There are a plethora of plants that can be used as medicine, from foods to herbs with medicinal properties. I'm going to share with you one of my favorite methods to make medicinal tinctures using some of my favorite plants. If you like the idea of keeping a stocked natural medicine cabinet for yourself or your family for a fraction of the cost, this may be for you.

Many people don't realize that a lot of the prescribed and OTC medicines we see today that have plant origins. For example, aspirin was originally made from the bark of willow tree sapplings. Since then, the recipe has evolved and aspirin is made in labs. Personally, I'd rather use plants and natural alternatives to chemical-laden "medicines" that often come side effects and/or a hefty price at the pharmacy.

For tincture making you will need:

• medicinal herbs/plants

• mason jars with lids

• parchment paper and cookie sheet (only for certain herbs that require drying/heating)

• high proof clear grain alc*h*l (I prefer a particular brand that is 190 proof. It seems to work best.)

• tincture bottles with droppers

• a dark cabinet or pantry

1st Step - Learning. Gather information about medicinal plants in your area.

You may take some time to search different symptoms or ailments you'd like to be able to treat by Googling "herbs or plants that treat ______" ex: inflammation, sore throat, infection, aches and pains, sinus infections, headaches, etc. You may also choose to go out into your backyard or local nature area and take photos of plants and "weeds", then image search them to identify their name, then edit the search to see if they offer any medicinal value. I'll do this sometimes when I see new plants pop up in the yard. My searches are often formatted like this: "dandelion medicinal benefits" or "does goldenrod offer medicinal value?"

Once you identify the plants you'd like to use, make sure you know whether to use the flowers, bark, or others parts of the plant, and whether they can be used fresh or if they need to be dried. If you're using c****b*s, you can make tinctures using any part of the plant from the buds to leaves and stems.

2nd Step - Gather your chosen herbs/plants

Harvest (or purchase) your chosen herbs/plants and make sure you rinse them well with water. You may way to chop them down so they fit well into jars.

3rd Step - Dry or decarb in oven you're using c****b*s or herbs that require drying

You can SKIP this step if you're using fresh herbs/plants.

For c****b*s, you'll need to decarb in order to activate all of the cannabinoids for medicinal use. You can break down your stems/flower/trim leaves and place in a thin layer on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet into your preheated oven at 245 degrees for 35-45 minutes.

For other herbs/plants that require drying (I do this with Yaupon Holly leaves), you can roast in the oven using the same settings. **Some dried plants also make great medicinal teas

4th Step - Place herbs/plants in mason jars

5th Step - Pour clear grain alc*h*l over plant matter until fully covered

6th Step - Secure lids on mason jars and place in dark cabinet or pantry

7th Step - Allow to cure in dark cabinet/pantry for 4-6 weeks, giving a good shake every 2-3 days

8th Step - After 4-6 weeks, drain the liquid and discard the plant matter

Final Step - Place liquid into tincture bottles (preferably amber or other dark color to keep light out) with droppers. You can find these online (Amazon or other) in packs of 12-50 that come with funnels and labels.

Use 1-3 dropper doses daily as needed. I recommend putting in your beverage (coffee, tea, etc) because it makes the taste much more tolerable, but you can also place directly under the tongue.

This is honestly my favorite way to medicate with c****b*s, but it has also saved me a lot of money and stress to have several different kinds of medicine on hand for my family. I use garlic, rosemary, and oregano pretty regularly and recently even got rid of a gnarly tooth infection within 2 days! Yes, these tinctures are made with alc*h*l (because it is a great extracting agent), but rest assured that in such small amounts the alc*h*l alone is not going to cause intoxicating effects. Don't quote me on that, but I have used oregano and rosemary tinctures diluted in teas for my children when they have a cold or infection, with great results and no negative side effects. Just use with caution.

If you are very sensitive to alc*h*l you can try a glycerin tincture. It may not be as potent, but can be helpful nonetheless. The intention of this post is really to expand perspective and remind peeps that we CAN make our own medicine and it’s not nearly as complex or expensive as big pharma would have us believe.