Winter Herbal Remedies E-Course & Recipes!

I am excited that our first e-course will be starting in early January!  With the covid pandemic this year we (like everyone else) have had to make major changes in how we run our home business.  For many years we have been offering hands-on, in person workshops, classes and events here at Little City Farm, where groups of participants came together to learn, share and make in our small home-based teaching space.  Well, none of these types of in-person activities were possible this year, and so we have been working hard to develop a small offering of online courses instead.  Virtual learning is our preferred method - we can't meet our participants in person, it's more difficult to create a shared group experience, and the hands-on component must be done by each person in their own home without the context of being here on our homestead.  We also don't love the idea of spending more time on a screen, and certainly agree with many that we are tired of zoom videos and meetings.  However, for our first round of the e-course we think we have found a simple, uncomplicated low-tech solution, and are happy to share it with our participants.  Our first e-course filled up quickly!  It's a 12 week Winter Herbal Remedies course running from January to mid March!  We look forward to offering it again in future, as well as developing other of our most popular workshops into online offerings for the spring and summer season. 

For those who aren't able to join us with the Winter Herbal Remedies e-course for this round, we would love to offer some of our favourite herbal recipes for winter wellness that we make each season in our home.  Try the following for immune boosting, easing sore throats, healing coughs, aiding congestion and supporting best health for the winter season.  To make these recipes, if you are looking to purchase bulk dried medicinal herbs, try Harmonic Arts for an exceptional Canadian company with superior quality organic dried herbs and other wellness ingredients.

• Elderberry Tincture
  
• Sage & Horehound Cough Syrup 
• Simple Herbal Throat Lozenges
• Thyme Honey Winter Cough Syrup
• Thyme Lemon Honey Infusion
• Favourite Winter Health Elixirs, Broths & Tonics

 

 

Winter Herb Shares NOW AVAILABLE - order by Dec 1

NEW!  This season's Winter Herb Share CSA (or Community Supported Apothecary) is now available.  We have limited shares left, please order by December 1.  One-time pick up of your share by mid-December at Little City Farm (or by another arrangement).   

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN YOUR WINTER HERB SHARE

Give the gift of health & wellness to yourself or your loved ones!

Herbal CSA's are modeled after farm Community Supported Agriculture programs, where members purchase a "share" in the season's harvest and receive regular installments of farm goodies throughout the season. Our seasonal herb shares features locally grown and wild-harvested medicinal plants, tended and harvested by us in small-batches. We wish to promote health through preventative care, using "medicine as food" in daily life. Our herbal CSA will include hand-crafted items such as: herbal loose-leaf teas, herbal salts, medicinal honey, syrups, tonics, herbal vinegars, as well as soaps and body care items.

By participating in our Winter Herb Share project you are:

• SAVING 20% off from our regular prices by buying this share instead of individual items
• allowing us to continue to promote wellness in our local community through the use of and education about locally adapted plants
• learning about using locally grown plants for your own food and health
• minimizing waste (all products come in recycleable/reusable containers)
• supporting our local small business venture
• enjoying plants that are grown, harvested and prepared with the utmost respect

The Winter Herb Share includes 8 full-sized products. Find loose-leaf teas, elderberry syrup, fire cider tonic, winter salve, and winter lipbalm.

Other Herb Share member benefits: Also included is a short newsletter describing featured herbs, product descriptions and usage, herbal folklore, plant profiles, and additional recipes to try at home.

READ MORE & ORDER DETAILS HERE

Heirloom Tomatoes & Organic Seedlings for sale - online pre-ordering open!

HEIRLOOM TOMATOES & MEDICINAL HERB SEEDLINGS FROM LITTLE CITY FARM!  For the second year in a row, we are offering online pre-ordering for all our Heirloom Tomatoes, Medicinal Herbs, and other Organic Seedlings.

As many of you know, for many years we held a large annual Organic Seedling Sale here in May - but over time this event outgrew our 1/3 acre backyard!  And so we handed it over to our friend and farmer Angie from Fertile Ground Farm, who now runs the event on the May long weekend at her farm location.

For those who can't make the May 18 sale at Fertile Ground, OR if you want to pre-order seedlings to be sure to get what you like - please browse our selection of the favourites we have to offer.  Our greenhouse is bursting with seedlings and we want to get them to as many good homes as possible. 

