I could find only scant folklore about the history and use of Dandelion Wine on the internet….Although it has been reported to be of Celtic origin, I am not sure that is true. What I surmise is that there is a great probability that folks have been enjoying this drink for hundreds of years.

European settlers are said to have brought dandelions to the New World. Throughout most of the 19th and early 20th Centuries, Americans revered dandelions as a useful herb. The young leaves and flowers were collected and enjoyed in soups and salads. The roots were harvested and roasted, then ground to make a tasty coffee substitute. People collected the flowers to make delicious dandelion wine.
To make this simple beverage, pick dandelion flowers at midday when they are fully opened. Clean the flower heads to remove the base and green sepals. I pinch the flower heads to break the petals free, or you can split them in half and use your thumb to free the petals from the flower base. I am not a purist, so having a few speaks in the mix does not bother me one bit. It took me only 15 minutes to collect enough flowers for one quart of petals. Cleaning the flowers took a good hour of solid “petal pushing”, LOL! Here’s the recipe:

1 quart dandelion petals
1 gallon boiling water
3 cup sugar
Juice of 2 lemons and 2 oranges
1 medium ginger root, thinly sliced
1 cup of raisins
1 package of wine yeastPlace dandelion blossoms in the boiling water. Cover and allow to stand for 48 hours. Strain through cheese cloth and squeeze petals to remove water. Add the raisins, ginger root, the lemon and orange juices to the decoction in a large pan. Place the pan on a stove burner and heat until it boils. Add the sugar, stir to dissolve and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool to 90 degrees F (32 degrees C). Strain again. Stir the yeast into 1/4 cup of very warm water.Let this “proof” for 10 minutes. Mix into the cooled decoction and then pour the whole thing into a sterilized 1 gallon crock or jar. Cover with a paper coffee filter, fastened in place with a rubber band. Let the wine ferment in a cool area for 10 to 14 days. Check fermentation after day 10. If ready, then strain through cheesecloth before bottling in quart-sized, sterilized canning jars with lids and rings. Age the wine at least 6 months to a year for best flavor.

I woke up early this morning, unsettled in Spirit. I decided to head out early (6am) in search of herbal medicine, poplar buds. I knew my window for gathering was very narrow. Daytime temps and soil temperatures are beginning to warm. I needed to catch the poplar buds before they burst into catkins and leaves. I was lucky…. I found some trees near the Pit River and a large Grandmother tree near the office at the local wildlife refuge. Bonanza! The Grandmother tree had dropped lots of small limbs with tightly clasped buds. I filled my pockets and then grabbed a container from the car. I ended up with a solid 2 cups of buds for my use.I have arthritis. Lots of it, but especially in my low back.

I could spend lots of money on over-the-counter rubs, but I prefer to make my own using both Balsam Poplar and Black Cottonwood buds. Poplar buds have been used for centuries by folk here in the United States and is easy to collect in early Spring, before the cottonwood develops its catkins. I can usually find an ample amount on the ground attached to limbs that have blown down in recent storms. This “balm” is known for its anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-rheumatic healing Medicine. The oil or salve helps to relieve the aches and pains of sore muscles, bruises, and arthritis. It’s also a mild sedative, and can be rubbed on your temples at night before retiring.I follow the guidance of Michael Moore, a well known herbalist who has written many books on the wild foraging for medicinal herbs. The summary of medicinal qualities listed below comes from his book “Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West” (1993, Red Crane Books, Santa Fe NM, 359 pg.) under the chapter of “Balsam Poplar. He also covers this subject briefly in the book “ Medicinal Plants of the Mountains West” (1979, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe NM, 200 pgs.) under the chapter of “Poplar”.The buds contain a soft balsamic resin and a yellow volatile oil. It contains many medicinal properties including silicon, Gallic and malice acids, populism, mannitol, chrysin, tectochrysin, and trichocarpin to name a few. He recommends crushing the buds, adding 4 parts water by volume to 1 part of crushed plant (by weight). Simmer for about 1 hour. Add 1 part volume of vegetable oil, and let cool. The resins and oil are lighter than the water, and will float. Decant the oil off and discard the crushed buds.I prefer a less intensive approach myself… here is my simplified recipe:
1 part cottonwood buds
2 parts extra virgin olive oilFill a glass jar half full with cottonwood buds.
Pour olive oil over the buds and to within 1 inch of the top of the jar.
Cover with a napkin or coffee filter and a rubber band.
Allow to sit and steep for 6 weeks or up to a year or more. The richer the better!Make sure your buds are always covered with oil. This prevents them from molding. Stir or shake the jar every few days for the first few weeks.To use as an oil, strain through a cheesecloth and put the oil into a wide mouth jar. If you want to make a salve, add 2 tablespoons of beeswax to 1 cup of infused oil. You can add 2 capsules of Vitamins E to make it more emollient. Melt the beeswax into the oil on low heat. Watch carefully. You simply want to melt the beeswax. Stir well and pour into a small glass jar or tin… Do not cover with a lid until it is completely cool…… Happy foraging! Please note: People with aspirin sensitivities or tree allergies may not want to use this salve

Now that Spring has sprung up here in northeasten California, I find my emotional state to be as varied as the winds that blow across the emerging pear blossoms. Mind you, we have just survived Winter…an elongated, protracted season that invokes its own specialty of emotional torture. I am growing weary of navigating my emotional state based on what the weather is throwing around outside my front door.

I found myself today feeling agitated and anxious. Be it the astrological position of the full moon, or the cold, dark, dreary day….I was fighting a losing battle. So I bundled up and took off on a walk to see what I could find of emerging herbs that might prove useful for my flagging Spirit. Lo and behold I spotted the tender early leaves of catnip! Very little in this World proves as satisfying as a hot cup of fresh herb tea to soothe ones soul. Fresh sprigs of catnip simply immersed in a cuppa hot boiling water both delights the eye and warms the heart. Miss Bardswell in “The Herb Garden” wrote of catmint: “Before the use of tea from China, English peasantry were in the habit of brewing Catmint Tea, which they said was quite as pleasant and a good deal more wholesome”. Catmint is known for its benefits as a springtime tonic, among other graces, yet it did little to soften the edges of my agitated state.

Looking through my herb garden, nothing was showing above ground yet. I returned to the house and began to look through my dried stores from last year. Lemon balm…good choice, but so little of it left. As I pushed the jar to one side, my eyes fell upon my remedy…Motherwort Tincture! Ahhh, the Champion of herbs for a woman’s heart! Personally, I grow it in my garden. It is native to England, but certainly not here. I have to watch it carefully because it reproduces in a most prolific manner and will rudely usurp its neighbors.

In the older herbal texts, Motherwort is described as being used for everything female including an antispasmodic, tonic, and nervine, It stimulates blood flow and induces perspiration as well. It is especially valuable in “female weakness and disorders, allaying nervous irritability and inducing quiet and passivity of the entire nervous system”. Whoa, strong plant juju here…. Yet, it has proven its worth as an overall heart tonic and also in “spinal disease”. Hmmm, think it can regrow collapsed disks or remove spinal stenosis? Need to check that out….

Anyway, Culpepper wrote that “there is no better herb to drive melancholy vapours from the heart, to strengthen it, and make the mind cheerful, blithe and merry”. In another herbal it is listed as THE most powerful herb to use against “wykked sperytis”. By and far the best way to take it is in a tincture. So, 20 drops in a half glass of wine should do the trick. But I choose to keep my “wykked sperytis” wits about me……