Processing teas and wild greens

It has been a busy few weeks.
I am still redecorating the dining area and kitchen as well as keeping up with the daily stuff.

I have harvested some dandelions and blackberry leafs to make tea with.  I harvested other wild herbs but mainly concentrate with those two.   Once they go to seed (dandelion)and bloom out  (blackberry) I don't want to use them.

Blackberry leaves after fermentation step

The dandelion was dug up so I could use the whole plant.  The Blackberry has to dry then be fermented for a couple of days before it is ready to process into a tea.


It has been wet and a brief chill front has moved in.  I have started seeds and planned on raised beds for the garden.
Our frost date is still a week away then gardening in earnest will be started.   For now I am foraging the yard and woods for the wild herbs (weeds to some.)

wild strawberry leaves for tea

various wild greens

Dandelion

Late April

It seems like forever but I am back.
The dining area is painted and in a couple of weeks new flooring will be installed.
Meanwhile I went outside.  It is a gorgeous Spring day here. Though the ground is still soggy from all the rains.  I forage wild herbs and berry leaves to dry.  The berry leaves are Wild Strawberry and young Blackberry.  The wild herbs include Dock, Plantain,Wild Violet and Cinquefoil.  I did pick more Dandelion leaf for greens and to go with the root I have drying.  Some will go for tea and some for tincture and salves.

As each is processed I will include some recipes for them.  So don't forget to go to the Recipe page for those.

I need to take pictures of the dining area, but I want to wait until it is completely done.  So I will share my forage pictures with you.

Flat basket contain the Wild Strawberry and young Blackberry leaves for teas

Wire basket contains a mixture of green wild herbs includes Dock,plantain,dandelion,Wild Violet and Cinquefoil

MIA this week

Painting rooms and stuff this week.   I will be back soon with lots of pictures and a new project.  Have an Happy while I am gone.  Hugs and love Ya'll

Lil' Drops of Sunshine

Today I will be processing some Dandelion.

An infusion of the flowers and a tincture of the whole plant.

The infusion is simple enough : For an infusion you boil the water, then add the herbs or flowers, turn the stove off, cover and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.


The tincture is more time consuming. Just a bit.

Recipe time: Dandelion tincture:

Gather healthy looking dandelions, in full bloom.
Wash, then chop into ½- to 1-inch pieces, and pack tightly into jars.
When the jar is full, pour in alcohol. I used vodka, you can use something like Everclear,(Grain alcohol) and dilute it with water. Look for alcohol content of at least 75%.
Twist on a lid on, and my part of making the dandelion tincture is though. Place in a shady area.
Everyday, take a minute to push the dandelion pieces back under the alcohol. Shake gently. In six to twelve weeks, strain out the dandelion pieces and decant the finished tincture into bottles. I like the opaque brown bottle with a dropper.

According to a USDA health bulletin: “dandelions are nature’s richest green vegetable source of beta-carotene, from which Vitamin A is created, and the third richest source of Vitamin A of all foods, after cod-liver oil and beef liver. " Dandelions are particularly rich in fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and the B vitamins, thiamine and riboflavin, and are a good source of protein.” Grown in enriched soils, dandelions may also be rich in micronutrients “such as copper, cobalt, zinc, boron, and molybdenum, as well as Vitamin D.” Dandelions are also contain a lot of calcium, protein Vitamin C, and fiber like all leafy greens. Dandelions get bitter with age, (don't we all,) =) So harvest in early spring the flowers and leafs. The root is best then also but may be harvested until Fall. So loads of health benefits from this humble plant.

Spring is here! Weeds! No, free foods and more.

Spring is showing strong this week.
The dandelions are peeking out, as my daffodils are blooming.
I always corrected people when they fussed about the dandelions ruining their lawns.  Weeds!, they would exclaim.   No, food and medicine I would say.   Needless to say, I got a few strange looks as I tried to explain the virtues of the so call weeds in the average lawn.

When I see the dandelion bright sunny head in my yard, my finger start itching to pick them.  Not to kill them but to use them in salads and tea.  I make a dandelion tincture to use as a mild diuretic.

So if you have questions about what else is in your yard that is edible, medicinal or can be use to steep tea?   This post will guide you to a few that are common to most areas.  Recipes for the uses of each will be in the recipe section of this blog.

Warning!


Weed Harvesting Guidelines
1. Only harvest weeds that you can positively identify and know to be edible. The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, by the Department of the Army is a good reference, if you aren't sure.
2. Avoid picking weeds close to roadways. They'll have absorbed exhaust fumes and road run off.
3. Avoid harvesting weeds in areas that may have been contaminated by animal feces.
4. Do not pick weeds from yards that have been treated with pesticides or herbicides.
5. Only eat the parts of plants that you know to be edible. Many edible plants have non-edible – and sometimes poisonous – parts.

Why harvest from your yard?   Free food, most wild herb contain anti-oxidants, vitamin C and D Omega 3 fatty acids,calcium, B vitamins and iron.

Starting with the most hated and misunderstood. At least in my opinion.  

Dandelion

All parts of the plant can be used.
Gathered in the spring the tender leaves can be used in salads or sauteed and seasoned like all greens.
The blossoms can be used in tea and salads as well.  Battered and fried they are the rival of any green tomato or squash.
The blossom can be Incorporated in jelly making.  Kick off your jelly making early.
Infused in olive oil or make some dandelion wine.

