One thing I love about July in Washington is that all the flowers are blooming. The world fills up with color. This is all the more striking because for so much of the year we experience a grey, drizzly reality.
Well, the only thing better than looking at and smelling all those flowers is finding ways that we can also engage our sense of taste to experience their full beauty.
At our CSA (community supported agriculture) farm here in Carnation, they have an entire bed devoted to chamomile. It is a truly beautiful site, and the kids and I had a great time picking the small, white, fragrant flowers for this lesson.
Infusing herbs in honey is one particularly delicious way of extracting their medicinal and nutritional qualities. Herbal honeys are easy to make and are wonderful to share with house guests or to give as special gifts to loved ones.
To make your chamomile honey you will need:
-
A jar filled half way with fresh chamomile flowers
-
Enough of your favorite honey to fill your jar (we like local, raw honey best)
-
A cap for your jar
The steps are simple.
Fill your jar 1/2 way with the chamomile flowers
Pour honey over the flowers until the jar is full.
Pour in more honey since there will now be more room in the jar.
Stir again.
Cap the jar.
Now you need only let the jar sit on the counter for about 1 week, turning the jar over every time you pass by it so that the flowers continually move through the honey
Strain.
Enjoy, straight from the jar, on toast with butter, or in your favorite cup of tea. (Or any other way you use honey.)
Chamomile is a wonderfully relaxing herb that will help soothe your nerves. It also can help relieve heartburn and tummy aches. So, besides just being a delicious treat, your chamomile honey will help soothe and comfort you and your guests as well.
Chamomile is also antibacterial and can help repair tissue damage. So, if you can bear forgo getting to taste every last drop or your chamomile honey, it could also be used on minor cuts and scrapes to help with healing.
Since honey is also antibacterial and antimicrobial and has a long history of wound healing (it was documented as being used in this way in ancient Egypt) this combination may be even more effective than many over the counter pharmaceutical remedies.
I have a feeling this herbal preparation is going to become one of your favorites! Enjoy your day gathering, seeing, smelling, feeling, and tasting these wondrous little flowers.
In health,
Kimberly
We have a delicious treat for you this month - chamomile (Matricaria recutita) infused honey.