The Feral Forager

12/02/2022

Oh my goodness! It’s been a hot minute!! I haven’t done anything lately but work and stock up on my bottles and containers for my herbs.
And not that it’s “herb” related, it’s healing related, but my plan is to can fresh cranberry juice tomorrow. It’ll provide some wonderful benefits!

Found on Pinterest and TikTok! That juice is too easy to make. I think I’ll add dehydrated blueberries in some of the jars. That’ll be tasty and double duty.

11/13/2022

That’s off of the table and I’m happy about that. Both made great yields. More so, with the lung defense.
I myself am looking forward to taking the Milk Thistle. Last year I was taking 8-10 Motrin every day, for months. I can only imagine the toxins that go through my liver. Milk Thistle has the ability to repair and reverse the damage to the liver caused by OTC meds/toxins etc and of course consumption of alcohol as well as other things. I think I need it for sure, so tomorrow I’m going to start it.
The Lung Defense Tincture is almost black. It’s beautiful and it smells like ginger. I might start it tomorrow as well, it should do the trick on preventing or curing any nasty ol winter mucus bugs. I’m excited about these two.
I think I’m down to one Tincture that needs to be strained. Dandelion Root. But it won’t be ready until early January. because it takes 3-4 months to extract. And with my season work until January, I won’t have much time to spend on making much of anything. But we’ll see 😉

11/12/2022

Last weekend I put together some hormone tea. It’s great women’s health tea. From pr***en periods to menopause, it helps with cramps, moodiness, flow, nerves, and everything associated to hormones and health in general. I figured that I needed some.

11/12/2022

I know it’s been a while, but work has had me busy. Until January. Lol But I guess I’m getting really behind. I was looking for something in the apothecary medicine chest in the kitchen and ran across a tincture that I had made in March of this year and could have been strained and bottled in June. 🤷‍♀️ I dropped the ball there. I was busy. But I found a full jar of Lung Defense Tincture that I guess I forgot about. Great timing for the winter months ahead. And it being my day off for a while, I’m going to strain and bottle it. It should be nice a potent. You can’t over extract a tincture.
I have some Milk Thistle tincture to strain as well. Repairs the liver, detoxes it too.
And I hope I get a good yield. I remember now that the elecampane might absorb too much alcohol like it did while tincturing it by itself. Must chop before tincturing. If it does, I may put it in my food processor long enough to squeeze the liquids out with a cheesecloth. I really don’t want to waste good medicine if I can’t.
So that’s the plan, mixed in with other plans for the day.

10/23/2022

My real job has lately taken quiet a bit out of me physically and I haven’t had too much energy to do anything. But I have been doing a few very small projects.
So today besides putting together a big jar of dandelion root tincture, I straightened up my shelves. Consolidated my herbs to one area, and additives and containers on the shelving on the wall. I don’t even know why they were separated. Lol
Now I can reach all of my herbs without a step ladder, and actually find what I’m looking for.
Turning my craft cottage into an herbal apothecary is a process. A slow process. Lol like trying to figure out a Rubiks Cube. It’s a process.

10/09/2022

I’m loving the cold medicine cabinet. Fourteen bottles of Elderberry Syrup all tucked away for the sickly times ahead.

10/09/2022

My least favorite part……. 😉
When I’ve got to do dishes! A little Dawn dishwashing liquid to get all the oils out and ready to bring in the house for a scouring. But not today. There’s just not enough hours in my day off for it today. So they’ll just wait on the porch until I’m ready.

10/09/2022

💜💚

“Plants are a way of life. Using herbs isn’t just about medicine or healing. It’s about breath. Life. About faith, and how to live on this Earth in a more balanced and wholesome way, together. Plants thrive in community. They give out far more than they take in. They are sustainable in every way.” ~ Rosemary Gladstar

📸 by Barrie Fisher Photo

10/09/2022

I’m making a triple batch of Elderberry Syrup today for one of my winter meds💜.
Elderberries, Ginger, Cinnamon Sticks and Orange peel. It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas 🎄 in here.
Forty five minutes after simmering and a cool down afterwards, I’ll strain it and add honey and get a t bottled up.

10/04/2022

I love my little fridge. And my cottage is kinda messy, my broom was in our cabin. So… sorry.
When I brought the fridge in yesterday, we just sat it in the floor in a spot that had the little green and white table, that I had moved out of the way.
Today I go out there so my husband could stick his hand in the fridge to check it ………and I had an idea to utilize my little table instead of taking it out to the storage barn. Just sit the fridge right on top. Which was a perfect fit. And…. It looks like a cute little cold medicine apothecary cabinet. I love it. And when I get really old, I won’t have to bend over to get anything out. Brilliant idea 🤷‍♀️

10/02/2022

I made a ”major purchase” today.😉 Well, …..not too major, but I really don’t have mad money lying around to spend recklessly. Lol
But after work, Tim (the spouse lol) and I headed to Kerrville Lowes to pick up a mini fridge for Nanny’s Little House of Healing Herbs Apothecary. Aka The Craft Cottage.
I’ve needed one for a while now for the cold stuff. Every time I make elderberry syrup, there’s never enough room in our fridge to store it before it’s gone and it’s almost elderberry syrup season. Time for the dreaded viruses.
Did you know that elderberry syrup can last in a refrigerator up to a year? I’ve always heard that it would only last one month. Now we know. 🤷‍♀️
So as soon as my support team finishes whatever he’s watching on the b**b tube, I’m taking that lil fridge into my little cottage.