Wild Medicine Part Two

Lion's Mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) is a fabulous medicinal as well as a tasty edible.  It grows on dying or dead oak, walnut, beech, maple, sycamore and other broad-leaf trees, usually on logs or stumps.  It's easy to identify and has no poisonous look-alikes, but there are a few other closely related species.  Coral mushrooms have small white branches growing upward instead of shaggy hairs that hang down.  They are also edible and possibly medicinal, but the one most studied is Hericium erinaceus.

It has some very unique healing properties.  In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this mushroom has been used for stomach ailments and for the prevention of cancer in the GI tract.  It improves immune function and is anti-microbial.  But perhaps the most exciting property of lion's mane is its ability to stimulate regrowth of neurons, making it of great significance for the treatment of Alzheimer's, senility, neurological trauma, cognitive issues and possibly muscle/motor response issues.

Hunt for lion's mane in the fall after a few good rains.  Hard freezes will turn the mushrooms brown and bitter, so try to collect them before the weather gets too cold.  The specimen shown below is a younger one and hasn't yet formed long, shaggy filaments, but I picked it because I was afraid if I waited, it might get eaten by animals or be spoiled by the elements.

Lion's mane can be eaten fresh, sauteed in butter or simmered in soup.  It can be sliced and dried in a food dehydrator, or made into a tincture for medicine.  Tincturing mushrooms is a little more complex than making a simple herb tincture.  Most mushrooms need what is called a dual extraction to capture all the medicinal components, some of which are water soluble, others soluble only in alcohol.  The process takes time, but yields potent medicine that will keep for years.

Here is the process:

After you have harvested the mushrooms, remove any bits of dirt as well as you can.  Don't worry if you don't get them all, a little dirt won't hurt anything, and will be strained out later.  Don't wash the mushrooms -  they're too fragile and will soak up water like a sponge.  Weigh the mushrooms with a kitchen scale.  The ratio of mushroom to alcohol when using fresh mushrooms is 1:2, which means if you have 10 ounces of mushrooms by weight, you will need 20 ounces by volume of alcohol.  I use Everclear, which is 90% alcohol.  This allows for dilution by the water content of the mushrooms (they naturally hold a lot of water!) and the water you will be adding later in the process.

Break up the mushrooms and put them in a blender or food processor with the alcohol and blend them up.  Transfer to a clean glass jar with a lid and let steep for one month, shaking daily if you remember.  Don't forget to label the jar with the contents and date, so you know when it's finished.

After a month, strain out the solids with a thin tea towel or several thicknesses of cheese cloth.  Squeeze out as much alcohol as you can.  Measure the amount of tincture you have and write it down.  Put it in a clean jar, and transfer the solids you've strained out into a pot with enough water to cover plus some extra to allow for evaporation.  Stir it up to break up the mushroom pulp.  Simmer, covered, for two hours or longer, keeping a close eye on the pot and adding water if necessary so it doesn't dry out and burn.  Some people cook it in a crock pot and leave it on all night.  You are aiming to have about 1 part water to 3 parts alcohol, so if you have 20 ounces of alcohol tincture, at the end of simmering you will want approximately 6 1/2 ounces of water.

It will look like apple sauce.  This batch I am making yielded 4 cups of alcohol tincture, so I needed about 1 1/3 cups liquid mushroom extract.  I had to simmer it several hours uncovered to reduce the liquid, as I started with 4 cups to make sure it wouldn't burn.

After two hours or more of simmering, let the contents of the pot cool, then strain and discard the solids.  It takes a lot of squeezing to get all the liquid out!  You will end up with a lovely syrupy liquid full of potent polysaccharides and some rubbery mushroom solids.

Measure the amount of liquid from the pot.  If it's much less than 1/3 the amount of alcohol, add a little water.  If it's much over 1/3 the amount of alcohol, let it simmer a little longer with the lid off.  The final alcohol content is supposed to be 30 - 35%.  It doesn't hurt to have higher alcohol, but the water soluble polysaccharides will precipitate out, so you just have to remember to shake the bottle before using.

Mix the water and alcohol together, then label and store your tincture in dark bottles in a cool cupboard.

Dr. Stephen Harrod Buhner, one of the western world's most skilled herbalists, recommends lion's mane tincture for encephalitis, respiratory illnesses, cognitive impairment, nerve damage, depression and anxiety at a dose of 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. 3-6 times daily, depending on the severity of the condition.

One last thing:  preparing medicine is sacred work.  Do it on a day when you are feeling well and have no other distractions so you can devote your whole attention to the task at hand.  The alchemists of old went through rigorous purification processes before entering their still rooms.  Too often we forget or don't realize the profound effects our energy, mood and state of mind can have on our work.  Reverence and devotion can make the difference between a mediocre medicine and a great one. 

   

 

Wild Medicine

 

Covid-19 has caused a massive shift in the way we live and think and behave.  Like most crises, it has brought out the best and worst in human behavior.  We all long for the virus to run its course and disappear.  But like it or not, some of the changes it has brought will be permanent: lives and jobs lost, lingering health effects, families broken apart not only by the illness itself but by vehement, sometimes violent disagreements over how the pandemic should be handled, and even whether there is such a thing as a virus.

