June and July are such busy months for the forager! Below are some things you might like to try that I’ve been doing.

1.Fortify yourself with St John’s Wort!

I infused some St John’s Wort, the Midsummer Flower according to Shakespeare’s ‘Midsummer Nights Dream’. I infused it in lemon gin. I actually don’t like gin, but I didn’t have any vodka and my brother gave it to me for Xmas.

At least the lemon gin tastes like slightly nicer bathroom cleaner than the original…

Check out how the hypericin compounds in the St John’s Wort turn the alcohol red! I never get tired of seeing this. It’s hypericin that gives Hypericum perforatum its antidepressant and wound-healing qualities.

Infused in olive oil, St John’s Wort can be used as an oil or salve topically for minor injuries on the surface of skin. In a tea or a tablespoon of alcohol tincture, it’s a great remedy for mild depression and menopausal mood swings.

WARNING: St John’s Wort can cancel out the effects of other drugs by flushing them out of your body – including the contraceptive pill. You have been warned!

2.Green Hogweed Seeds – dessert spice and cocktail liqueur

Collect the green seeds of Common Hogweed, as this is when their flavour is most powerful. Infuse them in milk, vegan mylk or cream to make pannacotta. Or make a Summer Meadow Cocktail with Hogweed infused vodka and Yarrow syrup. Add a dollop of cream – that’s the rest of the decadence!!

Only problem is, they’re hard to dry and keep this way. Either use them fresh in a tincture/pudding or wait until they go brown and dry to keep them in a brown paper bag. They last for years if completely dry.

3. Make Spiced Ash Key Pickle

Finally I spent last night not at Glastonbury getting deafened with my face inside someones sweaty armpit, but in a civilised manner listening to the Outer Stage on Spotify and shelling Ash keys. (Ah, the onset of middle age…)

Ash keys are the seeds of the ash tree, Fraxinus excelsior. Right now, if you want to turn them into ash key pickle now is the best time. They should be completely green and still firm yet flexible.

Ash belongs in the Olive family of plants (Oleaceae), so it’s no wonder it’s seeds can produce an edible oil! For our purposes, they are bitter tasting. This is due to astringent compounds. They need processing or pickling to make them tasty.

There are two schools of thought about this. Earlier, in the Spring, many choose to harvest the ash keys before the seed has developed and use the entire samara (that’s the winged bit as well as the seed). The ash keys are boiled and the water thrown away several times before infusing in curry spiced vinegar.

I’m doing the second thing: shucking away the outer shell, and removing the little flat pale seeds to pickle. Truly, this is time-consuming, giving me a great excuse to listen to some good tunes.

I’m heating them gently in a mix of 75% white wine vinegar and 25% honey, which counters their bitterness with sweetness.

I add 1 tbsp coloured Madagascan peppercorns (any peppercorns will do, I’m just showing off), 1 tbsp whole cloves whilst gently heating. Without boiling, i take it off the heat after 5 mins, allow to cool, and pour into a small jar. I’m waiting several weeks before using in the same way as capers.

4. Collecting & drying medicinal herbs

Last but not least, these summer months are the time for me to go out whenever it’s dry (but not incinerator hot, mid-morning is best) and pick medicinal leaves and flowers.

I’ll often dry these in a high-up, dry place out of direct sunlight. Sunlight bleaches the active compounds out of plant material! I hang them in bunches from the ceiling of my boat, or in a hessian drying rack. On a grill tray or brown paper works too. Just don’t use newsprint – this has chemicals in. These don’t do you any good if you eat them, which negates the point of medicinal herbs really!!

There’s many other ways to preserve medicinal herbs, if you would like to know more about oxymels, salves, glycerites and electuaries, why not come on one of my Herbal Medicine courses?

Links are below and in my blog Pages under Herbal Medicine.

*Herbal Medicine July 6th SOLD OUT.*

xx Hedgewitch Kat xx

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