"wild tea" news and stories

One of my favorite wild teas is Spice Bush, Lindera benzoin, a shrub or small tree that is of the laurel family that grows in the Eastern half of the US. The twigs and young leaves make a very nice herb tea with an unusual and very pleasant, spicy flavor. The berries, both green and ripe red, can be used as a cooking and baking spice; and they are somewhat reminiscent of allspice. The plant is very easy to recognize from the leaves, and berries in the fall. But all you have to do is pluck one leaf and crush it to be positive. The beautiful, spicy aroma is unforgettable. I often would crush up a bunch of leaves and rub my face with them because they smelled so good.

Spice bush makes a great ornamental garden shrub, as well as hedges, and attracts butterflies in the spring. When I was in college at SUNY Stony Brook I used to walk into the woods behind my dorm and collect the twigs in the spring and summer to make a fresh tea. But I much preferred it in the fall when I would put aside a huge stash of the twig ends to dry, and gather around half the ripe berries from each bush. During the winter I would use the twigs for herb tea, and the ground berries in cooking, or added to the tea for a little extra oomph

"Wildman" Steve Brill , a wild edible and medicinal foraging teacher who I know from NYC says this about Spice Bush. Every now and then "Wildman" would come to our campus to lead "wild walks." I knew the woods inside out from combing them for all types of wild edibles every day and would show him a few of the locations of interesting plants, but I never showed him my best places since then everyone would know as well. These secret spots of mine I saved to show a few really dedicated members of the Wilderness Club to pass along when I graduated.

The kids and I spent 3 days last week in the Southern Adirondacks. A family friend, who is quite an outdoorsman, and experienced birdwatcher, purchased about 40 acres a couple years ago near Hinckley Reservoir in upstate New York. He has been telling me that I need to come up for a visit, and we finally took him up on the offer. One thing that he mentioned in advance of the visit was that he wanted me to show him what was edible on his property. The next several posts will all be from that visit.

In continuing with the backyard wild teas, I can't let summer pass by without mentioning this wild lemonade substitute. Sumac grows like a weed in this country. It is a relative to the much hated poison sumac, but as the flowers give way to the fruit, you can't mistake this harmless, small tree for anything else.

The branches are fuzzy, hence the name of this variety. The fuzzy clusters of fruit are what we're after. Watch these from June through September and grab the red ones, as they ripen, but before the rain hits them and washes away the flavor. Soak a couple of clusters in a pitcher of ice-cold water in your refrigerator for one to two hours. Your taste buds will know how long. Keep the water cold to prevent bitterness. Strain the results through a fine strainer, or cloth, and serve sweetened. It has a very lemonade-like flavor.

Since these trees seem to grow almost anywhere, please be careful of pollutants and heavy traffic. I doubt anyone would be upset with you for over picking these giant weeds though. See you on the trail!