Glad to be here

Greetings all. I am glad to be here. To find an online women's community that speaks to and grapples with the issues of today. How refreshing. I am an herbalist working in the wise woman tradition. I am interested in creating women's earth centered space and hope to use my journal to share some of the wisdom that has come my way. I am also looking forward to hearing from others on their Earthways Journey.

One of my favorite things to say to my herbal students is nourish, nourish, nourish. If you remember nothing else from your time here with me, I want you to remember to nourish. Nourishing your body, your mind, your relationships, your community, your connection to the earth, your connection to yourself and to life itself. This is the core of speaking your truth, to find the deep wisdom inside. From an herbal perspective on of the first places to start is to drink nourishing herbal infusions. Below is a recipe and suggestion for infusions that deeply nourish.

Enjoy!
Linda Conroy
www.moonwiseherbs.com

Nourishing Herbal Infusions

Creating nourishing herbal infusions is easy and fun!! For certain herbs we are looking for the nutritive qualities of the plant ie vitamins and minerals. These nutrients “live” behind the cell wall of the plant and release themselves only after steeping dried (drying makes the cell wall more fragile) plant material for 4-8 hours. Flowers can be steeped for 4 hours and leaves as well as roots for 8 hours.

The essential or volatile oils as well as vitamin C are on the outside of the cell wall and are readily made available in water after 5-15 minutes. Tea can be made with fresh plant material. For example chamomile tea will only be steeped for 5-10 minutes. Steeped too long and the tea becomes bitter-have you ever had this experience? If you have you know what I mean. The reason for the bitterness is that the water begins breaking down the cell wall and releasing bitter alkaloids. In small quantities this is fine and will assist in promoting digestion, but if you are looking for a sweet relaxing beverage you will only want to steep your herbs with volatile oils for 5-15 minutes.

My favorite infusions herbal infusions are Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioca), Oatstraw (Avena sativa), Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) and and Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)

To make a nourishing herbal infusion:

1. Boil Water (1 quart for every ounce of herb)




2. Place one ounce of herb (for each quart of water) in a tea pot, fresh press or canning jar




3. When the water boils pour the water over the herb (if you are using a canning jar place a butter knife in the jar to act as a conduit-the knife will absorb some of the heat and keep the jar from breaking)




4. Put a lid on the container and set aside for 4-8 hours




5. After 4-8 hours strain the herb and enjoy!!!




6. You can store infusions in the refrigerator for 2-3 days after which they will start to spoil Infusions are nutrient rich and become food –if they spoil feed them to your plants!!!




7. . You can drink infusions warmed, iced or sweetened!! You can also incorporate them into your diet as a soup base!!