Let’s Celebrate Spring Flowers!

We sprout our roots

Spring has come!

We stretch and grow

Spring has come!

We open our buds

Spring has come!

We smile at the sun

Spring has come!

.

Inspired by a Waldorf song by Jean Warren: “Flowers Growing”

As we move through spring, hopefully you have had the opportunity to notice and welcome the many flowers that accompany this energizing season. They grow high and low as they nourish the pollinators and prepare to spread their seeds.

For this late spring post I will share a simple tea recipe to help you incorporate some flower joy into your life. 

There will be a few foraging tips at the end, so be sure to check those out if you’re new to foraging.

Flower Power Tea

Makes one half gallon

Ingredients:

1) A large handful or up to a cup of loosely packed flowers

• Whatever edible flowers you have available will work, experimenting with different flavors can be fun!
• Here are some of my favorites: 

-Violet (leaves can be used too, mild flavor), it’s cooling, soothing, and anti-inflammatory

-Dandelion (flowers are slightly bitter and sweet, leaves are very bitter but can also be used), great to detox the body, promote digestion, heal the liver, and highly nutritious.

-Yarrow (perfume-like aroma and flavor, leaves can also be used), it’s anti-bacterial, astringent, and improves digestion. Note: you only need a small amount of this potent flower; a small palm-full should do if mixing with other flowers.

-Lilac (just use flowers, perfume-like aroma and flavor), calming, astringent, full of antioxidants (anti-inflammatory)

2) Water

3) Optional: wildflower honey to taste

Two ways to make it!

Method 1, Hot Steep - Put flowers into half gallon mason jar or heat proof vessel of choice

Boil water, let cool slightly, then pour over flowers to fill the container

Steep for 5 minutes

Strain into cups, add honey if desired, and Enjoy!

You can also chill this tea and enjoy it as an iced tea for 3-4 days. Up to one week if you add lemon and remove the loose flowers.

Method 2, Sun Steep - Put flowers into half gallon mason jar or clear vessel of choice and cover with water

Place sealed container outside in direct sunlight for 3-5 hours until the water has a deep tea color and aroma

This method may have a different flavor from the slower steep time

Strain into cups, add honey if desired, and Enjoy!

You can also chill this tea and enjoy it as an iced tea for 3-4 days. Up to one week if you add lemon and remove the loose flowers.

Both of these methods will also work for dried flowers if you don’t have any wild near to you, as well as for other teas, wild plants, and seasons.

Some foraging notes:

Identification: The flowers I selected are common and easy to identify.

However, if you aren’t 100% confident in how to identify a particular plant, it’s always best to verify it from at least  two sources.

Reputable sources could be an identification or guide-book such as: The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer, Wildflowers and Weeds: A Guide in Full Color

by Booth Courtenay, or from another human with more experience.

 

Ethical Harvest: The flowers I mentioned tend to grow in abundance and are sometimes considered weeds.

Still I like to mention a helpful rule of wild harvesting is to take only one third or less of the plant population if it spreads easily and is in abundance, or one fifth or less for plants that are less common, heavily harvested, or not well established.

Keep in mind the role the plant plays in the ecosystem for pollinators, other animals/plants/humans, etc.

 

Safety/Cleanliness: Only harvest in places you know to the best of your ability to be free of pesticides and herbicides.

It can also be helpful to rinse flowers if they have dirt or bugs on them.

 

*Gratitude: I always like to give thanks to whatever is relevant for me before the harvest. 

This could look like silently or vocally thanking the earth, thanking the plant, and/or thanking god.

It can also look like thanking the neighbor who’s yard you gathered dandelions from by offering them some of the tea, spreading the seeds of the plant(s) you harvest either that day or later in the year, watering or caring for the plant/earth/people involved in some other way.

 

I feel it’s important to take part in an attitude and cycle of reciprocity so that we can all (plants, animals, microbes, elements, etc.) thrive abundantly together.

 

Happy Harvesting!

Odell

Read more articles by Odell on her blog!