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.

Herb Share 2007

Fall is a busy time here at the homestead. We are harvesting the last garden produce; canning, preserving, pickling & drying foods; planting greens for the winter (in our greenhouse and raised bed coldframes); planning the garden for next season; gathering black walnuts; making apple cider; and (new for this year) preparing herb shares for our members.

Many of us already know all the benefits of eating/supporting local food. Now, we hope to have our community consider supporting locally produced natural medicine. The herb shares are a new project of a little natural herbal business "Homestead Herbals" that has grown out of my passion for natural healing, working with medicinal plants, and sharing this with the broader community.

Herb shares are similar to the concept of a CSA vegetable share - members purchase a share in the spring, and receive their harvest in the fall. Herb shares can take many directions (e.g. women's health; children's herbs; herbal first aid kit; chef's blend; aprodesiac). For this year our herb share is focussed on general health & well-being for the whole family and so include several teas, an all-purpose healing salve, a sage cough syrup, migraine oil, and an immune-boosting echinacea tincture.

All herbs for the shares are grown organically in our gardens, harvested at their peak, and created into natural health products with care. We have 12 share members this year, and are very happy to have such great support in this first year! Herb shares will be ready and shipped off or delivered locally by the end of this month.

Wonderful Weeds

"Let food be your medicine and medicine your food".

Wild plants are resources, and should be encouraged to grow whenever possible. Often, edible wild greens have a much higher nutritional value than cultivated greens. Some wild plants have been with us for more than 10,000 years! Always make sure you are property identifying the wild edibles, as many plants have similar counterparts that may be inedible or even poisonous. Investigate in a good field guide - for our region we use the Peterson's A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America.

Here are 10 excellent wild edibles to grow or wildcraft. If you visit us, you will find all of these coexisting peacefully among our other cultivated plants on our property!

(list from Organic Gardening, Feb/March 2007)

Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
Used medicinally as an immune stimulant; historically, it was used to relieve flu aches and as an antiperspirant. Caution: a closely related species is poisonouse.

Chickweed
A tasty salad green that's been used topically to treat skin irritations. Grows well in cool climates.

Common Mallow
Harvest leaves for salad or cook in soup. Herbalists use tea made from the leaves and flowers to sooth sore throats.

Dandelion
Leaves are healthful both cooked and in salads. Leaves and roots are used in herbal tonics to aid liver function and better overall health.

Lamb's Quarters
A tender annual substitute for spinach that does well in the heat. Use in salad or cooked.

Motherwort
The flowering tops are used by herbalists for heart problems and female health concerns.

Nettle
A rich source of iron and calcium eaten as a cooked vegetable or made into a tea. Look for it in hair products as a scalp stimulant and tonic.

Plantain
Eat the leaves raw in salad or cooked in soup. Makes a healing poultice that is used to relieve bug-bit symptoms and aid the healing of wounds.

Violet
Add a taste of spring to salads, soups, and pesto. Both the leaves and flowers are edible and high in vitamin C. Herbalists apply violet internally for irritated throats and exernally to treat burns.

Wild Fennel
Has an anise-like scent and taste, and its yellow flowers attract beneficial insects that prey on leaf-eating insects.

Here at Little City Farm our other favourites include:

Purslane
Has been eaten and appreciated in India and Persia for more than 2000 years, and is also a prized vegetable over much of Europe and Asia. The entire plant, stem, leaf and flower bud is good to eat. Use in salads, casseroles, steamed, and even pickled (the fat stems)!

Burdock
Also known as Great Gobo, the sliced roots of this vegetable are a common ingredients in Japanese cooking. It has a long history of having a great reputation as an aphrodisiac. Burdock is a biennial, and the roots should only be collected from first-year plants in June or early July. Used by herbalists as a liver tonic.

Yellow Dock
Young leaves used in salads, and roots combined with burdock as liver tonic.

Mullein
Large wooly mullein leaf is used by herbalists for sore throats, coughs and bronchitis. The smally yellow flowers can be infused in oil to make a remedy for ear aches.

Comfrey
Also known as "knit-bone" the comfrey leaf can be made into a poultice and applied to wounds, scrapes, sprains and even broken bones. Gets mixed reviews regarding internal use, as it may contain toxic compounds.

Chicory
Youngest leaves used to make a salad. Taking a knife or weeding tool, dig underground and cut the root near the top. The white, underground parts of the leaves make an excellent salad that is most tender. The long taproots can be dried and ground into powder for an excellent coffee substitute.

Wild Grape
Wild graps can be made into a jelly, that is even more fragrant and delicious than cultivated grape. The leaves are excellent for making stuffed grape leaves, a recipe originating in the Middle East.

Day Lily
Prized in Chinese cooking, the day lily buds and flowers can be eaten fresh or dried. They can be added to soups, stews, or garnish vegetable dishes or salads.

Milkweed
The only food eaten by monarch butterflies, so we like to keep it well stocked in our yard to attract these beauties.

Wild Raspberry
Leaves taken as a sweet tea are wonderful for menstrual pains, and for toning the female reproductive system. Berries are small, sweet and luscious.

Wild Carrot/Queen Anne's Lace
Seeds of wild carrot are reputed to be a contraceptive. Wild carrot is also a favourite of bees and butterflies.

Read: Stalking the Wild Asparagus, by Euell Gibbons