract its awesomeness so we can use it over the next year even while it's out of season! What this plant is used for is beyond the scope of this tutorial; look elsewhere if you need ideas for its implementation. We plan on using it only as a colorant and cosmetic application on future projects. We also will use it for personal use regularly. On to the extract process!
Step 1 (and possibly the most important step!): Identification of the plant is very important in any wild plant extracts. You don't want to poison yourself with a look-a-like! I am unaware of any poisoned mimics of the spotted jewelweed but the pale jewelweed (impatiens pallida) does look similar. The biggest difference in the two is the flower. If it is a very light green or white flower you have the wrong plant. I don't think you will be satisfied at all if you are extracting the pale jewelweed.
Notice the orange/deep yellow main flower and darker orange spots. This is the spotted jewelweed and what we have local. The younger flowers have much less deep orange from what I have noticed. Also notice the distinct leaf shape; with it's sharp edges as it climbs to a peak. Another thing to note is its stem - it looks very segmented as it climbs to its next tier with bulges.
Step 2: Harvesting the plant is fun to me and more satisfying than buying plant material. The most important part of this is make sure you aren't pulling up other plants along with your jewelweed. I have sections where it is very easy and I can cut the base of 10+ plants at a time. Other sections I have to nearly hand pick one plant at a time. Make sure you get rid of anything you don't want in the mix. Harvesting after they have created their seed pods is nice for propagation. If the pods are ready, just shake them around and they will explode seeds all over the ground for future harvest!
Step 3: Cut up the harvested goods to an appropriate size for the pot you plan on cooking it in. I cut mine to about 5-8 inches in length. I use a machete for this, but you can use whatever you have available that can get through plants. I set my harvest on the grass and hack at it till it's to a usable length. If you cant get through it in one swipe, rotate and hack again. Make sure you have a nice sharp blade to make this a breeze.
Step 3: Cleaning is the next step, and although I don't find it "fun" I find it satisfying. I do a triple rinse outside with the garden hose. Don't fill whatever you carry your plant matter in too full! You need enough space to agitate it all within the water. What I do is fill the bucket about 60% full of jewelweed and bring the waterline near the top. After the water is in I rotate and shake all of the plant bits to get rid of dirt and bugs. After you have filled your container with water and shaken your plants around a bit, empty all of the water. When I have done this 3 times I bring it inside for the next step!
Step 4: This is really just a continuation of step 3, but I find it important. After the 3x agitation outside I bring it inside for the final wash. Put it in your strainer and shake it while cool water flows over it. At this point you should have fully prepped and cleaned jewelweed.
Step 5: Cook your plant material to extract it's goodness. You can either cook it in oil or water, but both are similar in process (I do both).
- Water extract: I fill a pot overflowing with plant material and fill the pot about to the 85% full level with water. Put the temperature to very low - on my stove I put it at 2.5 and let it slowly simmer for 2-3 hours. You can speed the process up by bringing it up to a very slow boil and then bring the temp down drastically to simmer for 15-30 mins. After this I let it sit off the heat for another 1-2 hours. You can strain it before the sitting if you want to speed things up.
- Oil extract: I do the same thing as done with water. The main difference is that I do this 2 times. I will cook down 1 batch of plant material, strain it and then reload it for a 2nd round! One small difference is I do a slightly lower temperature (2 on my stove). You can choose any oil really but olive oil is what I have used and I may do a more saturated oil in the future (probably coconut oil).
Step 6: Strain the plant matter from the liquids. This step is simple. It goes faster with water than oil. I let the oil pot (top pic) sit on top for 5+ minutes before pulling the strainer off. With water (bottom pic) it's quicker; I run it through the strainer then shake it down some to pull more liquid out.
Step 7: Strain again! This step may be redundant for some, but I like to do it. I run it through a finer strainer. If you are more hardcore than me you could run it through a cheesecloth after this fine strainer. *Top pic below is water extract and bottom below is oil.
Step 8: Pour into jars! This is a pretty straight forward step, you pour your liquids into jars. I let the liquids cool to room, or near-room, temperatures before pouring into the jars. Notice on the oil (bottom pic) the far right jar has the separation of water/oil extract. This is the jar I will use first and I will shake before each use to mix the oil and water parts. Although the oil does not look like it has a lot dispersed within, it is full of jewelweed goods! I am not educated enough (or have the equipment) to decipher what is water and what is oil soluble. But both water and oil extract work well.
When you are pouring the oil extract pour slowly and realize the water will be at the bottom. If you have a large amount of oil you can easily keep the bulk of the oil water free.
Step 8: I'm done teaching you things! The last step is storage... If you plan to use it within the next 6-8 months just store it in the fridge. If you need 8-16 months storage, throw it in the freezer!
*Notes to help keep your jars from cracking in the freezer
Don't fill the jars too full or they will shatter (water expands as it freezes). If they are bowed at the top like my jars are, leave 1-2 inches before that bow. If the jars are straight necked jars they usually have a line about 1 inch from the top to not exceed for freezing.
Don't over-tighten the lids.
Don't have the jars touching each other while freezing. After they are frozen they can be touching.
Thanks for reading and I hope you learned something! A lot has been learned on our end exploring the possibilities of natural products and how to utilize them. Stay tuned for more tutorials and the possibility of products using this awesome extract.
Have a wonderful week!
