Crops & Breeds

🌿 Tinctures

3 goods · what's in each, ready windows and shelf life, from the app's own pantry clock

Goods

• Glycerite · ready to strain in 42–56 days · keeps ~2 years — Glycerine is the gentle, sweet option for children and anyone off alcohol — and it does NOT preserve like alcohol. Six to eight weeks to draw, two years on the shelf, and the fridge once opened.
  What's in it: Chopped fresh herb covered with vegetable glycerine cut 3:1 with water (dried herb 1:5 by weight). 6–8 weeks in the dark, shaken often, strained, and refrigerated once opened.
• Fire cider · ready to strain in 28–42 days · keeps ~1 year — Vinegar, not alcohol — so a year rather than five. Strain first and stir the honey in after; heat and honey don't help each other.
  What's in it: Horseradish, garlic, onion, ginger and hot peppers (a lemon and some turmeric if you like), covered in raw apple cider vinegar. 4–6 weeks in the dark, strained, honey stirred in to taste.
• Elderberry syrup · keeps ~3 months — Not a tincture at all: a decoction with honey stirred in off the heat, and it lives in the fridge for a few months. Never use the raw berries, leaves or stems.
  What's in it: 1 cup dried elderberries simmered in 4 cups water with ginger and cinnamon until halved, strained, and a cup of honey stirred in once cool. Fridge, 2–3 months. Cooked berries only.

Shelf life runs from the READY date, not the day it was made — a kraut started in August and ready in September keeps its months from September.