ChokeCherry Find

My husband came home from work with a bagful of chokecherries he picked so we had to figure out something to do with them. The most obvious use of chokecherry is as a syrup to be used in the winter for coughs (as well as being delicious on ice cream, pancakes, drinks or anywhere else you would use a syrup). Typically choke cherries are very bitter and astringent in taste, but these are actually very sweet; possibly because they were growing by a stream and getting more water. Chokecherries are very high in ellagic acid. Since I have been reading lately of the benefits of ellagic acid in skin care I wanted to find some use for these fruits for skin, perhaps a face mask.

Face Mask

Mix

3 tablespoons chokecherry juice

1 tablespoon bentonite clay

2 teaspoons avocado oil

Mix to a nice consistency and smear on your face. Now enjoy a cup of tea while the mask sets on your face. After 10 minutes or so use a wet washcloth to wipe the mask off your face.

Chokecherry Juice

To make a juice put chokecherries in a saucepan to fill about 2/3 full. Fill with water almost to the level of the top of the cherries. Bring water to a gentle boil for 30 minutes or so. Put cherries through some type of press such as used to make jam. I use a device used to make applesauce. Allow juice to drain into a separate bowl while skins and seeds remain behind.

Chokecherry Syrup

For chokecherry syrup I mixed 3 cups of juice with about 3 cups of sugar and simmered that for about 30 minutes. This produced a very thick syrup that would work great for pancakes. For a cough syrup I will use 3 cups of juice with 1 1/2 sugar and also add a few tablespoons of vodka to that as well. The lower amount of sugar might not be enough of a preservative. You could also freeze this until you want to use it.

The seeds however contain poisonous glycosides (hydrocyanic acid) and should not be eaten by humans or animals; unless cooked or dried first.

Chokecherries are native to much of the US and were used extensively by Native Americans for a number of health complaints. These include as a poultice to stop bleeding and to treat skin sores and burns, as a tea or infusion for stomach cramps, fever, diarrhea and dysentery. Both the fruit and the bark are used medicinally. The cherries also a a good food source for both humans and animals. Chokecherry jam and pies are quite common and chokecherries were an important ingredient of the pemmican made by many Native Americans as a dried food for winter.

The purple color of the cherries is said to make a good purple-red dye. This is something I might save some berries for to try dying some mohair. Last summer I planted quite a few chokecherry bushes so by next summer I may be loaded with cherries.

Here is a good write up on chokecherries for more information.

http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/doc/cs_prvi.doc

Elderberry Syrup for Colds/Flu

Since I am spending today sick with a cold I thought I'd share with you my recipe for Elderberry syrup; a must for cold and flu relief.

1 cup elderberries (I made this at summer's end so used fresh elderberries, but you could use dried elderberries if you add a bit more water)
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar (or substitute honey)
Simmer for about an hour with a lid on to prevent evaporation.
Strain the mixture to remove seeds. This can be done a number of ways, I used a food mill, like the kind you would use for applesauce. This has a blade that circles around forcing small particles through pores in the bottom while keeping seeds and skins above.
Pour juice into a pint jar, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice and one ounce of vodka. Put the lid on the syrup and refrigerate until needed.

This syrup is a very delicious way to enjoy the benefits of elderberries. It can be used as a cough syrup or throat soother. Elderberry has been used by many people for some time to treat colds and flu. Medical research has documented that elderberry (Sambucus) will decrease the duration and severity of the flu (J Int Med Res. 2004 Mar-Apr;32(2):132-40). Elderberry will both stimulate the human immune system and inhibit neuraminidase, an enzyme used by the influenza virus to enter and infect human cells. These actions combined put it high on my list of herbs to have on hand for winter health.

Another thing I do when I feel a cold coming on is use my product "Thyma-flu". This is a combination of elderberries, thyme, echinacea, peppermint and horehound. I make this as a dried preparation so that you can add your own alcohol to it; vodka, brandy or rum. After setting for 2 weeks so that the herbs infuse into the alcohol I take 1-2 teaspoons of the alcohol 2-3 times a day at the first sign of a cold or flu. If taken soon enough, this will often stop a cold or flu before it gets a hold. You can purchase this mixture on my website at: http://sagescript.com/products.htm. It is great to have on hand before you need it.


A food mill is a must have tool for an herbalist and one wanting to learn to be self sufficient.

St. Pat's Day and mint syrup

We woke up to a few inches of snow on St. Patrick’s Day today. It should be just what those dormant plants need to get started though. We’ve just desodded a small area for our vegetable garden so as soon as this snow melts I will be planting my peas and lettuce.

A few weeks ago I bought a small mint plant from my local nursery so that I could have something green in the house. Now it’s grown to a usable size. Last night we made a mint syrup by first mixing a simple syrup (2 parts sugar, 1 part water) and put about a tablespoon of fresh chopped mint leaves into the syrup after it boiled; leaving them there while it cooled. This made a very nice syrup to use in a drink. We mixed about one part syrup with 3 parts soda water and lots of ice. Its also good with a squirt of lemon juice. This is our St. Patricks Day drink this year; well at least for the morning because I am sure we will have some Irish whiskey come evening!

In honor of St. Patrick’s day here is one of my favorite blessings:

Deep peace of the running waves to you.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep peace of the smiling stars to you.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the watching shepherds to you.

Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.

Old Irish Prayer

May Saints. Brighid, Brendan and Patrick guide you on your way.