Local Food & Spices

Our Farmer's Market in Athens, Ohio is still going strong. We have an abundance of wonderful farmers who are keeping us nourished with local veggies, great selection of fruits,herbs,teas and spices. We also have processors,such as myself, who create products using these wonderful local ingredients.
Staring last month we began to harvest and dry local spice bush berry. After the herb is dried we hand crush the berries to release the amazing flavor trapped in each seed.We look for the berry in the undergrowth of our woodlands. They are most often found growing under Paw Paw trees.When we harvest our Paw Paws in early Sept, the spice bush berries are still green, giving us notice to comeback and harvest in a month.
The old timers in my area told me that they generally harvested the twigs of the spice bush tree to use for a tasty tea. They would often be in the woods hunting in the fall, and would brew up a batch of spice bush twig tea. They did not bother to much with the berry as the hardness of each berry made the tea brew too weak. The berry taste is similar to a nice nutmeg, not too strong, yet full of its own unique flavor.
Because spearmint is one of my favorite herbs I add crushed spice bush berries to a blend of organic spearmint leaf. Giving me a tea I call, Native Spicebush Spearmint Tea. The flavor is an interesting blend of mint and deep spice. A perfect reminder of fall for all of us here in Athens, Ohio.
The berry is said to have medicinal qualities, good for relief of fever and flu symptoms.It can also be added to seasoning mixes, or used alone, to add the distinct flavor of native nutmeg.

Elderberry Harvesting

The whole world stands still for us when we see the elderberry beginning to fruit. Watching the bushes as they grow taller and taller, sometimes out of our reach, umbels cascading with green, semi-green and then deep purple fruit, give precedence to our days here in Tealand in SE , Ohio.
A storm blew thru night before last and as it woke me, thunder crashing, my first thoughts were to the elderberry fruit. How are they handling this wind and rain? Knowing that many "seeds" were dropping to the ground, beginning growth for next season, I hoped Mother Nature would leave enough on the bush for harvesting.
Our harvesting this year is leading us deeper into overgrown areas. The vines, thistle, multi floral rose,poison ivy and snakes creates an exciting and challenging wild crafting adventure. This type of work, I must admit, is my favorite part of being an herbalist. Working and harvesting in the field allows me to feel the presence of Mother Nature. I could do without the possible snake sighting, but we watch were we walk, when we can see the ground and hope for the best!
Some of the berries will be dried and added to our Family Health Tea, the rest will be made into an extract and be made available on line and at our local farmers market. I've added a link for more information about the healing qualities of elderberry.
As early as 2007, research studies have found that black elderberry to be effective in shortening the duration of influenza A and B.Elderberries are unusually rich in the phytochemicals known as flavonoids. Among all fruits, elderberries are the most concentrated source of anthocyanins, a class of flavonoids that act as powerful antioxidants to boost the immune system.

Country Commerce

Country Commerce

The rural ways of the entrepreneur can be quite basic and driven by necessity. When I drive by signs such as this one I try and imagine who is this business person. Not only what is it they are selling but who are they? Why here? Why are they here, down this country road and what is it that keeps them here?

This particular sign on a bend in the road in Meigs County has grown since early spring. Cookies have recently been added to the inventory as well as business hours. I suppose they had folks stopping by at all times trying to purchase goods. One knows that although a buying customer is a good customer a browsing customer can waste allot of one's time.

Perhaps because I too sell, that I can relate to an enterprising soul. The growth of this sign assures me that this grower, baker, chicken handler is destined to prosper. I wonder if pumpkins will be added come October? I'll keep you posted!

Spring Elderberry

This is the time we begin scouting out local areas for elderberry harvesting. Although we have begun to grow elder on The Herbal Sage Farms, we still harvest from the wild for most of our elderberry.
The rich white showy flowers scattered generously on the umbels of each elderberry bush guide us to our future harvesting sites.One of the most fun parts is finding the places where elderberry grow undisturbed by car,electrical sources and other impediments.
We are feeling blessed this year, with our rain, and our continued quest for the best crops, we have found what may be this years Mother load! We will keep you posted and let you know as time moves along. Much can change, nature can wipe out a whole area, but we are hopeful, as most herbalist are, that Mother Nature will provide!

