Grow Your Own Drugs

Ingredients
1 Kiwi Fruit
juice of 1 lime
1/2 papaya
2 sachets vegetable gelatine

Method
1. Mash the kiwi fruit through a sieve into a bowl. Add the lime juice to the kiwi mixture.

2. Scoop the seeds from the papaya, and mash the flesh on a chopping board using a fork (this makes it slightly easier to press through a sieve). Press the papaya through a sieve into a separate bowl and mix with the vegetable gelative using a fork.

3. Put the bowl with the papaya mixture over a saucepan of boiling water and stir constantly until it forms a wallpaper-paste consistency. Take off immediately and continue to stir. Add the kiwi fruit juice slowly, bit by bit, stirring all the time. Leave to cool.

Use
When cool or lukewarm, apply the gel to face, avoiding the eye area, and leave for 10 minutes to 1 hour. Wash off with warm water.

Storage
Most effective when used as soon as possible. Keeps in the fridge for up to 48 hours.

Mortar and pestle

Muslin or cheesecloth

Glass jars of all shapes and sizes

Filters and funnels

Stick-on labels

Ingredients
2 tbsp (20gm) viola flowers, stripped from their stems

2 tbsp (20 gm) Roman or German chamomile, dried

250 ml freshly boiled water

1 tsp beeswax

2 tbsp almond oil

1 tsp vitamin C powder

1 tsp glycerine

2 tsp emulsifying wax

Method
1. Place the violas and chamomile flowers in a glass bowl. Pour over the water to cover. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Put the infusion into a medium-sized pan (this will form the bottom of your double boiler or bain-marie).

2. In another glass bowl, add the beeswax, almond oil, vitamin C powder, glycerine and emulsyfying wax. Place on top of the infusion pan, and warm over a gentle heat, stirring until melted. This takes about 10 minutes.

3. Strain the infusion, then slowly whisk it into the oil mixture until incorporated - the texture should be smooth, like mayonnaise.

4. Pour the mixture into a sterilized dark glass ointment pot, then seal.

Use
Apply to affected areas morning and night. Ideally, apply within a few minutes of bathing, to keep the moisture in the skin.

Storage
Keeps for up to 6 months in the refrigerator.

Most things that you will need to make your own herbal preparations will already be in your kitchen. However, if you want to make creams, balms, and lotions there are a few other ingredients you'll need to have on hand.

Beeswax and Emulsifying wax

Essential oils

Gelatine

Glycerine

Oils

Vitamin C powder

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons fresh or dried valerian root
3 tablespoons lemon balm leaves, better fresh
3 tsp fresh lavender flowers
6 leaves and 3 heads from fresh passion flowers
peel of 1 1/2 oranges
900 ml full-fat milk (it's better for you than fat-free and makes the hot chocolate nicer)
50 grams dark chocolate (minimum 50% coco solids)
dash of vanilla extract

Method:

Chop the top and bottom from the fresh valerian root. Add the valerian, lemon balm, lavender, passion flowers, orange peel, and milk to a pan and gently heat for 5- 10 minutes. Strain.

Pour the infused milk back inthe the pan, then add the dark chocolate and vanilla extract and stir until melted. Drink at once.

Or save in a flask and drink throughout the day.

Ingredients
20 tbsp (approx 100gm) fresh rosemary leaves

20 tbsp (approx 25g) fresh lavender flowers

200ml neem oil

200ml almond oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp tea tree oil

Method
1. Strip the rosemary leaves and lavender flowers from their sprigs.

2. Combine the neem and almond oil together in a measuring jug.

3. Crush half the rosemary and lavender with a little of the oil, to help ease the crushing process. Place the mashed up herbs in a saucepan. Repeat with the second half of the rosemary and lavender, again adding a little oil for crushing.

4. Place the crushed herbs, neem and almond oil in the pan, and add the chopped garlic. Heat gently for about 20 minutes.

5. Strain through a seivgelined with muslin. Add the tea tree oil to the reserved oil, stir, then filter into a sterilized 500ml bottle.

Use
If using immediately, apply to dry hair, making sure that the hair is completely covered nd that the oil penetrates to the scalp. Cover with a towel and leave on for at least 1 hour, or overnight if possible. Then wash off with two applications fo shampoo. Apply conditioner, and comb through with a nit comb. Use the next application 7 days later, to deal with any nits that may hatch during that time. Comb through with the nit comb every 3 days.

Storage
Keeps for 6 months.