1. Take as much plant matter as one pleases (In these images I used 34 grams of spent skullcap leaf from which a tincture of extracted), and char it with fire until the matter resembles black charcoal.

2. Take this, and char more until a dark gray color is achieved. The ash should weigh roughly 15-20% of the original weight. One can char the matter to whiteness, but this is not necessary as the salts will extract fine at this stage (please note: if one does take this to the white stage that some amount of salt will be volatilized, i.e. product will be lost).

3. Weigh this dark gray ash. It should weigh roughly 15-20% of the original amount. I was left with roughly 4-5 grams. This step is optional, but it's good for data collection & analysis purposes.

4. Add acetic acid, and watch as an effervescence occurs. Carbon dioxide is being released. Most salts in the ash are in their carbonate forms. Stir well, and continue adding until no more effervescence occurs. Add about 10-20% more by volume acetic acid for good measure. The salts have been converted to their acetate forms.

5. Bring to a boil, and let it heat for a while. Filter through a good filter, and repeat the extraction process two more times (add more acetic acid, heat, filter, etc). Pool all the filtrates together. Multiple filtration's might be needed if one uses a low quality, or a porous filter (i.e. coffee filters).

6. Next is the precipitation phase. This involves simply basifying with an alkali to the appropriate pH. A dilute solution of sodium hydroxide is most often used, or alternatively potassium hydroxide may also be used.

7. Let settle, decant, and wash two times with a brine solution. The precipitate is the white heart of the ash.