Suspended Cold Infusion

(Dried Mallow Root)

This weekend at the herbalism class I am taking on Saltspring Island I learned the importance of suspended cold infusions.

When making a cup of tea by pouring hot water over a dried herb (using a teabag is an example) and letting it steep for 10 minutes I am making a hot infusion. I am infusing a dried herb into hot water. This method works to extract many different medicinal compounds, but does not extract mucilaginous plants very well.

Mallow and Comfrey are both examples of plants that contain mucilage and grow within our bioregion. The mucilage that is released soothes a soar throat and a digestive tract at a time of painful inflammation.

A suspended cold infusion is made by soaking a dried herb in room temperature water overnight, in a small cotton poach. In the morning the mucilage is squeezed out and drunk, as is.
The ratio of herb to water is 1:20, for example 50 grams of coarsly ground herb to 500ml of water. This infusion will last about 1 day in refrigeration.

Owl Time

Here's an image which I created this year which symbolizes the end of a cycle. The winter, moon time. When space is made for introspection, darkness, reflection, quietness and self truth.
(Yes I know, this owl is not a plant, continue reading...)

In the winter there are many food and medicine plants in the wild and gardens. This late fall/early winter i have harvested licorice root, dandelion root and leaves, usnea, oregon grape root, a few cotton wood buds (i have always found more in february), and cattail roots.

From our garden we are still harvesting kale, mustard (in the greenhouse), bit of chard, carrots, beets after the heavy snow.

Fall Dandelion Root Tincture

Before the snow came i went on a dandelion hunt. Fall is the time to harvest roots for medicine, so i decided it was time to make a Taraxacum Offinalis (dandelion) tincture for the year. In this season the energy and sugars of the plant are returned to roots to store until spring. Therefor the roots are potent.

With a bucket and a gardener's fork I walked around the garden in the backyard. First I noticed that many Taraxacums were growing in the pathways of the garden, and knew that the owners of the property would weed them in the spring. Therefor I harvested them. Then I walked around the garden loosing the earth with my fork and collected about 10 percent of the dandelions I could find. Leaving the rest to propagate, fix nutrients into the soil and for animals to eat.

As i harvested the roots I only took what I was prepared to process into a tincture. I sang a gratitude song throughout the harvest. That is my way to show appreciation and give back to the plant spirits. Harvesting to me is a meditation. A time to breath deeply, connect with the season and feel in balanced with my place in the cycle of existence.

Once I had harvested a small bucket of roots I went back into my cozy little trailer and cut them up an finely as i could with an average knife and cutting board. The outside of plant's roots are resistant to breaking down in liquid, unlike the inner parts of the root. Therefor the finer the roots is chopped, the easier the medicine of the dandelion will break down in alcohol.

I used the simplest method of tincture making I know that day. I placed the cut up taraxacum root in a mason jar and covered it with 40 percent vodka. Now it lives on my alter. I shake it and other tinctures whenever they cross my mind. Ideally twice a day.

Soon I will strain the tincture through a strainer or cheesecloth and the tincture will last at least two years without refrigeration. Why did i make a dandelion tincture? First it allowed me to breath the crisp air of fall and give me a sense of wholeness within my connection with the larger world.

Also, i consider dandelion to be a medicinal allie. The roots are bitter and are therefor used to cleanse the blood and liver as well as aid with the secretion of bile for digestion. The roots act as a laxative to help constipation. A small bite of a fresh dandelion root will help someone who is having a serious allergic reaction until medical help/an epipen is available. The fresh spring leaves are used to cleanse the urinary system and fill the body with fresh nutrients.

By making a tincture the medicine is available in a convenient form. Easy to take for a busy person. I'm looking forward to the day when I'll have Taraxacum officinalis in my apothecary, waiting to help myself or a member in my community.

Spring Nettles!

Nettles symbolise spring. They are one of the first wild winter dormant plants to pop up at the beginning of the year. I harvested nettles for first time this year today. It is incredible to see the difference in our bioregion, compared to Victoria's. Nettles were large enough to harvest at least a week ago in Victoria. At OUR Ecovillage we are farther north as well as living on Baldy Mountain.

My Neighbours have a beautiful property, part forest part field. They were giving me a tour of their land and commented on the nettles taking over their grassy areas. It is difficult for them because the nettles kept on coming back and their sheep will not eat them.
I passed onto them that goats love to eat nettles if they are chopped down in the summer and sit in the sun in a few days. Once the sting disappears the goats go wild for the fresh, tasty, nutritious nettles! I suggested they try the same with the sheep, once the nettles grow tall and before they go to seed.

