Preparing, Drying & Storing Herbs and Wild Plants

The proper preparation and storage of herbs and medicinal plants is critical to obtaining the most benefit from the desired remedy.  While some of the methods of preparation and storage may seem complex, once you have undertaken and completed your first round of preparation, you will find that the process is quite simple and logical.

Three tools that you will find invaluable as you become more dedicated to “eating wild” are a juicer, dehydrator and drying screen for your harvested plants..

There are five primary methods of preparing herbs for medicinal use, plus an arsenal of alternative preparation & delivery methods.  The five primary methods are infusion, decoction, tincture, extraction & distillation.  Each method offers specific advantages. 

By far, the easiest way to store many of your harvested plants simply is to dry them. However, freezing, refrigerating, canning and preparations of jams and jellies often also are viable alternatives.

Herbs are dried in a variety of ways, depending on the part of the plant used. 

For leaves (particularly delicate leaves) and flowers, use a fiberglass screen on which the leaves are loosely arranged to allow for air movement.  Place the screen in an area where sunlight is minimal, yet where there is moderate air movement.  Turn the leaves at least two to three times over several days, until they are completely dry. For roots and seeds, herbs can be dried in direct sunlight. Where the entire plant (or stems, leaves and flowers) can be stored, hang the plant in a warm, dry shaded area for several days.  For thicker, sugar-rich crops like most berries, use of a dehydrator is recommended to prevent the growth of mould.

Many wild herbs can be frozen, either in ice cubes, or by adding a small amount of water to the herbs and placing in freezer bags.   Most herbs can be safely stored in the crisper of the refrigerator for up to a week.

Root crops and other low acid, high-density plants can be canned, by blanching for three minutes and sealing in sterilized jars (in the same way as vegetables are canned).

Jams and jellies all follow a couple of basic recipe patterns, with the only variation being the type of jam being made.  Moisture-rich jellies require slightly less liquid to be added, while pectin and gelatine provide the thickening agent.  Apple juice, stevia (an herb) or sugar provide much of the sweetener.

Wild plants (and domestic ones) that are intended for use as medicinal remedies should be prepared with the intended use in mind.

Infusions are the simplest methods of garnering the oils from an herb.   Infusions are prepared by combining a small amount (1-2 teaspoons or 10 grams) of dried herb per cup of boiling water.  If using fresh herbs, double the amount of herb used.  Do not boil the herb in the water.  Instead, pour the water over the herb and allow it to stand.  Infuse, or “steep” the mix for 10 minutes and strain.  If steeped too long, the infusion will taste bitter.  Be sure not to use metal pots or containers for storage, or even for infusing, for safety and taste.

Infusions are best used immediately, with herbs stored as a dry product until required. Because of their short and simple preparation time, there is no need for advanced preparation in a carrier. 

Decoctions are prepared in much the same way as an infusion.  However, since decoctions are used for harder herbs, plant stems, roots, seeds and bark, the plant must be exposed to boiling water for a prolonged period (typically 20-45 minutes) to extract the vital ingredients, the herb is placed in the water and boiled, rather than steeped.  This tends to result in a more bitter taste. The ratio of water to herb in decoctions generally averages about 20 to 1.

Although the water must be a boiling temperature (212F or 100C), it need not be a rolling boil.  Instead, simmer the mix for the required period of time.  Once the herb has decocted, strain the liquid, discarding the solids.  Drink by mixing with a small amount of sweetener.  Decoctions may be stored in a refrigerator for up to a week, but are best used immediately.

While prepared in much the same way as decoctions and infusions, tinctures use alcohol to extract the essential ingredients from the plants being processed. 

A second, and critical, difference between tinctures and infusions is that the solvent alcohol is not heated.  Alcohol has an extremely low flash point, and serious injury can occur if the alcohol is heated beyond its flash point.

It is imperative to note that tinctures use ethyl alcohol, not wood or methyl alcohol.  Any product taken internally must not use methyl alcohol, as this type of alcohol can cause blindness or even death.  Although some tinctures are applied topically or externally, it is best to always use ethyl alcohol for tinctures.

Pure, non- denatured ethyl alcohol is not readily available.  However, and alternative is to use vodka or other high-alcohol-percentage unflavored beverage mixed 3:2 with water, for tinctures.