We have unique heirloom tomato favourites in all colours of the rainbow like Green Zebra, Black Cherry, Amazon Chocolate, Cherokee Purple, Pink Brandywine, White Oxheart...

We have medicinal and pollinator-friendly herbs like anise hyssop, calendula, yarrow, lavender; culinary-medicinal herbs like sage, thyme; and healing tea herbs like tulsi, lemon balm, chamomile, peppermint...and more!

Also organic veggies like kale, basil, long red cayenne pepper and more...

All seedlings need to be pre-ordered online here, and will be ready for pick-up on Sat, May 25 (or you can make other arrangements with us if that date doesn't work).

Herbal Mini-Course: Wild Herbs for Women's Health

Upcoming Classes:
Herbal Mini-Course: Wild Herbs For Women's Health (Motherwort / Raspberry Leaf / Rose) - 3 part series
Dates: Wednesdays August 8, August 15, August 22 (pre-registration required) REGISTER HERE
Time: 6:30-8 pm
Facilitator: Karin Kliewer, traditional herbalist
Location: Little City Farm

Join this short 3 part herbal mini-series to learn about 3 wild foraged plants used for women's health, that we can find in abundance all around us. In this women's health series we will cover one healing plant per session: motherwort (Leaonurus cardiaca), raspberry leaf (Rhubus ideaus) and rose (Rosa spp.), which are all common wild plants in our city that are not easily over-harvested.

In this hands-on series we will invite you to build a relationship with these plants, by introducing their plant profiles, learning about their historical use and folklore, observing how they grow, harvesting them, and creating healing products together with these plants (with samples to take home). Each participant will also work on a personalized botanical sketch book/journal, where you can keep notes about the history and uses of these plants.

Motherwort - we will an herbal-infused medicinal vinegar
Raspberry leaf - we will make raspberry leaf medicinal tea blend & rasp leaf lemonade
Rose - we will make a rose facial toner/after sun spray & learn about making hydrosols

Please inform us of any allergies at time of registration. We may be using olive oil, cocoa butter, local beeswax, honey,and certain essential oils in our classes.

More info & registration here.

Herbal Mini-Course: Wild Herbs for First Aid

Upcoming Workshops:
Herbal Mini-Course: Wild Herbs for First Aid (Plantain / Yarrow / Comfrey) - 3 part series
Dates: Wednesdays July 11, July 18, July 25 (pre-registration required) REGISTER HERE
Time: 6:30-8 pm
Facilitator: Karin Kliewer, traditional herbalist
Location: Little City Farm

Join this short 3 part herbal mini-series to learn about 3 wild foraged first aid plants we can find in abundance all around us. In this first aid series we will cover one healing plant per session: plantain (Plantago major), yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and comfrey (Symphytum officinalis), which are all common wild plants in our city that are not easily over-harvested.

In this hands-on series we will invite you to build a relationship with these plants, by introducing their plant profiles, learning about their historical use and folklore, observing how they grow, harvesting them, and creating healing products together with these plants (with samples to take home). Each participant will also work on a personalized botanical sketch book/journal, where you can keep notes about the history and uses of these plants.

Plantain - we will make an after bug bite bath blend & nourishing plantain smoothie
Yarrow - we will make a wound oil & first aid liniment
Comfrey - we will make a healing salve

Please inform us of any allergies at time of registration. We may be using olive oil, cocoa butter, local beeswax, and certain essential oils in our classes.

More info & registration here.

Calendula Workshop! Learn to make 12 healing projects with this wonderful healing plant

Upcoming Workshop:
Calendula! 12 healing projects, and learn to grow, harvest, dry & use this healing plant
Date: Sat, July 21 (pre-registration required)  REGISTER HERE
Time: 1-3 pm
Facilitator: Karin Kliewer, traditional herbalist
Location: Little City Farm

Join this hands-on herbal class focusing on the well-known and loved healing plant ally Calendula. This anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, skin soothing plant has been used for hundreds of years around the world as a healing herb. It is so revered that it has been considered a sacred flower in several cultures, including India, Mexico, and by the ancient Mayan and Aztec. We will cover all you need to know for growing, harvesting, drying and using this gorgeous flower.

