How To Make Mullien Flower Honey Cough Syrup and Ear Ache Oil

I want to share with you the gateway plant that led to me taking natural remedies very seriously, and that is the mullein plant. The mullein plant is commonly known for its use of the leaves and the roots, and I will dive into that at a later date of how I use them, but today I'm interested in these little guys. While the blooms are blooming, we're going to get while they're getting good, and I want to show you how I've used them in a cough syrup But before I show you how I made these, I want to show you how to identify the plant. The mullein plant is a biennial plant. That means it takes two years to mature, and in the first year it is a small, soft, fuzzy-leaved plant that looks like a big green fuzzy flower within itself. And the second year it gets tall with a big yellow blooming spike full of little yellow flowers. You may see them along the highways and roadsides and in fields. Abandon old areas. Don't harvest from busy roadsides or anywhere where it looks like you could get, they have been sprayed with pesticides. Take a drive off the beaten path down a country road and look for some open fields. This is definitely one of the plants that I like to make sure that I have on hand at all times. I use it for all of my family, the two-legged ones and the four-legged ones. I have dogs with ear problems, so I like to have a natural alternative to take care of some of their needs. Now I have come out here all week and harvested the blooms, and I stripped this thing bare yesterday, and this is what has bloomed just overnight. Welcome y'all. My name is Loanna, and this is Little Bit of Home. I like to harvest mid to late morning. That gives the bees a couple hours to come and get their fill because they absolutely love this thing. Also, by waiting until the bees get their fill, it's had time for any dew to dry. You don't want to harvest these when they're wet. And also, I don't wait until later in the day because they will, as the heat of the day goes on, they wilt and they fall off daily. But that's nothing to worry about because every single day for about a week, two or three, they just keep producing more blooms by the next day. When I'm harvesting the flowers, I am only harvesting the petals. I'm not pulling off the part of the base of the bloom where the seeds are. The seeds are the only part of the plant that are considered to be toxic, and since I'm using these in the honey for a cough medicine to consume, I want to just be on the safe side and not get any seeds in it. No, Bo, they're spicy. Now, I am growing my own here on my property, but I still am careful not to harvest every one of the blossoms. I like to make sure I leave enough blooms so that they can reseed themselves and that I have plenty for next year and the year after. This is what I've harvested over the last four days, and I have laid them out to dry. This one is still not quite dry. I've got a little moisture in it, but this one isn't. This one is dry, so I am going to put it in here. A few more critters. I usually set these outside to dry a little, and I try to make sure I've flicked all the ants and beetles. So far, two ants and two beetles, so not too bad. So, I'll take this back in the other room where I have a little fan circulating in the room, and we'll let these continue to dry. These would probably be fine, probably in the honey, so I will keep these out. First and foremost, I am not a doctor and I am not an herbalist. These are things that I choose to do and use for my family, and I suggest that you do your own research and make an informed decision for yourself and for your family. Now that that's out of the way, first we're going to do is make the ear oil. I'm going to use an avocado oil. You could also use olive oil as well, so let me show you. I'm going to use a half pint jar, and I'm just going to fill it loosely. I'm not going to pack it down. Now, the mullein flower benefits for the ear are they are anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and the soothing benefits are known to relieve pain and discomfort. I don't want to pack it down, and then I'm going to add the olive oil until it completely covers. Like I said earlier, you got to get while the getting's good, so while I have this stuff on hand, I like to get prepared for when we'll need it in the winter. You want it to completely cover the flowers. Isn't that beautiful? Now, it's that simple, and I will put this on a shelf in a dark spot, and I'll try to remember to go shake it once a day, and as it absorbs the oils, the plant matter will settle a little bit, and after about a week or so, I won't have to go shake it, and then when I think of it, I'll go in and check it and kind of shake it and just make sure nothing is hanging out above the oil so that it would run a risk of getting mold, anything icky on top. The reason I choose to use dried plant matter is anytime you incorporate moisture into an oil, you run the risk of getting mold or it going rancid. It's too valuable, and the time's too precious to take the chance, and I don't want to need it and go to get it out and it be icky, so I use the dried plant matter. Some people will use a wilted plant matter. You may want to do that, look into that, but to me, it's not worth taking the chance, so I use dried plant matter. After about four to six weeks, I will strain it off and then just have an oil, and then I have some little dropper bottles. Let me get one and show you. Okay, found it. Now, you can strain this and then put it into a little dropper bottle like this. You can get these on Amazon, and if I can find them, I'll put them a link to them in the description. This is one that I saved that it has the little milliliter marks, not necessary. I give my senior dogs some CBD oil, and we go through a lot of these, so I just save them, clean them, wash them really well, dry them well, and reuse them, but you can buy these, and I'll link it in the description. The way I would use it on me would be two to four drops per ear, about four times a day, up to four times a day as needed, and I would also use this on my dogs, so use your own judgment. Now, let's do our honey top syrup. I have a good raw honey. Now, these aren't as dry as these. These were picked yesterday, but it shouldn't matter too much in the honey, but again, just like in the oil, I prefer to use dried plant matter, but I'm a little bit okay with this in the honey. I do not know why that's sticking to me. That oil, I think. I'm just going to take the rest of this, and I'm going to stuff it down in here, not let any of it go to waste. Now, I'm just going to pour my honey. The honey itself is soothing enough for coughs, but by adding the mullein flowers, you are adding an anti-inflammatory. It's soothing to the bronchial system. It is an expectorant. The plant itself is a good expectorant. It's known as nature's mucinex, so it's also excellent in a tea, and the petals make a great cough medicine. This will take some time. You just have to be patient, and I did get it a little full, but it's fine. It's fine, and again, this too, you want it completely covered. Now that we have it in the jar with the honey, every day, I will flip it, and I will keep it out on the counter here, so I'll remember to do that, and after about four or five days, I'll start to notice, so you can see that it's, and that's just going to make sure that everything is good and covered with the honey. Then, we'll flip it the next day, and after about four or five days, I shouldn't have to do that. It'll get everything absorbed, and I'll be able to tell if I need to add any honey. Same with the oil. After the the dry flowers absorb any of the moisture, you want to always make sure that your plant matter is under whatever your liquid is, so that it's not sticking out of the top of the honey or the oil, because what is exposed to oxygen will mold, so we're going to keep an eye on this, top it off if we need to, and the same thing with the oil, and with this, I'll probably go ahead, since I'm not expecting to have a cold anytime soon, I will probably let this marinate for about four to six weeks itself, and then I'll strain it off, and then basically, you would just use this like you would a cough syrup. So, with both of these, you could also customize this. You could add different herbs that would be beneficial to an earache or ear remedies, and same with the cough syrup. You could use other things, like for instance, you could add garlic to this as well, but I'm just going to go with the straight mullion myself, and enjoy it that way. I hope this gave you all some things to think about, and I would encourage you to take a little day trip, run around, see if you couldn't find some mullion. It's still in bloom, so get out there, enjoy yourself, and I'll catch you all next time.