Mulberry Leaf Tea

A friend of mine, Alex, has started a new weekly event, called the Red Tent Tea Party, wherein she asks friends of different performing capacities to perform in Trinity Bellwoods Park under the tent she's building, and she serves foraged tea to go with it.  Someone told her that mulberry tea was a thing and she wanted to take some cutting from my tree.  In looking it up, it's been used in traditional chinese medicine for years for a variety of things, and is even now being sold for huge amounts of money in David's Tea! Who knew!  Time to dry the cuttings off my tree!

Drying Chamomile

There was a massive chamomile plant that somehow migrated into my community garden plot.  It was getting all tangled in my beans so I pulled it and brought it home with me to dry.  I plucked each individual flower off the stems and threw the stems into my compost.  I planted the one big root system into my garden at home–I'm thinking I may build up the small bed beside my walkway into a big perennial herb garden, for lots of tea! 

 I lay out the flowers on a baking sheet to dry. I don't have screens so I'll have to shake the tray every few days to ensure even drying. Voila! Tea to be!

Linden!

I've learned, it's the time for linden foraging!
http://www.yougrowgirl.com/2013/07/03/foraging-for-linden-flowers-giveaway/
Linden is in season and I'm planning on heading out to forage on Sunday morning with some friends to have linden around for tea during the year. There is something so empowering that happens every time I forage in the city–I encourage anyone to do so! Even just once (to start!) It will change your perspective on our food system, your eating habits, and the space around you. Dramatic, I know, but really quite an incredible, empowering, grounding experience once you process what is happening when you pick your own food in a city that has starving and homeless people in it. The capacity that a city has to feed itself–in part, through urban fruit and nut trees. Stunning!

Nettle Tea

I put my dried nettle into a jar yesterday and decided to make a pot of tea for my somewhat unhappy tummy...  Instead of just steeping it for 10 minutes like regular herbal tea, it's best to boil the leaves, covered, for 10 minutes (I'm not sure why, it's what I was told by friends who do the same...  I realize I'm more folky than I used to be, listening to a lot of information passed on from experience in addition to info learned in that book-learnin' place...)

 I took the boiled nettle and added, chopped up, it to a soup I made.

The soup was delicious!  I started by frying up a bunch of onion, celery, carrot, potato, and garlic that I had hanging around, which needed to be used.  I added some cayenne, lovage, tahini, cilantro seed, salt, fresh ground pepper, and the nettle, in addition to some mushroom and broccoli broth that I had in my fridge from prior soup-making and some regular organic chicken broth and voila!  Delicious soup!

A Beautiful Sight

After collecting a bunch of lovage (left), sage (top), and mint (bottom), I decided to dry the majority. Lovage is a great perennial herb that I never knew about until now and it's one of my new favourites!  Its a very pungent celery/parsley-like flavour. Sage is great for cooking or for a throat soothing tea, and mint tea is one of my go-to's for digestive tonic. 





I also cut a bunch of nettle (hanging far right) to make into a cleansing tea in the future. One of my new favourite sights!

Dandelion Root Tea/Coffee

In starting my second plot the other day, I collected some dandelion root that I'm going to try and roast to use for tea or as a coffee substitute.  I didn't collect much because I didn't know if I'd like it.  But I keep hearing about how its great for digestion and full of nutrients so I'm going to give it a go.

Here's a great resource I found:

http://rosesprodigalgarden.org/articles/how%20to%20make%20roasted%20dandelion%20coffee.html

Sore Throat Tea

I wore up today with a super sore throat and difficulty swallowing.  I made tea with it and have been drinking it all day.  Sage is a cooling herb and somewhat anti-inflammatory and it seems to be working it's magic pretty well. 

Other things I've been doing to help speed away this cold:
–chopping up cloves of garlic and swallowing them raw with a little water (at night and in the morning. This is an effective deterrent before getting sick but since I wasn't resting and was going full throttle the last few days, my body couldn't heal itself)
–taking a tablespoon of half honey half fresh lemon juice as a sort of throat-coat (also good as a replacement cough medicine)
–And sleeping as much as possible! Taking lots of naps!!  Being kind to ones body and taking the subway instead of biking. Getting a ride instead of walking.  Cutting down on active forms of yoga. This is the most important.

All the tea and garlic and vitamin c in the world aren't going to heal you if you don't slow down.  What generally works for me if I feel an itch in my throat coming on and the hints of a cold coming, lots of vitamin c, fluids, garlic (as above), echinacea and a good nights sleep.  It usually kicks the cold before it even shows up. My body reminds me of this very dramatically when I am going too fast and forget to listen. Thank you dear body.

Drying Organic Carrot Tops

Totally edible.
Totally full of carrot-y deliciousness (when they're fresh).
Dry out the tops, put them in a jar, add them to salad for a little carrot flavour throughout the season if you can't eat them enough raw
(If you don't even eat them raw, do it!  Add them anywhere you would add spinach)