We will share our 12+ favourite uses for the treasured calendula: from daily skin and lip care; to first aid remedies for cuts & scrapes; healing salve for rashes; homemade calendula hydrosol (aka. flower water); soothing bath blend; uplifting tea blend; stomach soothing food plant; traditional dye plant; & more.

During the class you will learn how to prepare calendula oil, salve, tincture, tea, and bath blend, and when/how to use them. We will also talk about how to make homemade high quality hydrosols (healing flower waters). Each participant will make and take home:

• a calendula tea blend
• a calendula healing salve / lipbalm
• plant a small container garden with calendula seeds to take home and grow
• small sample of calendula hydrosol (if we complete this during our class)

Calendula grows quickly and you don't need a large garden for calendula, it can be grown in any sunny location such as a patio, balcony, driveway, small yard, community garden plot, etc.

Please inform us of any allergies at time of registration. We will be using olive oil, cocoa butter, local beeswax, and certain essential oils in our class.

More info & registration here.

Happy hens in spring - sprouts & herbs

Our hens are absolutely crazy for any shoots of greens they can find at this time of year!  And we are happy to let them nibble around the garden as they like since our salad greens are protected under plastic in the grow tunnel, and new seedlings are not yet planted out.  We have also been supplementing the hens winter feed with sprouted greens, such as alfalfa and red clover sprouts, left over stalks of pea shoots after we harvest the tops for our smoothies, and their favourite - wheatgrass.  We pull out the whole mat of wheatgrass after it's been growing for about 10 days, and lay the mat in the hen yard.  Sometimes we sprinkle buckwheat groats among the wheatgrass blades, and the hens just love to graze and find these treats.

Herbs for hens have been another learning opportunity.  Since we already grow, harvest and use so many medicinal herbs for our own family, we thought we would find useful herbs to provide health benefits for the hens.  We have been tying bundles of herbs (lavender, sage, lemon balm) to hang around the coop as a way to help repel fleas and mites, as well as chopping up herbs like lemon balm, mint and parsley into their nest box - this boosts their health, gives them something to nibble at, and keeps them happily laying.  It also helps keep the eggs clean (we try to clean the nest box daily, taking out old straw/bran and adding new material, plus new chopped herbs).  Herbs can be fresh or dried. 

Other great herbs to add to hens food to boost their health include:
~ garden herbs like: chopped up garlic (bulbs and greens); oregano, yarrow.
~ wild herbs like: nettles,  comfrey leaf, dandelion leaves, and chickweed. 
~ sprouted greens like: alfalfa, buckwheat greens, sunflower shoots, pea shoots.
~ edible medicinal flower petals like: calendula, marigold and rose.

Most of these greens are readily available - easily to grow in your garden, or wild harvest locally.  To prepare a longer term herbal feed mix, harvest the herbs and dry them fully.  Then blend and crush them, store in a glass mason jar, and add a few Tbsp to your hens feed.  We sometimes mix in live cultured yogurt as well, when adding the herbs to the dry feed, as this is also beneficial for hens health and well-being.

A great source for Canadian organic non-GMO sprouting seeds is Mumms, based in Saskatchewan.

 Here the hens are happily eating their mat of sprouted wheatgrass.

This eggs was laid in a nest box lined with bran and lemon balm.  We also like to add mint leaves, rose petals, and marigold or calendula to the nest box.

Here are trays of pea shoots and buckwheat greens ready to feed to the hens as a treat.  We enjoy these sprouts too of course!

Seed collecting - rosehips

We've been gathering our garden seeds - each year we try to harvest some of our favourite varieties to plant again next year, but also seeds that can be used in teas and cooking over the winter (e.g. rosehips, dill, fennel, coriander).  I find the rosehips especially beautiful, and bountiful this year.  They are rich in vitamin C and can be made into tinctures, tonics, syrups and teas, or cooked into healthful jam (yum!).  Rosehips can be gathered fresh (as long as they are fully formed) and dried in baskets or on screens in a well-ventilated area. 

Special note to update my harvesting information - rosehips are sweetest if they are harvested right after the first frost, so can be harvested off the bushes at that point.  If they are shriveled or brown they are past their prime so only harvest the bright red brilliant looking hips.  

