GARLIC HONEY RECIPE

Now that we are all up to date on the medicinal benefits of wild garlic, here's a neat little recipe to help get kids to eat garlic and to stay healthy this winter. This recipe combines two of nature's best anti-microbial foods- garlic AND honey!

Garlic Honey Recipe

• cover 6-8 minced garlic cloves with 250 ml of honey
• let sit at room temperature for at least 24 hours, until consistency of honey thins out
• strain garlic and set aside for use in cooking
• The thinned out honey is now infused with all the goodness of raw garlic, but without the strong taste!
• This honey garlic infusion will keep indefinitely.
• add 1tsp – 1tbsp to warm lemon water 1-2 x daily or use it wherever you would use honey
• spread on toast etc…
• great for kids! (caution avoid honey consumption in children under the age of 2 years).

FOOD FOREST MEDICINE Monograph #4: Wild Garlic

Common Name: Wild Garlic

Latin Name: Allium canadense (native Carolinian species), Allium ursinum (non-native)

Allium canadense Allium ursinum

Brief Description: Garlics are perennial plants growing from 30cm to 1m (approximately 18-24” tall), with pale pink or green-white flowers. They produce dividing bulbs and sprout up into an upright, grass-like plant with a pungent aroma.  Some will produce small bulbils that form where they blossom.    Historically,  garlics have been used as a food and as a potent anti-biotic/anti-microbial.

Parts Used: Flowers, leaves, root

Edible Uses: Vegetable

Medicinal Uses: Has anti-microbial, cardio protective, and potentially anti-cancer properties, decreases high cholesterol.  Also used traditionally to expel pinworms. Wild Garlic also contains highly bio-available selenium, which is a very powerful anti-oxidant.  Wild garlic also contains more active/medicinal components than cultivated garlic (it is thought to be a more potent medicine than most cultivars).

Body System’s Treated: Cardiovascular system, Digestive system, Respiratory system.

Other Uses: Repellant, food

Harvesting Notes: Look to cut individual leaves off the plant, or if the wild garlic has blossomed, keep the flowers and leaves. Bulbs can be harvested anytime but are generally harvested when the bulbs have gone dormant at the end of the growing season.

Safety/Cautions/Interactions: May cause gastro-intestinal upset.  Is generally well tolerated.

Sources: Allium ursinum monograph:  Physica Energetics 9/10/12 http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Allium+canadense The Complete Natural Guide to the 50 Most Common Medicinal Herbs http://www.turf.uiuc.edu/weed_web/descriptions/wildgarlic.htm http://www.ehow.com/how_7626855_harvest-wild-garlic.html

Work Bee - Installing Tree Collars

Despite the chill arctic winds and frozen fingers all the tree collars were successfully installed.

A special thanks to the volunteers who made it down to help out! 

The tree tubes not only deter deer from eating the trees they are also designed to act like a mini green house, directing the trees to grow up quickly towards the more direct sunlight.  Another benefit is that they will aid in locating the smaller trees that, in summer, are easily hidden in the tall grasses and white sweet clover.

Now that winter is upon us and the food forest is going into hibernation, its time to plan for next year.

Stay tuned for upcoming events like spring planting, mulching, plant donation drive etc!

 Join us!

Come down to the food forest Tuesday Nov 25 2014 from 11am - 2pm. We will be installing deer protection around as many plants as possible before winter sets in!  Check the events page for more info.

You may have visited the food forest recently to check out the new signs only to discover that...yes...sadly they have been stolen.

Someone came down and tore off almost every sign.  All remaining signs were taken down for the time being till we sort out what to do going forward.

A minor setback, and probably one of many that will occur, but that's all part of the learning curve when experimenting with nature in public spaces.

Work Bee Fun!

Another successful work bee!  Thanks to everyone that came out to install the new signs they look great!

Come on down and take a stroll along the path and see the new signs.

Here's a few photos from the day.

One of the new signs.

Bee at the work bee helping mama install some signs.

Praying mantis just hanging out.

Playing with the milkweed.

Pollinator meadow and sign.

Join us!

Come down to the food forest this Friday Sept 26 2014 from 9am - 12pm. We will be installing signs around the food forest and building deer protection around as many plants as possible before winter sets in!  Check the events page for more info.