Gathering my own herbal teas? Suggestions?

[txcanoegirl]

Rhoda, I'm surprised you don't have mayhaw trees where you are. After I read about the benefits of hawthorn, I pulled out my mayhaw jellies and my home canned mayhaw juice and began incorporating it as often as possible. This year's crop of mayhaws was dismal. Probably due to the late frost while the tree was in bloom and beginning to fruit. The two mayhaw trees we have are on my mother's property, adjacent to ours, so we are going to try to propagate them this year so we will have our own. These trees were propagated for my Dad many years ago by another family member, so they are rather special. We will probably not be able to afford to acquire my mother's property when she is no longer here, so we definitely want to get some mayhaws on our own land.

Also, American holly leaves (don't know what it tastes like yet, but I dried some this season and will try it soon) are used for a caffeine-free tea. Yaupon leaves make a caffeine tea or coffee.

 

[Marianne]

You gals are talking about plants that I haven't seen around here - I wish they were, I would really like to try some of them. Rhoda, you're right, too bad most of us didn't learn some of the old ways of prevention/treatment as we were growing up. Now it's important to teach or at least write it down and TELL the younger ones about it.
When I do a make it yourself thing and our grandson is here, I always tell him why I am doing it AND he doesn't have to do it, he just needs to know that he can do it.

I am drinking my first cup of dandelion petal tea. I honestly can say that I do like it. As with all the teas that I drink, I always put in a bit of honey or something sweet. I put a bit of honey in this cup. Perfect.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I have 2 holly trees in my yard, which I will do away with one of them, because its blocking light from the street light, leaning on the shed, which I need to jack up and straighten and because I figured it wasn't feeding me anything and was interferring with the fig tree, but maybe I can check into the possible benefits of it as an herbal tea. Still I do have 2 trees.....I'm sure one would do something for me. I honestly don't recall reading about it as a medicinal.....So now ya'll gave me some homework to do....also, I honestly don't know anything about mayhaw trees. But then again, I didn't know until recently what exactly ragweed was. We have another name for it....bloodweed. Now that I'm studying this stuff, I think I know why its called that. So its possible I do have mayhaw and know it by another name. IDK.

 

[txcanoegirl]

mayhaw is in the hawthorn family, with all of the same benefits. It is a small tree, blooms with beautiful white flowers in the spring. It makes the most wonderful jelly. It is tart by itself, so you don't eat the fruit right from the tree. I make juice and can it, then add it to tea to flavor it. I was doing that all before I knew about the heart benefits of hawthorn. The mayhaw is found in southeastern US.

As for the American Holly, I'm not sure what, if any, the medicinal qualities are. I know that the leaves can be used for tea. I made mine up today. By itself, the leaves made a rather bitter flavor, but I didn't have any honey or sugar in it. I added it to my regular iced tea, and didn't notice any adverse flavor. So, it might be one to blend with something else.

 

[baymule]

I am drinking my first cup of dandelion petal tea. I honestly can say that I do like it. As with all the teas that I drink, I always put in a bit of honey or something sweet. I put a bit of honey in this cup. Perfect.

I am glad you like the dandelion tea. You can also pick a few leaves and chop them up to put in the tea for more of the good properties dandelions have.

txcanoegirl, you are right about mayhaw. It is tart, but makes awesome jelly. For those that have never had mayhaw, the best description I can give is that it tastes like a fragrant rose smells.

 

[txcanoegirl]

[

txcanoegirl, you are right about mayhaw. It is tart, but makes awesome jelly. For those that have never had mayhaw, the best description I can give is that it tastes like a fragrant rose smells.

I couldn't locate my grandmother's recipe for mayhaw jelly cake (I have it somewhere)...so I went to www.mayhaw.org to their recipes. This isn't tea, and you better have a sweet tooth for this, but my-oh-my, I think I've gone to heaven.

You'll need a pint of mayhaw jelly and a deluxe moist yellow cake mix. Mix the cake according to directions, then divide the batter EQUALLY between 6 round cake pans. Bake them 10 minutes. That's all it takes when they are that thin. Cool 3-5 minutes, then turn out of the pans. Spread the top of the cake layer with jelly. Put the next layer on top. Spread it with jelly. Continue with all 6 layers, spreading with jelly on all, including the top. When finished, I spread the jelly on the sides, too. YUM, YUM, YUM! Rich! Sweet! Moist! And because it's hawthorn, it has to be healthy, right?????

Sorry I got off topic from the teas...but one thing led to another and the next thing I knew, I was in the kitchen, looking for Mamaw's recipe!

Jill

 

[Marianne]

OMG, that sounds sooo good!
Who's going to make it and what time shall we all be there to eat it?

 

[heatherlynnky]

I just bought corn today and I am saving the silk. I will hope we get some but I am not counting on it. Raccoons get more of our corn that we do so. I had not considered dandelion flower. Those would be easy enough to pick. Is there any medicinal value to the flowers. I plan on digging some roots but had not considered the flowers. I also plan on getting a bit of ginsing root this fall. I know we have it, just have to wait for the right time to harvest. I won't harvest more than my family can use though. I am really trying to be as self sufficient health wise as possible. I figure our health is the best insurance we can have against economy and doctor shortages. I do like taking my medicine via tea. It always seems more effective. I have made a tincture before also, so might expand into that once I am satisfied with the teas.

 

[txcanoegirl]

OMG, that sounds sooo good!
Who's going to make it and what time shall we all be there to eat it?

Oh my...I didn't make it clear...I ALREADY made it and it is good! If you're in the neighborhood, I'll save you a piece!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I confess....ya'll aroused my curiosity and as soon as I had logged off, I was googling mayhaw. You right....seems I should be able to have it, according to its growing conditons. There are a handful of trees/plants/herbs that I haven't obtained yet, so there might be another now. Healthy for the heart AND a food source....hello. I'm wondering about that holly now. Is there only one type of holly in the Americas? Mine is a medium sized bushy tree that makes lots of white flowers, which my bees love and sometimes has these red berry looking seeds.....I guess they are seeds. Birds mainly eat them. Doesn't really matter if its not enormously medicinal, so long as its ever so good for something or another and isn't poisonous. And sorry Marianne....I meant to say something about passing on knowledge to younguns, but got sidetracked....we are currently flooded. I agree with you. I know soooo much of the SS stuff I know because my parents and grandparents passed it on to me. I really wish one of them knew herbology. I'm really having a hard time with identification because of the old ways being lost. There were once lots of treaters in my area. A very dear friend of my family and classmate of my mother's, told me at my mother's wake about her grandmother's homemade medicines and the descriptions she gave me, made me know that she really could have helped me, if only we had lived in the same time. Keep teaching your grandchild. You never know....I talk to my kids, neices and nephews and the little neighbors, whenever I can. My kids, of course, don't think I"m anything special, until they see the look of awe on their friend's faces, which I'm sure most of ya'll can relate to. Face it.....we're different.