Hawthorn Farm
Wecome to Hawthorn Farm!
PS Click any photo for a larger view and slideshow!
October 27, 2009
In late October, we headed off to Hawthorn Farm, in Palmerston Ontario.
We were on a quest to harvest some Echinacea angustifolia, the medicinal variation of the very common "purple daisy" that frequents countless gardens and flower beds. Loved by butterflies, adored by humming birds, and quite pretty, it makes for a healthy human, too.
I've been on the hunt for this particular echinacea variety for 3 years, after using up my previously planted supply and unable to source replacement seed or seedlings. There's lots of "show" echinacea around, but not much of the medicinal type.
There's Echinacea angustifolia
in 'dem 'der fields!
With the winter season coming (and coming up dry in the "creative gifts" department for the holiday season), the plan was to make some rocking immune-boosting echinacea tincture, to see us through the cold and flu season...and to give a healthy homemade gift to friends and family.
As luck would have it, I found out about Hawthorn Farm at the Guelph Farmer's Market. A local herbal seedling grower uses their seed stock. At last, a great lead! I called up farm owner Kim Delainey and arranged a visit.
We went up on a gorgeously warm mid-Fall afternoon, shovels in tow, looking forward to a grand adventure!
With fields looking like straw and meadows full of wildflowers, we were determined to find what we were looking for (with some awesome help by farm owner Kim) and whip up a delightful batch of homegrown tincture!
Time to Dig Dig Dig!
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Man, That's One
Big Bucket to Fill ...
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With the sun setting and our Echinacea treasure in tow, we headed home to
initiate our new-found friends in a fulfiling reincarnation experience...
It's now October 31, 2009
-- Hallowe'en --
The perfect day to make our Echinacea brew!
Washing the Echinacea roots (the recipe
didn't call for sand...)
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and cutting them into itty bitty pieces.
Turns out we had about 500g of root.
Using a formula, this requires just
under 1.2L of "spirits".
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Vodka is the preferred beverage of choice
due to its high alcohol content (40%)
which is very effective at coaxing all the
medicinal goodness out of the roots.
Conveniently enough, it comes in 1.14L bottles,
working out almost perfectly for our formula!
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Adding the Echinacea equally to two
Mason jars. Then pouring in
the "secret sauce"
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Too bad there won't be enough
to save for "later"...
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Some pieces float at first, others sink
right away, dependingn on how dense
each piece is. Eventually, all root
pieces will succumb to their enibriated
deluge and settle to the bottom.
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Down to the pantry with our Hallowe'en
witch's brew.
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Here the jars will sit for a minimum
of 4 weeks, allowing everything to
marinate nicely.
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Goodnight Echinacea.
I'll be down to give you a shake 'n stir
every 2-3 days.
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... 3 Weeks Later ...
The Echinacea-infused vodka is
starting to turn a nice dark
brown. By the time we're done,
it will be pretty much as
dark as coffee.
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... It's now Saturday, December 12. Just under 6 weeks from when we first started ...
We'll pour the tincture into 30mL &
100mL amber tincture bottles.
The dark bottle colour prevents light
degradation of the compounds inside.
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We need to separate the tincture from
the pieces of root. To do this, we'll
strain the pieces out and then try
to mash down whatever is left in
the strainer to squeeze out every
last drop of medicinal goodness.
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Here we go.
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that's all for the first jar.
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All that's left are roots...
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and they turn out to be so incredibly
hard that our ambitious plan to
squeeze and mash have themselves
been squashed.
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In the end, we have just over 1L of tincture.
Sure is a lot of cold and flu-fighting power!
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All the tincture bottles are opened and
are set to be filled. Try not to spill any!
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I like funnels. They're really helpful.
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We ended up spilling a bit here and
there and forego photos of
"The Pour" to focus on successfully
getting the tincture into it's new homes.
Using a bowl under the measuring
cup helped lots.
I decided to sample the last little bit
of tincture in the bottom of the bowl.
Holy guacamole that stuff is potent!
Just a little undiluted sip made my
whole tongue and mouth tingly. It's
kind of like that minty freshness tingly,
only a bit tart in taste. That "tingle"
is the medicinal compounds making
their presence known and is a great
sign of it's awesome immune-boosting
potential.
I almost want someone to sneeze on
me so I can try this stuff out!
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Presenting the 2009 Echinacea Angustifolia Lineup!
After the odd spill, we ended up with eleven 30ml bottles and six 100ml bottles.
The contents should be fully potent for 3 years or more.
What an incredible healing gift from the earth. And no cold or flu stands a chance. Yea!
Thank You's Go Out To:
Lambros and Elias of Herbie's Herbs in Toronto for the tincture bottles and droppers (check out their website).
&
Kim of Hawthorn Farm in Palmerston for the Echinacea! (and carrots and potatoes -- see pic. below.)
While Hawthorn Farm's main business is in seeds, Kim and her crew are involved in many
amazing initiatives and provide real-world demonstrations of sustainable technologies.
Farm animals, too!
Browse below and check it out!
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An awesome strawbale home.
One of the first in Ontario!
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Heat your water with the sun!
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Free electricity from the sun, too.
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Here chicky chicky...
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More chickies...
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Turkeys, too...
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It's The King!
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and a bunch 'o ducks.
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We scored an organic bonus of freshly
pulled carrots and dug potatoes
for supper that night.
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Visit Hawthorn Farm and
browse their fantastic
online seed collections
for sale at:
www.hawthornfarm.ca
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21:03:35
