#foraged tea

I foraged some tea and it tasted yummers so here’s the recipe thing

fermented dried bramble leaves (harvest June)

dried blackcurrants (July)

dried blackcurrant leaves (July)

dried wild strawberry leaves (July)

dried herb Robert leaves and flowers (July)

dried red clover petals (July)

I didn’t measure anything I just got a couple handfuls of each, stuck it in the dehydrator and put in a bit of each until it smelled good lol. It’s super yummers. (This is in Ireland btw, kinda relevant for the ingredients I guess). Just pop in a heaped teaspoon of the tea into hot water, let it stew to your liking and enjoy!

Blackberry tea - it’s made from blackberry leaves, you can forage them at pretty much any time of the year, and it tastes fruity and sweet like blackberries!

Lemon-leaf tea - if you grow a little lemon tree, even from seed, you can take the leaves and make fresh lemon tea, it will taste fresh and lemony!

Violet Leaves - the tea is very mild, herbal and only slightly sweet!

Linden flower tea - it tastes sweet and fruity! Mixed with a bit of lemon it creates extremely tasty summer lemonade experience

Conifer needles like pine, fir, or spruce are both edible and medicinal! Making a tea out of them is an easy way to ingest this tasty and health-beneficial forage, especially in the winter when other plants are sparse.

Types of Conifer Needles to Use for Tea:

*It's so important to properly identify any tree you're wanting to use! Many conifer species are safe to ingest, but not all! The main conifer trees to avoid is the Yew family because they are highly toxic. Use a reliable guide or bring someone knowledgeable along with you so you can sip your tea in confidence.*

Pine Needles:

Great Choices:

Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)

Western White Pine (Pinus monticola)

Red Pine (Pinus resinosa)

Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana)

Most species of pine are safe to use, but there area few varieties to avoid if you're pregnant! There's a chance they could cause miscarriage in large doses.

Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)

Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta)

With that said, ponderosa pine has been safely used medicinally by Indigenous Americans throughout history.

Fir Needles:

As far as my research has shown, all fir trees have edible needles.

Great Choices:

White Fir (Abies concolor)

Grand Fir (Abies grandis)

Noble Fir (Abies procera)

Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea)

Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga spp.) (not a true fir but still really yummy for tea)

Spruce Needles:

As far as my research has shown, all spruce trees have edible needles.

Great Choices:

Blue Spruce (Picea pungens)

Norway Spruce (Picea abies)

Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis)

White Spruce (Picea glauca)

Hemlock Needles:

Not to be confused with poison hemlock, which is a highly toxic plant and not a tree!

All three of the common hemlock trees are edible:

Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)

Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)

Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana)

Other Edible Conifer Needles:

Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)

Conifer Needle Tea Recipe

Properly identify and forage your conifer needles.

Strip or snip the needles off the branch. If the needles are very long you can cut them into smaller pieces.

Place a spoonful of needles at the bottom of a mug or into a tea strainer if you have one.

Pour boiling water over the needles and let it steep for about 5 minutes.

Enjoy! You can add other herbs, spices, or sweeteners to the recipe as you desire. Cinnamon is a great choice!

This tea is packed with vitamin C. Most conifer needles also help with coughs, relieve chest congestion, and aid with respiratory ailments. Conifer needles also have pain-relieving and antibacterial properties! Brew some for comfort, healing, and relaxation. As always happy foraging and STAY SAFE!

I Brewed My Backyard. You Won’t Believe What Happened Next!

What’s On My Mind Today? Sometimes, inspiration literally falls at your feet. After writing about pinecones and the pineal gland, I found myself staring at the towering Douglas fir in my backyard. A branch had fallen, loaded with fragrant pine needles. Curiosity (and a little caffeine deprivation) kicked in. Could I turn these needles into tea? Spoiler alert: Yes, I could! And oh, what a…

Wild Harvest Tea

Notions: 1 cup Ceylon black tea, small handful dried peaches, small handful dried green crab apples, the petals of 2 dried marigold blossoms. 

First rinse your green crab apples and then cut the fruit away from the core and stem in a square shape so you are left with four pieces. For this recipe you will only need 2 crab apples (personally I like to dry in large quantities and then ration out over the winter), once you have your apple pieces place them in a single layer in your dehydrator trays for 24-36 hours until they are very dry and no moisture remains on your fingertips when you pinch them. Drying fresh peaches is much more intensive so I recommend this tutorial. Marigolds can dry along side either the crab apples or the peaches, they usually are finished after only 12 hours. 

The blending process can begin when all of your components are dried and gathered on a clean, dry work space. When blending tea, using weighted measurements is ideal, but for ease of use I’ve used standard kitchen measurements. First, add 1 cup of Ceylon black tea to a large bowl, then throw in your handful of dried peaches and dried crabapple, exactly how much is up to you, and then top it all off with your dried marigold petals. Thoroughly blend with your hands or a large spoon until all elements are incorporated. Store in a glass container with a very tight screw lid and allow the flavors to meld together for at least 24 hours. This is also a processing failsafe for your dried fruit, if any parts have been incorrectly dried condensation will appear on the inside of your glass and you will need to try again.