If you are walking along the Wet Dyke trail, try to find these gorgeous rose hips. They are huge! Inspired by seasonal apples and rose hips, I shared a warming and nourishing apple cider recipe that doesn't require special equipment. It's easy to make and you can spice it up any way you like.
Simmered Apple Cider
Madame Beespeaker
Apples: 1 bag
Rose hips: 1 handful wrapped in a tea bag made of gauze
Citrus: 1 lime
Sweetener: Maple syrup to taste
Spices: grated Ginger and turmeric, chai spice blend and/or dried dragonhead and lemon verbena
Core the apples and chop up the lime, cover with water in a large pot.
Add the rose hips in a tea bag made of gauze, ginger, turmeric and chai spices.
Simmer for two hours, or until apples are soft. Take out the rosehip tea bag.
Mash the apples against the side of the pot and simmer ten minutes or more.
Strain and clean out the pot—put plant material in compost. Put the cider in the pot—taste and sweeten. Reheat and serve warm.
Lori Snyder picked some examples of plants growing in and around our garden plot and talked about their medicinal properties. She also shared two of her favourite resources:
The Boreal Herbal by Beverly Gray and the Wild Wisdom of Weeds by Katrina Blair.
Lori talked about Calendula, dandelion, yarrow, nasturtium, borage, plantain, and horsetail. She called us to help grow corridors of Indigenous food and medicinal plants throughout our urban spaces.
It's always a pleasure to hear Lori Snyder talk about her passion for plants!
Lori and I also shared our tips for making salves from plants we grew in our garden plots. It has been a pleasure to work with her during this residency and the many years we've been teaching together.
Calendula was still blooming brightly at the garden. The flower heads are infused in olive oil for 2-3 weeks. The oil itself is a wonderful treat for your skin, especially since we are washing our hands so often these days. Adding wax to the oil makes it into a salve or balm--a wonderful self care treat.
And of course, bees love calendula too!
Here's what it looks like when the dried flower heads are infusing into the oil.
Calendula or Yarrow Salve
1 c calendula or yarrow oil
2 tbs candelilla wax
2 tbs shea butter
essential oil (optional)
To create the calendula oil, first gather the heads of the calendula flowers later in the day when they are not moist with dew. Dry them on screens stretched across frames in a well ventilated room out of direct sunlight. Once the flower heads are “crunchy” they are ready to use. When making yarrow oil, it’s the same process, but you can use the stems, leaves and flowers.
Stuff the plant material into a clean jar and fill with olive oil. Let it infuse for 2-3 weeks. Every three days tip the jar to mix the plant material with the oil.
Gently heat 1 cup of the oil in a double boiler, adding the butter and wax. Simmer for a few minutes just until all the wax is melted. Add essential oils, pour into jars until firm.
I have been making kombucha all through this residency and lately I've been adding fruit to the secondary fermentation. I picked the same variety of small cherries (Prunus serotina) that Jenn Pearson used to make ink and put them through a sieve to extract the juice. Adding this to kombucha makes it extra tasty and nutritious.
Kombucha
2 tsp black or green tea leaves
water that has the chlorine take out of it with a charcoal filter or charcoal stick (kishu bunchotan)
2 tbs cane sugar —NOT honey
1 scoby (try to source one from a friend)
pint jar (holds 2 cups)
tea pot
Boil the water and make the tea in your pot. Let sit until room temperature. Pour into the jar and add the sugar. Stir until mixed. Add the scoby. Cover the jar with a clean cloth and let sit for three or four days until it forms bubbles around the scoby. Taste and see if it is at you desired sweetness. I like it quite sour, almost vinegar. Refrigerate and enjoy!
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