HJ lol. Well when I go into something, I GO. I have two ball infusers at the present, one for Garry, one for me. But I'm going to get a larger one to put in the teapot or even pots--Garry will like that, so he can just go pour out of the teapot instead of brewing it cup by cup. I brewed a big batch of stuff in a pot a couple days ago, just all the stuff in the bottom loose. Stirred it occasionally, and after a couple hours, strained it through one of my finer meshed strainers. Where there's a will, there's a way. I DID get a handy cupboard cleaned out so everything is now near the teapot and ready to go. I figured out it really doesn't matter what you put into the infusers. A touch of cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon or other lovely tasters makes whatever tea you have in there (chamomile, oatgrass, milk thistle, whatever) tasty. The stuff I brewed in the pot had everything in it--rosemary, thyme, turmeric, sage, cinnamon, nutmeg, oatgrass, milk thistle, chamomile, and a few other things, I'm sure. added lemon zest and honey. hahaha! It was just fine. I poured what was left into a quart jar and stuck in the fridge.

Loved your using the cannister for the bags. Gonna do it right this minute!

I use a french press coffee maker for all tea making. Why? I hate tea balls. We just bought a tea pot with a built in infuser, but there is still tea bits in the bottom of your cup. Like Greek coffee, you can't drink the last swallow. A good french press will not let as many particles through.

Today's a good day for cups of hot tea, hot coffee, hot chocolate, hot toddies, hot buttered rum, hot soup, hot broth, hot boullion, whatever......

We stayed warm here until about an hour ago. Now we're getting close to freezing, so anything that anyone is going to drink probably ought to be hot or at least warm at this point.

At least I no longer have to fill up extra poultry waterers out in the yard so the wild birds can have a drink of clean water. We have enough water on the ground here (not necessarily clean) to float a boat or a bird. We don't even have puddles---we have small lakes. Augustus, were he still alive, would love it----he was the most water-loving turkey I've ever seen.

Of course I sent my French press to the Love Closet last fall when I purged. Bummer! Yes, it IS Dawn. Tea here.

I took a few elderberry cuttings and will be trying to get them rooted as soon as I can get to my supplies! Iced in pretty good here! Just hoping the power doesn't go out.

Not too worried, tho. The generator is fueled and ready.

I keep telling GDW we need a generator! AGGH. When I moved down here, I just assumed he had one! For crying out loud, we're 10 miles out of town (albeit in a large kind of "community"), but no city services. We have not been without power for more than several hours at a time, so obviously he hasn't lived through an ice storm here. But my son and I realized the necessity of having a generator in a suburb of Minneapolis when we were without power for 4-5 days at a time at least once a year (trees down in heavy storms); nope, Garry did not and still does not, have a generator. . . . and he fancies himself a kind of homesteader wanna-be. Well. I've been socking my savings away. As has he. . . so I think we need to have this discussion again. . . I'm sure he's not against it, just really hasn't thought through the benefits of having one. Bruce, you're with me on this, right?

Amy, I realized the wisdom of your French press idea, so went online to look at French presses. THEN I had a lightbulb moment. When I was at SIL's house last summer, she had coffee mugs that were like French presses, and she also had an old-fashioned wall-hanging coffee grinder. Both were wonderful. I didn't know what the mugs were called or how to look them up online. But it dawned on me that basically they were French presses while I was googling French presses, so googled French press coffee mug and up they popped. GDW is helpless without his "MUG" during the day and when traveling. So now he has his tea mug! I ordered 2 of them.

ALSO. . . because of our candle awakening by all of you, I've been testing out liquid potpourris with a sauce pan on the stove. It's a pain. First, takes away a burner I could be using; second, isn't very attractive; third; hard to regulate the heat so it doesn't simmer to nothing. I googled small crockpots and got THE cutest most perfect little tiny crockpot--it's unobtrusive, I can put it on a counter, I could put it anywhere in the house. So tonight I ordered another one of those. They're cheap, like app. $10. The first one arrived today and I promptly set it to work. I LOVE it!

That reminds me I bought one at the thrift last week for $2. I need to load it up tomorrow

One what???? LOL

Lol sorry an herb crock pot. I was looking for jacket and found that instead.

I don't even know what a french press IS.

Google it, HJ! :) They're the best for when one buys good fresh coffee beans. https://www.stumptowncoffee.com/brew-guides/french-press

I want a french press to get away from the plastic taste in my coffee

Aw...I've never drank coffee. So...Amy, you use it for tea too?

