Hmmm I done been tagged in... Thanks buddy.
Gonna have to consult some literature for this one. Knock the dust of some pages and start readin some classics.
No not audio books or an Eye Pad.
Sorry I like to turn pages, even when my magazines get the pages stuck together.
Oh balls-
Who am I kidding I'm gonna end up completely off topic before I start so I'll roll a joint before I get goin.
Now where weren't we...
Well I dusted off some of the old tomes kicking about on the shelf, Well at least the shelf closest to me. Here's a few books pertaining to the medical uses and of course edible uses for many of the plants we come across daily. Most of them completely ignored by Time, Industrialisation and of course the Supermarket.
Nah Fuck it. That's gonna take way too long.
I'll get around to checking that out for posts later...
Research sounds like hard work today.
So today I'm just gonna wing it with some of the things in the garden. It's more than a bit grey outside and foraging in the rain is no fun at all. I already stocked up on chestnuts and soon it will be time to harvest the Medlar fruit on the tree in the Orchard.
The end of The season has arrived, and while there is still some decent foraging to be had throughout the winter its much slimmer pickings. Mostly Pine needles for tea and extracts, and the odd root or two and of course nettles, they grow here most of the winter.
Sadly...
Our last apples and pears are falling to the ground with the few leaves left on the tree and we have gathered all the herbs left growing to prepare for the winter. Enough Purple Sage, Bay Leaf, and basically all the late season stragglers and of course Echinacea seeds to fill up our Jars and stack away. I already did the roots and splitting sorry.
I aint killing my plants for a post.
What the fuck is an Echinacea?
If that's your question I got a treat for you.
Its A cone flower. Ok let me explain myself, This is something I did come across a Long while back in one of those dusty old books.
The seeds were widely believed to be beneficial as an additive to porridges and breads to bolster immunity and the whole plant was used for treating loads of illnesses.
In fact I have seen them mentioned as far back as A 18th century cook book. Of course the Native Americans, (Thanks gramps) used to use it long before as did a number of oddball physicians in Europe when it was introduced.
The Root and dried petals were and are still widely used in tea , tinctures and poultices to reduce cold and flu symptoms and more things than I can list. Personally aside From the Flavour I cant say for a fact they Help, But the tea (with a dollop of honey) does taste pretty good.
<------ ME
Sidetracked.
So I harvest them for My Winter Oatmeal supply,Sometimes its Gruel If I really fuck up.
You know add some variety to those old boring oats. The Cone flowers we grow in the yard here we leave to dry until the seed heads are just ready to Fall.
Then Out I go to, snip, snip, snip. Cut The bastards heads off, that will teach em. (Not all of them I do let some seeds fall. to keep new plants growing)
Its also worth mentioning the petals are great in the growing season to add a boost to your green salads. One of my favourites for a foraged salad is fresh Dandelion Leaf, Echinacea petals and Wild Rocket with a Honey and Mustard Vinaigrette. Never tried it? You should.
Dammit I got side-tracked again as usual.
Anyway back to the seeds, Lots of people complain about the spiky seed head but I find leaving them on the plant until near the end softens them up a fair bit. Strip the leaves and put them aside to dry, they are still usable for Tea at this stage.
Then from the base of the seed pod pinch them inwards, with the grain of the spikes, not against it.
Unless you like splinters...
They tend to fall straight down onto your waiting tray or bowl.
Once you got a nice big stack of the seeds pass them through a colander to get the worst of the chaff out. I don't mind a bit of chaff as its gonna be in Oatmeal and bread for me. So it doesn't make a huge difference.
Then I like to lay them all out in a bowl for a week or two to dry, moving them around every day before throwing them into a jar.
Then your good to go. I cant say for sure they actually boost your immune system or not, I aint a medical professional. All I know Is I rarely get sick throughout the winter. It could just as easily be luck.
Generally It copped some bad press when a few low does treatments proved ineffective, other treatments show great benefits Me?
Welllll
The Echinacea seeds add a Nice Flavour and texture in the oatmeal, you only need a teaspoon or two. Then just drizzle with a bit of honey or top with some Jam.
Now I got My seeds done for today its time to get on with dinner.
Important note...I don't think I should have to say.
But All I need is another @rubido said it would be OK letter.
If you don't know what the plant is or if it came from a florist... Especially if it came from the florist...
DO NOT FUCKIN EAT IT. Seriously florists add so many chemicals to that water its ridiculous. Never Eat any plant from the florists. Your better off eating some random mushroom and hoping for the best.
Shit...
Read the above disclaimer again before finding random mushrooms to eat.
Sorted, on to the next one.
No it is not diseased I roasted the hell out of it.
Ok Firstly before you correct me... I'm using a Potimarron or Red kuri squash, Not a Pumpkin. I interchange them in cooking and from here in I'm calling it a damn pumpkin.
Simple.
What's that got to do with herbs you ask? Well I want to use up some of my purple sage.
