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.

The gifts of Spring - beauty, food & medicine

I spent Saturday 11th April at Springfield Herb Sanctuary on a work day.  I helped dig over a bed which will be used for planting herb plants.  I kept the Dandelions and Docks I dug up to take home to turn into Dandelion tincture and Dock tincture.  I also had a walk round with Sarah, my herbwife mentor, seeing all the herbs that are coming up in her herb beds at the sanctuary.  This is really helpful for learning to identify plants at different stages of growth, which is one of the things I am learning as an apprentice herbwife.  Sarah very kindly let me dig up a young Tansy plant to take home to plant in my own herb bed for future use. For future events at the Sanctuary see http://kitchenherbwife.blogspot.co.uk/p/springfield-sanctuary-workshop-dates.html

At Springfield Herb Sanctuary

 View from the Sanctuary over the Cotswolds

The herb beds I helped to dig

 Elecampane coming up

 Lady's Mantle 

Solomon's Seal

For more photos see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153255717357938.1073741890.657002937&type=1&l=6c20633d26

Back home in the kitchen I put Dandelion roots & leaves into a jar and filled the jar with vodka to make a another batch of tincture.  I have been taking 2 half teaspoons a day since decanting the first batch, it definitely seems to be helping with my digestion.  I washed and chopped up the Dock roots into a separate jar to make tincture, which should be helpful for poor absorption, anaemia, skin problems, sluggish bowels, constipation & liver congestion.  Any dock with yellow roots can be used as this indicates the presence of the medicinal compounds.

Last weekend I harvested a big bag of Nettles and a bag full of Cleavers at the allotment, plus a few Wild Garlic leaves.  Some of the Nettles were used for Nettle Aloo (see recipe on previous post) as part of a dinner for friends, accompanied by raita made with natural yoghurt and finely chopped Wild Garlic leaves.  I also made Nettle Pasties (see recipe below) to take to the woods for a New Moon picnic.  My husband got in the act and made Nettle Soup with onion, potato, celery and nettles, with some Miso added at the end to make a nice rich dark nourishing broth.  The Cleavers were roughly chopped and put in a jar with vodka to make Cleavers tincture, which should be useful for lymph congestion or swollen glands such as Tonsilitis.

I also paid a visit to the woods and picked Hawthorn leaves to make a tincture with brandy, which can be combined with tinctures of the flowers and berries as they appear, to get the maximum benefit.  Hawthorn is renowned as a tonic for the heart and circulatory system.  My husband dug up a patch of Lesser Celandine, also known as Pilewort, after the nodules on the roots which look like haemorrhoids.  This is an example of a traditional plant signature in which physical features of plants were thought to indicate what sort of conditions the plant would be beneficial for.  And indeed Pilewort is a remedy for piles, both as dried herb used to make an infusion for internal use and to make an ointment from fresh herb by making a double-infused oil and adding beeswax, to use externally.

Recipe for Nettle Pasties - makes 2 large pasties or 4 small pasties

Pastry:

8oz plain flour

Pinch of salt

4oz butter

3-4 tablespoons of cold water

- Sift the flour & salt into a bowl, add the butter chopped into lumps and stir to coat the butter in flour.

- Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

- Sprinkle the water over the mix and stir with a round-bladed knife till the mixture sticks together in large lumps, if it is a bit dry add a bit more water.

- Collect the dough together into a ball.

- Knead it lightly on a lightly floured surface to make a smooth dough.

- Wrap the dough in cling-film and leave in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.

Filling:
Large colander of washed nettle tops with stalks removed
Medium onion finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves very finely chopped
1 medium mushroom finely chopped
Wedge of blue cheese crumbled
2 beaten eggs
Salt & pepper to taste
- Saute the onion to soften it, add the garlic & mushroom.
- Steam the nettle tops in a little water for a few minutes till well wilted.
- Squeeze out the liquid with a wooden spoon, drain the liquid into a jug to use in stock for soup.
- Mix the vegetables with the cheese & eggs, add seasoning.
- Roll out & cut the pastry to make rounds.
- Put filling in the middle of pastry rounds and top with another round, press the edges together all the way round to seal.
- Use any left over pastry to make pastry decorations, stick on with a little water.
- Bake in a medium oven for about 25 minutes.
- Eat hot or cold, they are perfect for taking out for a picnic.

Nettle Pastie

Dock roots being prepared for tincture

Dock Root Tincture

 Cleavers Tincture

Hawthorn Leaf Tincture

Lesser Celandine/Pilewort

Making Pilewort Double-infused Oil

References

'Hedgerow Medicine' Julie Bruton-Seal & Matthew Seal

'Letting in the Wild Edges' Glennie Kindred

'Wild Drugs' Zoe Hawes