It is a container that holds hot water, H/J. It doesn't need a filter, there's a metal one built in, it holds the tea or coffee grounds in the bottom of the pot while you pour. There is no stuffing tea/herbs into a little ball and spilling them all over the counter. It is easy to clean. If you are a tea purist and want to remove the leaves after X number of minutes, a tea ball is better. It is really hard to get tea too strong for me, and herbal teas usually need to steep longer. We got a pot, sort of like this recently. It looked like it had very fine holes, but I still ended up with "grit" in the bottom of my cup. I have a tea strainer like this (I did NOT pay $20 for!), but my newest French press filters so well I don't need it. We have an electric pot for boiling water. And DH has a drip coffee pot. He enjoys fresh ground coffee in a french press, though. Do not use the same one for both coffee and tea. Well, maybe if you run it through the dishwasher. But I can taste coffee in my tea that way. It does not have the ambiance of a pretty tea pot under a cozy. If I was having a tea party, I would either use bags (you can buy bags you can fill yourself) or make it in the French press and transfer to a pretty pot. My new French press is pretty, though.

That is pretty, Amy. Do the cheaper (less attractive haha) ones work well too? I need one of these. When is payday.? lol! I have a list of things waiting for payday. 1. Baby Chicks 2. New Curtains 3. French Press

DH paid $40 for my copper one. I would never have paid that much. I think he went to Java Dave's. A standard size (I don't know what that is) should have replaceable parts so you can replace the filter part later. We have one with a plastic handle. The plastic was beginning to crack, so he got me a new one. We have a little one, good for like 2 cups of coffee, that he can't find a replacement filter for. You can probably find one at Walmart or Target for less than $40!

I bought these for a friend for Christmas. They seem like a very fine screen, they are designed to fit in a mug.

Mine was cheaper, HJ--As I recall, between $25 and $30. And I had it for 20 years--until last fall. LOL Every now and then I'd splurge on fresh coffee beans and pull it out. But Amy's is worth salivating over! :)

It looks like Walmart has one for 20 and bed bath beyond has mini one for 10

A french press

I've never looked into using a french press, may have to check it out. Not much of a tea drinker, but I drink a lot of coffee!

With all the discussion about some of the various teas, I may have to try some. I'll try just about anything once, well, probably more than once! I learned a long time ago, first impressions aren't always conclusive.

I finally got started seeding some of the herbs for culinary use, so now I can turn my attention to learning more about the medicinal varieties. I'll start with what I have already since there is somewhat of an overlap in usage.

The rain and ice storms have been a bit of a setback on taking more elderberry cuttings and it may be getting a little late. It's not a big deal, since I have 30 or so that I'm babysitting already. If they all root, I'll be bringing some to SF, since I only plan on using 5-10 of the wild unknown variety. I'll probably add a few known cultivars a little later on.

I started some with rooting hormone and put them in soiless seed starter mix. The rest I just put in water.

The cuttings I have in water have started putting out buds already, but it's too early to start seeing any sign of roots.

Awesome

I made my elderberry trip today. Quite an adventure. Their site gives directions from I-40. I thought since I wasn't coming via I-40, I'd just google their address (which has Porum as the town.) I ended up in the middle of a trailer/house/RV park next to a boat dock in Porum Falls. Hey, I have a brain--I just knew that couldn't be right. (And quite the circuitous route to get THERE. So I went to nearby gas station/convenience store and asked the five people in there if they know of an elderberry farm nearby. The all stared blankly and pointed me to the "oldtimer" in the next room. So I went and asked the oldtimer. Nooooooo, she said. Then suggested it was probably Porum not Porum Landing. I headed off for Porum, but no address like THEIRS was there--so I realized probably the only way I'd get there was to find I-40 and follow the directions there. That even took some doing, from where I was. I did, however. Ended up on a major 2-lane that took me south and VOILA, saw I-40 up ahead and then became aware I was on Exit 266--needed to be on Exit 284. But I wasn't sure whether to take a right or a left up to I-40. So again googled Exit 284, Ross Road I-40 and finally it showed up on the Google map. And I was finally there 15 minutes later. I was explaining to them what happened and Valerie said, "Oh we've been fighting with the post office about changing that to Webber Falls, not Porum!" It was SO funny really. I told her, "Well, it was beautiful country, at least." Good laugh. Bruce, every good thing about them you've said was spot on. They were very thorough on finding out which ones I should have (maybe Dawn said that--one of you did.) It was a great operation (and a BIG operation), and easy to see they knew their stuff! And they had the coolest aquaponics greenhouse--just amazing. I was very glad I decided to drive down, even though it took a bit (!) longer than I had anticipated. A LOT faster coming back--I-40 to Checotah and north to home. LOL

I'm drinking Holistic Health tea tonight: ginger, cinnamon pieces, licorice, fennel, orange peel, marshmallow root, thyme, turmeric, cardamom, black peppercorn, mullein flowers. A spot of honey in it. Nice.

