Making wildharvested Yarrow hydrosol

There are many colonies of wild Yarrow throughout the north pasture. They are so beautiful, especially at golden hour during these long midsummer days. I have been waiting for them to reach the peak of flowering to make a hydrosol and perhaps some lotion from that.

Yarrow is one of the earliest known herbs used for therapeutic and medicinal purposes going back thousands of years. It has antiseptic, anti inflammatory and antibacterial properties and is great for calming skin. I was amazed at what a powerful, many-fold good resource it is, in the intricate system of natural benefits God has designed into the world He created for us to discover and enjoy. So many benefits, and beautiful and fragrant as well. The artistry alongside the chemistry is a tiny signature of the Creator.

The National Library of Medicine has an excellent short article here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10703637/

A. millefolium can play a significant role as a strong antioxidant and anticancer source, positively affecting gastrointestinal inflammations.

It also has a calming and relaxing fragrance similar to chamomile. The flowers have the highest concentration of active ingredients, so that is what I am using today.

These flower heads were just rinsed and then steam distilled

The fragrance is lovely, light, sweet, calming, a little reminiscent of chamomile; and the distillation produced a tiny amount of beautiful blue essential oil. The blue color is a molecule called chamazulene, which isn't present in the flowers but is produced from a precursor molecule during distillation. Chamomile is similar and also has a blue essential oil. The hydrosol captures the fragrance present in the dried flower bundles we sell in our Etsy shop. https://deogloriafarm.etsy.com/listing/1551529981