Ground Ivy Elixir (Excerpt from Wild Medicine Spring)

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Here’s another free excerpt from Wild Medicine Spring, published by Aeon Books.

Ground Ivy Elixir

Ingredients:

One pint of loosely packed Ground Ivy tops

Brandy

Honey

Instructions:

Chop the clean herbs up into small pieces – again, remember that the larger the surface area, the more of the herb will extract into the brandy. Pack the herbs into a kilner jar and add at least one large tablespoon (15g) of local honey, then pour over the brandy until it covers the herbs and allows one extra inch of alcohol on top of the plant matter. Shake it up thoroughly, pack the herbs back down again and leave the whole lot to steep for a fortnight before straining off.

This elixir can be taken twice a day during hayfever season, and to really amplify the effects, why not do half and half Ground Ivy and Plantain? Use it on its own as a super digestive and lung tonic, to strengthen the body after illness.