Tonight its pumpkin 2 Ways. Well Pumpkin pasta sauce (Trust me its amazing) and Pumpkin Pie. Two of my favourite ways to eat this bad boy.
For preparing a pumpkin I go for the old school lazy method - Roast the whole thing in the oven, (See above photo of Zombie pumpkin).
Then I leave it to cool and split it, now proceed to deseed and prepare your pumpkin meat.
Small Hint-
Use an eating pumpkin or squash not a Halloween Jack-O-Lantern. Big difference in how they taste.
Roasting it whole gets rid of a lot of the excess moisture and concentrates the flavour.
So Now you got your prepared Pumpkin meat...Put that damn tin opener down... Don't use tinned, seriously you'll miss out.
Excuse Me While I argue with the missus about which one I'm going to do a recipe about.
- OK I'm Back and I Win, At least I think I won?
That's right the one with Sage in it.
I'm going to share my recipe for Pumpkin Pasta Sauce. Or Salsa Di Zucca as I call it When I have company over and wanna sound fancy.
Salsa Di Zucca A La Rubido
First off like with most foods you need the ingredients-
1/4 cup (60ml) Virgin Olive oil (Not Extra, No Extra Virgins allowed.)
Big (Seriously BIG) Hand Full of Fresh Sage Finely chopped
1 cup (240ml) of Vegetable or Chicken Stock
2 large Cloves Garlic finely chopped
1 Shallot finely chopped
1/2 Cup (50g) Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1 Tsp Smoked Paprika
1 cup (240g) of Pumpkin meat puree
3 Tbsp Milk
1 Tbsp Cider Vinegar
Black Pepper (LOTS) and Salt To taste
Nice and Lazy everything in the pan to start.
Now Fry Shallots, Garlic, and Sage until everything gives up the flavour to the oil and the shallots are nice and translucent, don't let anything sit still too long. Keep it moving in the pan.
Next add the Pumpkin meat, Stock, Milk and Cider Vinegar and cook lightly, continuously stirring. Once its well combined with the oil add The Parmesan and Paprika. Season at this stage with black pepper and salt. Its cooked and done when your spoon leaves a trail through the pan.
Serve with The pasta of your choice, or Gnocchi .
Use Sparingly, This generally does 2 meals for 3 people. Its Rich. Feel free to amp up the amounts of sauce if you're feeling saucy.
Garnish with a bit dried or Fresh Parsley if any's still left in the garden and Parmesan shavings.
Boom A full out homemade sauce with dinner in 20 minutes.
Fun Fact!
While not an ¨herb¨
Eating and using pumpkin (According to metric shit tons of both Holistic and Medical research) is also highly likely to be anti-carcinogenic, anti-diabetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and is possibly the favourite food of the Anti-Christ.
I like it anyway. You mighta noticed, I'm A big pumpkin fan.
Well Squash of every variety.
So yeah today what's nourishing me is preparing what's left in the garden for the winter ahead and using some damn fine Potimarron courtesy of @edprivat to make dinner and dessert.
Now the Sage-
Now aside from being delicious...
This herb is packed with antioxidants and natural antimicrobial properties which have been specifically studied (Not proven cause where's the fun in that) Including being useful in fighting plaque, and preventing cavities and gum disease causing bacteria . Tinctures using sage to treat sore throat and abscess in the mouth and throat can be found as far back as 17th century and the history of its use in ceremony and medicine predates the Roman Empire.
So yeah its in My dinner, and I love sage.
Its been used for millennia in rituals and spiritual rites as well as being one of the stars in Sage and Onion Stuffing.
Need I say more?
See that pasta was about HERBS.
So Today?
I'm Spending time indoors cooking and processing food with the Missus and the Lad.
As I said earlier... Its grey and damp and Fuckin cold outside.
So yeah, That's about it for me for now. I kinda went all over the place but being sober for a few days seems to have made me hyperactive.
Now I'm gonna TAG... @dandays cause he's already been tagged and I don't really have any friends. So TAG you're it.
But I want you to do it...
bɒɔʞwɒɿdꙅ
(credited to @dandays borrowed by @rubido and lent out on occasion to the Furry Conventions)
Anti-Christ has sent you a friend request.
!PIZZA
Friend Request accepted. Cheers Buddy!
Well done dude! I like what you did with my pumpkin, I hope it was good. Damn, you worked hard on this one, good job!
The pumpkin was awesome, tons of flavour. Thanks for sharing the veg :D
My pleasure!
@trucklife-family here, Great post @rubido,great that @edprivat tagged you. There was really lots to learn here, which is what this community is all about. I had no idea echinacea seeds were added to porridge and that's just one example. Thanks for the wonderful recipe and for sharing the healing properties of Pumpkin xxxx
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Yeah they were a common additive to porridge and thinned porridge for the sick a long time ago. I'm Imagining due to the health benefits as they get mentioned often in the recipes. As for the Pumpkin, now that's one of natures marvels. 😁
Thanks for the encouragement!
