It is week twenty of our farm wellness boxes and it is our last harvest day. It has been a great farming season and we learned a lot. There were some hard lessons learned and some insightful ones,
This summer was a green tomato summer, which means a colder winter, I see more darkness and lots of rain... Which means start taking your vitamin D NOW, plan hikes in nature through the fall season and winter. Hike when it rains, run when it rains, walk in the rain, do kung fu in the rain and dance in the rain. Embrace the liquid sunshine. Sungaze at the sunsets when the sun is out, take a moment bundle up and watch the cold starry sky. Seek art with community, add color to your winter.
Plan you winter menus to build up your immune system, by adding energizing bone broth, make elderberry syrup, make fire cider, high vitamin C tea, nettle tea and stay away from SUGAR....
Eat organic fermented foods
Get some tinctures made of Elecampane, Oregon grape, echinacea, hawthorn, lemon balm,
Thoughts and talks have been started on new things that we will implement for next year. But, I am also very ready for some much needed rest, reading, knitting, crafting, cooking, more canning, more sleep, jumping into my herbal studies and making healing remedies.
I will also be teaching some herbal classes, I will put together a schedule soon and send it out.
Wellness Box:
Nettle, Kale, swiss chard, brassica family, peppermint, lemon balm, catnip mint, stevia, parsley, sage, rosemary, fennel seeds, hawthorn berries, rosehips, kakai pumpkin, acorn squash, sugar pumpkin, onions, celery, and jerusalem artichokes also called sunchokes.
Rosehips:
Pour 1 cup of boiling water over 2 heaping teaspoons of chopped rose hips. You can use rose hips with or without their seeds. Steep the herbal tea, covered, for 15 minutes and strain. Sweeten the refreshing, slightly sour tea with honey, if desired. Drink the tea lukewarm at bedtime for maximum effectiveness.
You could also make this as a strong infusion and steep it for 8 hours.
Rose hip tea is refreshing, pleasantly tart and contains vitamins A, B, C, E and K, pectin and organic acids. Besides battling colds, the nutrient-rich tea boosts your health in other ways as well. This popular medicinal tea strengthens the body's resistance to infection, reinforces digestive function, combats all kinds of illnesses with fever, flushes out the kidneys and urinary tract and relieves mild rheumatic pain.
When you think of vitamin C, you are most likely to think of grapefruit and oranges. But rose hips, the fruit of the wild rose, have even more vitamin C than do citrus fruits. Rose hips were long known as a food, but only since the mid-twentieth century has their medicinal value as a premier source of the essential vitamin been recognized. The vitamin C content gives rose hip tea its primary benefit, the ability to help prevent and treat colds and flu.
Hawthorn: Make infused honey and Tincture
http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/November08/healingwise.htm
More information on Hawthorn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sOWXQi08T4
This is one of the ways I like to make the Hawthorn Honey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6AG_FlEkfY
Make a tincture of Hawthorn
Stevia, Catnip Mint, Parsley...
Kakai Pumpkin ( eat the hulled seeds) and Sugar Pumpkin (use for desserts)
Jerusalem Artichoke or Sunchoke
Information:
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/food/index.ssf/2011/10/flavor_of_the_week_jerusalem_a.html
http://www.foodwisenw.com/tag/jerusalem-artichoke/
Raw Recipe: fleur de sel, is sea salt
http://www.forkandflower.com/2013/02/raw-jerusalem-artichoke-salad-with-lemon.html
Fennel Seeds:
Fennel Cream:
Use over organic chicken, organic sausage, organic veggies. etc...
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 large shallots, minced
1/2 cup organic dry white wine or organic white wine
1 1/2 cups organic chicken broth
1/2 cup organic whipping cream (Do not use Ultra Pasteurized!)
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium-low. Now add onion and sauté until they are very tender and caramelized, about 40 minutes. Add minced garlic and minced shallots. Cook for about 2 minutes
Add white wine and boil until liquid is reduced to glaze, about 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and whipping cream and boil until reduced to sauce consistency, whisking often, about 5 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
Enjoy!!
Peace to you, enjoy your fall and upcoming winter!
Pictured below: Golden Tree Of Fall, (this is not the sun)
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