I've been making good use of the basic quart jar. The last pickings from a late-bearing elder, Sambucus sp., made up a second batch of tincture with the extra berries going into the freezer. I probably won't need to make elderberry tincture for a few years now.
The golden elixir in the threesome up there is oatstraw, Avena sativa, infusion, something I drink several times a week as a source of vitamins and minerals. I buy oatstraw and other tonic herbs like nettle and red clover by the pound and drink them on a rotating basis. Directions to make infusion here.
Hard to believe but that is one whole cabbage fermenting in the quart jar. I recently attended a program on fermentation and the presenter recommended using Real Brand Orsa salt from natural mineral rock-salt deposits in Utah. That is as close to local as we inlanders (in Colorado) can get, salt-wise. The presenter also said to place a few cabbage leaves on top of the shredded cabbage to act as a barrier during the fermentation process but I forgot to save some leaves so I used kale leaves instead.
Bone broth has been simmering in my kitchen the last few days. Every so often I roast a good-size pasture-raised chicken for dinner and then make bone broth with what remains. I make it Meg's way -- you cook the first go-round with 1 T. salt and 2 T. apple cider vinegar for no longer than 2-3 hours, then strain. Save all the bones, etc. and repeat for another batch -- the same way -- but simmered for at least 12 more hours. Meg even goes a third round but I haven't tried that yet.
I am thinking about what color and stitch to use on my moon cloth for the current moon phase. I want the stitching to reflect the super moon but it just hasn't clicked yet, I'm a little behind.
The prompt for Journal52 Week27 is kindness. The vines around the heart sort of look like elderberries but that wasn't what I was thinking at the time. Some of the best things happen when I don't plan too much.
xo
Hi Peggy,
ReplyDeleteWhy not use to colors of thread for your super moon's path, after all it is a Super Moon!
Thanks for sharing your recipes, I especially want to try the elderberry tonic.
There is something about that almost complete person standing there holding those red shoes that really captures my imagination.
ReplyDeleteIt has been called the blood moon...would a deep red be just too darn obvious and simple? ;)
What is it about jarred up goods that gives such a sense of beauty and security? Love your kindness messages. Just wrote to someone a few days ago that learning to be kind to ourselves is the hardest work of all, I think. You do such a great job of sharing self-care here.
ReplyDeleteFermentation is so beautiful....and oatstraw....must get some oatstraw, nettle and red clover. It's definitely infusion time....after the eye operation that went well, I got sick (about a week later) and spent the last many days sleeping, sneezing, coughing and feeling sad about missing out on a free cottage escape I had planned. It was cold rain here too...now the temperature is rising. Perhaps I will do the same. Meanwhile, my participation in everything has been lax
ReplyDeletePretty stitching. I favor the touch of red too...red shoes.
I wonder if you harvested Indigo enough to share (just wondering)
Making sauerkraut and starting some salve (calendula) are on my to-do list for this weekend!
ReplyDeleteI wish I was as productive and inventive as you are in the garden and kitchen! always an inspiration. But I do make stock, often. Last batch, after cooking a whole bird (several meals, there), then the carcass, I roasted the bones for the third go 'round. My sister's idea and a good one.
ReplyDeleteand BTW in the spirit of being kind to myself, I make the 'wish' statement with admiration and NOT self-condemnation!!! Cindy -- it is one of the hardest things of all to learn!