Katherine Smith, a local from Pinebluff, is an Alaskan greenhorn and accidental poet. She’s currently working in Chugach National Forest, living to make life that is art. THROUGH THE MUSCADINE continued THROUGH THE MUSCADINE continued THROUGH THE MUSCADINE con't. next column THROUGH THE MUSCADINE con't. next column "I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth." ~ God. Squirreling Season by Katherine Smith Mushrooms amass beneath reddening fireweed. Flowers turn to fruit. Stars are visible again. Autumn, the squirreling season, comes overnight in termination dust, in the bronzed tundra, in the blood-red antlers of moose and caribou. Heed nature’s pace from harvest to quiet. Gardens and visions need reaping and relishing. Gather warted cucumbers for pickles, wild blackberries for jam, and turn from hedge to hearth. In preparation for the dark, cold rains and frost, consider brewing up some oldfashioned elixirs. Here are my favorite, truly restorative tonics. They’re older than recipe, and they feel like warm hugs. Fire Cider is a sweet and spicy vinegar tonic. It prevents and remedies those pesky seasonal colds, boosts circulation, and aids digestion. A folk remedy, the ingredients change with your available produce and personal constitution. Herbalism’s godmother Rosemary Gladstar’s recipe, however, is a good base. Fill a mason jar with chopped ginger, horseradish, turmeric, onion, garlic, peppercorns, citrus, hot peppers and any savory herbs such as oregano, rosemary and basil. Pour Bragg’s organic apple cider vinegar over, covering the organic matter entirely to prevent mold. Bury your jar in the earth or a dark corner of your closet for a month. Dig it out in a cold front, strain out all the organic matter and add a generous amount of local honey to taste. You can dilute it in salad dressings or vegetable juices, but I like to take a couple swigs a day when I’m working in the woods. Bone broth is the grandmother’s panacea. The collagen and gelatin cushion joints and coat the digestive tract; the nutrients strengthen bones and the immune system. The cheapest way to prepare for bone broth is simply to add your bones and vegetable scraps to a freezer bag each time you’re cooking. Otherwise, go to your local butcher and buy bones from them. I have 18 pounds of caribou and moose bones in the freezer, bought from my local butcher for a buck a pound. Fill your crockpot or large stove pot about three-quarters full with bones. Chop your garlic, onions, leeks, turnips, carrots, parsnips, celery and any other vegetables you like. Add your favorite soup spices like chili powder, all spice, bay leaves, and peppercorns. I like to add wild medicinal conks and lichens like chaga, chicken of the woods, and usnea. Cover with water and cook on low for at least six hours. Then add culinary herbs like parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme and cook for at least another six hours, adding water as needed. Toward the end of your cooking time, start adding apple cider vinegar. This step is vital, as it draws the nutrients out of the bones. When you’ve cooked the broth at least eight hours, strain out the organics and add medicinal herbs like rosehips, nettles, raspberry leaf, and whatever wild greens you like. Add more apple cider vinegar and let the concoction cool and infuse for 6-12 hours before straining. Whatever you wont eat in the next week will keep beautifully in the freezer. You can reuse your bones up to three times for more broth, stock, or soup. Root tea is an appropriate way to partake of a summer’s worth of energy, stored sweetly below ground. As the cold waxes stiff joints and sore muscles, try a turmeric, ginger and black pepper tea. Turmeric and ginger are notorious for soothing inflammation and muscle pain while aiding digestion and circulation. Boil the chopped roots in a pot of water with a tight-fitting lid for at least an hour, then add a pinch of black pepper. Five percent of black pepper by weight is composed of piperine, a potent inhibitor of drug metabolism. Three percent of turmeric is composed of curcumin, an anti-carcinogenic, digestion aid, and an inflammation alleviator. Curcumin is made 2,000 percent more bioavailable when combined with piperine. Try the ancient Indian and Asian preparation and blend or simmer the roots and pepper with any kind of milk. Experiment with Fire Cider, a sweet & spicy vinegar tonic. Bone broth is the grandmother’s panacea. Root tea, a comfort on a cold day. spices like cinnamon, cayenne, all spice, honey and a spoonful of coconut oil. Once blended, heat on the stove without boiling. The autumnal equinox on September 22 scales light and dark. It’s a balancing, but here in the Alaska, the extreme descent can feel like a hollowing. Small kitchen rituals such as these not only create warmth in this time; they grant immense peace. To light the stove and sharpen the knife is to go back home, comforted in the healing of mother and grandmother and ancestors before, simmering a pot full of something warm to share. �� No. 128 The Pinehurst Gazette, Inc. p.33
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