I just finished an amazing weekend with my students talking about plants, the musculoskeletal system, and harvesting and preparing Fire Cider, a folk remedy for the Cold Season.
When Fall rolls around, flus and colds start as we all hunker down inside and share air and consequently, germs. There are many natural ways to keep your body healthy without reaching for those cold and flu 'medicine’ in your local pharmacy store. In fact, these folk remedies work better to support your body, not suppress symptoms and prolong the sickness.
Fire Cider was invented (or reinvented) by Rosemary Gladstar, the Mother of modern herbal medicine, and my recipe is slightly different, but very similar. Many variations are out there, so once you start looking, you will see.
Yesterday the weather was PERFECT for harvesting roots, which is traditionally done in the Fall when the plant’s energy begins to go inward, just like people. As the sun begins its decline on the horizon, and the Fall winds churn and cool the air, I don’t know about you, but I feel like hibernating. Roots harvested during this time have optimal nutrition (or near optimal) and is perfect for the picking. Just like the ripe fruit.
We harvested quite a few roots, but the star of the day was burdock root: Arctium lappa, a biennial plant in the Asteracaea Family grows readily in rich soils and the seeds are often found on the dogs fur, or stuck to your shirt. These sticky burrs are the plant’s hack for seed dispersal.
These monster roots took sometime to harvest. Perseverance and good tools help!
These burdock roots measured about 2 feet long and 2.5 inches wide for reference. I planted several seeds in my garden and it is apparent, they were quite happy!
Other roots were harvested and included Dandelion root, Taraxacum officinale. These roots run deep too, but not as deep as burdock.
I cut the leaves from the root and will save and dry the leaves for tea. The leaves are a diuretic and used for many different medicinal blends for detoxification since they support the kidney’s job of fluid excretion.
Yellow Dock (Rumex crispus) was also harvested along with Bristly Sarsaparilla (Aralia hispida), Solomons Seal (Polygonatum biflorum), and Wild Sarsaparilla (Aralia nuducalis). We added in ginger root, fresh jalapeños from the garden, and garlic as well.
Each root was cut into 1/2 inch pieces and placed in a quart-sized jar. Pour in the raw (with the mother) apple cider vinegar, cap and store in the pantry for about 2 to 3 weeks. Strain the herbs out and reserve the vinegar. Add honey if you want (to taste) and take a swig or two a day. This mineral-rich concoction will contain Calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, selenium, copper, zinc, Vitamin C and other water soluble constituents from the plants like inulin, a complex carbohydrate found in burdock root, a prebiotic that feeds the good bacteria in the gut.
Love making this remedy with the students for many reason, but mostly because they get to be an active part in the whole process of harvest to medicine and experience the plants up close and personal giving them an appreciation of the work it takes to harvest roots, especially burdock! Now they know why it is an expensive plant to purchase in commerce!
Here is my finished product.
And here they are all together.
Recipe:
(One part is about 1/2 cup-ish to fill a quart jar)
1 part each: burdock root, dandelion root, wild sarsaparilla root
.25 parts: yellow dock, solomon’s seal, ginger, garlic
jalapeños to taste. We shared 4 medium-sized peppers for all of us.
Raw apple cider vinegar poured over cut roots to the top of the jar.
Honey to taste: add it when you make it or after you strain it in 2 weeks.
Variations included adding: onions, orange, lemon, horseradish. I have also added turmeric root too in the same proportion as garlic and ginger. You can always add in more of these if you want, but the yellow dock should stay at a smaller part since it can be a laxative. (unless that’s what you are going for!)
Happy Digging!
Sara Woods Kender
sara@sarasherbs.com
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Sacred Tree Herbals
169 Daniel Webster Highway, Unit 1
Meredith, NH 03253
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