we only had a small crop of chamomile this year… mostly because the seeds we planted last year never germinated and stayed in the ground until they came up this year! although our chamomile patch was small, we are still excited to make some chamomile tea out of the flowers.
this video shows just how easy harvesting chamomile can be!
.:.
Astragalus is a perennial and medicinal herb that has been used in both gardens and medicine cabinets for centuries. It is a very valuable and useful plant for a homestead, filling many roles, and providing many benefits.
A leguminous plant (related to beans and peas), astragalus, or milkvetch as it is commonly known, fixes nitrogen from the air with the help of colonies of bacteria that live in its root system. This allows it to feed itself and other nearby plants. Hardy to Zone 5, astragalus prefers full sun and good drainage, and would guild well on the southern side of fruit trees, or the edges of garden paths in a permaculture system.
Astragalus, a great permaculture pant. Courtesy Jason Hollinger
Medicinally, astragalus root has been touted as an immune boosting herb that stimulates and promotes general health and immune system strength. In 20,000 Secrets of Tea, Victoria Zak says that a tea made from astragalus root is traditionally thought by Chinese medicine to strengthen a body’s “protective energy” and acts as a catalyst for other herbal remedies by tonifying the immune system and enhancing the properties of other herbs.
A warm cup of Astragalus and spearmint tea, sweetened with raw honey
I try to have a cup of astragalus root tea anytime I know I’ll be around sickness or sick people, especially during flu season or if someone I know is sick. I’m enjoying some right now, actually. I combined it with a pinch of our dried spearmint, and a touch of raw honey. Its flavor is good on its own, slightly spicy and nutty I think, maybe a little too earthy to be a delicacy, but not at all unpleasant. It blends really well with other herbs, and this mint combo is pretty tasty.
We will definitely be planting some astragalus this spring; its medicinal properties are more than enough reason to, but the added benefit of fixing nitrogen makes it a great addition to our food forest. From what I’ve read, it takes a few years before the roots are harvestable, so for now I’ll stick with the astragalus root powder we got this year. Like many herbs, it is available for purchase in many forms (capsules, extracts, etc.) but I prefer the powder for making delicious tea.
As always, this isn’t intended as medical advice, and you should always do your own research when looking into herbal remedies and alternative medicine. But in the meantime, I’ll have another sip of my astragalus and mint tea.
Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) deserves a place on any homestead or permaculture farm. As the only native plant in the United States that contains caffeine, this valuable plant brings a lot to the table. A small to large evergreen shrub, yaupon holly is popular among landscapers as a foundation plant, and is commonly seen in both residential and commercial settings.
This is a good thing for homesteaders, because it means that yaupons are not only available to purchase at nurseries, but are relatively hardy and drought tolerant enough to survive these settings.
Hardy to zone 7, yaupon holly, and many other hollies, are commonly found as an understory shrub in hardwood forests and swamps in the southeastern United States. In the Gulf states, yaupons can make dense thickets in cleared areas acting as a pioneer species.
In the garden, yaupon holly is best situated in similar settings. Partial shade is best, but full sun to heavier shade can also be tolerated depending on variety and other factors. These small shrubs make great understory plants in a food forest or guild setting. Female plants produce small, inedible berries that provide winter forage for many native birds.
The leaves and small stems of yaupons contain caffeine, and can be toasted to make yaupon holly tea, a substitute for coffee similiar to yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) of South American fame.
The Native Americans of the southeastern United States used yaupon holly as both a tea, and a ritual beverage named black drink. This is where the vomitoria portion of Ilex vomitoria comes in, as after drinking profuse amounts of super concentrated black drink, which often included the inedible berries, many drinkers ended up vomiting and purging their systems.
But don’t worry, normal yaupon tea of just the leaves won’t make you throw up. In fact, I’m going to try a recipe of roasted dandelion root, chicory, and yaupon one day, which I imagine will make a pretty decent tea–very reminiscent of coffee. Not that I’ll ever be able to give up my morning ritual, but you never know. It would be nice to obtain some measure of self sufficiency as far as caffeinated beverages go–just ask the British.
Yaupon holly is easily pruned or encouraged into a hedge, and there are many cultivars available, from weeping yaupon to dwarf yaupon. For maximum caffeine production it needs plenty of nitrogen, so grow it near a nitrogen fixing species or two. An underplanting of clover (trifolium spp.) or vetch (vicia spp.) or an overstory of mimosa (albizia spp.) black locust (robinia psuedoacacia), or elaeagnus would work nicely.
Yaupon holly is a great plant. It is easy to care for, fits in nicely in a food forest, comes in many shapes and sizes, and produces one of the most valuable substances on earth. Caffeine. It definitely deserves a place on any homestead or forest garden, and its trimmings will pay great dividends of yaupon holly tea for years.
© 2024 KW Homestead
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