One of my favourite foraging spots is the private land owned my mother and her partner. Forty acres, it includes pristine boreal forest as well as a wild meadow happy for the picking and lake front treasures. We have carved out our own camping grove for our visits, with an ample sized tent to fit our family of five.
This summer I enjoyed harvesting tons of red clover, yarrow, sarsaparilla and usnea. The land of course has a lot more to offer - including twin flower, bearberry, rosehips, bunchberry, bedstraw, goldenrod - but my needs weren't great this year (and we didn't have a huge amount of time either). I took my harvests home and dried them, before preserving in tinctures.
Alcohol costs money right? So how come virtually free tincture making you ask? I just so happened to have recently distil my first vodka. It's not completely free to make of course, but without needing to invest in the equipment, it's super cheap to make.
My first tinctures in the past six months: yarrow and usnea.
Usnea is a lichen also called Old Man's Beard because of the way it hangs from trees - like the beard of an old man. It's a great tincture to have around for respiratory infections. It is antibacterial and can also be used for pain relief, fever and weight loss. Large amounts can cause liver damage though, so it's not something to take long term or in high amounts.
Yarrow is great for a variety of concerns, including cold and flu, fevers, headaches, high blood pressure, pneumonia, bronchitis, digestive cramps, liver inflammation, dyspepsia, menstrual cramps, menopause night sweats and restlessness, arthritis, gout and stuffed sinuses. I use yarrow quite a bit, both in tinctures and as teas. Fresh yarrow can stop bleeding while sterilizing the wound. I like to keep a container of dried, ground yarrow with me for just this purpose (when fresh isn't readily available).
