Wild Teas and the health benefits

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***Disclaimer*** Dont ingest anything unless you know what it is.

There are about 500 edible mushrooms in the world. Of the 500 about 200 are considered medicinal. Out of the 200 considered medicinal about 8 are considered Super Medicinal.
Out of the 8, there are 5 that grow here in the Northeast. Those include, CHAGA, REISHI, LIONS MANE, TURKEY TAIL, and RED BANDED POLYPORE. These mushrooms contain a HUGE amount of cancer prevention and immune building compounds. (Google them)

There are also many many beneficial wild plant teas such as DANDELION FLOWER, LEAFS and ROOT, CLOVER, PINE NEEDLE and MINT. Just to name a very few.







Pine Needle tea has been acknowledged as saving thousands of early pioneers from death by scurvy since it contains a huge amount of vitamin C. Wintergreen contains a mild pain reliever and is good for clearing congestion. And! just taste great.
 
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I've not tried mushrooms in teas, but have used dandelion (tea and root coffee), sassafras, mint, stinging nettle, pine needle as well as pine pollen. Very fond of the rootbeer-like flavor of the sassafras, though I've been very lax in harvesting in order to replenish the natural balance in my area. I never harvest more than I need for a few cups per season.
Great post, thanks.
~Matt

Thanks Matt! Yep, I dig up and dry out the dandelion root in my back yard every year. Excellent liver cleanser. The dandelion flower I drink for taste and the leafs go into salad.
Sassafras is something I havent had since Ft. McCoy Wisconsin. The hills were loaded with Sassafras trees and I chewed on the bark and twigs all the time.
 
Found a fat little yellow (I call them White) morel in my yard yesterday that sees no Sun. It is the first of the season and was ushered in by the incoming storm.
Perfect 3 inch cap with a bright cream colored hollow stalk. Pinched it at its base, checked for slugs and gave it a little bath.
Dusted with flour and saute'd it in a little butter, S&P. 2017 Gonna be a great Shroomin' year!
~Matt

Death Angel? [laugh2] http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/death-cap.html
 
If it was I got a faulty one!

1a323ec17e8640c2ff0139a70acb0919.jpg

Mine was like a hollow white-chocolate Easter Mushroom... [smile]

Oh, found this tube vid about Red Reishi mushrooms. From what I've seen they look very different in stages of growth. When is best to hunt them in New England?

Thanks, Greg!

[video=youtube_share;F-S7-7namSE]http://youtu.be/F-S7-7namSE[/video]

Oh Morel's. Yes, very tasty and sort after. Nows the time for morels but there are poisonous look a likes. Better know what your getting before you eat one.
See if theres a mushroom collecting club in your area. Theres an old saying. "Dont eat the LBM's" (Little brown mushrooms) There are very few that are not poisonous and many of the poisonous ones look like the edible ones.

I look for Reishi while on hikes in the spring and early summer then harvest them in July before the bugs get at them. Best places to look are in old forested areas near logging roads or trails.
As far a Chaga, you can get that year round. It only grows on birch trees (white and yellow) and in the winter I look for a clump of snow on the side of a birch tree. It may be Chaga underneath. Its not rare but you have to put your time in looking for one.
 
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Man. I have been looking everywhere in my neck of the woods and I'm having trouble locating yellow birch, let alone chaga . All I see is paper birch and river birch everywhere. [hmmm]

They're out there! I find more on white birch than on yellow but seen them on both. They're not rare but they're hard to find. Look along logging trails, edge of fields and places where a birch tree has been damaged. They tend to grow where a tree broke or was skinned by a machine.
You'll love the taste if you like black coffee. Just break it up into chunks and let them dry out for a month or so. Simmer a couple of pieces for a few minutes and drink up. Usually the same chunks are good for 2-3 cups.
I havent been looking because I have about a life time supply right now but if I see one I'll let you know and ship it to you if you want.
 
Found a nice Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus Cincinnatus) today. It was shading itself under a huge red oak. Right at the base of the trunk.
20" around and about 8 lbs. White pore and a nice salmon/pumpkin color on top.

Sampled a fan by sauté with butter, salt and pepper. Nice chicken flesh and flavor!

I don't own a camera or a cell phone but, it looked much like this photo.
laetiporus_cincinnatus_01_by_geak_of_nature.jpg

Yup! Those are some fine chicken of the woods. I knew where there was a great flush of them but so didn't everyone else and they disappeared fast.
I dont have to tell you that they taste like chicken.:)
 
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As far a Chaga, you can get that year round. It only grows on birch trees (white and yellow) and in the winter I look for a clump of snow on the side of a birch tree. It may be Chaga underneath. Its not rare but you have to put your time in looking for one.

I've recently started looking into chaga and from what I've read you want to wait for colder months when more of the goodness is in the chaga vs the tree. I have no idea if that's true, just what I've read. It seems that everywhere I go is loaded with birch, so I'm going to keep my eyes open.
 
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