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Recipes

Herbal Tinctures: Goldenrod

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Just before we enjoy the beautiful colors of fall foliage, the land gives us its last summer show. Wildflowers like ironweed, Joe Pye weed, and goldenrod bloom in abundance. In some, we can find more than just beauty. Goldenrod is a wonderful medicinal herb that’s best harvested while in bloom.

Medicinal Usage

Goldenrod was first used in herbal medicine by Native Americans. Topically goldenrod has been used on toothaches, burns, sores, and infections. Internally it’s often used to treat digestive, respiratory, or urinary ailments. Recent research has shown that goldenrod teas and tinctures may effectively prevent and treat UTIs and kidney stones in particular.

Identifying Goldenrod

There dozens of species of goldenrod, 38 in Virginia alone! Identifying individual species can be challenging even for experts. However, all goldenrod species have similar properties and are used medicinally, so it’s okay if you’re unsure precisely what species you’ve got.

However, you do want to make sure you do have a goldenrod. Some similar-looking species like ragwort are toxic. Goldenrods have a woody stem. Though the leaf shape may differ from species to species, typically, leaves are tapered to the tip. Leaves are generally larger near the base of the plant. They often have a hairy or rough underside and have parallel veins. Their tiny yellow flowers grow on an inflorescence (like a plume) at the plant’s top. Many have multiple inflorescences.

If you’re unsure about identifying goldenrod, plan to forage with a knowledgeable friend. You can also check a wildflower field guide or the Ohio Perennial and Biennial Weed Guide for more detailed information.

Harvest

To harvest goldenrod, you want to catch it as the flowers have just started blooming. Select plants that look healthy and free of mildew and disease. Bring along a pair of scissors and snip off the plume of flowers. It’s okay to get some leaves. You can use them too.
Avoid harvesting an entire patch. Bees and other native wildlife rely on species like goldenrod as they get ready for winter.

Making Tincture

To make a tincture, all you’ll need is alcohol (at least 80 proof or 40%), a glass jar with a lid, and your goldenrod blooms. If you don’t have goldenrod near you, you can also purchase and use dried goldenrod. If you don’t want to use alcohol, you can substitute it with vegetable glycerin.

Roughly chop up your blooms and place them in a glass jar. Then cover them with alcohol. Most people like to use vodka because it doesn’t have much flavor, but you can use whatever you’ve got on hand. I’m using rum for this tutorial.

Push the flowers down if needed. You don’t have to pack them in super tight, but you want to make sure that you completely cover them with alcohol; otherwise, they could mold.

Place the lid on and let your tincture sit in a cool, dark place for a minimum of 4 weeks before using. If you’re using dried goldenrod, shake your jar each day for the first couple of weeks to ensure the herbs absorb the alcohol and don’t just float on top. You can keep your tincture just like this for months, or you can strain out the blooms when you’re ready to use it.

You can use this method (the folk method) to tincture many herbs, including lemon balm, mint, echinacea, calendula, goldenseal, ginseng, and more.

Using Your Tincture

Always consult a physician before using your tinctures to treat any medical condition. Start with trying a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon before taking a lot. To make it taste a bit better, you can mix it with honey.

Making Tea

You can also make tea from fresh or dried goldenrod. About 2 tablespoons of fresh flowers or about 1 tablespoon of dried flowers will make a cup of tea. Steep your tea for 10-15 minutes.

Drying Goldenrod

To dry your goldenrod for later, you can spread roughly chopped blooms on a screen to air dry or dry them in a dehydrator on the herb setting. Store in an airtight container out of direct sunlight. It will last about a year.

 

***This article is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a physician before using these to treat any conditions.***

Recipes

Homegrown: Five Seasonal Cooking Resources

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This season we’ve been inundated with orders and happy to see many folks trying to make the best of a tough situation by planting victory gardens. We love seeing new gardeners grow their own food for the first time and veteran gardeners expanding their plots.

Particularly for new gardeners, cooking from the garden is a bit different. Rather than selecting a recipe and purchasing the ingredients, gardeners harvest their ingredients and then select a recipe.

While we try to post some of our favorite seasonal recipes here on the blog, we certainly don’t have a comprehensive list. Here are a few of our favorite resources for seasonal recipes and preservation techniques.

