Well, here we are with Mr. and Mrs. Bufo enjoying the refreshing Spring weather. Time to clean out the kidneys and tune up the liver with a special "tonic". Now this mix is sort of propietory in that I never make it the same way twice. I think that giving you the basic recipe and letting you find your favorite tweaks is the way to go.
For a good body and system rejuvenator (general) I usually use fresh alfalfa and green oat straw with the heads just starting to form.
Next, for nourishing the nervous system I use St. John'sWort and Maca Root, the former because of it's anti-depression qualities and to give your body a special anti-viral boost. Maca is an adaptogen that is good for relieving stress, providing endurance and it makes you horny as a side effect. I always use Borage, just the flower tops and seed pods, a superb gland balancer(adrenal) and a good source of beta-carotene and Vitamin C. Always use some fresh Red Clover flowers to rebuild strength after prolonged illness or chemotherapy or just because they taste really good in the mix, slightly sweet and cooling. This is about as far as the basics go, if you want to uplift your spirits a little more, Lemon Balm is dandy, so are fresh Rose Petals. I usually add a little Yopo to get a little closer to Mother Earth and a little Blue Lotus to take the edge off of the Yopo. Wild Dagga also works well in combination with the others. Now mind you, I'm not suggesting you put these herbs in the mix, just letting you know what has worked well for other people in the past. Once you have everything together, you want to use one part of each (one ounce, one pound, one gram, whatever, just equal measures) except for the special additives at the end. Get this together and chop it up, macerate it, mix it up really well and dump the resulting conglomeration into a crock (ceramic) or a big jug or something that that you can cover and won'tbe soluble by alcohol. The reason for this is that you must put 4 parts of your favorite wine in the jug also. The wine can be red or white, I personally like a red table wine, Mad Dog 20/20 is just about perfect. This should be covered, corked or capped loosely and let sit for about 2 weeks for the wine to aquire all the benefits from the herbs. The longer you let it sit the more potent medicinally it becomes. When you really can't stand it any longer, pour the tonic through a filter (cheesecloth) into smaller containers. Make sure to mark the date and ingredients on it somewhere to avoid confusion down the road. There you go, Spring "Tonic" that is good for your body as well as your soul. Enjoy! Happy Trails 'till we meet again,,,,,,,,,,,,,Woodco