Sumac Tea

Staghorn Sumac steeping in 1/2 gallon jar.

For two years now I have been familiar with the fact that Staghorn Sumac berries could be used to make a tart tasting drink.  For two years, I have pondered when the best time to harvest would be and how to go about making the tea.  I watched the seasons come and go, and new sets of berries replace the ones from last summer.  I read literature and web information, and viewed countless videos of others making this tea.  This week I finally decided I was going to ponder no longer.  So I went out and harvested about five sets of berries, brought them home, stuffed them (only about 4) into a half gallon jar, filled it with spring water, and set it out in the sun.  I was so proud of myself.  I'm not sure why it took me so long to actually try it.  Perhaps because in this day and age, we tend to view wild food as...well wild and inedible.  We seem to have lost the teachings and skills of our ancestors long ago.  Foods they would have foraged for we deem inedible.  As a matter of fact, I think we tend to view anything not found in a grocery store as "poisonous".

I've spent the last year studying my local plants; working to identify as many as I can, and then determine if they have medicinal or edible qualities.  I've learned so much, but the one thing I find is that the more I learn, the more there is to learn.  I'm amazed by how many edible plants there are, and even more amazed by the medicinal qualities many possess.

After being steeped for four hours and then strained.

So here it is.  My Sumac Tea after steeping in the sun for about four hours.  I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor.  To me it resembles the flavor of a sweet tart.  I added a little bit of sugar this time as I wanted to know what it would taste with regular sugar before I experimented with other sweeteners, like stevia, honey, and maple syrup.  I couldn't believe how good it was!  I believe this is one of nature's best kept secrets!  So how did I make it?  Well there's loads of resources and videos out there on making Sumac Tea, and I highly recommend checking them out before you make your own, but here's how I made mine:

1) place 4 or 5 groups of berries into a half gallon jar
2) fill the jar with spring water
3) set out in the sun (again, I left mine for 4 hours - experiment with what tastes best to you)
4) strain through a clean towel (I used paper towels); this removes all the fuzzies from the berries and other debris.
5) add sweetener if desired, perhaps some ice if still warm, and enjoy!

Now a word of caution!  There are different "types" of Sumac.  Staghorn Sumac, Rhus typhinia, is what you want to use.  You can't miss it, really.  It grows everywhere around here, and can commonly be found in disturbed areas and roadsides.  However, there is also a Poison Sumac, Toxicodendron vernix.  So you need to make sure you get a positive ID on any plant before you use it as an edible.  There are many references out there like the USDA plant fact sheets, Wikipedia, Wildflowers of Western PA (search under families - C for Cashew family), and the Ohio Public Library Information Network.  These are just a few of the first websites that came up when I searched for Staghorn Sumac.  There are many more.  I can honestly say that I have never (to my knowledge) seen poison sumac.  But have read and been told that it has white berries.  These are (obviously) NOT edible; hence the name.  Staghorn Sumac and Poison Sumac are in the same family, and  actually in the same family as Poison Ivy, Anacardiaceae, though they look nothing alike.

Have any of you ever made Staghorn Sumac Tea or used it medicinally?  I'd love to hear from you, so please feel free to comment.

Yarn Along at Summer's End

FO: Octopus from the book Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh

Joining Ginny's Yarn Along

Okay, so maybe it's not really summer's end, but for me, the freedom of days to myself, working in the garden, spinning, knitting, and spending time with my two alpacas is sadly over.  The reality of having to go back to work is here, and I will be forced to be much more strict with time management, as I will have to carefully balance work and farm life.

The garden, early on.  Before my zucchini flopped.

Summer has been quite a busy one, and the busier I was, the faster it went.  The garden I didn't get planted until mid-June began providing us with food about four weeks ago.  While my zucchini plants rotted (totally my faulty for planting them too close), my beans have exploded!  I filled a five gallon bucket the last two mornings.  I was able to barter with my next door neighbors for tomatoes.  This was a good trade, as my husband got a bit too aggressive with pruning our plants and our tomato harvest is minuscule.

A mixture of wild flowers including Calendula, Poppy, Red Clover, and some other Composite.

I also spent much of the summer learning as many of my local plants as possible; figuring out which can be used as foods and/or medicines.  I've made a number of my own tinctures: Yarrow, Motherwort, Plantain, and Calendula.  I hope to take some time and write more about these later as some have curious stories to go along with them.  Lastly,  I've also focused on growing some of my own medicinal herbs: Calendula, Comfrey, Lemon Balm, Spearmint, Catnip, California Poppies, to name a few.  It's been amazing to watch these plants grow.

Bracken and Bramble, happy to be among their own kind.