Mix seven to nine cups of fresh herbs (or 4 cups of dried herb) and with blend 4-41/2 cups of water/alcohol mix.  If using fresh herbs, lightly crush the plant to assist in breaking the essential oils free from the plant.  Place the herbs in a ceramic or glass container and cover with the liquid. Place a lid on the container and store in a dark, cooler place for up to a month.  Shake or stir the mix daily. At the end of the month, strain the liquid into a dark glass or ceramic container with a lid.  These tinctures may be stored for between six months to 2 years.

Oils and essential ingredients in herbs may be removed through simple extraction (the other primary methods also are extractions, using carriers or solvents).  Simple extraction involves crushing the herb using a mortar and pestle, a small commercial cold press, a centrifuge system or hammer mill.  Generally, simple extraction involves quantities and equipment beyond the access of most home herbalists.

Distillation involves evaporation of water/herb mixes in much the same way as a brewer makes home brew.  The process involves mixing the herbs and water (or herbs and alcohol), and, using a closed or open loop system, boiling off the liquid at a controlled temperature until a concentrate of the herb remains.  For alcohol distillation, the temperature is 70C (158F).  At this temperature, only the alcohol will evaporate, leaving a syrupy mix of herbs and liquid.  For water distillation, the water is evaporated until a minimal amount of concentrate remains, which is then filtered or strained and stored.

Distillation requires equipment that is not readily available to the home herbalist, and, in some jurisdictions, is not legal to own or use.

Oil infusions generally are for external use only. However, if a more moderate essential oil or an herb that is less volatile or potentially dangerous is combined with edible oils such as olive, almond, sunflower, or canola oil, the infusion may be used internally in moderate doses.

Oil infusions can be prepared using the same method as water infusions, with the exception that the time to steep or simmer the infusion should be at least 5-6 times that of simple water infusions.  Oil infusions can be prepared by letting the mixes stand, in a warm area (in a dark glass container), for several months.  Once readied, move to a cooler, darkened area.  Note that food-grade oils deteriorate, or sour, relatively quickly, if stored in direct light or warm areas.

Liniments are made using alcohol or oil and a warming herb, such as cayenne, cloves, eucalyptus, ginger, peppermint or spearmint, marjoram (tarragon) or wintergreen.  The advantage of using alcohol is its tendency to cool the skin as it evaporates, providing the hot/cold effect employed in various commercial muscle relief treatments.  Oils used must be vegetable oils, to facilitate absorption into the skin.

Herbal wines and vinegars are easy to prepare, and make great decorative pieces.  Simply mix the required herbs (about 1:4 herb to liquid) with white, balsamic, rice or red wine vinegar and store in a bottle.  If making wine, add a preferred amount of herbs to a red wine.  For mints and delicate herbs, use a white wine.  Leave at least two weeks before using.

More bitter or harsh tasting medicinal herbs are often prepared as a syrup, or distilled & boiled to make candies.  Sugar acts as a great preservative, and, as espoused in Mary Poppins, a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.

Add 2 cups of brown sugar or honey to 2 cups of the herb infusion or decoction, heat on low until almost the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens, then pour into a clean, thick glass container and store in the refrigerator.

To prepare creams, use oil, beeswax and water. Add one cup of olive or almond oil to 50 grams of beeswax in a double boiler.  Add 50 grams of fresh herb and a few tablespoons of water.  Mix and simmer for 20 minutes.  Strain through a fine sieve and store in sterilized jars with lids.

If making an ointment, use petroleum jelly or baby oil instead of vegetable oil, and simmer until the herbs break down.

For a lotion, blend  3 ounces (84 g) of carrier vegetable oil (olive, grape seed, almond), 2 ounces (56 g) melted cocoa butter and two ounces of the prepared herb infusion and store in ceramic or dark-colored glass containers.  Vegetable oils will “sour” if left in light or heat for prolonged periods, so be sure to prepare only enough to be used in two weeks. Epsom salt blends provide the therapeutic element of muscle relaxation, while oil blends provide skin softening & protective layering.  Oatmeal bath is often used to treat burn patients when damaged skin is being removed, or to soothe pain.  On the other hand, oil baths, particularly made using oil infusion or essential oil concentrate, eliminate the particulate found in dry herb. To make oil blends, simply add the required amount of essential oil to an absorbable oil carrier, such as almond, grape extract or olive oils.  To make Epsom salt blends, grind the mix of dried herbs and Epsom salts together in a food grinder or blender until fine. 

