Anticipation Milk: February

This month, February, seems the most pregnant of all. Quiet in gestation, yet loud in longing. The sun glares at us in daggers of razor light, bouncing off the stark white snow mirrors. Seeds of ideas vibrate with moisture and swell with readiness, yet cannot burst forth until the thaw.

February cultivates a kind of sharp anticipation. Buzzing under the tree bark is the impatient flow of maple sap, the first sweetness of the day. With the holiday of Eros, wounds of old love ache arthritically like a once broken bone, and the desire for intimacy and companionship are magnified.

Songbirds return, as if to midwife the Elm flowers and Fiddleheads. Poplar branches surrender to the winds, dripping with vanilla pearls. Eagles return, Falcons scream, clouds paint. February freezes and melts and freezes and melts, and all the dreams of gardens and foraging and feasting on the earth's bounty become wild in our heads!

Thaw the berries form last year's pickins, eat them up in thanks for what is to come. Soon we will be scrambling to keep up. For now, we sit in the cave of winter's womb, sipping anticipation.

Pierce the cold with 

Vedic Roots & Spices Milk Brew:

Set out a medium sized non-reactive pot.

For every 4 oz mug of water, add the following dried herbs:

• 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon chips
• 1 heaping teaspoon dandelion root
• 1/2 teaspoon burdock root 
• 1/4 teaspoon chaga
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 1 pinch black pepper

Keep your herbs and water just below a simmer for 30 minutes, covered. Then add whole milk, at the same quantity you added of water.
Continue to let brew just under a simmer for another 15-20 minutes.

Ladle out a mug at a time (strain through a tea strainer), and add a small dollop of: Ghee, grass fed or cultured butter, or virgin coconut oil.

This is a variation on traditional Ayurvedic milk with ghee, which warms, nourishes, and lubricates all faculties of the body. It's a brew I speak of often; in the summer with rose petal jam, in the fall with more spices. And especially for children, elderly, athletes, undernourished/overworked, and new mamas.

February is extremely dry here in New England. Many folks come down with bloody noses, sinus infections, and severe head colds. Keeping the body well lubricated and our digestion tip-top with bitters and aromatics, strongly supports our immune system during these bitter weeks.

So does cuddling.

xoxo

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Enjoy! --Love, Ananda

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Matthew Wood: The Lymph/Immune System 

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Freedom in an hour

My desperation for spring greens peaked this afternoon. I thought I was going to implode. So with a little hope I put on my rain jacket, grabbed my scissors and bowl, and took the great liberty of a nomadic hour in the hazy, drizzly day to forage my yard for the first edibles. 

Most of them are hardly picking size, and relatively few are above earth yet. I took it slow, combing back and forth for the little patches reaching up into the rain, long enough to clip. Freshly cool and wet, the vitality radiating from these densely nutritious spring greens is evident even before the first bite. Taking my sweet time to acquire a full bowl, leaf by leaf, is a gift. 

The bitters are not that bitter yet - but rather the perfect amount of bitter, imparting clarity and energy. The dandelions are supremely edible, the garlic mustard a burst of flavor. The bedstraw is succulent and deliciously mild, and the violets are slippery and crisp. Little rosettes of ground ivy add flavor and health, Comfrey shoots add more flavor and softness. My chives are up so they got a haircut too. 

There is scarcely another action, with maybe the exception of homeschooling my children, that gives me quite this level of deep abundance. In one hour I have a bowl of the most nutritious, vital, organic, as-local-as-it-gets, FREE food. The dressing and olives and feta paled in comparison, I may as well eaten the greens without (but the oil and vinegar were herbal infused:), and they help assimilation). 

What's additionally miraculous to me, is that I can do the same thing all over again, every day, for the next two or three months, if I want to. They will just keep growing, and then they will bud, and then flower, and then seed, and make more shoots...... and the simplest miracle of living on Earth I can take into my very body in every moment of gathering and tasting and swallowing. 

The season for foraging is my freedom; my liberty. In fact, it is everybody's liberty. 

Blossoms everywhere

Yummy Yummy yummy. Fresh Blossoms, a perfect day, and lots of honey and vinegar to smother on them!

My children and I picked our fill of blossoms from our wild yard. It was one of the fisrt really lovely bright days of spring, and we shared the flowers gently with the busy honeybees. They LOVE the ground Ivy even more than we do.

Honey, a natural preservative, is one my most favorite ways to prepare herbs and flowers. You can pack in the fresh herbs, cover with good local honey that has not been over heated, and then after a few weeks... eat it by the spoonful or mix into hot water for a delicious tea. You get the healing properties of the herb as well as the honey. I like to soak all kinds of plants in honey .... Rosemary, Sage, Mint, Geranium, Monarda, Roses, Goldenrod, Dandelion, Verbena, Lavender..... the possibilities are endless.

Another lovely way to use your honey is for clay and honey facials. More aromatic plants, especially ones you may prefer to apply rather than eat, like Patchouli leaves, can be steeped in honey and then mixed with white, pink, green, or red clay to make a medicinal mask. This is especially nice for those who prefer infused herbs over using essential oils.

Herbal vinegar, can also be used for beauty. The old classic Queen of Hungary Water was used as a facial tonic. It was a mix of vinegar, water, and sprits, infused with Rosemary and other aromatic and antiseptic herbs. Many variations of this historic potion are still made in kitchens and factories alike. I find vinegar irritating on my face, but that's alraight since I can still pour it on my hair! Herbal hair rinses made from infused vinegar have also been used forever, depositing vital minerals and vitamins, and making smooth manageable locks at the same time.

And don't worry, you'll only smell like salad dressing for 5 or 10 minutes - it fades! Some herbs that are particularly beneficial for the scalp and hair are Nettles, Rosemary, Chamomile, Sage, Horsetail, Kelp, Geranium, Violet leaf, and Lavender.

And, of course, if you don't want to apply these things to your skin and hair ...... just go back to eating them! Apple Cider Vinegar is a superb menstrum for rendering the minerals and trace minerals from our green friends. Nettles, Comfrey, and Mugwort are especially nourishing for the skeleton. Steep fresh leaves in ACV for a good 4-6 weeks. Strain or eat the remaining leaves in soup. My son is particularly fond of pickled Violets!