I'm SO excited about the elderberries! Thanks to everyone who is sharing with me....just let me know how much I owe you.

French press. I was looking up a tincture in Rosemary's book and there it is in the lemon balm section. I've looked at that section many times and never noticed her mention of a french press until a couple of days ago. I still haven't purchased one yet.

I'm going to look at her elderberry remedies and teas tonight. Does anyone know when the plants will have berries to harvest? How long?

I think the berries normally are ripe in late summer to early autumn---but it will depend on your location and which variety/cultivar you have. How long? A week or two. Again, it depends on the variety/cultivar, and just like young fruit trees, you won't get much of a harvest the first year, but then they should produce just fine after that. If you watch the countryside around you, especially in wild areas with rich, humusy soil and adequate moisture, you should see the elderberries in bloom in mid- to late-summer. I don't see them much around us because of all our clay, but I sometimes see them in areas with sandier soil or richer/looser loamy soil.

Jennifer, if my wild cuttings work out, you won't owe anything. Too early to tell yet, but I'll be surprised if I have any issues with them.

Nancy, I'm glad you managed to find it! Sounds like somewhat of an adventure!

I've often wondered about there being different cultivars growing in the wild. I'm sure there are, but my rough rule of thumb is to watch for blossoms in June and mark locations to pick in August.

At some point I'd like to figure out what variety grows in east Texas and northern Louisiana. I've seen them in full bloom in early to mid September. Even if I took cuttings the next time I'm down the way, I have to wonder if they'd have enough time to put on fruit in our area.

If the captured wild variety start producing by the second year, I'll be tickled! I was thinking by the 3rd or 4th, but they are a pretty robust bush.

I got a french press mug years ago and used it until I wore it out, then bought a pot. I love it. It doesn't make coffee bitter like brewing does, even when it gets cold.

That's it I am getting a french press

LOL, Kim.

I don't know if it counts as herbs, but H/J, I'm thinking about Kombucha and/or water kefir. How much trouble is it to keep going? I would probably be the only one drinking it, and I don't drink much. I was never a soda fan, water and tea for me, so I've been afraid I wouldn't drink enough to keep it going. I read through George's tutorial on kefir the other day. Trying to decide which I should do.

Hey Amy. I haven't made kefir, but kombucha isn't difficult. There are some steps that must be followed...and you can't let your jars set unattended for 6 months. That was my first error in my last batch that molded. For me, during band marching season, I kept putting off the second ferment until it got ridiculous and I knew it needed more attention than a normal "second ferment".

Kombucha is SO 2016 and kefir is the cool thing right now. Actually Jun Tea is the new cool thing--it's basically kombucha made with green tea and honey.

ANYWAY--all of it is good and good for you. You could make a new jar every 2 weeks or so and easily drink 4 oz a day or so in between ferments. I think you could drink enough to keep it going.

Oklahoma is a little behind when it comes to things like this. My daughter travels often for work and there's Kefir "sodas" at restaurants in other places..as well as other things. When we were in DC last year, we could find some awesome vegetarian restaurants that had great drink choices -- non cola stuff.

Sorry. I"m rambling. Had a glass of wine. lol

If you want me to help with kombucha making--the steps and all--I will be happy to help.

Oh, and where is George's tutorial? I didn't see it. I would like to try kefir too.

It's on his Homesteading Education site. Contact him if you're not a member yet.

I'm not sure how to contact him, Amy. He doesn't seem to have the "message" option here. Do you know how I can contact him?

HJ

On the homesteading edu site there are contact options

Homesteading Education

We have talked about how to dry herbs in the past, I found this on Pintrest today. Tulle bags for drying herbs

I have wanted to make an outdoor dryer. This is an easy fix until I can do a big one

I agree--thanks much, Amy!

Seeing as chickweed is growing now Chickweed herbal uses. And Dead Nettle. Bittercress. Henbit.

