The cottonwood salve, the oil tincture portion of the show!

This is a pint of cottonwood leaf buds, gathered in January and February, 17 oz (500 ml) extra virgin olive oil, and a 2-quart (small) crock pot.

This is the cottonwood leaf buds in the crockpot. There's not a lot of material.

This is after I poured what I thought was "enough" olive oil in. Enough to cover and allow the buds to move around in there. A little over half, so 300 ml??

 I know this crockpot will heat water to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and I don't want that, so I put a timer on for 20 minutes.

And when I turned it off, I checked the temperature, and it was just below 100 degrees already. Now I'll let it sit a day, then turn the heat on again. Maybe for 10 minutes tomorrow.

I am trying to approximate using the sunshine oil tincture method, where you put the buds in the oil in the sun and let it work for up to six months. I'm feeling the need for the medicine, so I'm kicking it up a bit.

We'll see what happens!