Make a Nettle & Plantain folk-tincture
*and, what exactly is a folk tincture?
Stinging Nettle leaf is anti-inflammatory! It seems a contradiction, but when extracted in a tincture it is useful to support symptoms of seasonal allergies.
Nettle and Plantain (Plantago lanceolata / P. major) is a dream combination to help soothe the symptoms of hayfever and other allergic responses: Nettle is anti-inflammatory and Plantain has a high content of natural antihistamine.
Use these herbs together to make a tincture, which is an extraction of herbs in alcohol. You need only take a couple of drops of tincture to get an effective dose of the herb’s beneficial compounds. To make a tincture you need a solvent - a liquid which draws out the alcohol-soluble medicine from the plant material, and some freshly picked or dried herbs.
This recipe is extracted from our journal ‘A Year in Herbs’, which shares recipes, remedies and reflections around one herb for each month. The journal can be started any time! Maybe April is your call to start a journey of a year in herbs?
Prepare the herbs
Harvest a bowl of Nettle tops and Plantain leaves, equal amounts of each herb.
Leave them out on a worktop overnight to wilt, reducing their water content.
With gloves on, chop the leaves into small pieces.
Make the tincture
Half-fill a glass jar with the chopped herbs, then pour over vodka, enough to completely submerge the herbs. Shake well.
Leave to infuse in a cool dark cupboard for 1 month. Shake every few days.
After the tincture has infused sufficiently (or ‘macerated’), you’ll notice it has turned a rich greenish brown colour. Strain out the plant material by pouring it into a sieve lined with a clean muslin or tea towel. Wring out all the liquid.
Transfer the tincture into a clean, sterilised glass jar or bottle and store in a cool, dark place.
Remember to label and date your tincture.
Use to support overall health, reduce inflammation, and boost vitality.
A suggested dose is 2-3ml (half a teaspoon) in a glass of water 2-3 times per day. With herbal medicines, start small and build up. Adjust doses for use in children. Please do your own research if on medication or you have an underlying health issue.
*About folk tinctures
A ‘folk tincture’ is an extraction of the beneficial compounds of plants in alcohol, as a method of making these healing or supportive constituents (phytochemicals) accessible to the body, and to preserve them beyond their growing season.
Herbalists tend to favour vodka for when a colour change is useful to observe, and brandy when this colour change is not as important a sign. I love watching the colourless liquid take on a golden brown huge, all the goodness of the plant being ‘drawn’ out into the liquid.
In herbal medicine, the percentage proof of the alcohol is very important, and medical herblists will be very particular about which herbs should be extracted in which strengths of alcohol. However, folk herbalism is the people’s medicine. We do not have alcohol licenses, and neither do we need them! For hundreds of years people have been making their own remedies with readily available ingredients. Choose the highest proof alcohol you can, it will preserve best, and draw out a good spectrum of the beneficial compounds.
Tinctures made like this will store very well in a cool dark place, up to 5 years + You have the power of these plants at your fingertips, ready just for when you need it for yourself or to share with friends and family.