Amy told me to list herbal teas I've been drinking.

I ordered a bunch of herbs from Rose Mountain, and frequently make up a mix of some of them. But I also bought a bunch of herbal teas. The ones I bought from Rose Mountain include skullcap, flax seed, chia seed, oatstraw, milk thistle seed, chamomile flowers, ginger root, hawthorne. I also got 2 tea blends from them: Firefly chai and 5th Chakra. I particularly like the 5th Chakra. It has a most pleasant aftertaste (ginger root, cinnamon bark, red rooibos tea, cardamom pods and seeds, cloves and nutmeg.) First class herb site. What I do with the herbs is quite capricious. I throw whatever I feel like throwing in the tea balls. . . and if I don't particularly like the taste, add a bit of cinnamon and honey. I haven't DISLIKED any of them.

Among the prepackaged teas, loose or in bags, I have a Tealyra "holistic health" one that has ginger, cinnamon pieces, licorice, fennel, orange peel, thyme, marshmallow root, turmeric, cardamom, black peppercorn, mullein flowers! Then also, chamomile, peppermint, lemon ginger, many others. I am liking to add ginger to the ones I mix up, and like the ginger lemon, chamomile mixes, and to my surprise, I love the peppermint.

Here I thought I wasn't a mint fan. I emptied out half the bottom shelf of one of my cupboards, and it is now packed with teas and herbs for tea.

So, there ya go, Amy, that's what I've been drinking. I've been drinking any and all of them. And since I seldom don't have anything sitting by my side to sip on, I think it's safe to say I have been drinking a LOT of herbal tea! LOL I also have some Sleepy time and another sleep one from someone else. Two cups of those before bed. I do think they help.

Thanks for the info, Amy. And for sharing, Nancy. :)

Here's one for H/J. I'd go get an artichoke if I had a place fore it.

Who wants to make a whole plant echinacea tincture with me! It takes awhile, but it will be ready for next winter's colds.

We'll start by putting the leaves in a jar and covering with vodka. Then, add a few blooms in the later spring. THEN, add a few flowers...and FINALLY dig a root and add that to the tincture. Let set for 6 weeks or so...and we'll have mediicine! Let's do it.

Jennifer, your tincture prompted me to do a little research on the process, benefits and of course the negatives. As always, that kinda branched off into some of the possible uses of some of our garden weeds.

If spring 2018 either gets here, one of my favorite plants to forage is poke salat. I love the taste of the greens, but I've always had reservations about some of the other controversial usages of other parts of the plant. This link has some very interesting information on some the research being done. https://altnature.com/gallery/pokeweed.htm

I look forward to reading that in depth tomorrow, Bruce.

There seems to always be controversy about herbs, but less so than "medicine" from the pharmacy--look at those commercials on TV and all the side effects they list!

The thing I found interesting is the study of how some of the proteins in the berries may be effective in fighting leukemia.

When you mentioned side effects, I could hear Jeff Foxworthy's comedy routine in my mind! I know his spiel was meant to be funny, but he pretty much nailed it.

I don't know how this compares in price to other herb freezing trays, but it doubles as an egg cooker in the instant pot.

Okay. So, last week I started the whole plant tincture. Then, that night, made my endocrine tea. Couldn't find the tea jar in the refrigerator and noticed it sitting on the counter. Promptly poured the tea into the jar and then suddenly realized I had just poured the tea into the tincture. The jars are identical. For some reason, I had left the lights off--this was right before bedtime and I was trying to get the tea done for the following day. What?!

What a pain. If it were just the herbs in the tincture, I wouldn't mind. But I'm uncertain of how a quart of water added to the jug of tincture would affect it. The alcohol needs to be at least 80 proof.

I buy expensive, organic vodka to use in medicine. Success Vodka made in Oklahoma.

So...bought some more and plan to start the tincture again tomorrow.

Did you taste it yet? LOL I hate it when I do things like that!

yall, elderberry grows wild all over southern ok. you can see it from the road everywhere on anything less than an interstate.

while im posting, has anybody seen a giant hogweed here like is in the news about virginia? ive seen some suspicious-looking plants from the car whilst driving past ada. i cant find an internet reference, but the plants move around.

While I've seen many articles about giant hogweed, none have ever mentioned Oklahoma. From what I've read, it seems to prefer cooler climates (lets hope). There are certainly some isolated, primitive areas in OK where it could hide.