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| Linden allee along the river Avon in Evesham, England |
Lindens, Tillia sp. have been presenting in beautiful and surprising ways in my life over the last few years. On pilgrim adventures to England and France, I came to appreciate how entwined their history is with the peoples of those places. Often planted in parks and used as allees in vast, spacious settings, lindens are ubiquitous.
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| Lindens in a city park in Monroe, WA |
Upon returning home to Washington state, I began seeing them everywhere as well. City parks and streets host many lindens in cities across America. They are a quintessential street tree with many a town boasting a Linden Avenue.
In Monroe, WA where I live, there is a beautiful row of 10 lindens in one of our city parks. I've enjoyed gathering the flowers there for over 15 years. Mid to late June in the early morning as the rising sun kisses the magnificent trees you'll find me in the branches of the linden.
At first, when they were young I could stand on the ground and pick the fragrant blossoms with their long bracts. Now, I bring an 8' ladder stool and enjoy their growth as they rise up in their elegant gesture and off-set heart shaped leaves and open-armed grandeur.
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| Linden flowers almost ready for gathering! |
Today it's hot! It's been unseasonably hot for over a week now. I wanted a refreshing, cooling beverage with nutritive value as it's almost too hot to eat! Voila! Linden nourishing herbal infusion with a hint of hibiscus added for heart health is born.
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| Linden Hibiscus Nourishing Herbal Infusion |
Linden-Hibiscus Nourishing Herbal Infusion
Place 1/2 oz. dry linden flowers in a quart canning jar. Add boiling water and cover. Steep 4-8 hours. Strain. Return herb to pan, cover with cold water and bring to boil. Let sit until cool, strain and squeeze out the herb. (Feel the soothing, slippery quality of the linden flowers...sometimes, I just rub them up and down my arms for a quick soothing beauty treatment!) Mix infusions together top up to make 1/2 gallon infusion.
Place 1 oz Hibiscus flowers + 1 small cone of pilloncillo* in a separate 1 quart canning jar, add boiling water, steep 4-8 hours. Strain and squeeze herb to garner all the delicious nutrients and flavors. Again, strain the first brew, then add cold water to the hibiscus bring to a boil, steep covered 4-8 hours and mix with the first infusion. This is a semi-sweet concentrate you can add to other healing infusions for taste and enhanced nutritive value. Refrigerate. Blends well with the sweet taste of oatstraw and linden nourishing infusions.
Mix linden and hibiscus infusions together to taste, pour over ice, add a swizzel stick of lemon balm and enjoy the heat fortified with this simple, refreshing summer beverage!
This cooling infusion nourishes, reduces inflammation, adds nutrient dense bio-flavonoids, soothes internal organs and allows a body to meet the heat of summer with gusto!
*Living in a town with several Mexican Tiendas, I've enjoyed weaving flavors from the home places of friends and neighbors into my herbal repertoire!
Local, common and easy to access herbs and foods abound closer to home than you might imagine...in the fields, in the forests and yes, even in the local tiendas, treasures are awaiting discovery. What's growing in your neighborhood?
ENJOY!
Remember stay cool, jump in a river or lake every chance you can and take good care with fire this summer...
