On Fire Cider...

I was introduced to Fire Cider some 25 years ago in an apprenticeship with Rosemary Gladstar in Vermont.  The topic of the weekend was immunity and cold/flu medicine.  The wonderful and surprisingly common ingredients work with the body to increase our resistance to infection and to fight infection once exposed to illness and symptoms have appeared.  In my household, we keep it on hand to take when someone looks like they are coming down with something.  We all take it to both intervene and prevent catching whatever is coming our way.  Small doses throughout the day are all that is needed and this can be continued until all signs of the illness are gone.

Originally, this recipe may have been made in the summer and then buried in sand in a sunny location for four to six weeks.  Once unburied, it was strained and finished off by adding honey or other ingredients.  Below is the basic recipe, and then a slightly personalized version of my own.

Ingredients:

Approximately ½ cup peeled and shredded/diced organic ginger root

Approximately ½ cup peeled and shredded/diced horseradish root

Approximately ½ cup white onion, chopped or sliced

Approximately ¼ cup sliced or crushed garlic cloves

1-2 organic jalapeno peppers, chopped (2, if you like hot foods)

Raw apple cider vinegar (like Braggs)

Raw, organic honey to taste (put in after the ingredients above have soaked for 2-6 weeks and strained).

Optional Ingredients:

I like to add slices of oranges or lemons or both, sliced fresh turmeric, black peppercorns, sprigs of Rosemary, Sage and/or Thyme.  Other herbs can be added as desired.

All the ingredients are added to a quart canning jar and then covered with the Apple Cider Vinegar.  This is covered and placed in a cool, dark spot for 2-6 weeks.  Ideally it should be shaken daily.  If using a metal lid it should be lined with wax paper to prevent interaction with the metal.  Once finished, the liquid is strained into another jar and honey is added to taste.  I like about a half cup of honey per quart of liquid but this can be varied.  The finished product should be labeled, dated and kept in the fridge.  I put mine in smaller brown dropper bottles to make it easy to take.

For more information on fire cider, including to controversy over trademark, check out these links. 1 & 2.

Winter Health

This was a much promised PowerPoint from a workshop I did at Goodwin State Forest. It contains information about how you can effectively stay healthy during the winter…use it, enjoy it, and if you have any questions — please contact me.

Creating an Herb Garden

Here are the Power Point slides from my recent workshop. We had a fun discussion about the plants to include in a Medicinal Herb Garden.  Most are very easy to grow and include all our culinary herbs as well.  Enjoy!

Backyard Edible and Medicinal Weeds

I gave a recent workshop at the Goodwin State Forest about finding great plants to eat and use for home remedies right from outside the back door.  We have a full growing season's worth of useful plants we typically consider weeds right under our noses! 

These plants were something our grandparents and their parents knew so they could feed their families.  However, we somehow lost the information when grocery stores and markets began to carry more typical farm foods.  Even as home gardening developed, people pulled these weedy foods and medicines, in favor of the cultivated plants and seeds.  We are missing out when we skip over these magnificent weedy friends!

  Below is the power point presentation that includes some of the wonderful weeds and a little on their potential uses.  There are a growing number of books on foraging for edible and medicinal plants.  My reference list is also below but if you search the internet you will find many more.  This is the "in" thing right now and hopefully a lasting trend.

References

Medicinal and Edible Weeds in Connecticut

Debra Hultgren, Community Herbalist

Angier, Bradford. 1974. Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants. Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books.

Bremness, Lesley. 1994. Herbs. New York: Dorling Kindersley.

Bruton-Seal, Julie, and Seal, Matthew. 2009. Backyard Medicine: Harvest and Make Your Own Herbal Remedies. New York: Skyhorse Publishing.

Erichsen-Brown, Charlotte. Ed. 1984. Medicinal and Other Uses of North American Plants. New York: Dover Publications.

Fischer-Rizzi, Suzanne. 1996. Medicine of the Earth. Oregon: Rudra Press.

Foster, Steven, and Duke, James A. 2000. Eastern Central Medicinal Plants and Herbs. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Hopkins, Hilary. 2001. Never Say it’s Just a Dandelion. Massachusetts: Jewelweed Books.

Jones, Pamela. 1991. Just Weeds. New York: Prentice Hall Press.

Lerner, Rebecca. 2013. Dandelion Hunter. Connecticut: Lyons Press.

Livingston, A.D., and Livingston, Hellen. 1993. Edible Plants and Animals. New York: Facts on File.

Newcomb, Lawrence. 1977. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. New York: Little, Brown And Company.

Peterson, Lee Allen. 1977. Edible Wild Plants. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Runyon, Linda. 2002.  From Crabgrass Muffins to Pine Needle Tea. Washington: Health Research Books.

Thayer, Samuel. 2006. The Forager’s Harvest. Wisconsin: Forager’s Harvest Books.

Zachos, Ellen. 2013. Backyard Foraging. Massachusetts: Storey Publishing.

People to follow:

Adam Haritan, Naturalist-Learn Your Land- Facebook and Youtube

Doug Elliott, Naturalist, dougelliott.com

Debra Hultgren, Community Herbalist, Acornherbals.com; Acorn Herbals on Facebook

Recipes For Home-Made Insect Repellent

The black flies are out and looking for us.  The Simulium species has loads of members with some 40 species in New Hampshire alone.  While they are a somewhat short lived variety, they are voracious right when we are out trying to get our gardens growing.  Keeping skin covered is a must but they can bite through clothing if snug.  Mosquitoes likewise have many varieties and are already out and about.  In tick infested areas it is a good idea to keep pants tucked into socks and reduce exposed skin.  Checking your self and family at the end of the day is important as quick removal can prevent any disease transmission.  

