Planting, picking & processing

I am getting into the rhythm of the herbwife role through growing, harvesting and making things from herbs to store and use for common health conditions for myself, family and friends.

A couple of weeks ago I made a trip to the National Herb Centre near Banbury http://www.herbcentre.co.uk/ to buy herb plants to add to the herbs already growing in pots in the patio outside my house and in our allotment.  This is a wonderful specialist garden centre for all kinds of herbs, far more varieties than normal garden centres.  The weekend after they were all planted out in the allotment, I filled up the existing herb bed and started a new herb bed in a previously unused patch of soil as well as putting some of the new plants in odd corners where there was a bit of space.  I look forward to seeing them grow as the year progresses.   The plants that are already there are going strong, many are coming into flower as the spring reaches its peak.  

Allotment table covered in plants to find room for

 New herb bed

 Raspberry plants setting fruit

 Valerian

 Mullein

 Thyme

I picked some Greater Plantain leaves to go with some Ribwort Plantain I had picked previously.  The leaves and flower heads were blended with a hand blender and some vodka to make a tincture, to use for coughs, bronchitis, earache, tinnitus, sinusitis, toothache, irritable bowel & haemorrhoids in doses of half to one teaspoon three times a day.  I used the Plantain double-infused oil made at last month's Springfield Herb Sanctuary workshop to make a salve with beeswax, the oil was measured in millilitres, then the beeswax was weighed out in grams to 1/8 of the amount in millilitres.  The oil & wax was heated in a small pan in a larger pan of gently simmering water then poured into jars and left to set.  The salve can be used for cuts, scrapes, bruises & insect bites. 

Ribwort Plantain & Greater Plantain

Measuring oil & beeswax for making a salve

 Plantain salve

I also made Hawthorn leaf double-infused oil and then made up a salve of Lesser Celandine double-infused oil with a little Hawthorn leaf oil, to use for haemorrhoids.  I used soya wax to make up the salve as I had run out of beeswax, I had to add more soya wax to a total of 1/4 proportion of grams to millilitres of oil as the salve did not set at 1/8 proportion.  Lesser Celandine, also known as Pilewort, is traditionally used for haemorrhoids.  I added some Hawthorn leaf oil for its astringency which should help stop bleeding from haemorrhoids, this is an experimental use based on the properties of the plant, it is not a traditional use. 

 Lesser Celandine oil & salve

I also strained and bottled lots of tinctures & vinegars that had been macerating for a few weeks in a dark cupboard, using a sieve, a jelly bag, a large measuring jug, a funnel and some clean bottles.  I poured the fluid out and squeezed out as much as I could from the left over plant material through the jelly bag.  I picked bottles to decant the strained tinctures & vinegars into depending on the volume produced after straining.   The tinctures & vinegars I decanted were: 

- Immune-boosting vinegar containing chopped fresh Turmeric root, chopped Garlic cloves, chopped root Ginger, chopped Chilli peppers & some Rosehips, 1 teaspoon to be taken in hot water whenever feeling that an infection is starting.

- Dock root tincture for sluggish bowels, constipation, anaemia & poor absorption of nutrients, skin problems, liver congestion & general tiredness to use in doses of half a teaspoon once or twice daily.

- Dandelion root & leaf tincture to be taken as half a teaspoon twice daily for general health maintenance, half to one teaspoon in water three times daily for digestive problems, recuperation from illness, sluggish liver, arthritis, gout, eczema & psoriasis, 10 drops in water frequently for acute skin conditions, 10 drops in water every hour until feeling better from overindulgence in food or drink.

- Ground Ivy tincture 1-15 drops to be taken 1-3 times a day for sore throats, earache, ear congestion, tinnitus, sinusitis, diarrhoea, kidney problems, urinary tract infections & heavy metal poisoning.

- Cleavers tincture for lymph congestion or swelling such as tonsillitis or glandular fever.

- Hawthorn leaf tincture (see last week's post).

Straining & bottling Immune-boosting Vinegar

 Bottled tinctures & vinegars

I also picked some Horsetail tips and have been using these in infusions with hot water with some dried Couch Grass roots for a urine infection, which both these plants are traditionally helpful for.  There are various plants that can be used for these but these were the ones I had on hand fresh or dried.  This is as it would have been for the herbwives of the past who used what they had growing and what they had preserved from the plants in their gardens and foraged from the wild. 

  

References:

'Hedgerow Medicine' Julie Bruton-Seal & Matthew Seal.

'Practical Herbs 2' Henriette Kress.

'Wild Drugs' Zoe Hawes.

