MyHerbCorner

Archive for the ‘Winter in NZ’ Category

Finally the end of winter is in sight here in New Zealand and we share the excitement with many other live forms like this special ‘copper skink’ which you can find only on the North island of New Zealand.

Copper skink’s are life bearing which is fascinating (at least for me)

On my walk not far from home I meet a lot of sheep who are also enjoying the warmer days

Sometimes I just have to stop and awe at the many different cloud formations…

… or listen to the sound of the many little creeks we have.
Here are a lot of goodies in sight for a herbalist

When I went up to the summit I was amazed over the 10 minutes walk through a broom field.

The broom is so high you can’t see anything and I was just surprised of the quiet surrounding. not even a bird was near, only a bumblebee or two.

I am looking forward for the broom to bloom which should be in one or two weeks.
Then I will bring a bottle of water, my ‘flower essence making bowl’ (which I use only for this occasions) and a dropper bottle half filled with Schnapps to make a broom flower essence

How exciting to be surrounded with walls of yellow broom (not to mention the insects and bumble bees… guess I will bring with me some plantain in vinegar as an first aid just in case I got stung)

Until then I will enjoy the colour of my newly made calendula tincture

It will go into my face cream which is very nice.
Calendula tincture is also great against acne or other inflamed skin problems, just wipe your face with a cotton ball and some tincture after cleaning the face with water and oatmeal (or here another simple and great face wash)

The last few days the sky had a magnificent deep blue and we made a daily walk around our area.
Not far an amazing lovely birch is stretching her twigs up to the the sky.
It is nearly time to get some pipes for birch water harvest… hope to be able for some pictures when the time is right…

David my little herbalist is always collecting something. At the moment he loves dandelions which go to the rabbits, our meal, ‘Fairy spread’ (click here for the recipe) or a nice hot tea.

Here is our little bundle for tea with yarrow herb and plantain leaves.

Sometimes I am over whelmed by the sight of such an abundance of chickweed. Here would be enough for a daily succus for a blood cleansing cure or spring cure.

Some of the willows have already catkins while others still sleep. I collected some twigs and munched the buds while walking. They tasted great
I use willow twigs for many things (click here to find out medicinal uses and here for art projects)

On the next picture you see that we live in New Zealand because we can have all seasons in one day. Here it looks like autumn but we are near to spring and have even freezing nights which is in my area our kind of winter. Only the tops of the highest mountains have snow, and our pass was white only once this winter.

There are still frosty mornings but after a short winter we feel spring coming.

Everywhere camellias and rhododendrons are blooming in pink, violet and purple.

My part shade garden shows leaves of orange mint, lemon balm, gotu kola and nettle.

Beside the shed we can still find basket fungi popping out

They taste good stir fried in butter or in a soup with potatoes. But you must know for sure what you collect. Mostly an older basket fungi is growing beside.
I know mine since I have observed them for a while and know now exactly where they will pop out

Beside this spot grows onion weed.
Oh I just love this herb and think I couldn’t live with out it anymore.
Onion weed goes onto most every meal as garnish or I add them to soup, salad and herb butter.
At the moment it is very strong in colour, taste and smell and I guess this is a good reason to use it on a daily basis as a green healthy, blood cleansing and nourishing herb.

Beside the onion weed is also honesty blooming which I also add to my diet (please click here for a honesty post with all it’s uses)

The bottles of yellow dandelion blossom oil are all finished and every day another jar or brown paper bag of dried herbs is getting empty.
Sure there are chickweed (Stellaria media) , cleavers (Galium aparine) and some plantain (Plantago lanceolata) I can gather fresh from the meadows, but they don’t have their intense healing power yet.
I am looking forward to make some yarrow flower essence and also like to experiment with other flower and tree essences this year.

One of this new trees I like to study is alder (Alnus). This little creek is running into a broad space which is full of alders.

That’s why I call this place alders creek

I have used alder bark 20 years ago since it contains salicin. This is a nice anti-inflammatory and for me an alternative for willow or birch.
According to wikipedia recent clinical studies have verified that red alder contains compounds shown to be effective against a variety of tumors (click here for the link).
I am not sure if the leaves will taste nice like the tender beech leaves in Spring so I am looking forward to find out soon.

What a magnificent rainbow!
I made this photo in the morning while the sky was blue and no rain!
If you like to see some other pics, please click here.