Sooooo, I also like to have some type of repellent on my skin or clothing when dealing with these fellow earth creatures.  I have listed links below to many excellent recipes and of course, you can purchase similar ones from industrious herbal businesses.  I make up my own and experiment with the recipes I find on the web and in books.

A simple spray can be made using water and lemon juice as a base and adding essential oils.  I made one recently that included 1 3/4 C of water to 1/4 C of fresh lemon juice.  To that I added 20 drops of Lavender Essential Oil and about 3 Tablespoons of Vanilla Extract.  I put this in a spray bottle.  This has to be shaken before used as the oils separate from the liquids.  This can be sprayed in the hair and on clothing as well as on the skin.  Avoid eyes and sensitive areas.

I recently traveled to Haiti where a number of mosquito born diseases are present.  My main priority was to keep the bugs off while also taking herbs to guard against Malaria.  I prefer a salve or oil based repellent in this case and carried one I made from Olive oil, coconut oil, bees wax, essential oils of Citronella, Eucalyptus, Cedar Wood and Lavender.  I felt this worked well and I put it on all exposed skin, not worrying in that environment about staining clothing.  

Recipe:  3/4 C Olive Oil, 1/4 C Coconut Oil, 1 ounce beeswax shaved or pastilles (available through Amazon or other web-sites), 10-20 drops of each essential oil.

Heat oils slowly in a double boiler (I just put a glass 2 cup measuring cup in the pan of water) adding bees wax until melted.  Remove from heat and add essential oils and stir with stainless steel spoon.  Immediately pour into glass containers, cool and cap.

If you are not familiar with the use of Essential Oils, (Click the word Essential Oils for more Information) please consult books or the web as they must be handled carefully and never ingested.  They must also be kept away from infants and children.  The final products are safe for children but the best thing for infants is to keep them away from the biting insects entirely under netting.

Smithspirations - Bugs-Be-Gone

DIYNatural - Homemade Mosquito and Insect Repellent 

Scratch Mommy - Peppermint Bug Repellent

The Prairie Homestead - Natural Fly Spray

Thank Your Body - Insect Repellent

Scratch Mommy - Bye Bye Bug Repellent

Lexie's Kitchen - Back Off Bug Repellent

Green Boot - Natural Insect Repellent 

The Elliot Homestead - Organic Bug Spray

Repelling the On-Coming Insects-Plant Based Strategies

As the spring finally arrives it also awakens our insect friends.  I already see the black flies swarming around, soon to be followed by mosquitoes and ticks.  I am personally trying to avoid the use of pesticides in general but especially on the skin of my family.  At home I think in terms of keeping the insects away from my living space first with careful planting of repellent annual and perennial plants as well as other deterrent strategies.  Next, I make up oil and salve based repellents for topical applications.  And finally, I like to have available, treatments for insect bites that help to reduce itch, pain and swelling.  

There are many useful plants that can repel insects when planted strategically around the home and garden.  Most are attractive as well.   Among these are the entire mint family.  Mints are tolerant of many conditions and are a wonderful addition to gardens located immediately around the house or out in the perimeter of the yard.   Pennyroyal Mint has a reputation for repelling ants as well.  Citronella Grass is also very pretty and aromatic, making a nice contribution to texture in the garden.  Lavender and Feverfew are both easy to grow as well as being useful for other home remedy applications.  Members of the Geranium family, annuals up here in Connecticut, grow lavishly in the summer and are known to keep mosquitoes at bay.  Over the next few weeks I will post more information on how to make insect management products at home using simple ingredients and essential oils. 

Oats- an easy solution to itchy skin

Oatmeal as a soak or in the tub can sooth irritated skin quickly. Almost any itchy condition can be calmed by a soak in an oatmeal tea. It can also be use to calm the pain of insect stings. It can be as simple as bringing one cup of oatmeal to a boil in five cups of water, turning the stove off, and letting it sit for ten minutes and then straining the liquid into the bathtub or soaking container. The main use of Oats in a bath is to gently clean the surface of the skin, removing any impurities and softly exfoliate and hydrate the skin as well.  For an easy, at-home Oat baths, use Colloidal Oatmeal, found at the drug store.  This powdered product is designed to dissolve in the tub.  Oats protect and help to maintain moisture in the skin and are anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant.

An Oat bath can be used for any of the following conditions:

• Dry Skin
• Diaper Rash
• Chicken Pox
• Poison Ivy
• Bug Bites or Stings
• Psoriasis and Eczema
• Acne
• Windburn
• Razor burn
• Shingles

There are many ways to produce a soothing Oatmeal bath. The first way is as stated previously: 

Making a cup of Oats in 5 cups of boiling water and straining the excess water into your tub.

Another sufficient way to create a wonderful soothing Oat bath is to blend or  grind up Oats until they are extra fine ( Test your oat powder by putting a little in a cup of lukewarm water and mix it together, if you still have powder at the bottom of the cup, you have more grinding to do) then pour the powder in the bath until you get milky looking bath water.

Photo from MyGardenersays.com

Oats (Avena Sativa) 

Aveeno is one of many brands, this photo is a sample, not an endorsement.