Rose hips in the steam extractor: an experiment

It's a gorgeous autumn day up here at Findhorn. The rose hips have been staring at me for over a week now. But they're such a hassle! I was taught to cut them and then remove their seeds, because the tiny hairs around the seeds can irritate. I did this last year, but it was just too much work. I'm all in for an experiment now!

I picked a bag full of rose hips. You want them firm, but not hard, and shiny. I use the fat ones from the Rosa rugosa. I took off their crowns, gave them a rinse and popped them in the steam extractor.

Steam extractor? Sure! It's a wonderful thing. It consists of three parts. You add water to the lower part. When you heat the water, steam will rise to the top part, where the fruit is. The steam breaks up the cells and allows the juice to come out. Through little holes - it looks like a colander - it drips in the middle part. This part has a little tube that allows you to pour the hot and sterilised juice in a clean bottle or jar or in a saucepan. It can be sweetened to make a jelly, used pure or turned into wine.

My experiment is that I want to find out if I can get rid of the little hairs by using the steam extractor. If I can, I will make a jelly out of the juice. If I don't, I'll turn it into a wine.

I'll tell you more about the result later!

Wilted dahlias still good as a dye

Isn't that amazing? First we can enjoy the flowers in the garden and when they wilt, they still make an excellent dye!

I simmered 400 grams of the flowers in water for about an hour. Then they cooled down overnight and I strained the liquid. That's important: last time I got slimy bits of the petals in my wool...

The next morning I put in 200 grams of soaked and washed white wool and added a heaped teaspoon of alum. That was slowly heated up to a gentle boil and simmered again for about an hour. After completely cooling down I rinsed the wool until the water was clear.

It's a lovely deep yellow now. I will add it to all my other yellows :p

Rest! And knitting socks

It's been quiet here! I have moved internally and that took some landing. And since it rained quite a lot I have spent hours knitting. Yesterday I finished these socks. I made them for Hugo: he tried them on and loves them!

Dandelions are ready to use

Natures is coming back to life again! Dandelions are growing too and now is the time to harvest their roots. Just dig them up, give them a rinse and a brush. You can dry them now by cutting them into small bits and then allowing them to dry on a piece of paper or cloth and store them in a paper bag when they're completely dry.

I made them into tincture

After cleaning the roots, I cut them into small pieces and put them in a jam jar with vodka. The right one is a jar I made earlier, the left is a new one. You can see the change in colour once the good stuff dissolves into the alcohol. I like to use this tincture in spring as a detoxifier and I take ten drops, three times a day. Don't take the tincture longer than six weeks and stop for some time to see how you're doing without.

Dandelion root makes the bile more fluid and it enhances the secretion of bile two to four times! This supports the liver and helps preventing the formation of gall stones. The bitters work great in your digestive system: more saliva, more gastric and pancreas juices, hence a better digestion!

Dandelion is called pisse-en-lit in French, because it increases the flow of urine. And at the same time it strengthens the urinary system. Most diuretic drugs cause a loss of potassium, but dandelion is naturally high in potassium and as such a very balanced and complete remedy. The leaf actually works best on the urinary system, so you can add some of it to your tincture.

Spring is a good time to detoxify and dandelion is a great help: as a tincture, an infusion or eating the young leaves in a salad.

This post was shared on Wildcrafting Wednesday

Jam making: forty jars!

Just a peek into 'my' kitchen in the Findhorn Foundation: last week we made jam! We had quite a few gooseberries in the freezer and our fruit and veg supplier gave us a big box of bananas, peels blackened by the cold but still very nice inside. I had been hoarding jars for the last few months and now we filled them with a gooseberry - banana - ginger jam. The combination is delicious and the house will be able to enjoy this for at least a couple of weeks :D.

Tadaaa!

Great workshop: dyeing with Indigo

Last Saturday I went to a workshop by one of the members of my spinning circle. She taught us how to dye with indigo and it was such a lovely afternoon with great results!

What I appreciated most was that all five women had a skill they were happy to share with others: dyeing, pinning, wine making, making samosas and, in my case, making herbal remedies. There was a beautiful wild garden with many herbs and dye plants and I got a cooking pan that can serve as a dye pot. I'm not sure if I can think of a better way to spend the afternoon :)

Found: Lung moss!

I have been looking for Lung Moss (Lobaria pulmonaria) for quite some time. I first heard about it in my spinning circle. One of the older women told me how she dyes with what she called Tree Lungwort and gave me a small quantity of this lichen. I tried it and loved the color! It is the brown one in the picture.

And then the name caught my attention; I know the Lungwort and was wondering whether the Lung Moss could also be a medicinal lichen. My favorite herbal, David Hoffmann's Holistic Herbal mentions it as an expectorant, used in irritable respiratory conditions, such as bronchitis and asthma. It is specifically indicated in children's coughs. Lung moss has healing and soothing properties for the mucous tissue. On the internet I also found that it has recently been found that the lungwort lichens contain antibiotic chemicals that are effective against the kind of bacteria that cause tuberculosis and many other chest infections. I'm making it into a tincture and will try it out on either myself or a guinea pig :)
Many medicinal plants reveal their properties by how they look. Lung moss is a great example; I find an amazing similarity to the lungs. If you enlarge the photo by clicking it you can see the bronchial tubes and even the alveoli!

I found this lichen while walking along the River Findhorn. I had been looking up at the trees trunks (almost tripping several times...), knowing that the air is very pure out here and the oak trees are fairly old: the ideal conditions for Lung Moss to grow. Just when I was giving up on finding it I recognised it. I have experienced this before when I'm looking for a herb without having seen it before. When I spot it my heart jumps and I just know that this is the one! Today I will go back to the river and hopefully find more.
I don't take it from the trees, as it takes several years to grow, but collect what has fallen.

The River Findhorn is such a beautiful and magical place!


This post was shared Wildcrafting Wednesday at The Woodwife's Journal