Foraged teas

[Minotaur]

Whereas the advice is sound, modern chemical analysis has identified ‘toxins’ in many common foodstuffs; volume of consumption is the thing to watch.
There are many things we consume every day that have the capacity to make you ill

I think that was sort of their point in that a lot of times you should limit your intake of some things maybe even not eat however you can find recipes and people advocating for them still without pointing this out.
I think comfrey was something they mentioned.

 

[Broch]

I think that was sort of their point in that a lot of times you should limit your intake of some things maybe even not eat however you can find recipes and people advocating for them still without pointing this out.
I think comfrey was something they mentioned.

Yep, I still eat comfrey, but rarely and in small amounts

 

[Broch]

Having said all that, bog myrtle is a very effective insect repellent to me; I’ve never eaten or drank it

 

[Minotaur]

Yep, I still eat comfrey, but rarely and in small amounts

You might want to double check however think that safe. Someone eat it everyday and died so it worth being a bit careful. Think something in it bad for the liver.

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Richard Mabey's food for free makes no mention of the issues with comfrey (which surprises me) so it certainly pays to research things thoroughly.
Another couple of points are that some toxins may do more harm to those with existing health issues, such as liver disease. Or, for example, you might be more careful in consuming plants with oxalic acid if you are prone to kidney stones.
And toxin levels vary seasonally and may increase when a plant is stressed, diseased or being attacked by insects.

 

[TLM]

no mention of the issues with comfrey

At least one of the chemicals in it is used topically apparently efficiently and I found some information that it might not be good for you internally. The word comfrey apparently covers several species that might differ.

 

[Anglo American]

Last night's fishing on the river including a wee stop for a tea break, but not just a 'dust bag' affair, it was my first time steeping and drinking mares tail which was very pleasant. I must admit I've not given foraged tea a lot of thought but it's something I want to start doing this year, hopefully trying a new tea out and about once a week. Last week I had elderflower tea, which was great.

I feel like this will bring my plant knowledge on well too.

My question is, what other tea plants are about at the moment?

Dandelion root.

Cleaver / sticky weed.

 

[Suffolkrafter]

There's a wealth of info on comfrey on the European medicines agency website (and for many other herbal medicines, although by no means all).
Google 'EMA comfrey' and there are various pages and pdfs on both indications and uses of comfrey, as well as risks. It's heavy reading (I'll admit I've not read much of it, it's on my to do list). The website is a bit of a nightmare to navigate though.

 

[Anglo American]

Good timing for this tread to come up, I was planning a nice long walk this weekend with 2 goals, one to identify 5 different trees and secondly to make some pine tea. So quick question to those who have made wild tea before, what's the best way of not getting a mouth full of twigs when you drink the tea? My initial through is to pour from the cooking mug into a plastic mug using a cloth as a filter (Old triangular bandage type affair).

Coffee press, is a simple one.
You can buy loose tea nets to put in pots or cups. There are more sized for cups/mugs than pots in my opinion.

 

[Minotaur]

Richard Mabey's food for free makes no mention of the issues with comfrey (which surprises me) so it certainly pays to research things thoroughly.
Another couple of points are that some toxins may do more harm to those with existing health issues, such as liver disease. Or, for example, you might be more careful in consuming plants with oxalic acid if you are prone to kidney stones.
And toxin levels vary seasonally and may increase when a plant is stressed, diseased or being attacked by insects.

I think that sort of their point that people are going back to these older books and not doing any research into current thoughts or knowledge.

 

[henchy3rd]

Just made my second mugwort infusion.. this time i left it a bit longer on the boil ready for a good dream tonight.

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Just made my second mugwort infusion.. this time i left it a bit longer on the boil ready for a good dream tonight.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[henchy3rd]

Let us know how it goes!

Twas most strange..dreams of happy times with what can only be described as a silver background,
Almost like I was awake but asleep,although I felt a little drained the next day, I could remember everything.
I definitely won’t be making a stronger brew as I think it’d be a stupid thing to do & I wouldn’t recommend it either.

 

[Minotaur]

Something to keep in mind about this is that we take modern medicines which are made to a precise formula.
Herbal infusions of any kind have a strength and effect that depends on a lot of things however they are not precise in any way shape or form so be really careful with them.
A tablet is science and a tea is cooking.

 

[TLM]

Herbal infusions

I think anything not of Camellia sinensis should not be called "tea", herbal infusion is very much better. Though even that is not actually clear cut, some tea strains have theacrine not caffeine.

Nice to hear someone actually trying some not so common variations.

 

[punkrockcaveman]

Twas most strange..dreams of happy times with what can only be described as a silver background,
Almost like I was awake but asleep,although I felt a little drained the next day, I could remember everything.
I definitely won’t be making a stronger brew as I think it’d be a stupid thing to do & I wouldn’t recommend it either.

Appreciate the response- it's rare to get actual first hand experience of such things.

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Twas most strange..dreams of happy times with what can only be described as a silver background,
Almost like I was awake but asleep,although I felt a little drained the next day, I could remember everything.
I definitely won’t be making a stronger brew as I think it’d be a stupid thing to do & I wouldn’t recommend it either.

Interesting! Sounds like it could have been worse!

 

[TLM]

Interesting! Sounds like it could have been worse!

Definitely, so stay away from nutmeg.

I had some problems with my protein metabolism and doctor ordered some extra Tyrosine (pure amino acid), it had the funny side effect that one tends to remember dreams, no nightmares either.