The last 3 years I have planted more than a few Rose Geranium plants with an expectation of having plenty to distill. This was the 1st year that I’ve had more than enough to distill and share. I hoarded all the other distillations 😉 The scent is very Reminiscent of antique roses and just makes me extremely happy and chill. The day started out like any other day, with me working in the garden at 1st light.
I knew I was going to distill the geraniums but needed to wait until the dew had dried just a tad bit and allowed the plant to become more scented. Then the horses 🐎 started acting up.
They Never “talk” for more than just a good morning neigh when they see me in the garden. This time though they were talking up a storm.
I couldn’t see where they were, so I left The garden and went out into the field to find them. Of course, every Chigger along the way decided to hitch a ride on my pants! Found the horses. The neighbors mare had once again broken free of her pasture and decided to come visit. I’m perfectly ok with it as a general rule as both boys are neutered and I no longer have to worry about babies. But they were acting like teenage boys with no brains and were being Rude. I don’t Do Rude well at all. Ask my nephew, who is right this very moment cooling his heels on the front porch. Got the Boys under control & into the paddock away from the Mare. The owner was coming to collect her, so all was well and I went back to the Garden. Of course capturing every Chigger that didn’t get on me in the 1st pass 🙄
As I was cutting the geraniums, I started feeling that Infamous ”Itch” Ugh! I hurried through the harvest, taking my handy dandy IKEA bags (Thanks again Julia!!) over to the pool deck.
Remember the old “cure” of taking a bath in bleach water? Well, trust that a swimming pool that had just been shocked (about 8 hours previously) will Work too!
I immediately jumped In the pool. Clothes and all! It totally works! Thank you Lord! When you have an auto immune issue, a few bites isn’t a huge deal. More than a few though can truly wreck your day (& a half usually)
So, Take care of yourself if you’re battling Any Auto Immune issue!!
Back to the Rose Geranium Hydrosol.
This plant is so Strongly scented that I’m eternally grateful to be able to process it outside!
The leaves need to be removed from all but the very smallest of stems. So, I made myself a 2nd cup of coffee and got to work. After drying off 😉 I like to fill the bottom 3rd of the still with water prior to adding the plant material. I already know the measurement of that amount of water, so I write it down in my log. Grab an empty bowl, weigh it & write down the weight. Then I start removing the leaves from the stems. When all are removed, I weigh them & notate the weight. By weighing my botanicals I know how much more water needs to be added to the pot of the still.
Ive Got a special stick that I’ve marked with Weight measurements to know exactly how much water I need to add to reach a specific weight. Now it’s time to put everything together and set the fire to her. Normally I use Rye flour & make a paste to seal the still. But because I had enough plant material for 2 distillations I utilized Teflon tape for Easy, fast removal. This takes more time than most would think. So today, it’s Teflo.
I use my pool to keep the condenser pot full of water and circulating.
Doing this eliminates the “waste” aspect of Using water to Get Water. I will be forever grateful to Penny Clark for giving me that tip!
More than a Few Hours later I have several Gallons of distillate!
I Failed to take those pics though.
So, that’s all I’ve got for today. Time to set up the process all over again with a Holy Basil distillation! Until next time, stay Well!
Kris Boggs
PS, The Rose Geranium Hydrosol will be avl this weekend (August 22, 2020) at Hornback Arena!
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