I made fresh dandelion leaf tea. I am dehydrating the remaining harvest to test how dried dandelion leaf tea tastes compared to fresh leaf. It doesn't look like there is a BB for dehydrating dandelion leaf, only root. Please correct me if I am overlooking it!
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Plants in the wild.
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Harvest with plants in the background.
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Add to boiling water, turn off heat, cover, steep 5 minutes.
I collected fireweed leaves from both green plants and those turning red. Dehydrated all of it, the green leaves filled a packed half gallon jar. The red ones filled a half pint jar. I am enjoying the tea from both.
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Fireweed in the wild.
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Harvest with remaining plant in the background.
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Into the dehydrator.
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Out of dehydrator.
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Add to boiling water, turn off heat, cover, steep 5 minutes.
I made birch bark tea. It turned out to have a little bitterness to it, possibly from the outer bark that I left on. Next time I would definitely scrape off the outer layer of bark and only use the gummier inner layer of the bark.
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Birch tree in the wild.
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Harvested bark with tree in the background.
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Close up picture of bark before cutting into strips.
Felt so present, felt so connected to the Earth - just in a state of searching / hunting — listening, watching, and then in a state of extreme reverence as I harvested - taking care to leave more behind than I took.
Coming back home, brewing tea - added a dollop of honey and a squirt of lemon.
The tea was delicate, soothing, and warmed my spirit.
Last year, when I discovered that we have these rose bushes, I looked up what to do with rose hips and then promptly lost track of the project. I think I was favoring a jam but I'd have to do the research over to know for sure. But when I saw rose hips on the list for this cup of tea, it seemed perfect. I didn't want to go through the process of drying them, which seems to be most common, so I googled around until I found instructions for making tea from fresh hips. Basically, I just crushed them lightly with a wooden spoon and then plonked them into just-boiled water. The taste is very mild but the odor from the tea is quite nice -- floral and fruity without being overwhelming.
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Multiflora rose where it's growing around the edge of the woods by our street
I made a raspberry leaf tea. Much of the information concerning this herb surrounds its uterine benefits, which aren't much good to me, but I feel the micronutrients available from leaves are always worth consuming.
I picked the leaves from the undergrowth at the edge of some parkland near my home. The bush had been exposed by some mowing. It makes a nice change from the blackberries that are usually dominant.
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Harvested leaves, with plant in background
Small-holding, coppice and grassland management on a 16-acre site.
Staff note
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I removed the BB status on this until you add the missing pic.
I’m really enjoying my daily infusions which started with the natural medicine BB’s.
Today I was out foraging, looking for apples and came across a small stand of pine trees. I’d read about making tea from pine needles, so thought I’d give it a try. Sure tastes better that NJ water straight out the tap.