to Make a Tincture...

Well, summer is coming to a close. We built a solar food dryer and played around with strawberries and bananas. The strawberries worked out the best, the bananas not so much. Needed more time for them.

For a definition check wikipedia for Tincture. Basically a concentrated form of medicinal herb suspended in an alcohol base. For the alcohol I used 80 proof vodka. Never made a tincture before, so I had to do some reading. I have several books about herbal medicine and as well as poking around the internet.

Check out these books...
Handbook Native American Herbs Healing
Peterson Field Guide Medicinal Plants Herbs
Backyard Medicine Harvest Herbal Remedies

Of course there are more on the subject. I do have a few more, but these are what I keep handy. I went to the local grocery and picked up a case of large mouth pint canning jars and lids. Also, got some wax and pectin. Just in case we want to try and make some jam later.  So here is what I did.

First I sterilized the lids and bottles.
1 cup of dried chaga into a pint jar.
Filled the remainer of the jar with vodka.
Try to leave as little air space a possible.
Shake daily and let seat for a month.

The second batch is made of black elder berries.
1 cup of elder berries, I used a fork to mash the berries.
Turns out to be 1/2 a cup. (Next batch will be 2 cups of whole berries)
Filled the remainer of the jar with vodka.
Try to leave as little air space a possible.
Shake daily and let seat for a month.

Both will stay in the dark corner of the pantry for a month. I have some yarrow and self-heal in the yard. I am going to pick some to dry as well as make a batch of tincture for them.

As a matter of fact my wife just finished making a small batch of black elderberry syrup. We will have to taste test in a bit.

Enjoy,