Kitchen Witch- Tinctures

A large part of Green Witchcraft is growing, living with and utilizing herbs and other gifts from the earth.
This is my first year growing my own witches garden and I am lucky enough to have had two herbs- Basil and Lemon Balm- grow out of control.

Working with herbs has always made me feel very happy. Plants and all things natural lend me an energy that I have always felt was a step closer to the way I am supposed to feel. A state of being that I really want to achieve as an everyday state of being.
Tonight, I made Tinctures for the first time.

I start with this. Basil and Lemon Balm.

I harvest the leaves and stems of these plants, being very careful not to take too much. I don't want to take so much to make my plants sickly or unhealthy. A general rule is not to take more than 20%.
And I always offer the plants a gift in return. I usually water them well and fertilize them with a natural fertilizer, but the gift can be as simple as a solar cross or a pentagram or some other sigil of power drawn in the dirt, or in the air about the plant.

Harvested Herbs. I pick my herbs by hand, but I plan on getting a Boline soon.
















Chopped Herbs.
You can either bruise your herbs or crush them with a mortar and pestle- or you can chop them as I do. I prefer to use an italian crescent cutting knife called a Mezzaluna.

I use Svedka Vodka. It would be better to use an organic vodka, but I am on a students budget and cannot afford it.
You can sterilize the jars that you are going to use by boiling them in hot water. This should ensure that there is no chance that mold or fungus could take hold in the jar. If, for some reason, it does then you need to get rid of the entire batch.
I use old jelly jars.
Fill the jars up with the chopped herbs. As full as you can get them. Pour the vodka (or brandy!) over them. Fill the jar up to about two thirds of the way full. Top the jar off with purified water and set into a dark space out of direct
sunlight.

Shake the jar everyday to mix up the herbs and alcohol. Do this for two weeks and then strain the liquid through some muslin material into a teabag or a coffee filter to remove any sediment.
Place the remaining liquid into a dark glass jar and keep it out of sunlight.

Tinctures keep indefinitely and hold the essence of the herb.
Blessed be.