I have a real love affair with basil. dare I say, favorite herb, by a mile.

Evan and I have quite a few tulsi (holy basil; Ocimum tenuiflorum) bushes on our land, and we use their beautiful purple leaves / flowers for a myriad of things — pestos, dressings, steams with veg, teas . . . the latest of which being a tincture. so I wanted to share.

I've tinctured the tulsi in apple cider vinegar, as I don't like to take alcohol tinctures too often. in tincturing your own medicine, you may use acv or veg glycerin in place of alcohol. though, the alc isn't that big of a deal. reality is, you're ingesting literally a drop of alcohol, rich with plant medicine. but, it's nice to mix it up during DIY.

to make the tincture, I gathered this 3/4 of this jar full of tulsi leaves / flowers, filled with acv, and I'm letting it sit out to "cook" for 3-4 weeks. after, I'll pour into amber dropper bottles. if you'd like a glass, let me know. there's plenty of tulsi to go around.

mother tulsi is a sacred wonder for anxiety, stress, adrenal fatigue, thyroid issues, imbalanced blood sugar, and bacterial infections (especially skin eruptions). in India, she's known as "Queen of the Herbs" / "The Incomparable One" / "Mother Medicine of Nature" / "The Elixir of Life". :-)

to benefit from the tincture, squirt a dropper full (or more) into a glass of water and imbibe. or, infuse dropper fulls in your homemade salad dressings or smoothies. or, just straight under the tongue. it's delish.