Like many wild herbs, the number of uses for rosemary are nearly endless. A nutritional supplement, an herb, a cleaning agent, a pest repellent, and even in part of burial traditions, the spikey Mediterranean aromatic has been in use for at least 7,000 years.
For some, rosemary is a weed accessible in four or five different places within a 100 yard radius of the house. For others, it’s an aromatic that one must pay two to three dollars for at the grocery store.
Rosemary can be picked at anytime in the plant’s life, and pruning it actually increases its growth rate and vitality.
However you acquire your rosemary, you’ll be growing it on your windowsill by the end of this article, as the number of uses it has can eliminate a lot of different things from your shopping lists.
Infusions
Adding rosemary to a bit of olive oil in an airtight glass container helps preserve the scent and flavor of the herb for later use.
Another way to make a tasty infusion with rosemary is by adding sprigs of rosemary, oregano, and marjoram into white vinegar to create an excellent salad dressing.
Rosemary is also perfect for adding an even more herbaceous flavor to already-herbaceous gin. Simply put some rosemary (and maybe a bit of lemon) into an airtight jar with a bit of gin (or whichever booze you prefer) and let it sit for a week.
Butter
Rosemary can be used to re-create boring butter to make an extra-special spread for toast or bread. Simply make the butter soft, add some herbs like rosemary, and reshape into a log or brick before cooling again.
This French recipe goes into more detail and includes things like garlic and chartreuse.
Deodorant
A lot of deodorants have pretty wretched chemicals in them like parabens (an endocrine disrupter) and aluminum chlorohydrate (a carcinogen), which begs the question: why we don’t use what nature made pleasant smelling to combat our own B.O.?
Rosemary essential oil can help in this sense—but this article contains a lot of information about deodorant chemicals, and their scientifically discovered harms—as well as plenty of tips to stay smelling fresh and piney, including how to use rosemary as a natural deodorant.
Hair Care
Herbs often have cosmetic and beautification properties, and rosemary is no exception. Along with unblocking follicles and clearing dandruff with its antimicrobial properties, rosemary essential oil can stimulate blood flow in the scalp, increasing the speed of hair growth.
This article suggests using lavender, thyme, mint, nettle, and cedarwood together with rosemary.
Cognitive performance
If you’re studying for an exam, rushing to meet a work deadline, moving house, or dealing with a tough project in the office, spending a few minutes inhaling deeply of rosemary oil, as “woo-woo” as that sounds, is scientifically proven to help.
“Here we show for the first time that performance on cognitive tasks is significantly related to concentration of absorbed 1,8-cineole following exposure to rosemary aroma, with improved performance at higher concentrations,” wrote the authors of a study testing this hypothesis. “Furthermore, these effects were found for speed and accuracy outcomes, indicating that the relationship is not describing a speed–accuracy trade off.”
Dentistry
At this point, if you haven’t stolen some rosemary cuttings from your neighbor or run and bought a plant from the shop, the idea that rosemary oil might save you from a trip to the dentist’s office might
Breath MD reports that rosemary oil in regular toothpaste or four rosemary sprigs and four whole cloves mixed into 2 cups of boiling water to make a homemade mouthwash can really increase the protection against bacteria that cause gingivitis and bad breath.
Home aromatherapy
A simmer pot is a great way of getting that delicious pine-fresh scent of rosemary into your house. Fill a saucepan with water, bring to a boil and add your favorite herbs and spices. Reduce to a simmer, topping up the water whenever it runs too low.
Cranberries, oranges, cinnamon, cardamom, and rosemary are all great choices to make the house smell great.
Additionally, drops of rosemary oil and lavender onto your pillow at night will help keep sinuses clear and induce deeper, more restorative sleep.
Home pest control
Adding 10 drops of essential rosemary oil per one cup of water to a spray bottle will help keep pests from entering your house. During insect-laden months, spray a little of this around the doors and windows of your home.
Alternatively, keeping sprigs of dried rosemary in the backs of your cupboards is said to deter mice.
Healing of all sorts
The aforementioned antimicrobial properties of rosemary make the oil perfect for treating wounds and skin ailments like eczema, cuts, mosquito bites, rashes, mild infections, or even acne.
For congestion, boil water and transfer it to a heat-poof bowl. Heat plenty of rosemary in said bowl and, covering bowl and head with a towel to seal in the steam, breath deeply for some minutes until your sinuses are cleared.
When enjoyed as a tea, rosemary is proven scientifically, and approved in Germany, to treat heartburn and indigestion, muscle pain, and even arthritis.
How to make different rosemary products at home
Now that you know all the different things you can do with rosemary, it’s time to learn how to turn this common plant into the delivery mechanisms discussed above.
Rosemary essential oil
There seems to be a severe disconnect in online guides between distilled essential oil from rosemary and rosemary-infused oil. Infused oil is quite easy, but many guides will say “how to make rosemary essential oil” when what they are actually showing you is how to make infused oil.
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Distilled oil involves equipment not often found in a normal house, while infused oil requires a simple jar, saucepan, cheesecloth, oil, and rosemary.
Step 1: Sterilize the jar and lid by boiling it in water and allowing it to dry thoroughly. If using fresh rosemary wash thoroughly and let dry completely.
Step 2: Heat 2 cups of oil in a saucepan and cook around 1 cup of rosemary on low heat without letting the oil bubble around the rosemary leaves. Some guides say one hour, others say three.
Step 3: Placing a cheese cloth over the jar, strain the oil/rosemary mixture in and refrigerate immediately. Use when completely cool.
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Olive oil bases made in this way have about a 2-3 week shelf life, but can become rancid, while others made with industrial seed, vegetable, or beauty-sector oils like jojoba or argan will last about 2 months.
Dried rosemary
Used for several things, including to make rosemary oil, or to allegedly keep mice away, dried rosemary takes longer to create, but it’s not so much work.
Take up to 8 sprigs of rosemary, preferably the straighter ones, and tie the bases together with twine or a rubber band. Make sure they are not covered in dew after you cut them.
Hang them in a cool dry place for 2 weeks, such as inside a high-up cupboard. Tying a brown paper bag perforated with holes around the rosemary will stop the light bleaching the leaves or dust from settling on them.
You could also use your oven at the lowest temp setting, cooking the sprigs well-spaced out for about 2-4 hours. Enjoy.
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