Seed saving

Seeds!  Beautiful, powerful, amazing seeds.  Now is the season for saving seeds from the garden.  While we don't save seeds from everything in our garden (it's difficult, given that some of our plant varieties such as squash are too close together so could cross-pollinate), we do like to save many of our favourites each year.  Seeds we do save include unique varieties of tomatoes (those black cherry and Mennonite Orange were so delicious and not always easy to buy), heirloom beans, lettuce, arugula and other greens, kale, sunflowers, and loads of herbs and flowers. 

Then there are seeds we save like fennel, coriander, dill, rosehips and amaranth, where we like to harvest enough seed that we can use some directly in cooking, teas or herbal medicines, as well as having enough to plant again next year.  We also like to leave plenty of seeds standing in the garden for winter foraging for the birds.  Depending on the seed, there are different ways to harvest, dry and store them.  Some can be left on the plant to dry (e.g. some herb and flower seeds, beans in pods, sunflowers, lettuce), but others (e.g. tomatoes) are a little more tricky and need to be harvested fresh from the best quality fruit, then dried out, and stored when fully dry.  For more seed saving tips you can read great information at the Seeds of Diversity website.

Wild spring edibles

What abundance we have growing wild around us!  We hosted our annual Wild Spring Edibles workshop today, and even though it's just the beginning of the season with wild greens only starting to peek up, our facilitator managed to find a wide assortment of delicious nutritious wild greens, roots and flowers already available.  She covered all aspects of wild edibles - including: ethical harvesting, traditional approaches, plant spirit medicine, phtyo-nutrients and medicinal values of wild foods, drying and storing, how to prepare wild foods for eating, juicing, safe quantities to consume, and of course (probably most important) proper identification.  We sampled an array of prepared foods such as burdock root tea, pine needle tea, garlic mustard pesto, purslane pesto, garlic mustard root "horseradish", fresh dandelion greens, rosehip jam, and fresh violet blossoms.  Then we had a walk around the Little City Farm property to identify these plants, plus a few others such as nettles, wood sorrel, mallow, evening primrose, wild ginger, wild grape, and ramps (wild garlic).  We are re-inspired to enjoy the bounty around us, to help build attentiveness and appreciation for these plants and bring greater health for our bodies.

Here are some photos of the spring wild edibles here at Little City Farm, with their names below.

Evening Primrose root and leaf

Large burdock root (centre)

Top evening primrose root, middle burdock root, bottom dock root

Stinging nettle greens

Garlic mustard greens

Ramps (wild garlic)

Wild ginger (just opening the leaves)

Violet blossoms and leaves

Young burdock leaves (harvest for the root)

Dandelion greens

Clover leaves

Evening primrose leaves

Wood sorrel leaves

Wild rose buds (harvest the rosehips)

Wild carrot greens (harvest for greens and young roots

This Moment

{This moment} - This moment - an end of week ritual, no words, just a special photo to remember, savour, enjoy.

The healing ways of violets

Now that spring has fully arrived, it's time for the harvest of various early season wild herbs such as dandelion, young burdock root, stinging nettle, comfrey, motherwort, and this week's favourite around here, violets.  Violets are beautiful, abundant, fragrant and healing.  Their long list of healing properties has been part of medicinal folklore for centuries, to aid in skin conditions, liver cleanses, inflammation, even cancer prevention.  They can be eaten fresh in salads, taken as a tonic/infusion or preserved as a tincture.  One of the common names for violet is "heartsease", which speaks to it's calming and grounding influence when taken during times of stress and anxiety.    Harvest flowers in the mid morning, after all dew has evaporated and before the hotter sun of afternoon wilts the flowers.  Use immediately to gain the most potent medicinal value of these gentle flowers.

Practical Herbalist Series - 4 sessions at Little City Farm this summer

An exciting unique 4-part series held at Little City Farm this summer, that includes 12 hours of instruction and hands-on learning, plus some "home" assignments between sessions. Workshops will be held on 4 Saturday mornings, from June to September. This series is led by Karin Kliewer, Master Herbalist.