We got into a fantastic conversation about eating nettles. How they are like mother's milk, because they provide so many of the nutrients that our bodies need. With bags in our hands we walked around the property and harvested. If you are respectful of the nettles (Urtica Dioca) you can harvest with bare hands. And they do not sting. It is an amazing process to harvest them simply with scissors. You can always use gloves, if you want.

They are a plant of abundance. When you harvest the top third leaves and stalk of a nettle plant, it grows back two heads instead of one. There for you can harvest from every plant you see (As long as it is at last 3 inches tall). By harvesting responsibly and giving time for the plant to grow before reharvesting you are increasing the amount of nettles available for other people and animals to eat.

We brought the nettles to the kitchen and rinsed them in a bowl. I am careful not to touch them as i tossed them around under the tap. Then i placed the young nettles in a pot with a small amount of water and steamed them for about eight minutes, until they looked like steamed spinach. We put butter on them today, but they taste best on their own.

Mmmmm! I would rather eat nettles than anything else in the world!
Thankyou nettles for your abundance and your wild connection to the new growth of spring....

Seeds

The days are getting lighter. Spring is slowly coming. I call this moon the seed moon, because it's time to think about what to grow this year.
I look through the seeds from last year. Some were saved from the garden. Others bought from a local farmer. I dump them all out on the floor and sort them into their plant families. Latin Family names are important to know for sorting seeds, and especially to practice crop rotation. I label each Family clearly on a peice of cardboard and place the seed packages back into the box.

Once the seeds are in order it is easy to see what I have. I start a seed inventory, mark the name of each vegetable, as well as the variety, seed company and year the seed was harvested.
This list is very useful. At a glance I know what seeds I already have, and what I want to source (whether through a friend or from a farmer) before the growing year starts. The name of the seed company informs me where the seed came from.

The longer a seed grows in a certain location, the more adapted it becomes to the soil, wind, rain, etc... therefor the better it grows. I would always prefer to grow a seed that came from my backyard, than one from a seed company. Even if the seed company was from somewhere in my province.

It's also important to know where a seed came from because of cross pollination. Some seeds (such as beans, peas, lettuce, tomatoes, red peppers, etc..) are self pollinators. There for the seed always comes true to it's mother. All the other seeds are cross-pollinators. There for they need to be saved using careful methods to create a seed that comes true. If you get a seed from a friend that was cross pollinated, make sure to ask how they saved the seed.

When starting a vegetable garden, it is important to know how old the seed is. Some seeds will germinate for 5 years (such as Broccoli), but others only last 1 season (such as parsnips) before their life force is gone. All the information is available on a seed germination list.
If a seed packet is getting old, it is worth doing a seed germination test to see what percentage of the seeds you plant will grow.
The Seed Germination Test instructions are on the website below:

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/grow/seed_test.php

Now that my seeds are in order, I've created a seed inventory and have tested the older seeds to see how well they will germinate, I know what seeds I have available to grow this year. It's time for me to make a list of what seeds I want to grow which I do not have and figure out where I can source them, and hopefully trade for them, locally.

Happy Seed Moon......

Willow tea for a headache

I feel blessed to have knowledge of the medicinal plants from the southern vancouver island bioregion.
Earlier this week my dear friend approached me with a pounding headache, asking for a tea to ease the pain. I remembered a willow tree i hadn't visited in a while and told her to come find me soon.
Long before the days of aspirin people would chew on the bark of willow branches to ease the pain of a headache. The pain releaving compound salicylic acid in aspirin originated from willow bark.

I have been taught to look for fallen willow branches on the ground after a wind storm. If no fallen branches are available, I harvest branches carefully with gratitude. I take a small amount from a large area, acknowledgement the growth of the plant as being more important that my own needs. The healthier the ecosystem stays from which I harvest, the longer it can provide medicines to my children's children.

In spring or in the fall when there are heavy rains, the medicinal willow bark pulls easily off of the branch. In the heat of summer I use a knife to strip it off.
Recently I have been harvesting from a young tree close on the land. I choose not to harvest large branches because it is still developing. Therefor I have been harvesting small shoots which are growing off of the main branches. I thin out the most crowded ones.

After thanking the tree I harvested a handful of tiny branches inside for my friend with a headache. Then I pounded them with a mortar and pestle (in the warm months I pound them between two stones). I Put the pounded willow in a pot (about a tablespoon to a cup of water) and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Barks are tougher than leaves and flower petals. Therefor the willow needs to be simmered- decocted, instead of infused (steeped in a cup of water).

My friend was feeling better after her first cup and felt re-leaved after her second. I am very thankful for this small willow tree that grows on our property, for the same tree has helped me heal other's headaches.