My friend Tina has a REALLY great post about making your own elderberry tincture. If any of you have ripe elderberries, now is the time to make this wonderful and delicious herbal medicine. If it's not elderberry season where you live, I suggest reading this post anyway, because it is a really excellent tutoral for making your own herbal tintures. I know it seems like a very mystical thing, but making your own herbal medicines simply could NOT be easier. Truly, the ease and simplicity is one of my favorite parts of learning about herbal medicine. No special equpment is needed - it's very hands-on, forgiving, and down to earth.

For any of you interested in learning more about making your own herbal medicine, I highly recommend these books:

ANYTHING written by Rosemary Gladstar
Healing Wise by Susun Weed
The Herbal Medicine Maker's Handbook: A home manual, by James Green

This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the great books out there - these are simply some tried-and-true ones to get your started on your journey of making your own salves, tinctures, teas, decoctions, compresses and more.