The Greenwitch's Midsummer Apothecary
Redux: Rose petals, elderflowers, milky oats, and lemon balm.
My friends,
Today was Midsummer day, and I’m off galavanting at the river with friends and family, and the garden is looking gorgeous because we did all that work in preparation for my birthday garden party so there’s not much to do there anyway right now (except irrigation… always, the irrigation gods must be appeased), so I’m sending you a post I did last year round this time about my favorite herbal concoctions to make at this time of year.
Enjoy,
R
I adore that fellow flower-lover Grace Alexander calls this time of year “High Summer…” As a person who traditionally struggles in summer, with all of its heat, business, and the dryness that haunts my garden no matter how much I seem to spend on irrigation, this reframe somehow reminds me of the softness and beauty that we can find in early morning and twilight…
In my mind, summer is not one season but two. The beginning of June and the end of August could be different worlds, different colours, different landscapes. The {first} is High Summer - the glorious green months of June and July. When the sun is high in the sky and the sweet peas are fresh and lush and tall and twining. The dahlias are still in bud, for they are late summer inhabitants; this is the time of the rose.
The Seasonal Apothecary: Midsummer / High Summer…
My seasonal apothecary often has less to do with what is needed at a particular time of year and far more to do with what is overflowing my garden beds and what I see taking over the hillsides and creeksides where I live.
But because Mother Earth is so very loving and wise, luckily, these two things, more often than not, go together.
The apothecary at the start of summer certainly exhibits this lovely synchronicity. This time of year, I have more rose petals than I know what to do with and the lemon balm is about to go from dusty green to out-of-sorts brown, so it’s time to harvest and give it time to rest before it starts sending up shoots again at the cusp of fall. I use these a lot to soothe summertime sadness.
In many places, my best herbal buddy oatstraw (Avena sativa) has become the golden fleece that has blanketed the East Bay hills. Further south, though, where my friends at Steadfast Herbs are, it’s absolutely perfect— milky, green, and full of spring mirth and vitality. I’m lucky that they were willing to mail some up to me, as with all the end of the school year goings on in my family life, and a flood of work at my jobby job, I haven’t been able to forage my own and now they went over. I use oatstraw all year round for overwhelm and anxiety, which if you’re prone to it, can be a doozy at this time of peak energy and suffocating heat.
Also, an oatstraw bath can work wonders on skin irritations, such as bug bites, sunburns, and heat rash.
And then there’s elderflower. What can I say about elderflower? Back when I was studying clinical herbalism and working at the clinic, it seemed we often overlooked the frilly, lemony, effervescent blooms in favor of the hardworking berries that would come later in the season— after all, if you pick all the flowers, you won’t get any berries. Certainly, elderberries are an herbal workhorse, great beating back viruses of all types, including the one that has haunted our days since 2020, which is definitely on an upswing right now. They’re also effective at clearing bronchial congestion and can be taken as an overall immune tonic. But what about offerings for the fairies? Elderflowers are certainly lovely for that, with most of the benefits listed above, although in a more gentle, lighter, kid-friendly form— which is perfect, because the start of summer is second only to the depths of winter in terms of colds and flus.
Here’s what’s brewing in the greenwitch’s cauldron for the High Summer Apothecary:
Happiness-infused herbal iced-teas
Sunny kid-pleasing herbal popsicles
Magical, Oft-Needed Calendula-Rose Subburn Salve
Today, we’re talking:
Happiness-infused Herbal Iced-Teas
In Midsummer, we don’t need more energy: this is the time of year when summer is at its peak, school is out, vacations feel a little less guilt-inducing to pull off, and potlucks and barbecues abound. If anything, the challenge of summer is grounding our unsettled energy (which sometimes manifests as feeling overwrought and anxious) and cooling the hot inflammation that at times is physical, and other times feels like it upwells from our hearts.
It was Julie, from the local hotspot Julie’s Teas in Alameda, who taught me the beauty of herbal iced teas. Her Flower Power Punch made me a convert — in part because rather than being sweetened with sugar, she makes a very strong iced herbal brew and then dilutes it with apple juice. So good.
Before that, I’d been more often than not having an iced latte in the afternoon, not really because I felt like I needed a pick-me-up, but because I craved something tasty to brighten up the middle of my work day or get me to settle down and focus on my writing. This helped me bump that habit and start something healthier for my nervous system, which is easily overwhelmed by caffeine, especially during the peak hours of heat at the peak season of sun in the year. Basically, having a caffenated coffee is the worst idea ever for me, and folks like me prone to anxiety or insomnia.
Here are some tasty treats to soothe and soften your summer days:
Rose-cardamom iced tea (or iced latte)
I make this tea when Brie or I have summertime sadness, which definitely can come and go during these long midsummer days. Roses sweeten heartsickness and ease depression, and they reduce the inflammation that can be all too common on hot days.
1 cup fresh rose petals, or 1/2 c dried
3-4 cardamom pods, cracked or 1 tsp ground cardamom
1/3 cup shelled pistachios, divided
2 tsp beet root powder (option, for color)
2 cups water
either:
1 cup apple or sweetened pomegranate juice
OR 1 cup milk of your choice, and honey to taste, for the latte version
Boil 2 cups of water, add your rose petals, cardamom, and pistachios. Cover to retain the steam and keep the plant’s volatile oils from escaping. Let steep for 15-20 minutes, until your tea is deep and floral-rich smelling. (you want it to be a little too concentrated to drink on its own)
Once your tea is well-steeped and cool, add the juice or milk and honey, and enjoy.
For an elderflower version, switch out the pistachios for almonds, skip the beet root, and use something lemony or peachy for the juice.
Sweet Lemonbalm Lemonade
1 cup fresh or 4 tablespoons dried lemon balm
1 ¾ cup local raw honey (reduce if you prefer it less sweet)
2 cups lemon juice (about a dozen organic lemons)
2 cups water
ice
Bring 2 cups of filtered water to a boil, then add the lemon balm. Cover and let steep for 15- 20 minutes. Again, you want it to be too concentrated to really be delicious now.
Strain mixture into a 2 quart glass jar or pitcher, let cool slightly, and add the honey (that way, you don’t kill all the lovely enzymes raw honey has).
Add ice until water level raises in the jar by 2 cups, and stir until liquid has completely cooled and the ice no longer melts.
Add lemon juice and enough water to fill a glass pitcher or jar to the top (8 cup mark). Stir again, then serve over ice and garnish with fresh lemon balm leaves.
You can use this recipe just as well for lavender-lemonade, mint-lemonade, or whatever is in your garden at this time of year.
Overnight Milky Oat-Elderflower Infusion
This one is the simplest, and the one I use the most— in part because oats are my best friend, and in part because it is so easy and I’m most likely to actually do it.
1/2c dried or 1c fresh oatstraw or milky oat pods
a tablespoon or two of elderflowers (or rose petals, lavender, chai spices, or whatever your heart desires )(optional)
french press or mason jar
boiling water
Put the herbs in the French press, steep overnight on your countertop, and serve over ice in the morning. Keep sipping throughout the day. When your French press or carafe is empty, go ahead and pour more water over the herbs for a less strong but still potent batch. A third batch can go in your evening bath with you for a special treat.
Up next: Sunny kid-pleasing herbal popsicles
With love,
Rebecca Riyana Sang