The Wild Garden

Nearly everyday, when I am out harvesting one thing or the other, I think about a blog post.  The thing is, by the time I get to the computer, my body and brain are exhausted and writing doesn't happen.  I would like to think I can make more time for the blog right now, but there is too much going on outside!

Back in the spring, I was a bit envious of friends' gardens.  We had just moved, spread a bit thin time-wise and couldn't quite tame the overgrowth enough to plant.  Though I had no cultivated gardens, I was harvesting everyday.  Thankfully, I saw the sunlight and my perspective shifted.  I had a wild garden.  I didn't weed, I didn't water, I harvested and gave thanks.  That's all.  

Though we now have a small garden beginning to offer us fruits for our labors of double-digging, tilling, weeding, mulching, watering, the list of labors goes on and on, I still harvest from the wild garden everyday.  And it gives me more joy to do so.  The wonders of nature are forever around us and I am forever amazed by the bountiful wild world.  I can live off of the land itself, truly.

I spent the morning picking wild blackberries with a friend.  Joyous work, sweating in the sun, breeze blowing, good conversation and the shared excitement over finding a cane of particularly juicy berries.  The best ones just never make it home, why is that?

Later I harvested the daylilies.  I do this daily, some to eat, some to freeze, and some for an upcoming batch of wine.  I think they are on their way out.  There are some late blooming elders here and there, destined for the same purposes, and the red clover is giving her final efforts.  I will miss them.

I recently harvested dock seeds, mainly yellow dock but there are a variety of rumex species right outside of my door.  Right now they are sitting in paper bags awaiting processing.  I'll store them in glass jars until I want flour, then I will give them a turn in the herb and spice dedicated coffee grinder.  There are still plenty of young dock leaves to be harvested as well, for greens and pakora like fritters on the table.  

We were in the park recently and happened upon a large mulberry tree.  We harvested off of the ground and the tree probably a gallon of berries, not counting the nearly equal amount the five of us stuffed in our mouths as we harvested.  Food is everywhere!

Soon there will be elderberries, wild grapes, persimmons, walnuts, roots...it keeps going year round.  You don't have to go far or look too hard.  The Mother provides.  The wild garden grows where ever you may be.  

For the locals:  I will be leading a plant walk in Renaissance Park next week.  Wednesday, July 7th, 7pm.  The park is quite wild, with its undisturbed woodland paths, and the native plantings in between the mounds and the marsh.  It is quite the exhibit of wild plants for food and medicine right in downtown Chattanooga!  We will take a brief look at all we find, spending more time on what to harvest NOW and what is forthcoming.  Cost is $10-$20 sliding scale.

Flowers and Candy...and Wounds?

Ooh, it is a kitchen day!  Free of crazy four year old twins, Stone and I created some scrumptiousness that had been in the kitchen queue for a while.

Seaweed gomasio set it all off.  The smell of gently toasting sesame seeds wafting through the house in enough, but add a little bit o sea salt, some kelp powder and dulse flakes, and wow!  We top salads, greens, any roasted or sauteed veggie, eggs, and everything in between with gomasio.  The seaweed is my personal favorite because of its enhanced nutrient qualities.  Check out Susun Weed's fabulous seaweed article to find out everything it can do for you!

I couldn't stop there, we moved on to pasteli, a Greek honey sesame candy, a recipe found at Nourished Kitchen.  I adapted it a bit by using rose infused honey and adding local bee pollen.  So good!  By this time I was feeling inspired, so we headed outside for some foraging.

There were still plenty of luscious dandelion and young yellowdock greens to be had, not to mention daylily, elder, and red clover flowers.  Um, fritters!!!  So, adapting Rosalee de la Foret's recipe found in her Wild Foods Cookbook (available from Herbmentor only as far as I know, but check out Rosalee's blog and see what you can find) to our gluten-free, dairy-free home, we had fritters of all three flowers.  I used half garbanzo bean and half brown rice flour (a rare treat, we are pretty grain-less all around) instead of wheat flour, and seasoned lightly with rosemary and thyme (I didn't want to overpower the flavor of the flowers).  Phenomenal.  My men were shoveling them in with no room for comment.  That is what I like at the dinner table :)

After dinner we headed out to harvest some more elderflowers for wine.  We had to climb, or scramble, over a fence to get there.  Silly me, skirt, fence climbing...massive chunk of flesh missing from my thigh.  It was actually hanging off of the wire...gross.  Besides the pain, I am a little excited because this is the first wound I have had in years, and I get to practice treating an especially nasty one!  In the field I dressed it in plantain until I could get home.  After rinsing, I have dressed it in honey and "bandaged" it with a plantain leaf.  It is feeling much better, and tomorrow I will probably apply my all-purpose yarrow, plantain and neem salve.  I am waiting for the beginning of a scab before applying comfrey, which I think will be needed as it is pretty wide, but nice and jagged for strong healing. 

Exciting stuff, eh?

Elder Essence

After an entire day away from home (always exhausted by that), I managed to get a little harvesting/foraging done before bedtime.  Some young yellow dock leaves and dandelion for breakfast or lunch tomorrow, whatever red clover that was in the yard, and huge, heavy elder blossoms!  I am planning a bigger expedition tomorrow with even bigger plans for herbal preparations.  We'll see how that goes.  The elders are exploding, and those sweet fragrant blossoms do not last long.  Tinctures, elixirs, vinegars, and honeys are all on the list, and I usually make flower essences, too, but I seem to be well stocked on those at the moment.   I need to find a new plant for this though, as it is one of my favorite preparations to make.  So ritualistic.

And flower essences are so gentle.  The vibrational "thumbprints" of flowers, they work in the body on an energetic level, appropriate for all.  I especially like to use them with children, very effective. Click the link for more info.

According to various sources, elder flower essence elder stimulates energy, vigor, resilience, joy, and our powers of recovery and renewal.  Others have experienced greater connection with their inner source of youthfulness, and others point to its use with those "feeling their age" and feeble elders.  For me, elder's fortitude, strength, and aid in healing both physical and emotional resonate with me most deeply.  I have experienced her powers of renewal deeply and directly.  I often take it in emotionally troubling times, when I feel exhausted and hopeless.  I like to add a few drops to elderberry syrups and elixirs, as well as other healing blends.  When it is healing that's needed, I feel that elder essence is an appropriate addition to most formulas.

Making a flower essence:

• Fill a wide and shallow glass bowl (your choice of size) with spring water.  Not tap water, not overly filtered "dead" water.  
• Cover the surface with flower blossoms of your choice.
• Leave the bowl in strong afternoon sun for at least 3hrs up to however many you are called to leave it.  Rest the bowl on a brick, stone, etc., NOT grass or any other plant.  We are imprinting vibrations here, so purity is essential.
• Strain the flowers out.  Whatever amount of water you have, or choose to use, add an equal amount of brandy.  This is your mother essence.
• From this mixture, take 10-20 drops and add it to a 1oz bottle of spring water.  This is your stock bottle.  You may now take the essence directly, or add it to water.  Frequency, not quantity of dosage is important with flower essences.  A single dose is helpful in acute situations, but if it is a more chronic issue you are moving through, physiological or emotional, adding it to the water you drink all day is best.
• Remember, flower essences are vibrational remedies.  Crudely put, the blueprint of a plant's electrical frequency in water (again, check out the above link for more eloquent explanations).  Some say yes, others say no, I say that strong electromagnetic fields DO have an effect on flower essences (they have an effect on our DNA, no?), so keep them away from the computer and cell phone especially, and don't store them on or above the fridge or other appliance.  I follow these guidelines with all of my herbal preparations.