Fresh Preserving

When you’re in doubt about putting up the harvest check the Fresh Preserving site from Ball Canning. They have tons of recipes and guides for water bath canning, pressure canning, freezing, dehydrating and more.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Some of you may have read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver documents her family’s year-long adventure of eating locally to their Virginia home. You can find some of their favorite recipes from their year of local food on their website. Try quick dinners like their swiss chard “Eggs in a Nest” or recipes like their Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies to use up excess produce.

Mother Earth News

The seasonal recipe section of Mother Earth News is filled with tons of recipes from a wide variety of homesteaders and gardeners. Check out unique recipes like Thai Green Tomatoes with a Coconut Crust or Creamy Parsnip Soup with Sorrel.

Garden Therapy

Stephanie Rose created Garden Therapy after she found that gardening helped her to “rebuild [her] health.” Her website now includes an abundance of gardening resources including recipes that will help you bring seasonal ingredients to the table. Try fun treats like Edible Flower Lollipops, delicious meals like Garden Fresh Quiche, or beverages like her Salad Bowl Gin and Tonic.

Farm Flavor

Farm Flavor strives to connect consumers to agriculture by profiling U.S. farmers and ranchers. Their recipe section is full of easy ideas for you to use your homegrown or local produce. This summer whip up some Collard Green Salad Rolls or Garden Fresh Gazpacho.

SESE Blog Recipes

Here are a few favorites from the SESE blog. Browse for more recipes and stay tuned with us this year.

Did we miss something? If you know a great food preservation or seasonal cooking resource, let us know on Facebook!

Recipes

Fall Harvest: 5 Ways to Use Green Tomatoes

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Fall is a beautiful time of year but it does bring an end to summertime, heat-loving veggies. If a frost is in the forecast for your area, it’s time to pick any green tomatoes that are still in your garden. While crops like winter squash and pumpkins simply need to be cured for winter storage figuring out what to do with crates of green tomatoes can be a bit tougher. Here are 5 ways you can use them up.

Fried Green Tomatoes

The classic way to serve green tomatoes is battered and fried and for good reason! Fried green tomatoes are delicious. If you’ve never had them, give this simple recipe a try.

Combine 1 egg with 1/2 cup of milk. In a separate dish whisk together 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 1 tsp of garlic powder or a couple cloves of fresh minced garlic. You can also add a touch of chili powder or other spices to taste. In another dish, set out 1/4 cup all-purpose flour. Slice 2-4 tomatoes into 1/4 – 1/2 inch slices. 

Dunk each slice into the plain flour, then the egg and milk, and then the cornmeal mixture. Preheat a cast iron pan with 1/4 inch of vegetable oil. Drop tomatoes into the hot oil and fry on each side until golden-brown.

Ripen Tomatoes

If you’ve got space to keep them fresh you can also ripen your green tomatoes. All you need to do is lay them out in a single layer, so they’re not touching. Store them at room temperature and check them at least often to use any that are ripening and remove any that are rotting. Any blemished tomatoes should be used immediately because they’ll probably rot before they ripen. 

Some varieties of tomatoes are made to ripen slowly, off the vine to provide fresh winter tomatoes. Learn more about the storage tomatoes we offer here.

Pickled Green Tomatoes

If you love pickles why not try pickled green tomatoes? Pickles are a simple way to preserve the harvest, even for beginning canners. If you’re not into canning you can also make “quick pickles” meaning you just refrigerate them rather than water bath canning them. In a refrigerator, they’ll still keep for a long time. Garden Betty has four awesome recipes.

Green Tomato Relish

Also called chow chow, green tomato relish used to be a common recipe. Green tomato relish was used through the winter to add flavor to all sorts of dishes from meats to sandwiches. Stone Axe Herbals has easy green tomato relish and green tomato salsa recipes that are worth checking out.

Freezing Green Tomatoes

Green tomatoes are also quite simple to freeze, perfect for making fried green tomatoes throughout the winter! Select firm, unblemished tomatoes and slice them 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick. Lay the slices in a container with wax or freezer paper in between layers. 

Eating food from our gardens forces us to slow down and appreciate our food. This fall don’t let any of your harvest go to waste. Try one or two of these ideas to use up your green tomatoes.