Burdock

Burdock can be gathered all year.
In the Spring the tender young stalks are cooked like you would artichoke hearts.
The seeds and roots have medicinal properties.

Cattails

Pretty much the whole plant is edible.  In late spring you can gather the heads and the tender first shoots.  Boil the head and eat it like corn.  Sauteed the shoots like you would the dandelion leaves.

Chicory flowers
I grew up with these beautiful blue flowers.  
In fact my hometown was named for them.
The story goes that the first settlers to Bluefield,stood on the mountain and looked over the fields of the valley below.  It was fields of Chicory stretching for miles.   The blue fields of the flowers inspired them to call the settlement Bluefield.  Our city signs bear their image as folks are welcomed to Bluefield.

The root can be dried to make a coffee substitute, The flowers can be added to salads.  The leaves can be used like the dandelions'.

Lambs Quarters

Gathered in mid-Spring
Use the stems and  leaves

Raw in salads, saute as a veg and used like spinach.  It is so good!

Plantain
Broad leaf and narrow leaf.

Parts used are the leafs and seeds

Gather at any time Spring through Fall

Use the young leaves in salads , the older sauteed and roast or eat the seeds raw.

Purslane

One of my favorites!  (Omega 3 fatty acids) 

Harvest in Summer.

Parts used are, leaves, stem, flowers and seeds

Raw in salads (yum) or tossed into soups.  Boiled or sauteed this plant is a feast.

Red Clover

Harvest in late Spring throughout the Summer

Uses include putting them raw in salads, steep for teas and added to soups

Stinging Nettles

\

Looks scary and un-appetizing?

Just boil the leaves to remove the hair.  Oh an wear gloves and long sleeves  to pick the plant. 

Use the young leaves and stems.

Sauteed and used in soups and pastas or dried the leaves to steep some tea.  

Wild Violet

Harvest in the Spring

Use leaves and flowers

Eat the leafs and flowers in salads and candied the flowers to use as decorating cakes and such.  

Flavored violet sugar is nice also.

I hope you look at these plants and others that grow wild in a different way.  I hope you try a few of them.   

So next time you hear someone complaining about all the weeds that they have to kill you can smile and say; their not weeds but free food.  LOL  

I hope to inspire you to go out in your yards or in the fields and forage for a Springtime meal that free to pick compliments of Mother Nature. 

Snow Trek

I am tired of the snow!!  I think I may me a little mad...Cabin Fever??

It is like: SnowDate, 3-26, Captain's log. Vast field of cold white, unknown depth. Days add into months. Crew is restless. Cases of snow blindness has resulted in some of them being unable to rise from their bunks. Rations are few, the decks pet cat has hid somewhere within the bowels of the ship. This was after overhearing the kitchen staff complaining that if this weather chaos did not let up it would be the only meat we would see. Send help for I fear for us.

Update on Snowdate 3-26. Paid $15 to a neighborhood teen. He shoveled the back deck,cleared the walk, and cleared out the drive behind the van. He then cleared the front walk and porch and put my garbage can by the curb for me. Best $15 spend EVAR!!!! Cat is now safe and napping on the back of his favorite chair.

Spring? Time to De-Clutter!

Yes, the Ground hog has foretold of its arrival.  The calender date has past for the change of seasons.  The weather has not gotten the memo.

This weekend into the first of the week my area is bracing for another snow storm.  As the meme's of the "Groundhog lied" are making the rounds on the interwebs, I long to clean, plant and be outside.

So I plan.   I have notebooks of things I want to plant, diagrams of garden plots and lists of room by room cleaning.

So while the snow is snowing, I will be here sharing my lists.  
I figure it will abate the desire to find a Groundhog to kill and cook up.   So first of all before any cleaning takes place is doing a purge.

Purge everything that has no purpose, is missing parts (never to be seen again), is to small,to big, to ugly to be looked at another moment or is threadbare from love.

So purge those drawers, closets, storage bins and cabinets.
 I use the pile method.
I make 5 piles:

Keep, Toss,Re-purpose,Replace and Donate. 

• Keep pile:  The item has to be used often, in good condition. 
• Toss pile:  The item is broken and the parts are missing, clutter and truly is just trash.
• Re-purpose pile:  The item can serve another purpose.  I use jars to store things in so I wash jars out and reuse them as an alternative to plastic ware. 
• Replace:  The item has parts missing that can be found,tightened,repaired or can be used to re-order another of its type. (Toss the item if you buy or replace it with a new or better style of it.) 
• Donate pile:  Items that are used gently and have no room in your life anymore but someone else can love.  

I could include another pile but I have no ambition to set out from dawn to dusk on my weekends while other people prowl through boxes and racks of my discarded items.   This is extra work of sorting, tagging stuff with prices, displaying and etc....   I have other things than are more enjoyable to do.

I do the pile lists for each room in my house.  I also to my outdoor buildings.   So while I do this the weather might get better.  I put the keep item back in there proper places.  I  bag up the toss pile items and have them ready for the trash pickup.  I re-purpose what I set aside and replace what I have to replace.  I set a day to make the trip to deliver the item I will donate.  Some agencies can be called and pickup will be arranged.  If large or costly items are being donated, keep a receipt so you can deduct them at tax season.

So I will be busy organizing and making piles.   Until I am done and then I will be ready to deep clean each room.  

That is my plan for starting Spring Cleaning.     Happy Saturday, Ya'll.