The vaccine may (or may not) shorten the duration of this pandemic, but it won't prevent another from happening.  Inevitably, there will be new diseases to challenge us.  Day by day the world grows more populated, the environment more damaged.  Clean water and air, food and fuel are becoming increasingly scarce and we will need to work harder to stay healthy.  

It's easy to feel overwhelmed facing the problems of this modern world, but we all can and must find ways to improve life on earth for ourselves and for future generations.  Challenges always bring opportunities for growth, and Covid 19 is no exception.  How can we use the current crisis to strengthen ourselves against future pandemics?  Is relying solely on vaccines the only alternative?

Maybe a starting point for change would be to alter our views and perspectives.  Maybe we should try viewing the pandemic as an effect rather than a cause.  Whether Covid started in a lab or a bat or a honey badger, many other factors contributed to its spread and deadliness.  International travel is a big one.  Keeping animals in tightly confined, overcrowded conditions is another.  But perhaps the greatest factor is our modern lifestyle.  Many marvelous inventions have made our lives easier.  The payoff, however, is less physical activity, less time spent in nature (the source of all healing) and more pollution, weakening our immune systems, making us prone to disease. 

Connecting in deeper ways with nature is one way to foster health on all levels - physical, mental, emotional.  This can be as simple as sitting in a chair in the sun with your bare feet on the earth.  Sunlight is a vital nutrient our bodies need to be healthy, as much as food and drink.  Placing bare skin on the soil connects us with the Earth's natural electric charge, which stabilizes the body, reduces inflammation, pain and stress, improves blood flow, energy, mood and sleep, and bolsters the immune system.

In winter when sunlight is scarce and it's too cold for sunbathing, sitting near an infrared light for a short time each day is the next best thing.  Countless studies have shown that infrared light can be of tremendous help with chronic illnesses.

Making and using natural medicines is a profound way to deepen our faith and trust in Mother Earth's infinite healing power.  Growing a pot of mint on the patio to make tea could be a first step on an exciting journey.  Our backyards, nearby fields and forests are brimming with medicinal plants.  Learning how to properly harvest, process and use plant medicines, and gaining confidence in their ability to heal is incredibly impowering.  The worry, fear and helplessness one can feel in the face of a serious illness or pandemic is debilitating in itself.  But if we have an arsenal of effective, safe, natural remedies in our medicine chest made with our own hands, and if we understand how they work, and why, the worry and fear can dramatically lessen.

This fall I harvested two types of medicinal mushrooms from our own woods.  Both kinds are easy to identify, have no poisonous look-alikes and have potent healing properties.

Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) is a very common species that is plentiful throughout North America.

It grows on dead or dying hardwood trees, stumps and fallen logs and can be harvested year 'round.  Our stacks of firewood blossomed with it during the fall rains this year.  Tough and leathery, it's not suitable for eating, but makes a medicinal tea which inhibits cancer cells, strengthens the immune system and contains antiviral and antifungal properties.  It also contains polysaccharides that nourish beneficial bacteria in the gut.  

There are several other mushrooms that look similar to turkey tail, all non-poisonous, and easy to tell apart with a little practice.

Here is a six step process used for identifying turkey tail:

1. The top of the mushroom has a velvety feel, and tiny fuzz is visible with a magnifying glass.  If no velvet, it's not true turkey tail.

2. The caps show starkly contrasting rings of color which are shades of grey, blue-grey, brown, red-brown and paler tan or white.  Older mushrooms may develop green algae on the top.  I avoid these, as they're past their prime and may not make good medicine.  

3. Cap color is not pale, like the species shown below:

4. Turkey tail has tiny pores on the underside, barely visible to the naked eye but clearly seen with the magnifying glass. 

5. There is another similar mushroom with pores which are larger.  This is the trickiest part of the identification, but again, by studying them side by side you will be able to tell the difference.

 

The mushrooms on the right are turkey tails.  The bottom two specimens show the underside, which is white, cream or light grey in older specimens.  These pictures don't show the pores very well, but compared to the mushrooms on the bottom left, you can see the difference - the ones on the left are darker with larger pores, and the caps (seen at top left, are pale with barely visible rings of color.

Here is another look-alike, but easy to distinguish from true turkey tail by the gills underneath:

6. Turkey tail is thin and flexible, easily bent. 

Below are a few more turkey tail look-alikes.  The specimens on the left do have small pores on the underside, but are thick and unbendable.  The ones on the right have rings of color and are thin and flexible, but are very smooth on the bottom with no pores, hence, not turkey tail.

 

 

If you are lucky enough to have woods nearby, or even a woodlot in the backyard, I encourage you to start noticing the mushrooms growing there.  It's almost certain that some of them will be turkey tail.  Even if you don't use them, you can at least learn to identify them, and know that potent medicine is growing nearby.

