Friday, February 11, 2011

Herbal Ally Challenge 5 / Dandelion Vinegar


We were to make a vinegar with our herbal ally this week. Since I've used up my dried dandelion leaves , I took a walk around the yard to see if I could find any early dandelion. I found 1 lonesome plant and foraged the best leaves. I do have frozen dandelion blossoms on hand , so I added the leaves and a few blossoms to make my herbal vinegar. I only made a 8 oz. jar , will make more as soon as the dandelion starts popping up , which should be next month. I've placed it in a dark cabinet and it will stay there for 3 weeks. I also made a dandelion blossom infusion , which I've been drinking the last 2 days. It has a mild pleasant taste alone and is delightful with a taste of honey.
~ Dandelion Blessings ~
JoyceAnn

6 comments:

karisma said...

Did you grind the leaves or just break them up? I got a little excited and made several without reading the bit about grinding the herbs first. Woops! I will have to make another lot.

Anonymous said...

Looks like you have a headstart on me. I've actually run out of my dried burdock so I have to order a bit since we've about two feet of snow on the ground here, still.
Enjoy your blossom infusion, it is wonderful stuff.

JoyceAnn said...

Hi Karisma ~ I didn't grind them either , just snipped the leaves into small pieces with my kitchen shears.

Hi Stephany ~ I'm trying to use what I have on hand instead of buying. Our climate is pretty mild here in N.C. , dandelion should begin sprouting up soon , so I really don't want to purchase any.

~ Green Blessings ~

Flassie's Fil'a said...

Oh, I'm waiting for the cleavers
to get a little bit more growth.
Hoping for Monday to gather some
for vinegar.

Have you ever put egg shells in
vinegar? I'd like to try that
also.

I really want to have more than
one type of vinegar.

God Bless You and Yours!!!

Flassie's Fil'a said...

I found some dandelions away from the road that I think I will pick and make some vinegar of that also besides the cleavers and egg shells. Oh, I found violets too.
I might have to check out some of your posts on violets. Can I make vinegars out of them also?

Thanks for sharing!

JoyceAnn said...

Hi Flassie ~ I haven't tried the egg shells in vinegar yet. I May try it later in the year though , egg production is slow right now and I feed the shells back to the chickens for calcium and to add grit to their diets.
I've never made vinegar from violets either , I had planned to make a violet root tincture this past year , but didn't get around to it. I have made violet leaf infusion , enjoyed the infusion although it's thick and slimy. The vinegar would probably be slimy , need to try aviolet vinegar too.

~ Be Blessed ~