Nettle Soup ezine: Recipe Section - How to make a tincture

RECIPE

Home made Valerian tincture

I'm including this recipe as a protest about the actions of Codex Alimentarius, international 'guidelines' which seems to be moving tinctures and other traditional herbal remedies to the domain of prescription drugs.

Tinctures are easy to make and very effective so I suggest you start making your own, until the authorities make that illegal. Firstly, don't get confused between Red Shank Valerian, a common seaside plant and Fragrant Valerian, which has the medicinal qualities.

	Here is an image of the Valerian leaves in early April, just coming up and full of spring energy. Traditionally Valerian is harvested in August after the flowers have died down. Astrologically this plant is ruled by Mercury - which was retrograde when I lifted the roots, so not a great start.
	I harvested enough root for two small jars of tincture, shook the soil off and brought it inside. The soil was quite dry which limited the amount of mud sticking to the roots. I used old mustard jars, cleaned sterilised and dried in the sun. I am using vodka as a solvent here, but have used rum also. I suspect brandy would work well with the musky odour of the root, but whatever you use - its not a great taste!
	Separate out the roots from the stems and leaves, which can go in the compost bin. Give them a wash in the sink and shake out the roots to lose most of the water.
	Then chop the roots up and give them a bit of a bruising with a rolling pin.
	Put the roots into the jars, just short of the top, then top off with the alcohol. I didn't have quite enough vodka so added a bit of water also. Seal the jars and leave them somewhere, out of sunlight, so that you can give them an occasional shake every day for about two weeks. You can then macerate the mix or rack off the liquid into a tincture jar.

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