We spent the summer searching for a farm of our own, with no luck, I must add.  So as my summer was coming to an end, we realized that it wasn't going to be feasible to continue to travel each night to the farm where we had been exchanging with a friend alpaca boarding for splitting the chores.  She has sheep and goats and took care of the morning chores; we did the night chores.  Since I will be teaching night classes starting this coming week, we decided to move our two girls to board at another farm where they will be cared for by the owners of the farm.  It was a good move, even if I'm sad that I don't get to interact with them on a daily basis.  They are with other alpacas and seem much happier.  And this makes me happy.

The summer edition of Mary Jane's Farm and my second Octopus

I'm still working on the book "The Snow Child" by Eowyn Ivey (I've actually renewed it from the library twice now).  And while it was a summer goal to actually 'read' it, new textbooks and lecture writing have become its replacement.  I may just end up finding the audiobook and enjoying it during my commutes.  We'll see.  I did pick the latest edition of Mary Jane's Farm magazine recently, however.  I love this magazine, but only purchase it occasionally as I already subscribe to Mother Earth News, Mother Earth Living, and Spin Off.  But this edition was packed full of articles on growing and using medicinal herbs.  I couldn't resist.  

From hand dyed, handspun BFL.  

I finished my hand warmers from the last Yarn Along and have been knitting Octopi (I actually think the plural of octopus is 'octopuses').  These were the reason I learned to knit few years ago, and have just felt learned enough to complete them now.  They are an amigurumi patterns by Hansi Singh in her book "Amigurumi Knits".  You can also find the pattern here on Ravelry.  If you enjoy knitting amigurumi, she has some other fabulous patterns as well.

And guess what?!  It won a first place ribbon at the Butler Farm Show!

Yarn Along

This is the first time I've participated in the Yarn Along, but one of my goals this summer (I've taken the summer off!) was to actually read a book; not just listen to it as an audiobook, as I so often do, but actually read it.  I even went so far as to (finally) get a library card to my local library just so I could borrow this book.

I saw this book recommended by SpiderWomanKnits in one of her Instagram photos.  I've only just begun reading, but from the cover's description, it is about a childless couple who moved from Pennsylvania to the wilds of Alaska.  Longing for a child of their own, they build a girl out of snow only to find that she magically turns into a "real" girl.  Here's the actual synopsis from the inside cover of the book:

I'm really looking forward to this book as there seem to be many parallels with my own life.

As for what I'm knitting: I'm working on a set of knitter's mittens or fingerless gloves.  But I'm knitting two at a time on the same needles and from the same center pull ball.

I've never done this before, but I always find that (since I'm usually making up the pattern as I go along) I forget what I've done on the first one, so the second is slightly different.

I figure that if I knit them at the same time, the pattern will be exactly the same.  I'm using some of my hand dyed, hand spun BFL that I had stashed away for such an occasion.

The summer has been pretty darn rainy so far.  On one hand, all the rain has been really good for my late planted garden (I didn't get it in until almost mid-June!).  My beans, squash, and zucchini are getting ready to bloom already!  On the other hand, everything is so incredibly wet and muddy.  I can say though, that when it's raining, I don't feel guilty about staying inside, reading a book, spinning, or sewing.  Those are things that are difficult for me to do when it's nice outside.  We had a pretty big storm this morning and then again this evening.  They were calling for flash flooding, and as you can see below, we got it.

Fortunately we live on top of the hill!  

A Much Anticipated Break

Yay!  I made it through another busy semester and now I have a couple weeks to get caught up around the farm.  Monday was officially my last day, and I have spend the past two days sewing up a storm and getting some more baskets listed on Etsy (including the one above - don't you just LOVE those colors!?).  I finished a few Baprons (baby aprons) for a friend, and made a few for my next door neighbor's little one.  It's such a fun and simple pattern!  I also finished an adult apron pattern that I'm working on.

A few months ago I bought the Book "Spin Art" by Jacey Boggs (a fabulous book, which I'll blog about another time).  It came with a DVD where she demonstrates some of the spinning techniques.  And I noticed that she was wearing a long apron while she was spinning.  That of course got me thinking, "Why haven't I thought about that before?"  I'm always covered from head to toe with fiber when I spin.  Wearing an apron would be a perfect solution.  So I began designing my own - a Craft Apron.  I think the pattern still has room to grow, but I'm loving it's development.  I've made a bunch as I've been tweaking the pattern and am hoping to offer them on Etsy soon.  Actually this one above was suppose to be for sale, but I made enough "mistakes" that I didn't feel I could sell it.  So, I'll add it to my own personal collection.  =)  I love this fabric!

Those patterns go so perfectly together.  Perhaps I will have to make another like this.  