AT THE END OF THIS SERIES YOU WILL HAVE GAINED:
~ confidence and knowledge of growing and using basic medicinal herbs
~ a well-stocked pantry of simple effective herbal home remedies you have made
~ knowledge on where to source quality herbal product-making supplies
~ a collection of herbal recipes, lesson notes, hand-outs and other useful resources
~ a network of other community members interested in natural herbal healing
~ please see below for more details on specific topics we will cover in each session

Limited space to 10 participants. As one goal of this series is to create a continuous small-group shared learning environment, priority will be given to participants who can commit to taking all 4 sessions.

 
HERBALIST SESSION DATES & DETAILS:

Session 1: Spring Edibles - Sat, June 9 from 9-12 noon
In this session you will learn: herbs for digestive system; wild crafting; basic herb gardening; medicinal herb teas to grow at home; and making herbal infusions.

Session 2: Summer Flowers - Sat, July 14 from 9-12 noon
In this session you will learn: herbs for stress and women's health; drying and storing herbs; making herbal medicinal oils, salves and liniments.

Session 3: Fall Bounty - Sat, Aug 11 from 9-12 noon
In this session you will learn: herbs for respiratory system; seed saving; harvesting and drying medicinal roots; making herbal decoctions; making herbal tinctures; basic herbal first aid.

Session 4: Winter Roots - Sat, Sept 8 from 9-12 noon
In this session you will learn: herbs for the immune system; herbal remedies for children’s health; making herbal medicinal syrups and winter tonics.

Details for registration are posted on our website here.  

Winter Tonics : Elderberry Syrup

We like to prepare our herbal medicine cupboard with teas (e.g. a Winter Flu tea blend, and lots of peppermint), tinctures (e.g. astragalus, rosehip, elderberry, echinacea), and cough syrups (e.g. sage-horehound) before winter.  Recently a friend mentioned making elderberry syrup for her kids.  They loved it and it was a nice way to administer the healthful benefits of elderberries, without needing to use an alcohol base like a tincture would.  Syrups are preserved by honey or sugarand have a long shelf life.  So, we made a batch and yes, it is absolutely delicious.  It tastes sweet and rich like dense bursts of berries, and is thickened with local honey (we used buckwheat honey which made the syrup even darker).  Elderberries are one of the oldest remedies for colds, flu, respiratory infections, and many other conditions.  Elderberries are rich in antioxidants, contain 3 different flavonoids and boost the immune system.  The syrup can be taken by the teaspoonful (2-3 tsp/day as needed) or added to tea, juice, water, etc.  I like to spread it on toast or pancakes.  Isn't the best way to create vibrant health simply by "letting food be your medicine"?  Where to get elderberries?  I would highly advise planting at least one elderberry bush in your garden/yard, as this is such a valuable plant.  However, if you don't have a good local source, excellent quality organic dried elderberries can be purchased from Mountain Rose Herbs.

Elderberry Syrup
1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup dried elderberries
3 cups water
1 cup honey (or sugar) for every 1/2 cup elderberry tea

1. Place elderberries and water into saucepan and bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.  Close lid and let steep for another 30 minutes after this.  You are making a very strong tea (infusion).

2. Crush berries, then strain the liquid through a fine-meshed cheesecloth.

3. Measure your liquid, and return it to the saucepan.  Add 1 cup honey per 1/2 cup elderberry tea.  Return to heat on low, stirring occasionally, and let the liquid boil down until you have the desired consistency you want for your syrup.

4. This is a very sweet syrup and can be preserved unrefrigerated.  Use 1-3 tsp per day, as needed.  Not for children under 2 years old.  If you wish to reduce the sweetness you can store your syrup in the fridge.

Herbal order for local midwives

We were very pleased to be asked to prepare a batch of herbal post-partum packages for a new local midwifery office - the Blue Heron Midwives located in uptown Waterloo.  This beautiful new clinic has just opened and is having their grand opening event in a few weeks: Nov 25 at 2 pm.  The midwives that gave me the tour when I dropped off the herbs (i.e. post-partum bath teas and calendula healing salves) mentioned that they are very interested in taking new clients, so this is worth noting for our local readers who may be looking for a midwife.  It's often difficult to get a midwife here in town if you don't call right away, so it's wonderful to have another office open up to provide what is obviously a much needed service.