A magical Spring Equinox and recipes using spring plants

Last weekend I attended the first workshop of the year at Springfield Herb Sanctuary, which focused on identifying plants as they are beginning to grow.  We tried Nettle tea and Couch Grass root tea, both of which are good for the urinary system amongst many other benefits.  I picked some Chickweed, Dandelion tops & roots from weeding, Burdock burs to plant and some violets to take home with me.  The workshops at the Sanctuary are open to anyone interested, you don't have to be an apprentice to attend, information on the workshops for the year including the weekend Herb Festival in September can be found here http://kitchenherbwife.blogspot.co.uk/p/springfield-sanctuary-workshop-dates.html

 

Daffodils and one of the springs which gives the Sanctuary its name

 

Twisted Hazel at Springfield Sanctuary

 

Chickweed

 

Violets

Last Sunday I washed & chopped the Dandelion roots & leaves I had gathered when weeding at the Sanctuary and put them into a jar with vodka to make a tincture for general health maintenance, acute skin eruptions, digestive problems, recuperation from chronic illness, sluggish liver, gout, eczema & psoriasis and for overindulgence in food & drink (uses from 'Hedgerow Medicine' by Julie Bruton-Seal & Matthew Seal). I also made Violet syrup, which is useful for constipation & coughs, particularly for children.  The infusion was a bright green colour but magically turned pink when heated with sugar and lemon juice.  I made infused oil with some of the Chickweed from the sanctuary, which should be useful for skin problems particularly eczema. I also decanted the Cramp Bark tincture & Hawthorn Bark tincture started previously.   I picked more Nettles in the woods to make a second batch of Nettle tonic (recipe on previous post) and decanted the first batch, it was hard messy work wringing out the fluid from the jelly bag, but I tried to get every drop I could as it is full of herbal goodness.

 Dandelion tincture

Recipe for Violet Syrup 

- Fill a clean jar with violet flowers & leaves, cover with boiling water.

- Leave to steep overnight with lid on.

- Strain out the leaves & flowers.

- Measure the amount of water left.

- Put the water in a pan and add 150g of sugar for every 200ml of liquid

- Add juice from half a lemon.

- Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.

- Pour into sterilised bottles.

- Keep in the fridge.

- 1-2 teaspoons at night for constipation or coughs, particularly for children.

Based on recipe in 'Wild Drugs' by Zoe Hawes.

 

Violet Syrup

Recipe for Chickweed Oil

- Gather chickweed and leave to wilt overnight to reduce moisture content.

- Put half the amount of chickweed you have in a bowl or pan inside a larger pan, cover with sunflower oil.

- Heat the oil with gently simmering water in the larger pan underneath the small pan for 2 hours.

- Strain the oil and return to the pan with the second batch of chickweed, heat for 2 hours.

- Strain the oil through muslin into sterilised jars.

 

Chickweed Oil
 

This weekend started with the magical occurence of a solar eclipse on the Spring Equinox.  We watched it at our allotment.  There was an eerie dimming of the light as the moon gradually moved over the face of the sun and the temperature dropped several degrees during the eclipse, at maximum eclipse our breath was steaming in the cooler air.  As the moon moved on the light brightened and it became a glorious warm spring day, it truly felt that spring had arrived.  I picked nettles and other greens in between keeping an eye on the sky.  Later in the day I went back to plant rose bushes, an Apothecary's Rose and a William Shakespeare Rose, which are both highly regarded for medicinal purposes.  I transplanted Lungwort which I found under brambles in a vacant allotment and scattered some Burdock seeds up towards the wild end of the allotment in the hope that they will come up so I have Burdock to harvest in the future.

Smile in the sky as the moon partially covered the sun

Lungwort

 newly planted Rose bush and Lungwort

Back home over the weekend we had friends staying so I tried out my Nettle Soup on them, which was well received.  I also tried putting Nettles in with scrambled eggs and made Nettle Aloo using Nettles rather than spinach which were both very tasty.  My husband made a Sourdough loaf and mixed some Nettles in with the dough which came out well.  As the Spring is well and truly upon us it was high time to start planting some seeds.  We went to visit Smiths Nurseries on the outskirts of Coventry http://www.smithsnurseries.co.uk/ which has an excellent selection of herb and wildflower seeds.  I started off some herb seeds in a seed tray and a few in pots for the kitchen window sill, in a nice little container I was given as a present which includes a useful box just the right size for keeping packets of seeds in.  

Herb pots for the kitchen windowsill

Recipe for Nettle Aloo -  side dish for 4

500g potatoes - chopped into medium size chunks

A large onion - finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 large cloves garlic - very finely chopped

1/2 a red or green chilli - very finely chopped

2cm lump of root ginger - very finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon of black mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

Colander of washed Nettles with stalks removed

Juice of half a lemon

Salt & black pepper to taste

- Boil potato chunks in salted water until tender.  Drain & set aside.

- Heat the vegetable oil in a pan.  Add the onion & cook until soft & just starting to brown.

- Add the garlic, chilli, ginger, mustard seeds & turmeric, cook briefly stirring so the onion & spices don't burn.

- Add the cooked potatoes and a medium wineglass of water.  Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.

- Turn up the heat and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and the potatoes have absorbed the spices.

- Add the Nettles & season with salt & black pepper to taste.

- Cook for a couple of minutes till the Nettles have wilted and are bright green.  Check the seasoning and add the lemon juice.

- Serve as a side dish with curry, rice, yoghurt & chutney.

Adapted from a recipe for spicy spinach & potatoes in 'Tender volume 1' by Nigel Slater 

Nettle Aloo