Hey there! Ha ha, yes, Caylie and I did our PDC together but I haven't seen her since. Hoping to go to Gabriola and drop her a line.
Self Heal is most commonly used topically or as a tea, and is best fresh but can be dried. I'm not sure about tincturing it, I think somewhere I read that it doesn't tincture well, but I'll have to look into that more.
I saw your post about finding the eco people on here and totally feel the same. I've only been on here a few days but am also trying to find "the others" and genuine, practical content. I think this platform has a lot of potential for that and permaculture/systems thinking stuff but it isn't quite realized yet. It'd be a lot easier if we could follow tags or groups... but it's all still in beta so I think that is to come!
Thanks again and I look forward to "stopping in for tea" with you some more!