Chesterhill Auction

Thursday I attended the Chesterhill Auction, in Chesterhill, Ohio. Driving about 40 minutes deep into the country I drove past the auction sign and into the small town of Chesterhill. I knew I had passed the entrance but for the life of me did not know where I was.I stopped to ask directions at a small convenience store/gas station, the first woman I asked who was working the counter had no idea about any Amish auction. I thought this was a bad sign,that the locals did not even know about it. I thought that perhaps I had really driven too far!Finally one of the women from behind the deli counter was able to direct me. She knew where it was , yet had never gone herself. I was told I hadn't gone to far and to turn around and make the first right past the building with the orange roof.
So I proceeded to drive back in the direction I came and look for this orange roofed place, I never did see the building but I was driving slow enough that the Chesterhill Auction sign rose up out of the clay soil and presented itself to me! Yes I had arrived.
Luckily I was early for the auction and sat in on a compost tea workshop, being The Tealady, I felt it was important that I attended, and had hoped that I had not missed it due to my detour. Kyle O'Keefe, an Americorp worker from Rural Action taught the workshop, he was a wealth of information.
The auction was filled with folks looking for a fresh deal and many of us were successful! I brought home first of the season red raspberries, and some fresh strawberries.I was told that 95% of the sellers at the auction were Amish and the buyers where made up non Amish and Amish.

There were a few Amish handmade items, and I bought a bird house and a nicely built wood basket.I'll use the basket at my farmers market to display my elderberry tea, and the birdhouse will find a nice home at my in laws 200 year old home in PA.
Do you attend a local farmers market? Tell me about it, I'd love to learn more about your experiences at these events,and hope to stop by Chesterhill again next week.

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

When I had my vintage clothing shop in Cleveland I loved Tuesdays. It is the day where sales tended to be a bit slower and if it rained, I often had the day to myself, listening to old records,rearranging my showcases full of vintage jewelery and dreaming of possibilities.I allowed and encourage my mind and heart to live in the sea of creativity, all day.Tuesdays' were a gift to my muse,
So today I am in a small college town, and the sun is shining. Although I no longer have a retail store I have wonderful offices in a shared facility, and on Tuesday its my day to work solo.I give myself this day to work on the creative aspects of my business, not formulating herbal recipes necessarily, but creating new, and strengthening current business relationships. In the herbal tea business I am able to work with like minded folks, I have peers who are practitioners, gardeners, chefs, massage therapists, doctors, naturopaths, community health folks, artists etc..you get the idea! Working with herbs as food and as medicine, is a wonderful vehicle to reach out to others in a positive way. Who doesn't love nourishment.
Once in awhile, when I had that shop in Cleveland, folks would come in on those rainy Tuesdays, more often than not these folks tended to stick around and listen to old records and we would share our ideas about the interesting items around us.
So if someone comes to the offices today, I'll make a cup of iced tea and we'll listen to the tunes on the computer. Although the location has changed, Tuesdays are still a day to nourish my creative side. How about you?
Thanks for listening,
M

Loving the Support

This weekend we traveled to the Cincinnati- Mason, Ohio area. We sampled our Organic Zesty Green Tea, (which makes a great iced tea!) David spent Saturday morning at the Whole Foods Market Store in Mason, Ohio. I took a moment and checked out their new display of Herbal Sage Teas in BULK. Folks love to buy just the amount they want when purchasing these therapeutic teas, so a scoop or two works out fine! Mason Whole Foods Store has been very supportive of us, and it means allot. Without support from retailers like the team at Whole Foods it would be more difficult to grow.
As a small producer, working with a big place like Whole Foods Market can be a bit intimidating, but Liberty and Kellin and the rest of the folks in Mason keep a positive attitude towards The Herbal Sage, thanks so much!
This post may seem like a love fest for Whole Foods, but it is a personal nod to those that can help and do!