How to Make Your Own Echinacea Tea

It's August already and that means fall is around the corner as well as the seasonal onslaught of colds and flu.  However, if you have this plant growing in your garden, you can make your own arsenal of flu-fighting goodness for pennies a cup!

Echinacea Purpurea is the above mentioned flower that is used for this medicinal AND delicious tea.  This North American native flower is wonderful to include in your garden for many reasons and you can read more about that here.  When I first began learning about herbs 20 years ago, this was one of my go-to plants for my family.
 

I first began using it primarily in conjunction with ear infections.  If our boys had an infection, I immediately put them on this tea to help fight it off and to boost their own immune system.  I would use my Garlic Oil Ear Remedy to get rid of the infection and used this as a "chaser" to keep the infection away.  Our boys began drinking this out of bottles and then sippy cups.  They loved it and it is still one of their favorite herbal teas to drink.

How to make this?  It's so simple if you have the plants.  If you don't, you could always buy the plant parts from a reputable company.  The roots of this plant have the strongest medicinal effect, but the leaves and flowers are medicinal too and mild enough for the little ones.  I don't want to sacrifice my plants for the roots, plus the work in digging them up, cleaning, drying and cutting them up is a lot of work.  I use raw garlic as the main antibiotic and anti-viral fighter and echinacea to build our immune system.

Locate your plants and find the topmost leaves that are free from brown spots, insect bites and anything else.  I always use the uppermost leaves as they are newer and less bitter.  Select flowers that are the newest blooms.  Cut the stem completely away.  Place in a dehydrator tray or even a cookie rack that has a grid pattern on it.  Put the cookie rack on a cookie sheet to give some air circulation between it.  I often just let the leaves air dry in a dark, fairly cool place. 

 You can use your dehydrator if you like or I've heard of using your car to dry your herbs as well because let's face it, if your car is outside, it gets to be an oven in there.  It's so easy to dry your own herbs that it's well worth the effort.

I based my recipe off of the original "Traditional Medicinals Echinacea Tea" by Rosemary Gladstar.  So, I also add spearmint and lemongrass to my echinacea.   I just so happen to grow a delicious spearmint, so I'll add this to my tray of leaves and flowers to dry.

You can dry the plant parts separately and mix them or dry them together and put them in a nice tin or glass jar when dry.  If the jar is clear, make sure to store in a dark place so the herbs don't lose their potency.

I buy lemongrass to add to the mix for flavor, however, I grow lemon balm so this would be a nice addition to the blend as well.  The main idea is to have more echinacea than the other herbs in order to get the most benefit.  I find the spearmint is just enough with a hint of lemongrass.  I found some lemongrass at an Asian market and will dry my own for the blend. 

Here's a basic recipe using dried plant parts:

Echinacea Tea
1 part echinacea parts, leaves, flowers, roots
1/4 part lemon grass
1/4 part spearmint leaves (or to taste)
Stevia leaves to taste

Mix and brew at the first sign of cold or flu.  Based on the Traditional Medicinal recipe.

There you have it.  Your own stash of Echinacea Tea from your own backyard to brew at the first sign of a sniffle during the dark days of winter.  I think you'll find yourself going back to this tea time and time again; even if you don't have a cold...blessings!

Do you grow and make your own teas?  Do you use Echinacea Tea?



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Attracting Butterflies: Plant These and They Will Come...

  

Whenever a butterfly happens to fly near me, I feel like a kid again.  Not that I take off and chase them, although the temptation is always there...!  So, I couldn't allow this summer to fly by without some mention of these fabulous creatures of the insect world.  How do we guarantee their yearly visits?  That's what I'm sharing here from my experience...

There are a lot of lists out there that suggest plants that attract butterflies.  These are a great help for sure, but I've found a few "super-attracting butterfly" plants out there that really fill the bill.  They aren't exotic or difficult to grow either which makes them a huge garden bonus.

I know this post is about the plants and all you see are the butterflies.  Well, the butterflies are the evidence that these plants really do attract butterflies.  And who minds looking at butterfly pics anyway?

 

I actually discovered some of the best plants to grow for butterflies by "mistake" as I was planting a bit of everything and started noticing which plants really drew them in.  Take this beauty of a caterpillar for instance.  Normally, caterpillars are a gardener's nightmare, but this one is special as it turns into a "Black Swallowtail."  Also, these caterpillars are not rampant in the garden.  There's a few here and there, so they don't annihilate all your plants.  Parsley caterpillars host plants include parsley, dill and fennel to name a few.  This one is on dill, so I guess he could be considered a "Dill Caterpillar." Anyway, these are great plants to have in the garden.  They are herbs to eat and to help raise some caterpillar babies....which means, butterflies!

 

I didn't capture a butterfly on this Zinnia "Profusion," but trust me, the little skipper butterflies 

(about a 1/2 long) loved them!  Zinnias are very old fashioned flowers.  However, I truly love them.  They are classics and as reliable as weeds when it comes to growing.  Weeds never looked this good though.  To attract big butterflies, plant dahlia or large zinnias like some of the ones here.  Give them room to grow as the big ones get really, well, you know, big!  They'll reward you with lots of great cutting flowers and the butterflies will love them too.

This brings us to a perennial that is a great flower all around and is native to boot. Purple Coneflower or Echinacea is a classic that should be in every garden.  I've seen so many insects and butterflies on these plants, it's like a fast food restaurant at lunch time.  Also, if you leave the seed heads on, they will attract goldfinches to your garden as well.  They love to eat the seeds of this plant and it's a great economical way to feed the little guys.  I really love watching birds eat "naturally" even though feeders can be fun.

Which brings me back to the subject of butterflies and the last plant pictured here (and with the yellow tiger swallowtail in the first pic.)  This is my easiest and sure fire butterfly attractor plant and one that I refuse to not have in the landscape.  Best of all, it's a perennial, a bush and it's pretty!  Yes, I am referring to Butterfly Bush or "Buddleia davidii."  It totally lives up to it's name and is well worth every penny spent.  I've had mine for over ten years and it keeps on coming back, flowering in late spring well into August - September.  I do randomly dead head the flowers in order to keep them producing.  The flowers just get smaller but keep coming on making a continual butterfly show!  So, from someone who has grown one, this plant is the one to beat for bringing those winged lovelies in to your space.  Here's a site to purchase your own or to find out more info about them. 

Okay, this is the coolest...a monarch and yellow tiger feasting on the same bloom from a butterfly bush!

Okay, that's the low down on what I have experienced as fool proof butterfly attractors! Hopefully it will inspire you with ideas with what to plant in your space.  What flowers or plants have you grown which the butterflies love?  I would really love to hear what you have grown!  Blessings!

Linked to these blogs, Lisa Leonard Designs ,  The Prairie Homestead, Frugally Sustainable