Compresses involve using a cloth soaked in hot herb infusions, tinctures or decoctions, applied directly to a wound or affected area.

Poultices involve chopped, crushed or powdered herbs boiled in water to make a pulp.  The pulp is then wrapped in a thin, porous cloth and applied to the injured area.  Apply a light layer of cream or oil to the wound to prevent sticking of the poultice, if necessary.  Common poultices from pioneer days included mustard poultices applied to the chest for colds, or common plantain or garlic poultices applied to injuries and sprains.

Fiddlehead Ferns Offer Music For Your Tastebuds With

It’s spring in the moist woodlands of North America when fiddlehead ferns begin to unleash their soft green tongues like a frog set to strike at an insect.  These greens are one of the most tender and juicy wild harvest foods, available worldwide. 

Fiddleheads in North America commonly are associated with the wet east coast or west coast rainforests, yet varieties can be found in abundance across the continent.  Simply put, the fiddlehead fern is not really a type of fern of its own, but a general description of the new growth shoots for all of the fern family. 

Like morels and other short-season spring delicacies, fiddleheads are available for brief days each year. They appear through the soft leaf beds of wet woodlands and shady waterway edges as soon as the ground begins to warm, quickly unfurl their fronds and rush toward full growth in a week or so.  Unlike morels, they do not hide from sight, but form the lush carpets and undergrowths of many forests and thickets.

Two varieties of ferns – Bracken and American Royal – grow across North America, with the Ostrich fern found mostly on the east coast. Harvest them by clipping the uncurled sprouts.  These wild plants are havens for small insects, dust and pollutants, and should be washed thoroughly before eating.  While many instances of mild illness have been reported (mostly due to improper washing or cooking), there are very few reports of allergic or toxic reactions.

Because fiddleheads are neither a soft leafy vegetable or crisp root-like consistency, they are suitable for a variety of cooking styles and recipes.  Simply sautee the greens in butter and a dusting of garlic, pepper, basil for a delightful side dish.  Alternatively, boil the greens and serve with a little thyme. Top angel hair pasta with steamed fiddleheads spiced with paprika, thyme, cayenne and onion powder.  Dash olive oil over dish and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Fiddleheads can be a feature ingredient for a number of salads, used as a soup ingredient, served with a lightly-cooked root crop mix, breaded in oat bran, flax flour and corn meal prior to deep frying, or even pickled in brine after blanching.

One of the most exhilarating wild harvest meals that I have enjoyed in early spring began with a salad of fiddlehead, dandelion and strawberry leaf, doused with raspberry vinaigrette.  The main course included boiled and buttered cattail root (potato-like consistency), fried dandelion roots, boiled fiddlehead greens, morels served with hamburgers blended with ground common plantain seed (harvested the prior year and dried) and freshly harvested horseradish root, grated and mixed with vinegar.

Spring is a season of opportunity for the lover of wild foods, and the opening act of that season is fiddlehead greens!

Mountain Ash Great Winter Sustenance Food

As winter encroaches on a wildcrafter’s three seasons of plenty, it is easy to assume that there is nothing that we can harvest from nature in late fall and winter.  That is far from true.  In other articles, I have referred to cattails, goldenrod, tansy horsetail, white willow, spruce buds and rosehips, to name a few of the remnants of the fall harvest.

One of the most obvious, easily harvested in the wild and domesticated crops  and long-lasting foods is the mountain ash berry.

Many people believe mountain ash berries to be poisonous, or, at least, toxic.  There is little evidence to support this belief, and an abundance of evidence of people harvesting and using this bitter berry frequently, with no ill effect.  However, that is not to say that some people do not experience adverse effects from consumption of mountain ash.  There are people who can not tolerate the innocuous morel mushroom, after all!

As with most of the fruits and vegetables with bright colouration, the bright reddish-orange mountain ash berries are rich in anti-oxidants and vitamin C.  This makes them fantastic survival foods in winter, since the berries cling to the branches months after the snow is waist-deep.  Unless you have raccoons and bears in your area, many animals do not touch them.  However, many winter birds do rely on these fruits for sustenance.