You are very welcome @rubido , I look forward to more posts from you in the community xxx
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One liners are my favorite, they're like the all time tight rope, you either soar or eat shit. That regroup on the medical use books was classic.
Funny. Pura was just telling me about some lady searching for gnocchi, "where's the ganacky?"
All I will take for a cold or flu is water and echinacea. I always had it on me on the job, back when I had to do that work stuff. One time at Vandenberg AFB, a random vehicle search and a dozen MP's held me up and sent me back home cuz of echinacea.
Ganacky gotta love it. Sometimes there's nothin better than Redneck (I'm hopin she was at least and didn't just have a speech impediment) pronunciation.
Echinacea is awesome, I powder the root and stalks and use it to make homemade cough drops and syrup. The MP's new you were carryin the hard shit, Don't wanna get the whole country hooked. Be worse than the old school Opium racket.
It was a random, crazy day, searched every vehicle entering that day. Man about 10 Boeing employees not only got fired but lost their careers that day for whatever they had in their ceo Joe's.
The MP's didn't know what it was when they went through my backpack. Mind we're in green capsules. Well my buddy had some too. His were red.... What a shit show. Over echinacea dude.
Organic like you're doing must be amazing. I've never even considered such a thing.
Oh yeah dude, full blown hick, "where's the ganacky?"
Glad to hear her Ganacky was properly Rednecked up. Nothin funnier than any Foreign sounding word said by a redneck. Croissant That's another hilarious one.
That sounds like a typical clusterfuck.
Cant believe they had a fit over herbal remedies, I hate to think what woulda happened if you'd had somethin really dangerous like mineral water.
Organic done at home is great if you got your feet stuck in one place, but Good quality herbs and supplements are better for ease of access and generally just contain the herb.
Mountain Rose Herbs is a great source in the states, they also have a big network of local growers in tons of areas they can put you in touch with in the US.
That was super fascinating. It's stuff like this that makes me want to own a plot of land to farm myself and forage on. In the meantime, I think I'll buy a pumpkin (or whatever that squash is called) and try that pasta recipe. Looks delicious
Yeah its great to make things from the garden, medicine and food. Yeah the Pumpkin sauce is damn delicious. Like I say its Rich so a little goes a long way!
I loved this so much and I apologise I took so long to get to it. Thanks @edprivat for tagging him. You guys are making my herbie days with the stuff you're putting out and I can't thank you enough for joining in.
I KNOW that echinacea is great for immunity and I love coneflowers, but I HAD NO IDEA that you could use the seeds like this!!!! I'm going to go and whisper to my tiny plants to grow the fuck up so I can put them in my porridge in winter. I ADORE those books by the way - they are beautiful! What gems. There's pages in there I'd love to frame for my apocathery/yoga room... but that would be a travesty, right?
That pasta sauce looks delicious. I have to say the ONLY way to use pumpkin for anything is to roast it first to bring out the sweetness, right? Sage is amazing - I kinda was a bit 'meh' about it for a long time but have rediscovered it and have both a green and purple sage in my garden now. I'm kinda into those very strong herby tastes at the moment because the moment I put them in my mouth I'm FEELING how good they are for you. I heard one guy talk about plants and how many nutrients are in there that we haven't even mapped yet and don't even QUITE understand how they work. He described it as 'nutritional dark matter' which tickled me to bits. Every time I'm in the garden and munching on various herbage I keep thinking of that term.
I love, love loved this post - thanks for telling me something I didn't know. Thankyou = and do be hyperactive in The Herbal Hive whenever you like.
Yeah the seeds are a great addition to the winter diet change. I try to eat with the seasons and stocking up on immune system boosters for the winter is a must. Seems to keep me on top form in spite of my various vices 🤣
Pumpkin has to be roasted whole before doing anything. I agree 1000%. and the Sauce is an amazing addition it also jars really well. I've eaten Some we jarred months ago and it tastes as fresh as they day it was sealed.
Sage is a standing favourited. We need to replant our green sage as some Rabbits went to town on it and ate it to death.
As for the books its one of my passions. I have lots of old loose pages from over the years in a box somewhere. Picked up from flea markets already missing pages etc.
I cant bring myself to mess up a complete book by removing pages, but I have lots that are already wrecked before I get them, So I save the interesting bits that are left.
When I have a look I'll happily send some for you to frame.
Oh wow really!!! That would be amaaaazing!!!! We just don't have books like that in Australia. I loved Europe/UK for old books. I can see why it'd be a passion. As they say, they don't make books like they used to!
I love pumpkin roast with cracked coriander seeds, sumac and drizzled honey as well... yummo. I've been getting into spaghetti squash a bit too. Not as sweet, but fun, and amazing when you top it with a lentil stew and cheese and back in the oven ...