Rosehip Hawthorn berry Decoction
medicine for a joyful heart
This process of extracting medicine from hawthorne and rosehips is called a decoction, which involves gently simmering an herb in water for a period of 1-2 hours so that you have a very concentrated water extraction of the plant medicines.
Hawthorne and Rose Hip are both high in antioxidants and vitamin C, which helps to support our blood vessels and our heart. these medicines are nourishing to the heart energetically as well, helping to remove "blockages" & dispel negativity, ease anxiety, and tension, and helping to open the heart inwardly to ourselves and outwardly yo others.
Ingredients
25 grams hawthorn berries
25 grams rosehips
2 TBS whole cardamom
500 ml water
honey to taste
decoction method:
weigh hawthorn berries & Rosehips using a kitchen scale. Record the weight and multiply this number by 10. This final number gives you the total volume of water to simmer (decoct) your berries. For example, if the hawthorn berries weighed 50 grams, multiply 50 number by 10 which equals 500. This means simmer 50 grams of berries in 500ml water.
Place berries in a large pot, cover with the appropriate amount of cold water. simmer for 1-2 hours with lid on. Be sure to keep the heat low and do not let it boil to help help preserve heat sensitive Vitamin C. Strain.
Alternative: Simply place dried berries into a large stock pot and cover with cold water, using just enough water to cover berries by a few inches. simmer slowly for 1-2 hours with the lid on. Be sure to keep the heat low and do not let it boil to help help preserve heat sensitive Vitamin C. Strain liquid and move onto step two.
2. Once you've strained the berries, put the liquid back on the stove and reduce the amount by half volume with lid removed. Simmer slowly.
3. Once the decoction has reduced to half volume, add a sweetener into the warm liquid to dissolve at a 1:1 ratio; this means if you have 250ml liquid decoction add 250ml honey.
Optional: To improve shelf stability, add 20% alcohol to your finished product. Brandy tends to be complementary in flavour. Twenty percent brandy to 500ml syrup is 100ml.
Bottle, label and refrigerate.
Because this preparation is perishable consume within four to six weeks.
Alternative: Hawthorn Rose Elixir
use about 1 cup hawthorn berries, 1 cup rosehips, 1 cup rose petals, ½ cup calendula flowers and 2 tbsp Cardamom. Add herbs into a quart size mason jar with ½-1 cup of honey.
Pour in your alcohol of choice until all herbs are covered and free flowing like mentioned above.
Strain after 2-6 weeks. Add more honey to taste if you desire a sweeter elixir.
Take your elixir by the spoonful or dilute 1 tbsp or so in sparkling water, juice and/or tea to make a delicious and healing beverage or cocktail.
Hawthorn Berries
Hawthorn is a native tree with many beneficial attributes. In spring and summer they are abundant in beautiful white flowers which attract many pollinators. The leaves and flowers have wonderful medicine especially for calming and nourishing the nervous system. In fall, the tree is covered in clusters of vibrant red berries which not only provide medicine for us but are a great food source for many species of birds.
hawthorn berries are rich in anti-oxidants, flavonoids, vitamin C and vitamin B which are very beneficial for the immune system, nerve health and for nourishing and improving the functions of the heart and vascular system. Many studies are showing how Hawthorn has many ways of supporting heart health including decongesting and strengthening the integrity and structure of the veins and arteries while also dilating them, all of which improve circulation. The nutrients help rebuild and tone heart tissue while strengthening and nourishing the heart muscle to improve its overall functions and normalize blood pressure. Hawthorn berries help maintain and prevent plaque build-up and maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Since Hawthorn supports both the heart and nervous system it is one of my favorite herbs to help protect the heart and nerves against the damage stress can have especially for those prone to prolonged stress overtime. The cooling actions of hawthorn further aid with irritability, restlessness, anxiety and nervousness. A bit sweet and sour, the hawthorn berry is considered slightly warming energetically.
RoseHips
If you leave the flowers on the rose bush and wait until they die back, you will start to see hip berries forming which turn from green to yellow to orange in the fall months and then becomes a bright red color once the weather starts to cool into the transition of winter. After the first frost they are considered to be fully ripe and ready to harvest.
Rosehips are most known for their very high vitamin C content, their benefits for the immune system and to treat respiratory ailments, sore throats, colds and flu. They have a mild laxative effect especially with larger doses. It is believed that a cup of rosehip tea contains as much vitamin C as up to 6 oranges. Studies show that when compared to oranges, rosehips contain up to 25 percent more iron, 20 times more Vitamin C, 25 times the Vitamin A, and 28 percent more calcium. In addition, rosehips are a rich source of bioflavanoids, pectin, Vitamin E and K, selenium, manganese, the B-complex vitamins and contain many trace minerals. Like hawthorn, rose hips are considered both sweet and sour, and slightly warming energetically.
The high quantities of vitamin A and C are very nourishing to the skin when consumed regularly. Those nourishing benefits in addition to the immune stimulating properties help aid with skin infections and various skin conditions such as rosacea and eczema. cold pressed rosehip seed oil is prized and commonly used in facial and eye creams and general bath and body products.