When you feel confident enough to harvest some, carefully pluck them off the wood and dry them for a few days in a warm, airy spot.  Before putting them away in glass jars in a dark, cool spot, you can examine them, removing bits of grass or debris and cutting off any bark clinging to the base.

Here is a recipe for turkey tail tea, which can be taken daily.

5 cups water

2 Tbs. ground turkey tail (the finer you can grind them, the better; a coffee grinder works well).  Or just chop or cut them into small pieces.

Optional: turkey tail has a fairly strong, mushroomy taste, so if you're not a mushroom fan, you can add spices which will make the tea taste delicious as well as add extra medicinal benefits.  I like

a few cloves, 1/2 tsp. each of fennel seeds, coriander and caraway, and a piece of cinnamon stick.

Put everything in a pan, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer gently, covered, for one hour.  Turkey tail needs a long cooking time to extract the valuable polysaccharides.  Strain out the solids, and if the total volume is much less than a quart, you can add some water to dilute it.  Stronger tea is fine to drink if you like it that way, and you can use more turkey tail if you want.  This is a very nutritious tea, almost a meal in itself.  It will keep well in the fridge for several days.

Here is a link to a very good article on identifying turkey tail with excellent pictures if you're interested in further study: https://practicalselfreliance.com/turkey-tail-mushroom/

Tomorrow I'll share information on another very valuable medicinal mushroom, so stay tuned!

Move Over, Romaine!

 

Lettuce doesn't usually come to mind when thinking of nutritious foods, but some varieties are actually a good source of folate, vitamin C, A, and K, with decent amounts of minerals, antioxidants and fiber.  That said, we are not talking about the pale iceberg lettuce so plentiful in supermarkets, which is lowest on the lettuce totem pole of nutrients.

Romaine is usually listed as the most nutritious variety, but this is not always the case.  For one thing, the lines separating lettuce varieties are growing more and more murky.  Modern lettuce breeders have produced hundreds of new varieties.  There are romaines crossed with leaf lettuces, with butterheads and crisp heads.  There are red romaines, speckled and splotched romaines and varieties in every shade of green.  Some have open heads, some form tightly closed domes.  When lettuce leaves curve inward and form a solid head, less sunlight reaches the center.  Light produces pigment and chlorophyll, which is where the nutrients are.  So those pale, crunchy, mild tasting hearts of romaine, delicious as they are, are not as nutritious as an open headed leaf lettuce, which remains deeply colored to the base because it receives more light.  The pay off is that leaf lettuces get bitter faster, as bitterness is a response to increased light, heat and the maturation process.  Keeping lettuce well watered and picking it promptly helps avoid this.

I have been growing some of the romaine/leaf crosses, which have more open heads and deep color along with those wonderful crunchy ribs.  I also like growing red lettuces.  Not only are they fabulous to look at, they contain potent antioxidants called anthocyanins which help protect against cancer.

But my top pick for flavor, nutrients, heartiness and productivity is an ancient form of lettuce from China called celtuce.  Unlike other lettuces, celtuce is grown for its stalk as well as the leaves.

There are a number of varieties, my favorite being Red Mountain Celtuce.

Red Mountain Celtuce seeds are available from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

It has the deepest green color blushed with red, gets quite large and has a very unusual flavor, unlike any other lettuce.  I like to steam or simmer the leaves just slightly, till they wilt. They turn as deep a green as spinach, and the water they're cooked in makes a lovely, dark red broth.  The stalks are wonderful peeled and sliced in salads, steamed or stir fried with other vegetables.  They can be spiralized to make green noodles, but cook them only briefly, else they will loose their crispness.

Celtuce stalks have more fiber and folate than leaf lettuces, and almost twice the amount of vitamin C. 100 grams contains 3,500 IU vitamin A, or 117% of the daily requirement.  It's also higher in potassium and manganese.

Another form of celtuce which does very well in hot weather is called sword leaf.  It's paler green and grows to an enormous size.  The leaves are tender and buttery.

Sword leaf lettuce seeds are available from Southern Exposure and Kitazawa Seeds.

I also grow head lettuces. Nothing beats the tender crunch of well grown crisp heads.  They may not be the most nutritious variety, but after all, variety is the spice of life!

End of Season Salad Extravaganza

 

Every day I like to go out and forage for my lunch salad.  Today I made an extra special salad because we're due for a big freeze tonight and the wild greens and herbs won't be so plentiful.  I picked dandelion leaves and blossoms, plantain, chickweed, lime balm, salad burnet, marshmallow leaves and rosemary, and one lovely clover blossom I found blooming in the garden.  Then I added sunflower sprouts, pak choi, arugula, cucumber, fermented Mexican gherkins and cranberries and olives.  The dandelion greens, plantain and marshmallow I steeped in boiling water a few minutes with garlic and rosemary.  Then I drained them and added to the salad, drinking the liquid as a nutritious tonic.  For dressing I like black pepper, a dollop of mayonnaise and plenty of mustard.  It was an adventure in tastes!