St. John's Worts, Hypericum perforatum, common name comes from the flower being harvested on St. John's Day, June 24th. The genus name, Hypericum, comes from the Greek words hyper (above) and eikon (picture) in reference to the traditional usage to ward off evil.

If you hold up a leaf from this plant, you will notice all the tiny holes, where its scientific name, perforatum, comes from.

St. John's Wort helps with:

• relieving stress
• depression
• anxiety
• OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)
• insomnia
• PMS (premenstrual syndrome)
• mood swings
• fatigue
• eczema
• skin cancer
• psoriasis
• IBS (irritable bowl syndrome)

NOTE: If taking any medications, work with your health care provider before taking this plant.

I foraged this plant in central Minnesota.

I use the folk method for making all my tinctures, which uses no measurements except sizing things up with your eyes. So I put the plant material in a jar and then fill with alcohol.

Dosages -

Dosages for children are not provided in most herbals. To determine the correct dose you need to consider the size of the child, the ailment, the power of the herb you intend to use, and the adult dosage.

Young's Rule for determining dosage uses the child's age divided by twelve plus the age. The dosage for a 4 year old: 4/12+4 = 4/16 = 1/4 of the adult dose.