There is so much that needs to be done around the farm.  While we got our garden fenced in, only one 4X4 plot is ready to be planted.  I think I will put in some purple potatoes I found.  We did sweet potatoes two summers ago and they grew wonderfully.  But the red potatoes we planted last year - not so much.  I'm a little overwhelmed this year by what to plant.  I'm going to move the sunflowers up to line the garage.  I think they will look so pretty there.  That will free up some room.  We also will have the "experimental" plot free for more vegetables this summer.  Our experimental plot ended up being flax from the rabbit food.  It sure was pretty to watch grow.  I might just have try planting some in a pot for the fun of it.  Either way, I'd like to get the garden in before June this year.  We were a bit behind last summer.  That's coming up soon.  

Garden

Yellow Squash Seedling

We did our garden a bit differently this year.  Other that two tomato plants, one basil, and one cilantro, everything was planted from seed ~ the first weekend of June.  It was a late start but except for the stevia, everything appears to be coming up and doing well; especially the potatoes, onions, squash, and beans.  My focus this year were root cellar crops.  I wanted to plant as many foods that could be stored and used throughout the winter as possible.  Last year we had sweet potatoes in the basement as well as some canned pickles.  I'm hoping to expand that this year.  Baby steps, folks!  That's how it's done.  I have grand ideas for my gardens, I really do.  But can find myself quickly overwhelmed if I try to do it all at once.

I'm pretty proud of what we've planted this year.  We've a 4X8 plot of butternut squash as well as another of a variety of bush beans.  A third plot is split between red potatoes and yellow onions.  A fourth with jalapenos, broccoli, okra, eggplant (which I don't think is going to grow), and carrots.  A fifth with roma tomatoes, beets, and green onions.  And lastly a small strip planted with the basil, cilantro (one plant, the rest seeds), parsley, and stevia.  That's just the garden.  I also planted in a couple of large pots yellow squash and zucchini, and a half barrel of potatoes, and a small pumpkin patch next to my bleeding heart.  Just making the most of the space I have.  I still would like to put in some lettuce but I'm having a hard time keeping the  chickens out of the planter I want to grow them in.  I suppose I could fashion some kind of lid to start them off with.

In the mean time, the weeds have come in along with the sprouting seeds.  Mostly Lamb's Quarters (which I just recently found is edible) and some suspicious red-bottomed leafy plant.  I'm not sure what that one is just yet.  Perhaps it is edible as well.  All I can say is that they came from our compost as none of the 'compost-free' areas have it growing.  I don't mind the weeding that much though.

31 Days of May

{Henny Penny - what a look!}

Life gets busy.  There are so many things that pull is in 100 different directions, and if we're not  careful, we can forget about the things that keep us sane and relaxed.  These things are just as important (if not more) as life's other obligations.  I wish I could homestead full time.  But alas, I cannot.  At least not yet. It is a big goal, a slow goal, a jump-in-head-first goal; all of this and more.  For now, I supplement.  And this supplement has taken quite a bit of my time lately.  However, my semester is a week away from the end, at which time I will get (almost) a whole month off!  So I am going to call this month "31 Days of May" and am dedicating myself to posting one thing each day.  It may not be big, but it will be something.   There's a lot going on 'round here lately.  And a lot more to come in the month of May.  So keep on stopping back to catch all the...err...excitement!

Summer's End

Summer was busy and flew past quickly like usual. The farm continues to change, if only subtly. We raised about 25 chicks, and here's what I learned:

Let Mother Nature do the work.

A broody hen is worth more than her tiny eggs.

Chicks in your basement are messy.

Chicks in your basement will raise your electric bill significantly.

Too many roosters, is too many roosters.

The color of your peep is not a good indicator of what it will look like when fully grown.

And lastly, let Mother Nature do the work!

My wool processing skills have jumped leaps and bounds this summer too. This does not mean that I am in any way, shape, or form what you would call a 'professional'. But it means that I now have the ability to process my fiber from start to finish; raw fleece to yarn; all on my own. I no longer need that middle man. My husband got me a carder for my birthday. That was the key ingredient. We then build a huge 4 foot by 8 foot drying table. I can wash and dry an entire fleece at one time. How wonderful! I even knit my very first pair of mittens from shetland sheep that I hand spun. It's a good feeling to know that you were able to produce an article of clothing all on your own. It means I'm one step closer to being more self-suffient. Even if it's only a small step.

The garden was a big success this summer. I was especially glad in that it was truly the first ever garden I've planted (I too find that hard to believe). We didn't get to can as much as we had liked, but we have pickles to last an entire year! They sure were plentiful. Though just about everything has died back out there, we still have a few little yellow squash hanging on along with an eggplant. Our crop included: organic corn, sunflowers, green peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, many other potatoes, beets, cucumbers, yellow squash, and zucchini. It was a good year.

So now I bit summer a last farewell and welcome the fall equinox with a glad heart. It's been a hot one, and I'm ready for those cooler days and hillsides ablaze with color.