365Caws is now in its 16th year of publication. If I am unable to post daily, I hope readers who love the natural world and fiberarts will seize those days to read the older material. Remember that this has been my journey as well, so you may find errors in my identifications of plants. I have tried to correct them as I discover them. Likewise, I have refined fiberarts techniques and have adjusted recipes, so search by tags to find the most current information. And thank you for following me!
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Tonic
Day 314: It took seven or eight years to establish a colony of Hydrastis canadensis sufficient to supply me with a couple of quarts of my favourite summer tonic, Goldenseal tea. Each plant bears only two leaves, so I only harvest the tips (and that, sparingly). The infusion must not be boiled, but rather should kept just off simmer for about twenty minutes. The resultant tea is rather bitter and takes some getting used to, but it is an excellent thirst-quencher and quite refreshing. I have never used the berries for tea, preferring to let them drop to the ground where hopefully, they may produce another Goldenseal plant, although its primary reproduction comes from underground runners. The roots are saffron yellow, and the origin of the plant's other common name, "Yellow Puccoon." However, several other unrelated plants are also known as "puccoon," nearly all of which have been used over the ages to produce red and yellow dyes.
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