Part of my calling is encouraging/empowering people to use herbs for themselves. Herbs as an essential component to our daily life. We don’t need to “save” them for when we are ill. When we incorporate herbs into our regular everyday we increase the nutritional density of our diet and lay the groundwork for better health (I would also say happiness) overall. Our best health happens in the tiny decisions we make every day. It’s the unbroken chain of whole food each day/every day. It’s week after week of hitting the gym – even when we don’t feel like it. Perhaps especially when we don’t feel like it! Think of it as saving for retirement. You start when you’re young and save a bit each year – over many years. You don’t decide (or at least we don’t if we hope to succeed) to start saving at age 64 to retire at 65. Making herbs a regular part of our lives builds in us resiliency that helps us to resist poor health. Puts more snap in the rubber band.
Vinegar is an excellent extractor of minerals. Making a fresh herb vinegar gives us an easy way to increase our mineral intake. Herbs can be used to make a culinary vinegar – great for adding flavour. I am instead talking about something we can use more as a mineral supplement. A much higher amount of herb material used. Fresh herbs are everywhere in summertime. The investment of time is minimal and then you have your own homemade mineral supplement. Personally I like to make a variety of herb vinegars and then mix them together to use as 1. I most of the time favour the team approach when working with herbs. I think of it as the difference between playing a middle C on the piano and playing a chord. I have nothing against middle C but there is often a greater depth and resonance to the chord.
Nettles, chickweed, garlic mustard, horsetail, raspberry, dandelion leaves (and roots), you really are only limited by what is freely available where you live. You will need a jar – a nice glass jar with a wide mouth will get the job done. If there is any metal on the lid make sure you use wax paper or something else to prevent contact between the vinegar and the metal.
vinegar – I usually use apple cider vinegar. You can use pasteurized or unpasteurized. Fresh herbs and unpasteurized vinegar can sometimes result in goopey unfortunate messes. If you can accept that then using unpasteurized vinegar is no problem. If you want to reduce the chances of things going awry then work with pasteurized vinegar.
To make the herb vinegar in the picture I took the jar, went outside, and started harvesting. I didn’t bother with a knife, I just ripped up the herb as I went and put it in the jar. The pieces are a bit on the large side but I was in a quick and dirty kind of mood. When extracting herbs you want as much surface area as possible. I could have taken the dandelion leaves inside and chopped them up on the cutting board but I just wanted to get the vinegar made. You want the jar to be packed with the herb. You are looking for the Goldilocks point. You don’t want the herbs jammed in there so much that you can barely get any vinegar into the jar but you want enough herb material to actually have something for the vinegar to extract. When I look at the photo I think that I could have put more herb material in the jar. When the jar is full of herb, pour in the vinegar. Make sure that all the herb material is completely covered by vinegar. This is crucial. Close the jar. Leave for 6 weeks. If you can remember to shake it daily for the first 2 weeks that would be great. If you can’t – shrug – moving on.
After 6 weeks maceration, strain out the herb material. I don’t mind a few bits and bobs of herb material floating around in the vinegar but if you want your vinegar to be herb bit free you can strain it again through an unbleached coffee filter. You can keep the vinegar in the fridge to extend it’s shelf life but you don’t have to. If you want to use it as a mineral supplement take 2-3 tablespoons a day. Or you can just keep the vinegar and if you make your own salad dressings use the vinegar for that. A good starting ratio for a nice vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. Experiment – what do you like? You can also add some to soups, stews, a splash over your vegetables before you eat them.
Herbs for everyday!!!