The first weekend of the year started off on the right foot. My husband and I attended Frostbite! A winter camping symposium. There were many lessons to learn and I hope that I can apply what I came away with to my family's life and adventures.
Over the past two years I have been learning about wild edibles and herbal medicines. I was super excited about my first session of the weekend as it was about tinctures, acetums and glycerites. Brenda Holder went over the basics of each method and why each method is used in each case.
One of the acetums we made was Firecider. It's a mixture of distilled vinegar, onions and garlic (with their skins on), rosemary, jalapeños, lemons and ginger. It needs to sit for two weeks before I strain it and add some apple cider vinegar. Then it will be ready for use as a cold and flu preventive. You can also take it to help you get over a cold or flu. You can take it by the spoonful or use the vinegar in your cooking. It smells amazing already and I can't wait to try it.
As a group we also made a nervine glycerite with catnip and skullcap. We had to let the mixture sit on low heat for two hours with the occasional stir. This one will help you sleep, help calm you down. My husband tried a spoon of it recently, as he had a bad cold and couldn't fall asleep. I told him to try it and then I didn't hear from him for about 2 hrs. I was at work. He was at home. I was joking with my coworkers that he might have passed out, sleeping on the floor somewhere, if he couldn't make it to his bed. He was fine.
Drinking tea was also discussed and we went outside to drink a cup of wild mint tea. We were instructed to pay attention to how it affected us as we were drinking the tea. Mint tea can calm an anxious person, but it can also be uplifting and rejuvenating. It will give you what you need at that moment. I can get anxious at times when confronted with new surroundings, people and experiences, such as being at a new camp with a bunch of strangers, learning new things. The mint tea had a calming effect on me that I have never noticed before. I've never thought to think about anything past what my tea tastes like. Now I know to pay more attention.
Brenda also briefly mentioned chaga as she was going over other methods for tinctures. Chaga is a favourite of mine and my husband. We are always on the lookout for it fall through early spring. So far we have found two sources and have respectfully harvested it. We usually drink it as a tea, but my husband has made a basic tincture from it also. Now I understand how to mix the two process together to get the full benefit from this fungus. Certain properties are accessed through water and certain properties are accessed through alcohol.
The first night of Frostbite we also had an amazing talk from keynote speakers, husband and wife team, Dale and Coleen Kiselyk. They talked about micro adventures, how to find places to go on adventures and how easy and simple you can make it. It doesn't have to be more than a couple hours or an overnight, just get out there and enjoy the outdoors.
This got me thinking about how my family has been involved in Junior Forest Wardens for the past 5 years. We joined because we wanted to spend more time in the outdoors and learn some new things. This club has made a big impact on our lives as it has introduced us to many opportunities that we may have never seen otherwise. We've gone on caving, canoeing, hiking and camping adventures and learnt new skills such as cross country skiing, snowshoeing, fire lighting, knife skills, shelter building and more. During the fall my husband and I decided to add extra activities above our regular club schedule. We invite our club members, family and friends to join us in an outdoor activity or to work on a skill. The idea of micro adventures sounds like a good fit for these extra activities.
This winter camping symposium was the best way to kick off this year and rekindle that fire to learn more about our environment and how to enjoy what nature has to offer, both in adventure and in health.
Bring on the Micro Adventures!
Stay tuned for day two of the symposium.
Over the past two years I have been learning about wild edibles and herbal medicines. I was super excited about my first session of the weekend as it was about tinctures, acetums and glycerites. Brenda Holder went over the basics of each method and why each method is used in each case.
One of the acetums we made was Firecider. It's a mixture of distilled vinegar, onions and garlic (with their skins on), rosemary, jalapeños, lemons and ginger. It needs to sit for two weeks before I strain it and add some apple cider vinegar. Then it will be ready for use as a cold and flu preventive. You can also take it to help you get over a cold or flu. You can take it by the spoonful or use the vinegar in your cooking. It smells amazing already and I can't wait to try it.
As a group we also made a nervine glycerite with catnip and skullcap. We had to let the mixture sit on low heat for two hours with the occasional stir. This one will help you sleep, help calm you down. My husband tried a spoon of it recently, as he had a bad cold and couldn't fall asleep. I told him to try it and then I didn't hear from him for about 2 hrs. I was at work. He was at home. I was joking with my coworkers that he might have passed out, sleeping on the floor somewhere, if he couldn't make it to his bed. He was fine.
Drinking tea was also discussed and we went outside to drink a cup of wild mint tea. We were instructed to pay attention to how it affected us as we were drinking the tea. Mint tea can calm an anxious person, but it can also be uplifting and rejuvenating. It will give you what you need at that moment. I can get anxious at times when confronted with new surroundings, people and experiences, such as being at a new camp with a bunch of strangers, learning new things. The mint tea had a calming effect on me that I have never noticed before. I've never thought to think about anything past what my tea tastes like. Now I know to pay more attention.
Brenda also briefly mentioned chaga as she was going over other methods for tinctures. Chaga is a favourite of mine and my husband. We are always on the lookout for it fall through early spring. So far we have found two sources and have respectfully harvested it. We usually drink it as a tea, but my husband has made a basic tincture from it also. Now I understand how to mix the two process together to get the full benefit from this fungus. Certain properties are accessed through water and certain properties are accessed through alcohol.
The first night of Frostbite we also had an amazing talk from keynote speakers, husband and wife team, Dale and Coleen Kiselyk. They talked about micro adventures, how to find places to go on adventures and how easy and simple you can make it. It doesn't have to be more than a couple hours or an overnight, just get out there and enjoy the outdoors.
This got me thinking about how my family has been involved in Junior Forest Wardens for the past 5 years. We joined because we wanted to spend more time in the outdoors and learn some new things. This club has made a big impact on our lives as it has introduced us to many opportunities that we may have never seen otherwise. We've gone on caving, canoeing, hiking and camping adventures and learnt new skills such as cross country skiing, snowshoeing, fire lighting, knife skills, shelter building and more. During the fall my husband and I decided to add extra activities above our regular club schedule. We invite our club members, family and friends to join us in an outdoor activity or to work on a skill. The idea of micro adventures sounds like a good fit for these extra activities.
This winter camping symposium was the best way to kick off this year and rekindle that fire to learn more about our environment and how to enjoy what nature has to offer, both in adventure and in health.
Bring on the Micro Adventures!
Stay tuned for day two of the symposium.
What is tincture and acetums?
ReplyDeleteA tincture is when you soak different parts of plants in alcohol to extract their medicinal value. Then you can take the liquid as a medicine. Acetums are same thing but made with an acid such as vinegar instead of alcohol.
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