Hot Tea, Friendship, Green Wisdom

I enjoyed a glorious morning with my friend and student, Ruth. We sipped tea and reviewed the many herbal Medicines that she's been working with and created a few on the spot.

We started by making a simple herbal syrup using elderberries, astragalus root and … cardamom pods. The cardamom was a stroke of brilliance straight from Ruth. We used:

1 ounce Elderberries
½ ounce astragalus root
½ cardamom pods
To this we added about 3 cups of water, brought it to the boil, turned it down to a slow simmer, covered, for about a half an hour, then shut it off to let it steep while we worked on other things. We strained the liquid, which measured about 1½ cups and added to that 1½ cups of cane sugar. We returned it to the heat, brought it back to the boil and let it simmer, uncovered, until all the sugar was dissolved and the liquid was clear and glossy. When it cooled it was funneled into bottles. We tasted some too. It is divine. We both said so - at the same time. This wellness syrup, great for the immune system, can be used like any syrup, on oatmeal or pancakes, ice cream or fruit, in a plain or sparkling water or tea. Or, by the teaspoon at the hint of that "first tickle" or anytime.

We made a calendula lanolin unguent by, quite simply, beating tincture of calendula into anhydrous lanolin until it wouldn't take up any more. This is great topical treatment and I love it for treating my stubborn cuticles with some softening love.

We then warmed some local honey and mixed and kneaded slippery elm powder into it until it formed a stiff dough, rolled the dough into "snakes," cut it into little pieces, and then rolled each piece to create slippery elm pastilles. These are great for sore throats and digestive support. These will sit, covered in cotton for a few days to thoroughly dry and cure before jarring up.

Hot tea, friendship, green wisdom … yeah … that's what I made today.

Peace.