July 12th, 2009 - Cattails, Blackberries, Nettle, Red Clover, Dandelion and Sage

Allergy Tea
Today, I experimented with my recipe for allergy tea. It contains nettle, echinacea, red clover, and peppermint. I added dried blackberry to the tea to see what kind of flavor it would give it. I have to admit, I couldn't taste the blackberry flavor much, but it did give it a distinct color similar to black tea rather than green tea. I have yet to find a good use for dried blackberries, so I do not think I will dry them anymore.

Nettle
Ben went and gathered some nettle from the river bank. When he got them home I gathered them up by the stems. Tied them in bunches. Rinsed them over the bathtub and hung them to dry in the pantry. Our house stays about 80 degrees which is perfect for drying herbs by hanging. They need a place with no light at all, so I put them in the pantry.

Cattails
Ben got me some cattails when he was at the river. I've got a place by the gutter drain that I've dug out to collect water. I thought it would be a perfect place for trasplanting cattails. One of my forage goals is to collect some of my favorite foraged plants and grow them in my own backyard.

Red Clover, Dandelion and Sage
After all this, I gathered up some more red clover and dandelions from my yard, which are about done for the year. I also harvested some sage from my herb garden. Everything got washed and set out to dry right away. Herbs do much better if you tend to them immediately after harvesting. I use a dehydrator for the clover, dandelion and sage.