Do-it-Yourself Herbal Winter Medicines

We're preparing for the coming winter months - preserving the last foods, picking our nearly ripe tomatoes in anticipation of first frost this weekend, and processing our medicinal herbs into immune boosting winter health tonics.

On Saturday I led the annual "herbal winter remedies" workshop here at Little City Farm. During the workshop we talked about the basics of making your own tinctures, tonics, bitters, syrups and lozenges - and then made an immune tonic tincture, bottled a rosehip tincture, sipped herbal immune-boosting cups of chai (see recipe below), and created a sage-horehound cough syrup.  In the days leading up to the workshop, I was surprised and pleased to notice my 3-year old preparing her own "tinctures" of herbal leaves and roots picked from the garden "steeping" with water in wee glass bottles in her little play kitchen.  I love when I can pass on valuable life skills simply by example.

Making Herbal Winter Medicines:

It's important to start with top quality herbs, fresh if possible (so now is the last of the season to do so), or dried will also do.  Tincturing is a great way to preserve the medicinal qualities of herbs for a very long time, making powerful potent medicine, and often extracting constituents of the plant that water will not.  Tinctures are extracts made with food grade alcohol, usually 80-100 proof alcohol like vodka or brandy, where the herbs are steeped for 4-6 weeks.   Tincturing works well for extracting medicinal qualities of herbal roots and berries, such as the deep immune system/winter health herbs like elderberry, echinacea, goldenseal and astragalus.  Once strained and bottled, tinctures will last several years if kept in a cool, dry, dark location.

Herbal syrups, on the other hand, start with a very strong tea (i.e. herbal extracts made with water such as strong infusions or decoctions), then are cooked slowly for a long time with honey to thicken into a syrup consistency.  The honey acts as a preservative, but a little alcohol can also be added to help prolong the shelf life.  Cough medicines are often made in a syrup form, such as our favourite sage-horehound syrup for healing sore throats.

There is so much more to say, but for now, here are a few recipes:

Elderberry Tincture (following method also good for tincturing other herbs)
(highly beneficial for colds, cough, flu, bronchitis, sinus infection, virus, etc)
1) Chop herbs finely, or crush in blender.  Use fresh berries where possible.  High quality dried berries will work well too.
2) Place berries into clean, dry jar.  Pour in enough alcohol (vodka or brandy) to cover the berries, and continue pouring until liquid covers by 2-3 inches.  The berries need to be completely submerged.  Cover with tight-fitting lid.
3) Place jar in warm location (e.g. sunny window) and let herbs and liquid soak (macerate) for 4-6 weeks.  The longer the better.  Shake jar every day to make sure herbs are blending with alcohol.
4) Strain out berries, using a muslin cloth or jelly bag, or a large stainless steel strainer.  Reserve liquid, which is now a potent tincture.
5) Bottle and label.  Store out of reach from children, in a cool, dark location where the tincture will keep almost indefinitely.
6) Useage guidelines: one measure is to give 1 drop tincture for every 2 lbs body weight. 


Immune Boosting Herbal Chai
(serve hot as a strong tea, with warm milk/rice milk and honey)
Ingredients - mix to your own taste - dried nutmeg, allspice, cloves, cinnamon bark, star anise, black peppercorn, ginger root, echinacea root, astragalus root (only a pinch) dried rosehips, marshmallow root, chamomile, fennel seeds, plus spearmint and lemongrass (for flavour).

Saving Seeds

It's nearly September and we've started to collect seeds in the garden....and there is lots to be saved - dill, fennel, coriander, basil, echinacea, yarrow, rosehips and various other medicinal herbs, kale, spinach, lettuces, calendula, marigolds, cosmos, red orach, zucchini, cukes.  Unfortunately, we can't reliably save our tomato seeds, as tomatoes should be planted 20-25 feet from other varieties of tomato, and even this kind of isolation is not a 100% guaruntee that new plants will be exactly as the original plant.

For those living locally who wish to learn more about the details of proper seed saving, join us on Sept 17 for the exciting annual Seed Saving Workshop with Bob Wildfong, director of the wonderful Canadian non-profit organization Seeds of Diversity, here at Little City Farm!