Plantain tincture is very useful and simple to make. Plantain grows wild and plentiful in many areas. I wrote about plantain previously and its many uses in a post here at My Useful Ideas.
Plantain tincture is very easy to make. First pick the leaves of plantain as shown in this picture. Just look around your driveway or lawn and you will probably spot some. I picked some green, healthy leaves to make a small batch of plantain tincture as shown in the photo below.
I gently rinsed off the plantain leaves and ripped them up to fill this small glass jar.
Next fill the jar to the top with some grain alcohol such as Vodka. This is some cheap 80 proof Vodka that I purchased and have on hand for such projects. Cover tight with a lid and put it in a dark closet or basement. You can wrap a newspaper or paper towel around it to help keep the light out. You want to leave it in a dark place for about 5-6 weeks. I did gently shake the jar a few times during the soaking period.
Here is a photo of the plantain after the soaking period and before I stained out the leaves.
After the soaking period is over, stain out the leaves and gently squeeze out any leftover liquid from the leaves so you get all that good plantain tincture.
Lastly, pour into dark glass dropper bottles as shown here.
Plantain tincture is a wonderful herbal treatment and works great on bug bites and other skin irritations. As a disclaimer, I am not a doctor and you should consult a medical professional before using wild herbal products.
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