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Showing posts from October, 2009

Elderberry Syrup

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A couple of years ago, the only context I had on the Elder was things like Elderflower cordial - a nice, sweet, refreshing drink. Since then, my understanding and experience has grown and I can appreciate the tremendous benefits that the Elder bestows on the world. So I was really pleased to discover that there were several Elder bushes just 500 yards from my home. Although we are at the end of the season for the berries, on Saturday I had half an hour to spare, so took the dog for a walk down to the 'green' and went hunting for ripe Elderberries. From Earth Gazer As mentioned above, it's a little late in the season, so good berries were a harder to find, but if you look for them, they are waiting to be discovered! 30 minutes later, I had collected what I thought was enough and headed back home (actually, I was also collecting Haws, but that's for something else). I decided to make an Elderberry Syrup to a recipe in the book ' Hedgerow Medicine - Harvest an

The Hawthorn

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Hawthorn leaves From Earth Gazer Hawthorn stick with Ogham symbol carved onto it. From Earth Gazer Certainly where I live, Hawthorn is an amazingly prolific tree/shrub. However, it was only in May 2008 that I really started to notice it - somehow the fantastic white flowers made their presence felt and I realised that Hawthorn was 'all around'. In the early part of the year, you can simply pick and eat the fresh young leaves like a salad - it was once referred to as the 'Bread and Butter' tree because people used to eat the leaves to take the edge of their hunger before a meal (although personally I can't see the association between bread/butter and Hawthorn from the taste perspective!). In the autumn, the Hawthorn shows off once more, proudly displaying it's red berries or 'Haws' which can be made into an edible 'leather' as a convenient way to take in the medicinal qualities of the tree. Flowers, leaves and berries can also be made into tinctur

Moon Gazing Hare

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From Earth Gazer Moon Gazing Hare - small painting by me. (Watercolour in Moleskine notebook)