I have used mountain ash berries in bannock, with pemmican, and as part of a trail mix.  However, the berry has an almost acidic and bitter flavour, and requires the company of sweeter fruits and nuts to offset its overpowering taste in these mixes.  Mountain ash, like saskatoons, is an excellent garnish or spice for beef and harsh, wild meats.  A few in a vegetable soup provides a good flavour balance.  Yet, I admit that my favourite use of mountain ash is for slightly less acceptable purposes: the making of wine.  This is not a wine for the faint-of-heart, though, since it probably has a sweetness rating below zero!

More domestic users of the abundant berry use mountain ash to make jams and jellies.  Like chokecherry, cooking mountain ash does modify its extreme taste, and a mountain ash jelly is an excellent morning treat.  The British have dozens of great recipes for this tree treat.

One of the difficulties in handling mountain ash is that the berries grow in clusters, and, when you pick them, you pick stems and all.  This requires careful culling and cleaning before use, unless you enjoy picking bits of wood out of your teeth!

From late November to early March, mountain ash berries stand out against the white background, almost daring you to pick them.  Dare, and you will enjoy a bountiful harvest, offering a variety of culinary uses.

Hawthorn A Great Survival Food

As autumn sets in, the harvest yield of wild plants and foods begins its steep decline. However, fall is one of the best times for gathering of many of the berries and roots that can be stored over winter. One of the most beneficial, yet least tasty berries is the hawthorn.
Hawthorn shrubbery is not native to North America, arriving on this continent with the early European settlers. Like dandelion and horseradish as well as many varieties of sparrows, hawthorns are opportunistic, quickly flourishing in this climate and environment. Often, like horseradish, hawthorn can be found growing near old homestead sites.
It is a hardy shrub, growing ten to fifteen feet in height, but producing ample sharp thorns that make harvest tenuous and risky. Early pioneers, turning adversity into opportunity, used those protective thorns as sewing needles, and records show that they were even used to suture deep wounds. My mother, on one occasion, used the thorns when stitching up the cavity in our Christmas turkey.
Like many of the staple emergency supplies used by North American natives and Canadian explorers, hawthorn offers little in the way of culinary delight, yet it has found its way into many dishes and meals, because of its nutritional value.
Berries are dried (preferably in the open air and shade), for use throughout the deep winter months. For most effective use, those dried seed pods are ground, using a small coffee bean grinder. The result is a rather gritty tea base that needs to be filtered, using a cheesecloth (tea ballers let a lot of the powdered residue through, as they do with rose hips).
The most common use of hawthorn is as a tea or infusion. For improved flavour, add ½ teaspoon of ginger powder (or let a piece of crystallized piece of ginger steep with the hawthorn) and one teaspoon of honey to each cup of berry tea.
Another recipe for hawthorn herbal tea is to mix two teaspoons of hawthorn berries, one teaspoon of yarrow, two tablespoons of horse chestnut and one to two teaspoons of ginger to six cups of boiled water. This blend is excellent for treatment of varicose veins, and is believed to strengthen veins and capillaries.
Some herbalist parents use rooibos, chamomile, ginkgo, lemon balm or hawthorn to treat hyperactivity in their children. It is recommended, though, that you consult with a physician prior to implementing any such treatment.
Bad breath and mild stomach conditions are relieved by using an infusion of hawthorn, fennel, ginger and boiled water.
I have found that one of the best preventive combination of herbs for my regular gout condition is a mix of celery seed, nettle and hawthorn. When dried, I have ground and sprinkled them on salad, but most frequently make a concentrated infusion, then mix the tea with cherry juice.
A First Nations friend of mine swears that hawthorn also is effective to repair fatigued and strained muscles, and has been successfully used to treat sprained ankles, and to reduce hypertension.
Regardless of the many claims of healing powers attributed to hawthorn, it provides excellent nutritional benefit, particularly in winter months. It is high in vitamin C, and is a phenomenal survival food for winter country hikers. Commonly, as a result, hawthorn was used, along with dried saskatoons or blueberries, rose hips and even mountain ash (another non-native to Canada’s prairies) in pemmican recipes, carried by couriers du bois and natives on winter excursions.