|By Steven Martyn|
Every year at the summers peak Megan and I do a round of collecting medicinal and culinary herbs to make our yearly vinegar. This year because of the cooler nights and ample rain the summer’s peak feels like it just happened in the last couple weeks. When collecting I literally move around the land sun-wise collecting all the tasty healing herbs as I go and layering them as a spiral in my willowbasket. Its beauty is beyond words. I’m casting a spell as each herb’s medicine blends in and solidifies those before. It feels like a ritual that both honours the plant’s and deities’ of creation as well as capturing the peak of summer to keep us well through the winter. The smells and tastes that reside in the vinegar always bring me back to the special medicine of that time of year. This year there is thirty three herbs in the mix. A couple of teaspoons a day of this vinegar is tonic for all the bodies’ systems; blood, lymph, digestion and all the organs. We put our herbal vinegar in everything from soups and stir-fries to oatmeal and salad dressing. The incredibly layered complex taste elevates even the most common or bland fair into something to relish! Join us for Herbal Medicine workshop August 23-24 to learn how to make your own, and more!
